Seaford school budget is defeated

On June 21, 2011, the Seaford, N. Y., school budget (2nd try) was defeated by a vote of 1,479 to 1,278.

Ninth grade cohort of 2006

Today's Newsday (6.15.2011) gives a summary of high school graduation rates in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The NYS Education Department has released these figures and more in the pdf file linked here.
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The "2006 cohort" is those students who began ninth grade in 2005-6 and ordinarily would have graduated by August 2010 after four years of high school. I have not yet found an explanation of how transfers-out and transfers-in are counted, and whether the cohort includes the same students at the start and at the finish. Not in Newsday but rather in the file linked above is the size of the 2006 cohort. Seaford's 2006 cohort is 193 students, 88% of whom graduated by August, 2010. Wantagh's numbers are 285 students and 99%. Massapequa: 636 and 96%. Plainedge: 279 and 94%. Bellmore-Merrick: 1,015 and 94%. Island Trees: 231 and 90%. Levittown: 648 and 93%.
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I have not located NY State figures for non-public schools, where again I feel that the size of the beginning cohort and the transfers are important information.
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My previous post on the 2005 (graduating in 2009) is linked here.

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Today's Newsday also contains a chart of "College prep indicators." This link leads to a fee wall, but many readers will be able log in.

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In Seaford, 55% of the 2010 graduates earned an advanced Regents diploma, in Wantagh 76%, in Massapequa 64%, in Plainedge 62%, in Bellmore-Merrick 68%, in Island Trees 45%, and in Levittown 65%.

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Seaford Museum will be open Sundays 1 to 4 p.m.

The Seaford Historical Society's Museum will again be open on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., thanks in good measure to the the work of Eagle Scout candidate Nick Johns.  The Museum is located on Waverly Avenue between Washington and Southard Avenues.

Memorial Day, 2011

Two hours of rain stopped ten minutes before the 2011 Memorial Day parade began its path north on Washington Avenue, Seaford.  Above, the color guard of the Seaford American Legion post leads the parade. I had better luck with photography last year, linked here.
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Decoration Day had its beginning honoring those who lost their lives in the American Civil War of 1861-1865 and those who were veterans of that conflict.  This year, the day after Memorial Day, the newspaper USA Today gave the names of eleven more service personnel who paid with their lives in Afghanistan.  Three of the eleven called Ohio home, and one each from Arizona, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Kansas, Washington, North Carolina, Iowa, California.
   

May 17, 2011, voting results

These numbers are found on the Seaford Schools website here.
The proposed budget failed: No: 1881; Yes: 1448.  Votes cast: 3329.
The Harbor roadway proposal lost: 1604 to 1366.  Votes cast: 2970.
The increased transportation proposal lost: 1810 to 1098.  Votes cast: 2908.
Two trustees were elected: Richard DiBlasio with 2278 votes, and Brian Fagan with 2157 votes.  Laura Philips received 957 votes.  Each voter could vote for two candidates. 

Seaford School Budget

Quite a few people searched this blog for "Seaford School Budget" and did not find it.  Below, I provide a link to the budget issue of Seaford Education Spotlight, mailed out to almost all households about a week ago.  It is a pdf file:
Link here.
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I use the word "almost" above, because I have heard that school district residents residing in Wantagh zip 11793 have not been getting some mailings.  That's the neighborhood north of Merrick Road and west of Willoughby Avenue, almost to Cedar Creek.

Seaford Library budget passes

On April 6, 2011, the 2011-2012 budget for the Seaford Library passed, 110-36.  Stephen Gaughran was reelected as trustee, with 129 votes.
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Below, I list some results from previous years:
In April, 2010, the Seaford library budget passed, 103-29. Eileen Montalbano was reelected as trustee, with 119 votes.
In April, 2009, the Seaford Library budget passed, 98-30. John Rall was reelected as trustee with 115 votes.
In April, 2008, the Seaford Library budget passed, 110-52.  Peter Ruffner was reelected trustee for a five-year term.
The 2007-8 budget of the Seaford Public Library passed, with a vote of 78 "Yes" to 45 "No." Maybe the drenching rain kept the turnout low. Possessing a valid library card is different from registering to vote in a library district or school district, and I do not know the number of registered or eligible voters. About 10,400 Seafordites have Seaford Library cards in a district of approximately 16,000 residents. As library cards must be renewed every three years, the number of card holders may be a little inflated by people moving out of the district. The voting register for school district and library district (a combined list) totals about 10,000 to 12,000 names.

