FMC: Your Executive Briefing, Upcoming Masterclass, Nominate Now

Here’s some of the latest from our dear friends and sponsors at The Fair Media Council:

Fair Media Council Launches New Season of Master Classes

The Fair Media Council invites you to “Meet three of the biggest players behind Long Island’s evolving local news landscape. These digital outlets are building audiences with fast, accessible local coverage — no paywalls, no accounts and fewer barriers between a story and the people who need to see them. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look into what and how these news outlets cover Long Island, plus the chance to pitch them your story.”

What: “The New Front Page: Masterclass & Pitch Session”.
When: October 21st, 9am-11:30am
Where: 58 S. Service Road, Lower Level, Melville, NY
Speakers: Michael White, Founder, Greater Long Island Media Group, Inc; Gregory Zeller, Editor & Publisher, Founder, Innovate Long Island; Jonathan Marx, Founder, The Long Island Times
For tickets and more information: Visit the event page here. Tickets are partially tax-deductible. Continental breakfast included.

New Newsletter: FMC Media Intelligence

We have long appreciated and encouraged folks to check out “The Latest,” the Fair Media Council’s educated inside view of and commentary on the rapidly changing media landscape. Now, we are excited to for their new dispatch, “FMC Media Intelligence”. According to the Fair Media Council this new “executive-style brief” will be “focusing on how media trends are impacting how business is done.” Here’s the link to sign up.

Nominate Today! Fair Media Council Folio Awards

FMC is now accepting nominations for the 2027 Folio Awards. This event recognizes the best in news and social media. National and New York regional news on any topic may be nominated so long as the work was published in 2026. Categories continue to evolve beyond traditional news media, reflecting a rapidly changing landscape. 

There will be Signature and Lifetime Achievement Awards, as well as diverse news and media categories. These will invite both professional and student journalism as well as other media reflecting the increasing role businesses and nonprofits have come to take in their own communications. Do check the website for details!

 
To Nominate: Visit the Folio Awards Event Page
Deadline: February 1, 2027

 

The Fair Media Council wants folks to know that, “for more than four decades, the Folio Awards have stood apart as the only recognition that bridges industry standards with public values. Each award affirms not only quality, but also impact — proof that the work being done is what people value, want, and need.

The annual Folio Awards luncheon gathers leaders from news, media, business, and the community to celebrate those who set the standard. It is more than a ceremony — it is where public trust meets media excellence, and where the future of storytelling is defined.”

In the end, it’s about quality, effectiveness and most of all trust. 

You can find information about past honorees here. If you’d like to be considered as a judge, you may apply here. Nominations are judged by both industry professionals and dedicated community leaders. I’m honored to be a long time judge myself. I found the whole experience deeply educational, enlightening and worth the time it takes to do the job. 

About the Fair Media Council

Check out this interview with Executive Director Jaci Clement on the Main Street News, presented by Vision Long Island. 

The Fair Media Council operates at the intersection of media, influence and power. For 45 years, they have been holding news and media accountable while working to create an informed, media-savvy society. The more time goes on, the more important, and broadly applicable their work becomes. It’s about transparency, accountability, and credibility, as well as fostering the ability to both convey that, and recognize it when we see it.

The FMC offers clear eyed, informative commentary, and is known for quality, unscripted conversations with top influencers in news, business and technology. Members have access to a broad array of resources. Intimate educational events feature excellent presenters offering timeless wisdom and latest understandings of our constantly revolutionizing media ecosystem.

Whether it’s considering the current state of affairs or what to make of what’s coming, managing our brands, dealing with PR crises or simply learning how best to get a reporter’s attention, FMC offers thought provoking and practically useful programming. A signature project is their annual Folio Awards, which honors the best in news and other media. It’s excellent networking and always insightful. Another main event, their annual “Boot Camp” is lower key, but also kind of a big deal. 

We are honored to call them a sponsor and find all they do deeply informative and a source of meaningful connections. We are grateful!!!

Rebuilding Together Long Island

Rebuilding Together LI

Since 1992, Rebuilding Together Long Island (RTLI) has been dedicated to making homes safer, healthier and more accessible. The organization is powered by volunteers who give of their time and skills to serve neighbors in need, providing a variety of home repairs and more to help Long Islanders deal with situations that may be overwhelming, while remaining independent and connected to the communities they call home.

They aptly call it “affordable housing preservation.” I first met them through my beloved Queen of Freeport, Lois Howes, who met them herself as part of her neighborly adventures with the Friends of Freeport after Superstorm Sandy. She introduced me to their Vice President, Steve Walker. Since then, Steve has become a dedicated Firefly as well, often finding ways to use art to advance his passion for RTLI. 

Full Disclosure: They Kindly Hired Me!

