4 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 2, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com NURSING HOME TO HOLD CHARITY DRIVE FOR RARE NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ @ericjankiewic [email protected] The Little Neck Nursing Home may be a place for elderly care, but in October it will be holding a charity drive in support of an 8-year-old girl with a little-known, poorly understood neurological disorder called Rett syndrome. Queens-born Camryn Oelkers developed the disease around the age of 1 and her family has since battled with a neurological disorder that has rendered the red-haired girl unable to speak. “We fi rst started to notice something wrong around 15 months,” said Camryn’s father Thomas Oeklers. “She fell a lot, didn’t speak a lot or play with the other kids.” Oeklers didn’t know of the disease’s existence before his daughter was diagnosed with it and he said, “Doctors were a little dumbfounded. No one knew anything for a while.” Rett syndrome is mostly found in girls because it is a mutation of the X-chromosome and boys who get it tend to die before they’re even born, according to the little that researchers understand. With two X-chromosomes, girls don’t die. Most people with Rett syndrome have shrunken heads and suffer from severe seizures, but Camryn is lucky enough to not have either of these symptoms. And she is happy, according to Thomas. “We’re very lucky with how responsive she is to physical therapy,” he said, explaining that she is able to walk with only minor assistance from people. The Little Neck Nursing Home employs Camryn’s great-grandmother, Agnus DeBoesche. Having worked there for almost 40 years, she’s grown close with the staff. Since October is Rett Syndrome Awareness Month, the nursing home administrators decided to hold a charity drive to give money to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust. The charity drive will be held in early October and the nursing home will have a lemonade stand to raise money, according to the home’s administrators. The idea for a lemonade stand came from the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and the home plans on bringing Camryn in to serve the refreshments. “I don’t like to talk about my problems a lot, but they wanted to do something in honor of me,” DeBoesche, 85, said. “There’s such a caring thing going on here.” Photo by Bradley Hawks Long Island City’s M. Wells was one of four Queens restaurants to receive Michelin stars in its 2015 guide. Four Queens restaurants awarded Michelin stars BY ASHA MAHADEVAN [email protected] The Michelin Guide announced which New York restaurants made it to its 2015 list as it hits bookstores on Oct 1. Of the 874 local restaurants featured in the guide, four of them are based in Queens and were awarded one star each. The lucky eateries are Casa Enrique and M. Wells Steakhouse in Long Island City, Danny Brown Wine Bar and Kitchen in Forest Hills and Zabb Elee in Jackson Heights. Getting one Michelin star indicates “a very good restaurant in its category, offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard,” according to the offi cial Michelin website. Danny Brown is a mix of a French and Italian wine bars with a Spanish Tapas bar and a restaurant. Zabb Elee has a Thai menu, while Casa Enrique offers Mexican food. At M. Wells Steakhouse, the name says it all. The 2015 list marks the fi rst Michelin distinction for Casa Enrique, M. Wells Steakhouse and Zabb Elee. Danny Brown fi rst received a Michelin star in 2011, according to the restaurant’s website. Zabb Elee was rated as being comfortable, while the other three received the higher rating of two spoons, indicating “quite comfortable,” with the steakhouse getting an additional thumbs up with a “more pleasant” rating. Photo courtesy of Thomas Oelkers Thomas Oelkers with his daughter Camryn, who has Rett Syndrome. Douglaston plaza opens near LIRR station BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ @ericjankiewicz [email protected] The Douglaston pedestrian plaza has opened to the public. The completion of the project, near the LIRR station on 41st Avenue, was marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 26 with Councilman Paul Vallone and the Douglaston Local Development Corporation (LDC). “I am thrilled that this plaza will provide a great place for my constituents to sit, socialize and enjoy life. And I look forward to seeing the local businesses fl ourish with increased foot traffi c,” Vallone said. The plaza eliminates about seven parking spaces but there will now be 3,000 square feet of public space with new crosswalks, plants, umbrellas with movable tables and chairs, and granite blocks. Plans for the area were approved in July by Community Board 11, according to earlier reports. The LDC is charged with maintaining the new plaza, and they plan to do so through fundraisers and private Councilman Paul Vallone at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Douglaston pedestrian plaza donations. The LDC contacted the Department of Transportation last year for the street plaza, hoping that Photo courtesy of Councilman Paul Vallone’s offi ce it would revitalize the businesses in the community by giving pedestrians a place to walk and rest while shopping and eating.
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