Flanders

Hello, friends and neighbors. Summer is coming to an end mighty quick now. August, for some reason, goes by too fast for me. It used to be that way when I was young and I had the beginning of school to look forward to, but even now as an adult who doesn’t have summers off, August still flies by at rocket speed.

The last ‘Tuesday on the Go’ field trip, sponsored by the Town of Southampton Youth Bureau, will be held Aug. 24, with a trip to Paintball Arena in West Babylon. Bus transportation and equipment is included in the price of $35 per person. Your child must bring a bagged lunch. For more information and permission slips, visit southamptontowny.gov and click on “Departments,” then “Youth Bureau,” then “What’s Happenin,” or call 702-2425.

Happy 16th birthday to Wayne Drexel Jr., who celebrated yesterday, Aug. 18, from your mom, dad, Angela, Nicole, Michael and all your family and friends. I’m sorry you have football practice on your birthday but make sure you enjoy your day anyway. Wow, Wayne, I can’t believe you’re 16 already, but then again, sometimes I can’t believe mine are that old, too. Where did the time go?

Happy birthday to one of my bestest friends, Kim Rogers Overton, who will celebrate on Aug. 22, from your husband, Roland, your boys, Ryan and Reed, your parents, and all of us here who love you and miss you so much! We all hope you enjoy your day!

A memorial service for former Flanders resident Joe Goodwin, who passed away in February, will be held on Aug. 26 at Calverton National Cemetery at 1:30 p.m. His granddaughter Shannon is organizing the event and was told that on the day of, friends will be directed to the colonnade. They could not tell her ahead of time where it would be held. For more information, call her at 631-848-9983.

Everyone’s adopted child, Spencer Shea of Riverhead, just completed a session of summer school to get him up to speed for ninth grade. For a speech therapy project, he did a presentation on Companion Dogs. If you’d like to view it you can go to his Facebook fan page and become a fan or type in the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynFuwTaDMXw. Spencer’s recovery has been nothing short of miraculous; you have to see it for yourself. Way to go, Spencer! Keep up the great work! Thanks to his mom, Kathleen, for keeping us, his adopted family, up to date with daily reports on Facebook. We know you’re busy and we thank you for taking the time it takes each day.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I hope to hear from you all very soon. Please remember to drive safely. Don’t drink and drive and, please, put those cell phones down!