We’ve long talked about writing about RTLI, and somehow just haven’t gotten it together. Now, I have even more reason as, full disclosure, I am honored and excited to personally join Rebuilding Together Long Island as a part time Manager of Corporate Development. 

This is not the type of thing I would normally do. I haven’t been anyone’s employee in about 25 years, treasure my freedom as an independent consultant, and was quite frankly hesitant. However, I find this organization uniquely down to earth and community oriented. I am also grateful they respect the other things I do, may each in synergy strengthen the other. Still, if it wasn’t for a Firefly Artist who has also appreciated Synchronicity and has been passionate about RTLI for as long as I’ve known him, I would have gratefully refused!

Having said that, I am very happy to be here and hopeful to be of good service!

A Very Local Chapter

Having accepted, I am even more excited to share this good work and help them to grow. RTLI is a very local chapter of a national organization that really seems to understand that the magic of what they do happens on the ground in a spirit of community. Please understand, I’m not against national organizations. They have important roles to play. Rather, I’m all in for local groups and human connections, and helping folks understand how deeply important they are. 

I’m just beginning to get the story of how these particular folks got together. I can tell you already it’s a group of 1,000 sweet tales, and not always the kinds you’d expect!

RTLI was founded by a few local gentlemen named Joe Botkin and Sol Goldstein who are no longer with us but remain deeply beloved and appreciated. The network now stretches across Long Island, with a significant core now having served for decades. While I’ve gotten used to how this works with artists, I marvel at how some of these folks seem to use this experience of volunteer physical labor as a fountain of youth. It’s impressive!

They are always looking for more volunteers, especially folks with relevant skill sets who like working with layman volunteers. Furthermore, they are interested in partnering with other groups to see how we can better serve our region. They would love to speak with you about whom else they should be talking to, and how everyone may get involved. 

Some Touching Coverage

Check out the RTLI website where you can find a really nice piece put together by NBC Universal, as well as a lot of other information. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Here’s an article in Newsday (mind the paywall, please support local press) that talks about the deep impact they have on local families. Here’s another one from NBC New York,

It’s mostly regular homes with everyday neighbors, but they do a bit more, too. Here’s a piece from News12, where they covered a wheelchair ramp built for a VFW in Port Washington. RTLI has even gotten involved in historic preservation, forming a hyper local group that included the Chair of the local Historic Preservation Commission to restore windows on an historic home in Southold. You can read about that in the Riverhead News Review. 

Leads Welcome!

Thank you to folks who already know and have supported this good work. I’m praying I can introduce them to more, learn what folks’ experiences have been, and see how we all might serve each other well. 

Even though my focus is corporate fundraising, these folks can’t finish a sentence without talking about how what they really want to do is build relationships to better serve our neighbors, helping people to stay in their homes and fix what’s broken. Yes, they want and need funding to meet ever growing expenses and to continue to help folks maintain and rebuild. Yes, I’m looking for leads to do that, but it’s also about volunteers and partnerships and, most fundamentally, community. 

If you’re interested and would like to know more, please let me know. Thanks!

Pal-O-Mine Invites You: “The Mane Event”

Join Pal-O-Mine Equestrian for “The Mane Event” this June, where they are excited to lean into celebrating the Year of the Horse! Ticket holders will get to meet the horses, complete horse themed art projects, and experience education stations and games suited for all ages. Children under 3 get in free. It’s a fun way to spend a Friday afternoon while helping Pal-O-Mine raise funds required to achieve their healing ambitions.

For more than 30 years, Pal-O-Mine Equestrian has been proving the healing power of horses. Their therapeutic equine program, serves children and adults with disabilities, those who have been abused or neglected, the military and the economically compromised. 

Read this article we wrote with Pal-O-Mine some years ago, visit their website to learn even more, then join them for a fabulous afternoon. 
 
What: “The Mane Event” Fundraiser benefiting Pal-O-Mine Equestrian
Where: Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, 829 Old Nichols Rd, Islandia
When: June 19, 2026, 2-6PM
Details: View the flier below, and visit www.pal-o-mine.org
 

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Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!

Independent Book Store Day logo provided by the American Booksellers Association

With World Book Day happening April 23 and Independent Bookstore Day arriving on Sunday April 26, it’s a good time to remember to shop local. In local bookstores, you often see current events on one side, immortal stories that have entertained for 500 hundred years on another, and in the middle series of books that tell tales of how we got from the old to the new.

At Northport Books, down by the Firefly, they are getting started Thursday night! (See flyer below). At Theodore’s Books of Oyster Bay, another local book store we know well, events will be held with authors from the 26th to the 29th. They will also have a number of exclusive items on sale. Details can be found at their website.