Some weekend trains skip Seaford

On the new weekend train timetable, the half-hourly service to and from Seaford has five omissions (or gaps of an hour) in each direction.  Please check your timetables or the LIRR website.
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There are five trains that serve Massapequa and Bellmore but not Seaford and Wantagh.  These express trains from Babylon stop only at Amityville, Massapequa, Bellmore, Freeport, and Jamaica.
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One of the upcoming weekends (date not yet disclosed), service will be interrupted to replace and test new signals near Oakland Avenue, Wantagh, an installation that has taken years already. 

A grievous loss

The loss of a great person, Bill Powell, 64:  link to Newsday here.

Snow in February, 1978

In these scenes from February, 1978, I obviously have not reproduced the brilliance of the original Kodachrome slides.  I'll keep trying!  Some of the photos look better when enlarged.  Click on the photo; then click again for more detail.

In this view south from Sunrise Highway, youngsters cross NY 135. 

At Merrick Road and Jackson Avenue, in 1978 the Long Island Savings Bank has replaced Powell's Hotel, but the name "Astoria" is in the future.  I believe the LISB was originally the Long Island City Savings Bank, main office at Queensborough Plaza.

The Seaford Post Office was on the south side of Merrick Road, east of South Seaman's Neck Road.  Previously, it was on the north side of the road.  The star on the letter box indicates late collections.  In 2011, the nearest letter box has its last pick-up at 1 p.m.  Beach Bum tanning occupies the former post office.  If I am correct, the covered loading dock in back dates from the time of Bohack's grocery store. 

In 2011, this building on the south side of Merrick Road east of Jackson Avenue is occupied by East Coast Karate.

Washington Avenue, Seaford, in 1910

In the U.S. census of 1910, Jackson Avenue counted about 176 residents, more than any other street in Seaford.  These are family names on Jackson Avenue: Covert, Whitier, Walters, Payne, Purvis, Ketcham, El, Raynor, Dee(?), Klopthor, Baylis, Ruck, Liddel, Cola, Adsit, Mansfied, Bedell, Matengus, Angell, Shuals, Seelig, Livingston, VonGallet, Killian, Miller, Tolhey, Burch, Darius,  Powell, Vooris, Dean, Zacahanas, Baldwin, Collis, Danver, Weeks, Smith, Beaumont, Haff, HJones, Vasance(?), Fortestcue, Mortimer, Hendrickson, Van Nostran, Verity, Southard.
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To sample the ancestry of the residents of Washington Avenue, I noted the birthplace given for each resident's mother.  Admittedly, large families tilt this count.  Of the 176 residents, about 135 had mothers born in New York State.  Also: 12 whose mother was born in England, 6 in South Carolina, 4 in English Canada, 4 in Germany, 3 in Ireland, 2 in Massachusetts, 2 in Scotland, one in the West Indies, and one in Illinois.
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As for occupations of the residents of Washington Avenue: 3 retail dealers of groceries, 3 retail dealers of fish, one of ice, a laundress, 4 laborers at odd jobs, a nurse, an Episcopal priest, 2 painters, a house builder, 3 servants, 2 adjusters for the railroad, a cashier for a steamship, a Methodist minister, 2 farmers, a patrolman for the railroad, a driver of coal and wood, 2 authors, a repairer of bicycles, 2 baymen, a life saver for the U.S.S.S., a worker in a railroad roundhouse, 2 gardeners, 4 carpenters, a coppersmith, an electrician for the railroad, a concert singer, a broker at a custom house, a restaurant worker, a teacher in the district school, the manager of a bakery office, a bookkeeper, an insurance agent, a produce salesman, and a dentist.
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I have probably made errors of transcription.  The enumerator's penmanship on this census was quite clear. Many of these family names show up on other streets in Seaford.  Please also see my previous posts linked by the label below, "Census of 1910." 
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The census is available on libraryancestry.com at the Central Avenue Library.  For 1910, Seaford is included in Town of Hempstead District 1. enumeration district 1103.
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In August, 2014, I went looking at the 1910 1900 census and discovered that the people are grouped by enumeration district, without street names.  Several family names and occupations were tip-offs that I was looking at the part of the Town of Hempstead that we call Seaford.  The 1900 occupation of Ansel Raynor was Postmaster.
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In September, 2017, I tried to compare the 1930 census on Washington Avenue with the above notes, and there were enough mismatches to worry me.  I question the "Jackson Avenue" name in the first paragraph above.  Also, I could not find in 1930 as many residents on Washington Ave., leading me to wonder about changing areas of Enumeration Districts.