68 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JUNE 13, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Enjoy summer at the LIC Flea & Food starting on June 29
Give summer an offi cial welcome at
LIC Flea & Food on June 29 and 30.
Enjoy diff erent fl avors from all over.
Make sure you stroll through the market
as new vendors are joining the Flea that
weekend. A new face to meet and greet
is chef Jimmy Th omas, who will be serving
New Forest Hills mural honoring resident Helen Keller
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e life and legacy of Forest Hills resident
Helen Keller will is being commemorated
with the commissioning of a tribute
mural on the west wall of the Ascan
Avenue LIRR underpass.
Long regarded as a courageous fi gure of
the 20th century, Keller became blind and
deaf aft er contracting scarlet fever at just
19 months of age. She would grow up to
become a celebrated advocate, author and
lecturer.
“Not many people are aware that Helen
Keller was a Forest Hills resident from 1917
to 1938,” Rego-Forest Preservation Council
Chairman Michael Perlman said. “She was
a visionary, leader and forerunner who
impacted various lives. Th e Helen Keller
mural and plaque project will hopefully
foster tourism, become the subject of walking
tours, educate our youth and beautify a
banal underpass by transforming it into an
artistic and historic passage. Th e arts are a
benefi cial tool, where we can celebrate our
history and preserve and enhance the character
of our communities.”
International muralists Crisp from
Australia and Praxis from Columbia will
paint the 48-foot-wide mural in partnership
with the Queens Economic
Development Corporation and the LIRR,
and the project is funded by lead sponsor
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz. Crisp
has painted hundreds of murals worldwide,
including “A Tribute to Ascan Avenue and
Forest Hills Gardens” in 2017.
“It’s an honor to be invited once again by
the community to create another beautiful
piece of artwork to refl ect Helen Keller’s
vast contribution to not only the neighborhood,
but the world,” Crisp said. “It’s a
unique opportunity to be painting a tribute
mural of such a historical fi gure in the
actual place she once lived.”
Keller mastered the manual alphabet and
learned to read Braille. At age 9, she began
to read lips and communicate. As a graduate
of Radcliff e College in 1904 at age 24,
she became the fi rst deaf and blind person
to earn a bachelor of arts degree.
“Th is is a beautiful project, which covers
angles of Helen Keller’s work around the
community and her role as a civil rights
activist,” Praxis said. “Th ere is a strong
amount of research before we started planning
the design. It’s a long process that we
follow, and it’s good to work on murals that
have so much meaning and history.”
Keller lived in a brick-gabled home
which she nicknamed “Our Castle on the
Marsh.” Today it is home to Th e Reform
Temple of Forest Hills, located at 71-11
112th St., which will host a plague unveiling
honoring Keller on June 12 at 3 p.m.
and on June 13 at 11 a.m.
“People everywhere have a responsibility
to help each other, and Helen Keller
is a model of someone who helped herself
into creating an amazing life, and she
is an inspiration for all of us, to improve
our lives and help others,” Rabbi Mark
Kaiserman said. “Our synagogue is honored
to be on the same property where
Keller lived for many years doing such
good, and we aim to do the same.”
up authentic, delicious, spicy Creole
cuisine with recipes handed down generations
from New Orleans.
Also grab Filipino-style chicken skewers
and pair it with their fresh mango
juice from Barbecue on a Stick. Enjoy
the delicious global fare and grab a brew
from our Beer Garden, where you can
enjoy international and craft beers from
local Queens breweries.
Once you’ve satisfi ed your hunger and
drunk your fi ll, browse through the vintage,
craft and art vendors for unique,
one-of-a-kind items. Jules Frost has a
collection of T-shirts and prints of her
original, hand-drawn designs. For all
you vintage lovers, Refi ned Collective
will be onsite with all of their cool vintage
gear.
Don’t forget to make plans to visit
the LIC Flea on Th ursday, July 4, for
Independence Day, Sept. 14 to 15 for the
Wine & Tunes Festival and Oct. 5 to 6
for the 4th Annual Queens Beer Festival.
Please visit www.LICFLEA.com for all of
the details.
LIC Flea & Food is located at 5-25 46th
Ave. in Long Island City at the corner of
Fift h Street and 46th Avenue.
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Photos courtesy of Festival Media
DYNAMIC DENTAL WORK
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