FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 3, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 49
Victoria’s
DIARY
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@gmail.com
tweet me @vschneps
To be or not to be!
To be or not to be — that
is the question I’ve been
thinking since my family
vacation. Th e question is
for everyone to be phone free
during our trip, or is it too much
to ask?
Our annual getaway with all
my children and grandchildren
is the delight of my life, but
there’s another party in the room
that I didn’t invite and that’s
everybody’s tech tools.
From 14-year-old Blake down
to 8-year-old Hudson, they’re
all “connected.” It was a sight
to behold seeing all of them on
their devices and even the smallest,
5-year-old Sloane, was part
of it. When I suggested to my
daughter we have a device-free
vacations in the future, she was
incensed, suggesting I must be
crazy! “Th is is their way to relax,”
she boldly told me.
I know my own needs to keep
my phone near me. What is it
about our fear to be detached?
When Blake made breakfast
for his fi ve cousins, he collected
their devices! Another place
where we were all detached from
the world was in the pool. For
hours and hours, all six kids frolicked
and rocked! Th ere were
races under water and even the
littlest Sloane gained the skill and
stamina to swim the width of the
pool like a fi sh. I don’t know who
was prouder, her or me.
As a working mom I cherished
mixing fun with work. Th e
house I rented for our getaway
was in Westhampton Beach, the
fi rst stop on Sunrise Highway
and the gateway to the greatest
beaches in the world in “Th e
Hamptons.”
My son Josh and I are devoted
to community journalism and
an opportunity came our way
to acquire the iconic 61-yearold
community weekly Dan’s
Papers! It is a jewel of a media
company that we expect to steer
through the pandemic we are all
battling.
My love of neighborhood news
began in my Bayside living room
35 years ago and has enabled me
to meet extraordinary people. I
look forward to meeting Dan’s
creator Dan Rattiner and as I
say hello to him, I say goodbye
to another wonderful,
feisty and passionate publisher,
Maureen Walters.
She was the brains
behind the Ridgewood
Times and Times
Newsweekly for
decades and was a
tireless fi ghter for
her community.
She adored her
son Johnny who
worked beside
her and when
he passed,
she decided
to pass on her other love: her
newspapers.
I feel blessed to have been
given the opportunity to
serve, with my son, the
proud communities of
Ridgewood, Maspeth,
Glendale and Middle
Village. Maureen
passed away at the
age of 86 but was a
teenager at heart.
Her whole life was
devoted to faithfully
serving the
communities
she adored.
She may be
gone, but
she will never be forgotten. May
she rest in peace.
On Th ursday night, Sept.
3, we say goodbye to another
great lady: Claire Shulman, the
Queen of Queens. We will be
having a Zoom celebration of
her life between 6 and 8 p.m.
and QPTV will be streaming
the tributes of dozens of people
whose lives Claire touched.
For those who can’t tune in
live, the program will be recorded
and available to stream online
aft er it airs.
On the Tuesday before she
died, the last day I visited her,
I brought her a copy of Dan’s
Papers and told her I will be
acquiring it. She touched its silky
cover and gave me a little smile
even though she was not able
to speak.
I miss not having her to share
my life with. Th ere is a hole in
my heart that I know will be
there forever, for I miss her so...
My grandchildren had a blast in the pool!
Shiro’s of Japan in Westbury prepared a hibachi
and sushi dinner for us in our rented backyard.
Josh with Hudson and Sloane at the beach.
Celebrating
Blake
My grandson Blake
Sohmer received a
belated award from
his middle school
graduation for his
superb leadership.
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