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Community Corner

Dinner in the Dark

April 19, 2012:   The Rockville Centre Lions Club is pleased to announce their first annual fundraiser “Dinner in the Dark” to be held on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 7:30 pm, at Middle Bay Country Club in Oceanside, NY.  With a donation of $100 per person, guests will participate in a cocktail hour and four-course meal and dancing, with music provided by the band “Sound Chaser,” sponsored by Entertainment Unlimited by Ted Fass.  All are invited.    Please call 516-764-1775 or visit www.rvclions.com for more information, or to make a reservation.   Journal and Sponsorship opportunities are available.  Proceeds will benefit the outpatient Diabetes Education Center at Mercy Medical Center, and other Rockville Centre Lions Club charities.

 The Rockville Centre Lions Club has selected two distinguished Lions, Joan Hope MacNaughton, and Jeanne Farnan Mulry as the Honorees for this year’s event.  Joan and Jeanne have been selected for their spirited leadership, dedication and support of numerous charitable and cultural endeavors, enriching our community and helping our neighbors.

 Joan MacNaughton, the owner of Leggz Ltd. Dance in Rockville Centre, for years has donated hundreds of hours of time and artistic direction to a variety of fundraisers.  In 1995 she founded, and remains the artistic director for the Leggz Ltd. Nutcracker Ballet, with annual performances for the RVC Guild for the Arts  with the South Shore Symphony.  Joan has chaired numerous events to raise funds for the RVC Lions, the De La Salle School in Freeport, the RVC Community Fund, United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County, the Marty Lyons Foundation, the Nassau County Museum of Art, Molloy College and Old Westbury Gardens.    She is proud to be on a member of the Molloy College Madison Theatre Founders Group, and is on the board of the Feminist Press N.Y.C., the Voices of Virtue, the RVC Guild for the Arts, and the New York Performing Arts Society.

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 In 1999 Joan was awarded the New York State Woman of Distinction by Senator Dean Skelos in Albany, and received the 1999 Town of Hempstead Pathfinder Award, and was named the United Cerebral Palsy 2005 Shining Star.  She was awarded a Congressional Citation for her work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and received the RVC Community Service Award from former Mayor Eugene Murray, and the RVC Youth Ambassador Citation.  In 2004, she was appointed special ambassador to County Executive Thomas Suozzi for Cultural Arts in Nassau County.  Joan is married to Donald, with daughters Joyce and Samantha. 

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Jeanne Mulry has also devoted numerous hours to a variety of charitable and civic organizations for many years.  A former Village Trustee in Rockville Centre, she was an honoree at the 2010 Hispanic Brotherhood Scholarship Dinner, and is a member of the Hispanic Brotherhood Board, and is co-chair and emcee of this year’s Scholarship Dinner on May 3.  Jeanne is on the Board of the Economic Opportunity Commission of Rockville Centre, and is pro bono legal counsel and Board member of the RVC Youth Council, Inc.  She also serves as pro bono legal counsel to the Voices of Virtue, in Hempstead, NY.  This year she was co-chair of the St. Agnes Parish Celebration, and the co-chair of the RVC Community Fund’s Enchanted Winterland event. 

Jeanne is on the Festival of Trees Committee for United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County, the Old Westbury Gardens Ladies Tea Committee, and on the Gala and Luncheon Committee of the De La Salle School in Freeport, and the Gala Committee for New Ground in Hempstead.  Jeanne works for the St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, the RVC Guild for the Arts, RVC Fireworks Committee, and was the emcee at this year’s Kids Performing Who Kare Broadway Christmas Concert fundraiser.  She volunteers for a variety of St. Agnes ministries, including the Pre-Cana Ministry and the Baptism Ministry.  She is married to Kevin and is mother to Rosemary.

 Lisa Spatz and Michael Jordan serve as co-chairs of the event.  They are working with an outstanding committee, including distinguished Lions Joseph Armellino, Ed Asip, Linda Banilower, Michael Caffrey, Ted Fass, Christian Hansen, Maureen Jordan, Scott McGrath, Dr. Michael Russo, and Marian Thomsen. 

 According to co-chair Lisa Spatz, the Dinner in the Dark at Middle Bay Country Club is designed to give each guest an opportunity, in a controlled setting, to experience the challenges of participating in a simple dinner with friends for those with visual impairment.  Each guest may choose the extent of their own experience, either mild visual impairment, or complete impairment with the use of blindfolds.  Chef Jack at Middle Bay Country Club will prepare each course with emphasis on taste and texture to appeal to and enrich the experience of our non-impaired senses.  The lights will be dimmed for five to ten minutes at the beginning of each course, but will gradually rise, to restore the sense of sight for our guests.  The Rockville Centre Lions Club hopes that our guests will leave with a better understanding of the challenges our neighbors face with the loss of sight. 

In 1925, Helen Keller charged the members of a young service organization to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”  Since then, members of Lions Clubs International have endeavored to improve the quality of life for the visually impaired, and have worked for 87 years on projects designed to prevent blindness, restore eyesight, and improve eye care for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.  Coordinating action for prevention and awareness of diabetes, which is a leading cause of adult blindness and sight impairment, has been a central focus of the Lions.  The Rockville Centre Lions are proud to have been and continue to be part of this rich legacy of hope and help.

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