FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 1, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 71
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Little Neck kids to compete in citywide robotics competition
Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS
Whitestone woman celebrates her 106th birthday
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Rose Girone, who lives at Cryder Point
in the Beechhurst section of Whitestone,
celebrated her 106th birthday with her
family at an Italian restaurant on Long
Island earlier this month. Th e centenarian
credits a love of dark chocolate as one
of her top secrets to longevity.
Th e longtime Queens resident has led
a remarkable life. Girone was born on
Jan. 13, 1912 in Poland, according to
her granddaughter Gina Bennicasa, who
calls Girone “Oma.” Girone lived in
Vienna, moved to Hamburg, Germany,
and married Julius Mannheim. Th e new
couple then moved to Breslau, Germany,
which is now known as Wroclaw,
Poland.
Shortly aft er in 1939, with Nazi aggression
against the Jews escalating, Girone,
her husband, and daughter, Reha, needed
to leave the country. Aft er fi nding
out China was the last remaining country
that was still accepting immigrants,
the family departed for Shanghai on a
month-long voyage by sea and moved
into an international settlement.
Aft er enjoying a brief period of peace,
war touched the family once more. Th e
Japanese occupied Shanghai and forced
Jewish residents into a ghetto, where
Girone and her family shared a small
room once used as a bathroom. Food
was rationed and hot water was purchased
from street vendors.
Aside from her family, the bright light
that kept Girone going through the
tough times was knitting. She was
able to start a small business and
save up some money before she
moved to the United States
aft er the war in 1947.
Girone eventually opened a
knitting store, Rose’s Knitting
Studio, on Austin
Street in Forest Hills,
which she operated
for 40 years.
Th ere, the business
owner was
able to explore
her passion,
coming up with unique and intricate
designs customers couldn’t fi nd anywhere
else. She also sold knitting supplies
and taught classes to locals interested
in learning the craft .
“Here, I was able to start a business. It
was a great success,” Girone said. “I was
well-known, gave instruction and made
up some crazy designs.”
“She was very popular on that block,”
Bennicasa added. “Some of the
sweaters she has made are just
unbelievable.”
Eager to help others learn her
trade, Girone continued to
teach classes at local senior
centers into her second
century. After retirement,
she also helped
a fellow entrepreneur,
Dina Mor, open up
her own store in Port
Washington called
Th e Knitting Place.
To show her
appreciation,
Mor threw a party at her store for
Girone’s 100th birthday. At the end of
the celebration, the business owner had
a surprise for the centenarian: a painter
had quietly drawn the birthday scene. Th e
colorful painting now hangs in Girone’s
dining room for all visitors to see.
Girone has lived in Cryders Point since
1968, when she married her second husband,
the late Jack Girone. Today, the centenarian
likes to knit, eat dark chocolate
and read mystery novels, or whodunnits,
as she calls them. She enjoys good health
and dressing up in her knit creations.
Some of Girone’s other secrets to longevity
are always waking up with a purpose,
having good kids and not sweating
the small stuff .
“Don’t let anyone aggravate you,” she
said. “It’s why you have two ears: in one,
out the other.”
Bennicasa said she and her tight-knit
family are amazed most by Girone’s
resilience.
“It’s been an unbelievable life. She’s
always remained positive, even when
conditions were horrible,” Bennicasa
said. “It’s so good to have that attitude.”
“Whatever happened, I was smiling,”
Girone said.
Photo courtesy of Gina
Bennicasa
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
A group of talented Little Neck students
will show off their smarts at a fast-paced
robotics competition this Saturday.
Th is year’s team of P.S. 94 RoboPandas
will head to the Bronx on Feb. 3 to compete
against dozens of schools from the fi ve boroughs
at the FIRST LEGO League competition.
In preparation, the group of eight fi ft hgrade
students continue to work together to
fulfi ll the contest’s two-part requirement: a
research project and robot design.
Presented with the theme of “Hydro
Dynamics” for the research component,
dynamic team members Kellen Yu,
Andre Wang, Lily Lu, Ava Jack, Anthony
Arias, Silvia Jun, Nolan Reinhardt and
Eric Leem decided to tackle the controversial
bioswale: a rain garden designed to
capture stormwater and reduce sewer system
pressure and harmful overfl ow into
nearby waterways. Th e city has installed
thousands of bioswales throughout the
city in recent years.
Aft er extensive research, the students
came up with the “Moat-o-swale,” a new
and improved design. Th e group decided to
use a 50/50 soil and wood chip mix, which
they found was most eff ective to absorb
the water. Th ey will present their design to
judges at the upcoming competition.
“Th ey will be competing against
eighth-graders, but they’re confi dent,”
said Ellie Glus, coach and teacher. “Th ey
believe in their message … Th ey even
wrote a letter to the Department of
Environmental Protection and we want
to present it to the neighborhood.”
Halina Reinhardt, mother of team
member Nolan, said she’s proud of the
group of kids for taking a risk on a debated
topic.
Th e RoboPandas also designed a robot,
“Aquabot,” which they specially programmed
and designed to complete a
series of timed tasks at the competition.
“We found the component of building
our robot more challenging because
we all had diff erent ideas of how to put
it together,” student Anthony Arias said.
“And what we had to do was try to combine
all of our ideas and compromise to
see what worked best.”
Team members said being a part of the
RoboPandas has increased their interest
in math, science and technology. A technician,
engineer and programmer are just
a few of the career paths students cite as
potential interests.
“I feel more attracted to environmental
science,” Lily Lu said. “Th e earth fascinates
me and I want to get to know more
about it.”
Councilman Paul Vallone also attended
the RoboPandas’ presentation and wished
them luck at Saturday’s competition.
Th e school has a history of success
at the Robotics competition. Last year’s
team of fi ft h-graders moved on to earn
second place in the city fi nals.
Th e FIRST LEGO League competition
will take place all day at the Horace Mann
School in the Bronx on Feb. 3.
Little Neck’s RoboPandas team and their robot, “Aquabot”