22 The Queens Courier • november 20, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com QUEENS FAMILY TO HOLD FUNDRAISER IN WHITESTONE TO FUND OPEN HEART SURGERY FOR INFANT Photo courtesy of the Graham family Astoria group created with focus on whiskey BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 For Astoria resident Emily Ross- Johnson, one sip of whiskey was all it took for her to fall in love with the complexity of the spirit, which she now hopes to share with others in her community. Ross-Johnson founded the Astoria Whiskey Society in 2012, and last spring the group, which began with just eight friends in a living room, was opened to the public. “I really fell in love with whiskey and its complexity,” Ross-Johnson said about the experience of tasting her first single malt scotch in graduate school. Part of her love for the spirit led to Ross-Johnson attending a lot of whiskey events and tastings around the city. After doing so, she realized that there was a lack of local bars and restaurants offering whiskey tastings and she wanted to break down the drink for others in her community. “I knew I was creating something that wasn’t happening already. I wanted to create an environment for other people to learn about whiskey but more laid back,” Ross-Johnson said. “I wanted to create more interest in whiskey in my neighborhood. It’s about people feeling unafraid and not intimidated and being able to just relax and enjoy with the purpose of educating themselves.” Every month the Astoria Whiskey Society, which has over 180 whiskey enthusiasts on its mailing list, gathers for whiskey tastings at bars and restaurants throughout the western Queens neighborhood. Along with tastings, Ross-Johnson also works to bring representatives of specific whiskey brands to the monthly gatherings so members can learn about each brand through presentations. The Astoria resident said that this interaction also helps as an opportunity for local businesses to try new products and for the brands to establish themselves in Queens, when they normally wouldn’t look to penetrate in the Queens market. “I want to help diversify the crowd that typically drinks whiskey. Part of my mission was to reach out to a younger, diverse group,” Ross-Johnson said. “But we’re open to everyone. We want to create an environment that everyone is comfortable.” During the gatherings Ross-Johnson encourages participants to ask questions, try new whiskey and socialize with others. She also hopes these meetings allow others to explore Astoria and all it has to offer. “I created the group because I want to enrich my neighborhood and my community,” Ross-Johnson said. “I want more people to come to Astoria and see how awesome it is.” To introduce newcomers to the spirit, Ross-Johnson also creates cocktail recipes during each tasting that incorporates whiskey and makes the introduction a lot smoother and “more approachable.” In 2015, the group plans to have more events that are “whiskey-centric” along with the monthly tastings. Bringing together Ross-Johnson’s other passion of singing opera, she is also looking to bring music and whiskey together in the future. The Astoria Whiskey Society’s next meeting will be in January, with date and location still pending. For more information visit astoriawhiskeysociety. com, www.facebook. com/AstoriaWhiskeySociety or follow @ AstoriaWhiskey. Photo courtesy Francine Dominguez BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com @EricJankiewicz A family from Queens is raising money to help fund their infant’s third open heart surgery. Kyle Graham was diagnosed with a particularly deadly form of a congenital heart defect when he was still in his mother’s womb. Doctors at Westchester Medical Center told Danielle Pechette- Graham and Joe Graham that Kyle had a 30 percent chance of surviving after birth, because half of his heart wouldn’t work at all. If he did survive after birth, doctors said, there would be a 50 percent chance of seeing Kyle graduate from high school, because operations to fix this problem can often lead to death. The doctors suggested abortion since Danielle was still 17 weeks pregnant. Danielle and Joe left and never returned. They chose to go to Columbia University Medical Center. The couple has been in and out of hospitals since Kyle was born in January. The left side of 11-month-old Kyle’s heart – the side that pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body – doesn’t work at all, leading doctors to turn the right side of his heart into a dualchambered muscle that can take on the role of the left side. So far, doctors have performed two open heart surgeries on Kyle to reconfigure the heart to this new task. Danielle said that doctors will have to perform a third open heart surgery when Kyle is around two to complete the conversion of the right side of the heart. “The hardest part of this all was handing my child over to the surgeons,” Danielle said. “And knowing that his life was in their hands and knowing that your child’s chest is about to get cracked open.” To compensate for Danielle leaving her job to care for Kyle and all the medical bills from two surgeries, the family will be holding a fundraiser at Patsy’s Pizzeria, 21-64 Utopia Pkwy., Whitestone, on Nov. 25. A portion of all sales at the pizzeria will go to Kyle’s family. For more information, visit the Kyle’s Journey of the Heart Facebook page. “This is not an easy journey,” Danielle said. “It’s scary. But I have hope and I cling to it at every turn.”
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