With Athena For centuries, man has looked for the Northwest Passage in vain. For at least four centuries, finding it was a dream that man sought to discover. European sailors sought to reach the riches of the east by sailing west and even our own Lewis and Clark Expedition strove to find a series of rivers that connected and would take them to the Pacific coast. There they could then sail up the coast to the Arctic, a region that had shorter latitudes and a maze of islands through which ships could pass when the ice receded. This never happened and even in modern times when they sailed a submarine under the ice that reached the North Pole in the 1950's, a simple route still had not been charted. Now that Nature may be solving the problem with the ice cap melting, a Northwest Passage may soon be within our grasp and the crossing from Atlantic to Pacific would be shortened by thousands of miles.

The Monday Matinee is drawing new folks each week with the wonderful shows. Among them were Sarah and Felix Innacone, Lee Amrheim, Prem Chauhan, and Gloria Tassone, all enjoying "The Rains Came."

The Casino Ladies Bridge drew its usual crowd and among them were Ada Kane, Maureen Uzzi, Eda Meglio, Florence Dieterich, Rose Mary Going, Valerie Lemkul, and Helen Schroder, all delighted that the bad weather predicted did not come.

The Mid-Winter Bridge sponsored by the Community Club of Garden City and Hempstead went off very well in spite of a delayed opening caused by a double booking by the caterer a scant 48 hours before it was to be held. The Bridge committee that was to set up the room really impressed the company that had rented that same Casino room for the morning. Many ladies did their best to leave early in order to help the other ladies out. Now that's cooperation for you. Enjoying the day and the wonderful prizes were: Rose Forgione, Judy Radocy, Edie Cox, Fran Conza, Gail Vitale, and Claire Burns among many others. A good time was had by all. The proceeds go to the scholarships that the Community Club gives along with their other philanthropic endeavers.

Marge Maher and Lou Tice were in the audience at the recent production of "Showtune" with the songs of Jerry Herman at the Monroe Theater at Hofstra University. It played to a full house.

Rose Ann Palmer, Chairperson of the Public Policy group for A.A.U.W's Garden City Branch, will present a discussion on "Clean Elections." Based on the English way, no campaign contributions are permitted. The government gives each qualified candidate the same amount of money to run their campaigns. Contributions from individuals or corporations are looked on as bribes. What a wonderful concept that has the added advantage of giving the candidate more time to do their job. Campaigns are limited to six weeks before the election. Now, I would like to see that here. The discussion will be held on February 7th at 10 a.m.

Happy birthday wishes go to Helen Roberts, who will celebrate her special day on the 7th of February. Have a wonderful day and a year full of good health and much happiness with many more to come.

Margaret Maguire would have celebrated her 90th birthday on February 10th and plans for a celebration were under way. However, Margaret slipped away on January 23rd and we were all sorry to see her go. Margaret was a member of the Garden City Country Club and for many years both she and her husband Joe were members of the Club's Bowling League. She was a lovely lady, kind and thoughtful to all and she will be missed by many in this town. Our prayers and thoughts go to her daughters and her son in their time of sorrow. May she rest in peace.

In case you had not noticed, January is already gone and Valentine's Day is fast approaching. So get something for that very special someone in your life and brighten her or his February 14th. Don't say I didn't remind you!

See you next week.