Twice a month, the Cinema Arts Centre holds the stuff dreams are made of: A guaranteed packed house. Around 150 Long Islanders pack their largest room, eagerly anticipating a mystery picture. Nobody there knows what will be shown. First you pay, then as you walk into the theater, they reveal.
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Photo provided by the Little Free Flower Stand.
This week, we’d like to spotlight a Mother’s Day inspired delight. For the previous 5 years, a little stand in Northport Village has offered free flowers to any friendly neighbor passing by. Viewable on Instagram here, The Little Free Flower Stand offers a regularly refreshed selection of seasonal blooms. Whether it’s lilacs, daffodils, or anything else, each little bouquet offers beauty and generosity.
Their Insta account alone is great, and updates regularly with whatever they’re doing at the stand. It’s a nice reminder of how some Long Island people devote time to adding character to their neighborhoods and giving others a little bit of joy.
The giving often goes farther than flora as they often accept donations for local charities. Right now all donations will go to benefit the Northport Pride Fest.
We hope you wander over to their account and take a look for yourself.
This June 12-13, look out for the 11th USA Patriots Amputee Softball Team’s, a.k.a. The National Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team game to be played on Long Island. Put on by Long Island local Joe Bartumioli, and split up over 2 days in June, “Impactful Friday,” and “Super Saturday” are all about veteran amputees demonstrating perseverance in action.
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Folks who love history. Folks who love jazz. Folks who love art and deep conversation all came together at the Firefly on March 28th to spend some time with Yasuhiro “Fuji” Fujioka, Hollis King and excellent music.
It was a wonderful evening filled with joy, and deep reflection. We learned about John Coltrane, the space he inhabited and new grounds he forged. Profound historic moments and some of the Coltranes’ deep responses were noted. Discoveries made upon years of careful study were shared, as were anecdotes of life working with diverse artists. Among these, curious Beatles and other connections were proffered, as we considered courses of destiny and twists of fate.
Several folks who have been involved with the effort to transform the John and Alice Coltrane home in Dix Hills into a museum and cultural center were on hand. In addition to the deep dive into Coltrane himself, they shared news of that endeavor and stories of the multi-decade journey this has been. We are very excited at the progress and can’t wait for the home to open! Stay tuned…
Coltrane Scholar Yasuhiro “Fuji” Fujioka is a Board member of the Friends of The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, President of the Coltrane House of Osaka, and owns the Kimono shop, “Fujioka.” He is also a freelance jazz writer/ producer/ photographer/ educator and the author of four books on the subject of John Coltrane.
Hollis King is the former vice president and creative director at the Verve Music Group, the largest jazz record label in the world. He has worked with some of the greatest musicians of all time, and has himself received numerous achievement awards and citations.
As Fuji would say, “Arigato!”
We are deeply grateful for the experience and look forward to them coming back soon.
A note from wit’s end. I don’t know if they read it, but they act like they understand. Grateful. ~ by Katheryn Laible
I have three creative, curious, active children. They are mostly grown now, but my goodness! That was a lot. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
For a long time, the biggest thing was just keeping them all physically alive. Soon enough, though, they seemed to more or less get a basic sense of what that entailed for themselves, and really leaned into the social emotional aspects of things. Oh my goodness.
One day at my wit’s end…after days and days of starting out days intending to be patient and wise, and ending days like the mom from “Malcolm in the Middle,” screaming, frustrated and hardly rising above their levels.
I sat.
I took breaths.
I grabbed a marker and paper.
I wrote something like this…I think I have the original somewhere…not sure if this is it…
But I wrote it. I stormed down the hallway. I plastered it to the wall:
**STOP**
What’s Happening?
How am I reacting?
How are my actions influencing others to act?
Am I making things
Better? or Worse?
What will I do now?
Make it better!!!
I glared. I stormed out. I let them steep a while.
I don’t know if they read it or if they remember it, or remember myself how things went immediately after, but to this day they seem to act like they think about it; like they get the logic of kind, constructive empathy in an ecosystem, and they choose to improve the environment. It’s a lot nicer and more enriching this way. I enjoy their company and they appreciate each other. It seems to reverberate around them.
I am grateful.
Hope it helps.
May God Bless Everyone.
If you love history. If you love jazz. If you love art and deep conversation, please stop on by. Drop a line to let us know if you will!
NEXT SATUDAY, 3/28: This is going to be a very special event with two truly remarkable human beings.
