AS EDITOR OF FIRE ISLAND NEWS I have written dozens of Editor’s Window columns by now, but as we stand on this convergence of time where our first issue of the season opens on the cusp the Summer Solstice this for me is a column like none other.Things are certainly less bleak than this time last summer. I look forward to reporting on live gatherings – parades, gala fundraisers – and perhaps most of all not having the topic of COVID-19 seep into everything else we write about. However for over a year we have collectively witnessed and gone through so much. To proceed now as if none of it ever happened would mean we failed to grow and learn from this experience. What a missed opportunity that would be.That being said, this first issue of the season opens with an atypically high number of obituaries for our publication. Suffolk County Department of Health statistics may say infection numbers on this island have been low, in truth Fire Islanders live in all corners of the country, so the virus actually took away much more. This toll is not exclusively from COVID-19, some may have died of broken hearts, while the pervasive stress may have made others expire a little sooner than their appointed time. We must acknowledge this loss, and pay tribute.This issue also points to glimmers of honest and healthy recovery. Emma Boskovski interviews Tomik Dash, a man of purpose in Cherry Grove seeking to transform the tragic events surrounding George Floyd’s pointless murder and the protests that followed into a more positive energy by organizing the upcoming Juneteenth Weekend on Fire Island. Ocean Beach Columnist Joey Macellaro hints of all the great promise in store as the community celebrates its centennial of village incorporation this year. We also welcome back Kismet columnist Bradlee White who took a hiatus from Fire Island last summer due to the pandemic.In addition we welcome Lucie Lagodich, our newest FIN reporter from Saltaire, who has studied journalism at Lafayette College; as well as congratulate Seaview’s Robert Sherman on his recent elevation from contributing photographer to columnist and editor of our Instagram page – we know some of you have found him there already.Summer 2021 … bring it on!AS EDITOR OF FIRE ISLAND NEWS I have written dozens of Editor’s Window columns by now, but as we stand on this convergence of time where our first issue of the season opens on the cusp the Summer Solstice this for me is a column like none other.Things are certainly less bleak than this time last summer. I look forward to reporting on live gatherings – parades, gala fundraisers – and perhaps most of all not having the topic of COVID-19 seep into everything else we write about. However for over a year we have collectively witnessed and gone through so much. To proceed now as if none of it ever happened would mean we failed to grow and learn from this experience. What a missed opportunity that would be.That being said, this first issue of the season opens with an atypically high number of obituaries for our publication. Suffolk County Department of Health statistics may say infection numbers on this island have been low, in truth Fire Islanders live in all corners of the country, so the virus actually took away much more. This toll is not exclusively from COVID-19, some may have died of broken hearts, while the pervasive stress may have made others expire a little sooner than their appointed time. We must acknowledge this loss, and pay tribute.This issue also points to glimmers of honest and healthy recovery. Emma Boskovski interviews Tomik Dash, a man of purpose in Cherry Grove seeking to transform the tragic events surrounding George Floyd’s pointless murder and the protests that followed into a more positive energy by organizing the upcoming Juneteenth Weekend on Fire Island. Ocean Beach Columnist Joey Macellaro hints of all the great promise in store as the community celebrates its centennial of village incorporation this year. We also welcome back Kismet columnist Bradlee White who took a hiatus from Fire Island last summer due to the pandemic.In addition we welcome Lucie Lagodich, our newest FIN reporter from Saltaire, who has studied journalism at Lafayette College; as well as congratulate Seaview’s Robert Sherman on his recent elevation from contributing photographer to columnist and editor of our Instagram page – we know some of you have found him there already.Summer 2021 … bring it on!