We love watching the extraordinary child of Book Revue, The Next Chapter develop. While sad to see Finley’s gone, we are excited to learn about Published in this great article by Melissa Farrell of Going Local LI 

Below, please see an incomplete list of these and other local book stores. We encourage you to check out their websites and see if they will be hosting events. If not, go check them out anyways. Book stores are a treasure from winter to summer and back again. Some bookstores may not be listed. We’d love to learn about your favorites! 

List of Book Stores, ordered by hamlet: 

It’s Huntington Art Week!

Artists and all who appreciate them are invited to get involved in Huntington ART WEEK, being held March 9-15 in Huntington Village. Please see huntingtonartweek.com for details.

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Huntington Art Week Returns This March!

Artists and all who appreciate them are invited to get involved in Huntington ART WEEK, being held March 9-15 in Huntington Village. Please see huntingtonartweek.com for details.

Continue reading

The Gus Scutari Challenge Coin

Photo of Gus Scutari Challenge Coin by Katheryn Laible

Thank You Gus

I always mention Gus Scutari on Memorial Day as coordinating that parade down Jackson Avenue in Syosset was very important to him. It was also how most of the broader community got to know him. Maybe, though, the 4th of July is an even better time to talk about him.

Here is the story I was blessed to write with Gus. I share it often because I think what Gus had to say was important, that the impact he had on people was incredibly positive, and that his brand of patriotism is among those I most deeply appreciate. I also find that, the more I read those words, which are mostly his, the more I learn.

Gus was friendly, and witty. He knew how to have a good time, and how to make other people feel seen and heard. He felt very strongly about the American Flag, and honoring our Nation’s Veterans. At the same time, his patriotism was very personal. Gus cared about the big systems and decisions, for sure, but what he really emphasized was the importance of the individual; the everyday choices we make as citizens, and the idea that America will only ever be as good as we, its people, will.

Gus wanted folks to give it their best and to think for themselves. He wanted people to be good to each together. Mostly, he wanted us to give it our best to be worthy of so many who give so much, and to let the world know that most of the folks he met in this life seemed to agree. For this, he was deeply thankful.

From an event honoring local champion of veterans Gus Scutari in 2016

Honoring Good Citizenship

I wrote recently about Max becoming an Eagle Scout. One of the things a parent is instructed to do when their child earns this honor is to alert all the localities’ elected officials and other key civic associations, all the way up to the President and whomever else, that someone has basically just earned a degree in good citizenship. Everyone has their own way of responding and you end up with this pile of certificates that I find fascinating.

By far, the most meaningful token came from the local VFW, Post No. 6394, recently named the “Gus Scutari” Post in Syosset: A Gus Scutari Challenge Coin. This coin speaks not only to who Gus was as a person, but to the impact he had on those around him; an impact perhaps most directly illustrated in this very endeavor by our local veterans to imbue Gus’ joyful, earnest civic spirit in others. It’s what Gus did himself, after all, for so many years with whomever caught his eye and returned his friendly smile.

In addition to his nickname, “Mr. Memorial Day,” Gus was also the “Americanism Chairman of Nassau County.” A proud booster of the Scouts, he attended ALL local Eagle Ceremonies. He was known for his entertaining, thoughtful speeches, and for his way of pinning a US flag on the kid’s chest as a badge of good citizenship and a reminder to keep it up.

I don’t think Gus ever left the house without his VFW hat. He was known as a WWII hero, though he’d tell you over and again, he got lucky. When he told the Vietnam Veterans and so many others that their own service was at least as honorable, thank you for doing the best you could figure how, it meant a very great deal. Every Memorial Day, Gus encouraged folks to make the best of things; to be good citizens worthy of the fact that young people give their lives for them. Gus was a great booster for both the VFW and the American Legion in Syosset and beyond. Moreover, he was an incredible ambassador and a proud, responsible member of the United States. If you asked, many who knew of him would tell you that Gus was The Community Spirit of Syosset, if not America herself.

Because it’s up to US

Gus advanced the Patriot Pen and Voice of America Scholarship Programs and would regularly talk to young and old alike about history and current events, honoring people for their service and asking folks to think about things and consider what it is best We the People do.

Why? Because the basic message from Gus is that we have the freedom to make what we will of this Nation, and that, yes, the grand actions of leaders and heroes are important, but it’s how everyday people choose to conduct themselves that makes a difference, and that sometimes it may seem like a crazy thing to do, but doing the right thing seems to work out pretty well most of the time. Even when it doesn’t, it’s still the right thing to do.

It was an honor for Max to receive this coin, and I am blessed that he shares it with me and that together we can offer it to you. May we go on out there, try to stand up straight and make the best of whatever life hands us. May we take it at least as well as we give it, give it our best to be decent and honorable, and remember, whatever happens, to laugh.

May God Bless America.