6 The Courier sun • JULY 10, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com THE COURIER/ Photo by Eric Jankiewicz Theresa A. Tomeo published a memoir of her childhood days growing up in Hamilton Beach. Hamilton Beach resident writes a memoir about the neighborhood BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ @ericjankiewicz [email protected] During the 1960s and ’70s, Hamilton Beach was a close-knit community that fostered lifelong friendships, as shown by a new memoir. Hamilton Beach resident Theresa A. Tomeo published a memoir of her childhood days growing up in the neighborhood. The small community comes alive in Tomeo’s book, “The Screen House Kids.” Tomeo published the book in late June using Amazon’s free publishing tool, CreateSpace. The story follows a group of girls, the screen house kids, growing up in Hamilton Beach during the 1960s. Tomeo spent 10 years writing the book and up until publication, she was adding information into the book. The most significant recent event is Superstorm Sandy, which flooded and destroyed a good part of the neighborhood. “The whole concept of this book is about this group of friends who would do anything together,” said Tomeo, who is now in her 50s, as her daughter Arlene sat by her. “I wanted people to know that even in this day and age that strong friendships are still possible but you have to work hard towards it.” The self-published, 250-page book, reads like two grandmothers reminiscing about the past and Tomeo said that is how the idea for the work developed. Tomeo’s daughter, Arlene Arebalo, helped her edit the book and get it published. “We went through so many revisions that I can’t even read the book anymore,” Arebalo said. In one part, Tomeo recounts how her group of friends, who she calls the LULAS (Love U Like A Sister), go out on the water one night: “One night they were all hanging out at John’s house. They decided to go out on his boat. While they were out there cruising around the bay they decided to try night water skiing! First Ronny, then Terry! Those idiots were water skiing all around the parameter of Charles Park, IN THE DARK. “That was probably the craziest thing that Terry ever did, but Laurie took the cake for being wild.” In another section, Tomeo writes about her 50th birthday and the “trailer trash” theme. One of the party guests brings a trailer trash doll that is pregnant and when you pull the doll’s chord, it says “Get me another beer, I’m drinking for two.” Residents ask for parking lines along Lindenwood streets BY SALVATORE LICATA down the available space for other drivers. So residents and politicians are calling for the Residents of Lindenwood want parking to be spot on. Department of Transportation (DOT) to draw lines perpendicular More than 100 cars can be parked nose-first adjacent to the curb to create defined parking spaces. to the Belt Parkway on 157th Avenue between 77th and 80th streets, but that number is often reduced because there are no marked parking spaces. Street signs tell drivers to back in at a 90 degree angle but since spaces aren’t marked, there are often wide gaps between vehicles too small for parking, which cut “A small effort from the DOT will allow local residents to have more parking spaces to access their neighborhood,” said Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder, who wrote a letter to the DOT urging them to do so. Some residents have received summonses for parking haphazardly along the avenue but feel they are not at fault due to the city’s lack of designated parking spots for them. “Marked legal parking spots are unclear and people are receiving summonses,” said Joann Ariola, president of the Howard Beach- Lindenwood Civic Association. “Redefining the lines will clear up all confusion when parking.” As of press time, the DOT was still reviewing Goldfeder’s request and did not have a response for how they would handle this situation.
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