Coltrane Scholar Yasuhiro “Fuji” Fujioka is a Board member of the Friends of The Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, President of the Coltrane House of Osaka, and owns the Kimono shop, “Fujioka.” He is also a freelance jazz writer/ producer/ photographer/ educator and the author of four books on the subject of John Coltrane.
Hollis King is the former vice president and creative director at the Verve Music Group, the largest jazz record label in the world. He has worked with some of the greatest musicians of all time, and has himself received numerous achievement awards and citations.
They’re going to bring some favorite LP’s and give a guided tour of select tracks. They’ll also be talking about amazing things happening down the road at The The John and Alice Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, which they have been a part of for decades, and the John Coltrane Centennial.
It’s all part of “Rolling Under the Stars” a month-long birthday present to Jack Kerouac’s soul…and now our dear Jim Darcy’s, too…a streaming consciousness of art, music and poetry. Check out details on the firefly artists website.
Good morning. Rise and shine. Open your eyes. Open your mind. Open your heart.
It’s never too late to do what’s right. May we give it our best, and bring out the best in each other.
May we learn better, do better with every single breath, guided by truth and love and faith that it’s all worth while. I promise you it is.
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Good morning. Rise and shine.
May we offer Love and Truth in equal measure
With Faith that we’re not alone
Photo “New Year’s Love” by Katheryn Laible
Happy New Year! We hope you’ve enjoyed a very Merry Christmas, that Hannukah was bright and that you take comfort in the Solstice knowing that — while winter is indeed upon us — the darkest days have already passed. Whatever you celebrate, may it be something good and bring you deep joy. Come what may, we wish you all the best.
We thought you might appreciate the following:
Let’s start with this fascinating piece on the history of New Year’s and its traditions from History.com
Want to go to a ball drop without going to the THE Ball Drop? Going Local Long Island has a whole list of local celebrations, including midnight spectacles and several events featuring a very family-friendly 8pm ball drop! (We of The Firefly were delighted, btw, to win their first ever Local’s Choice Awards for best gallery. Thank you to all who voted for us! Even, better — since we know just getting nominated means something special — we are thrilled they listed 2nd and third place winners for their awards as well. Support these local treasures!)
In addition to one last hurrah for the old year, it’s also a time for introspection and planning. Here are “7 Questions to Ask Yourself for a Happier New Year, written by Jancee Dunn for the New York Times. It draws from a number of folks prominent in the field of self help as well as her own dad. (mind the paywall – please support quality journalism if you value it. You may also find this article at your local library!)
The website for the Calm app also has a lovely list of reflections that leads into a thoughtful approach to gentle, and thus likely more effective, resolution making
Here are some other tips on actually sticking to those resolutions. from a neuroscientist named Nicholas Wright writing for Time Magazine. It’s got a good bit to do with breaking things down into manageable bites and staying loose in the face of unexpected obstacles and new information.
The Myth of Maintenance, by Dr. Jeff Reynolds of the Family and Children’s Association, offers a little tough love to spice up all the rest of this, centering on the idea that, even if we’d simply like to maintain, we’re best off doing so from a mindset of innovation, growth and being willing to push ourselves.
This is true. It’s also true that we have to be patient with ourselves if we are ever going to overcome the myriad frustrations that come with trying to get our human selves to maintain, let alone achieve great aspirations. Here’s a little help from Yasmin Ruffo in the BBC on doing that, entitled “The two words to avoid when making your New Year’s resolution.”
It doesn’t have to be hard. Here are “65 Achievable New Year’s Resolutions” from Good Housekeeping.
One of those suggestions is to volunteer more. Many of us are thinking about how we can help out more, and are still doing year-end giving! Here’s a list of JUST A FEW incredible local organizations that could use our support. Use it as a starter guide. We look forward to sharing many more in the New Year!
Let us know your year-end reflections and resources, and what you’d like to see focused on in 2026. Thanks!!!
We are sure they are already dreaming of the next event, and always looking for story tellers. They might even offer another class to help folks learn this fine art. Here are their basic guidelines, so you can start thinking about that!
1. Tell story in 5-12 minutes
2. Your story is to be told, not read
3. Base your story on the theme: Hope
4. Craft your story
5. Story must be about a personal experience.
6. No stand-up comedy acts or rants
To sign-up, and become a Storyteller: Call or Text Liz at (631) 375-4144 or email at Northportvillagestorytelling@gmail.com.