FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 18, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 59
What a week it was
VICTORIA’S
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
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It was an inspirational week
on many levels from hearing
former Ohio Governor John
Kasich speak at Molloy College;
to seeing the Metropolitan
Opera Company’s majestic production
of “Don Giovanni,” and
enjoying dinner on the plaza of
Lincoln Center overlooking the
Opera House; to a remarkable
fundraiser where young people
played basketball for the “Alley
Oop for Autism” tournament.
All the proceeds from the tournament
went to Life’s WORC/
Th e Family Center for Autism
in Garden City. A true testament
to Acts of Kindness in our community!
My friend Joan
McNaughton is on the
board of Madison
Theatre at Molloy
College and arranged
for me to get tickets
to hear former
Governor Kasich,
Th e New York Times
best-selling author,
CNN commentator
and former Fox News
contributor who ran
for president in 2016,
speak.
Aft er a decades-long distinguished
career in public service,
it was a treat to see him in
person. It turns out he was a renegade
from his high school years.
I loved hearing his fearless
Former Ohio Governor John
Kasich with Molloy College
President Drew Bogner.
approach to life, relentlessly
going aft er what he wanted.
But his most profound statement
during his disarmingly
honest 90 minute talk was his
belief that change in our country
doesn’t come from the top
down but from the bottom up.
Community activists, he said,
make a profound diff erence.
I’ve seen how right he is, having
lived through a crisis in
my life when the care of my
daughter Lara was in jeopardy.
I marched and picketed with
my Life’s WORC members fi ghting
for the needs of my Lara
and the 5,400 other people at
Willowbrook State School. Th e
protests and winning the federal
class action lawsuit resulted
in its eventual closing. Th e
Staten Island facility is now the
CUNY College of Staten Island.
Grassroots eff orts did help make
a diff erence.
As a community newspaper
publisher, I see everyday the passions
of people in their neighborhoods
fi ghting to make them
better. Kasich certainly knows of
what he speaks!
Th en, Friday night, I saw my
favorite Mozart opera “Don
Giovanni,” which was fi rst performed
in 1787 and has survived
for a reason. Th e beautiful
legendary music accompanies
a compelling, timeless
story of a philanderer who left
Joel Levine, Corey Levine, Justin Resnick, Adam Seiden, Peter Resnick,
Emily Levine, Debbie Levine, Alyssa Resnick, Michelle “Angel” Athenas (‘19
International Special Olympics Champion 4-time Gold Medal Winner) , Marissa
Resnick, Lauren Resnick
behind him a fl ood of heartbroken
women but is fi nally found
out and “punished.”
Th e music and setting are
spectacular, and there is something
magical too about the
Metropolitan Opera House’s
enormity and its elaborate productions.
Before the opera, I enjoyed
dinner at “Lincoln,” a restaurant
housed in a glass dining room
overlooking the Lincoln Center
Plaza. Th ey off er a delectable
prix-fi xe dinner of one, two or
three courses, depending on the
time needed to get to the show!
Th e warm night allowed me to
dine al fresco while watching and
enjoying the scene of people of
every age passing by and the
food.
Th e unique dining experience
and then the magical opera
made it a night to cherish and
hold in my memory bank!
Th e next day, I delightedly
went to Jericho High School
to thank the fabulous Justin
Resnick who 14 years ago,
while a student at the school,
decided to create a basketball
tournament to raise money for
children in the autism spectrum.
His passion and his family
and friends have exponentially
grown the event in the
years since.
Th ere is no better example of
Acts of Kindness than this. I
was privileged to see the families
helping because they cared and
did something to make a diff erence.
How powerful!
Perri Silverstein, together with Janet Koch, Executive Director of Life’s WORC,
and her daughters with Special Olympics Champion Angel Athenas.
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