Long Island Poetry Sends Underprivileged Youngsters to Summer Camp

June 7, 2012 - PRLog -- Oceanside's Kiwanis Monday night Summer Gazebo Reading Series, now in its sixth year, raises money to send underprivileged youngsters to summer camp, with help from its literary community, past and present poet laureates, and local businesses.  Held each Monday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in June, July & August,  the reading series features four or five published authors/poets set on a village green in Oceanside. An eclectic mix of authors (non-fiction and fiction) and poets read from their works  from the Gazebo on Schoolhouse Green in Oceanside, New York, before large, friendly, receptive crowds.

Last Monday, June 4, the club kicked off their sixth season. Feature readers included current Nassau County Poet Laureate Linda Opyr; Roxanne Hoffman;  New Jersey author and publisher of Poets Wear Prada; Peter Dugan, author of "Members Only" (2011), a book of poetry offering unique insight into the world of motorcycles, and bikers; and Beverly Koch, Director of the Long Island Writers' Guild and co-leader of the guild's memoir workshop held at libraries in Bellmore, Merrick, East Meadow and Commack.  Despite threat of rain and evening chill, the outdoor event attracted nearly fifty audience members.

Next Monday,  June 11th, the five featured readers are Nassau Poet Laureate (2009 - 2011) Gayl Teller, the director and founder of  Mid-Island Y JCC Poetry Reading in Plainview, NY; New York State Senior Poet Laureate (2009) Herbert Siegel, author of "Life Through My Glasses" (Trafford Publishing, 2011);  native Long Islander Robert Savino, author of 'Inside a Turtle Shell'' (Allbook Books, 2009);  poet, fiction writer, translator, publisher and editor Jack Cooper of Poets Wear Prada; and Gail Goldstein, editor of "Whispers and Shouts," an forthcoming anthology of poetry written by women from Long Island, and member of drUUmatics, a West African drum ensemble performance group.

The event is hosted by attorney and writer Tony Iovino, a longtime resident of Oceanside, and author of novel "Notary Public Enemy "(Diversion Press, 2011).

The Kiwanis Club on Oceanside raises money to send underprivileged youngsters to Camp Kiwanis through advertising sponsorships, program patronships and the sale of raffle tickets.

To date the following businesses are sponsoring this year's reading series with their corporate pledge of $150:

21st Century Appraisers
Bondi Iovino & Fusco, Attorneys-at-Law
Aaron Rappaport, D.D.S., P.C. & David Rappaport, D.M.D.
Anthony J. Santino, Councilman
Bonbino's Pizza & Restaurant
Dee's Nursery
Friedberg Jewish Community Center
Herb & Marion Brown
Home & Hearth Real Estate
Mary Jane McGrath, Attorney
Michael Schamroth and Family
Municipal Credit Union
Nassau Financial Federal Union
Oceanville Mason Supply
South Nassau Communities Hospital
Tower's Funeral Home
Westron Lighting


Advertising Sponsorships and Program Patronships are still available! Sponsorships are $150 and include the sponsor's business name and logo on signs, posters and the thousands of fliers the club distributes, as well as on all announcements (including every email the club sends).  Individuals can also participate as "Program Patrons" for $25.  "Program Patrons" will have their names listed on the programs the club will be distributing each week.


If you, or anyone you know, would like to become a sponsor or a Program Patron, send your check made payable to "Oceanside Kiwanis" to Tony Iovino at the address below-- email or include your logo and the listing you want  to print:

Tony Iovino
68 Yorktown Street
Rockville Centre, NY 11570
Home: 516-763-1667
Work: 516-741-8585
Cell: 516-459-3262
tonyiovino@gmail.com

Next Monday, grab a lawn chair, and a friend, some sports blankets, and join the poets at Schoolhouse Green on Foxhurst Road (just east of Long Beach Road, across from the firehouse) Oceanside, New York, about a 4 minute drive from the Long Island Rail Road's Rockville Centre Station.  Raffle tickets to help send the youngster to camp will be on sale as well as books by the readers.