FAIR HARBORBy Emily Sunshine BrafmanHello to my Fair Harbor friends and family. I am pleased to be back in the Fire Island News for the second year! I look forward to reporting Fair Harbor’s news, events and of course gossip. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Emily Brafman (formerly Goodman). I have spent every summer of my life on Fire Island and it is my favorite place on earth. I am mommy to Nicky who is eight and a half, and Celia who is seven. Together we spend our summers on Fire Island. On Friday nights, we wait eagerly for the Daddy boat to arrive with my husband, Michael. Our house is a family house that I like to call “Grand Central Station.” My mother and siblings come and go throughout the Summer. My father is the “Fire Island Famous” Kenny Goodman and he is busy at his store in Ocean Beach selling his trademark silver jewelry. He is Pop Pop to my kids and he can be seen in Fair Harbor visiting us often. I am truly looking forward to having you join us on our summer adventures. I will do my best to include news that interests all of my readers and I hope to hear from you if there were something you would like me to add.At this time of year, when homeowners and renters alike make their first trip across the bay and see their Fair Harbor neighbors after a long winter, the most used phrase is, “How was your winter?” Well, I did some of the work for you and I am honored to report many wonderful happenings. The news of beautiful Fire Island babies is my favorite news to report. This year I was surprised to find out that many of my Fire Island friends had babies. So, it seems that if you get pregnant in late August, you can still enjoy a sunset cocktail or perhaps I should say mocckktail without any suspicion of pregnancy. On that note, I am excited to announce that long time Fire Islander Savannah Glazer and her husband, Jon Spagat, welcomed Goldie Clementine Spagat on April 15 at 8:53 p.m. She was 5 pounds, 12 ounces and 18-inches long. John and Carolyn Cucci welcomed their third little girl, Gianna Augusta Cucci, born April 8 weighing in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces. His big sisters, Annalyn and Emma can’t wait to bring their new baby sister to spend her first summer on Fire Island! Grandma Deborah and the whole Cella family are thrilled to announce that Tim and Jill had a beautiful baby girl named Kaia Rose on April 24. She weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces. Honorary member of Fair Harbor, David Mederrick and his wife Nicole, welcomed baby Brooke Skye Mederrick. Gina Goldstein is a grandma once again, this time to Laila Aurora, born on April 5. She joins her big brother Matthew and proud parents Jordan and Ilana. I cannot wait to meet all of these beautiful babies as they make their debuts in Fair Harbor this summer!
We have some babies on the way as well. I’m excited to be an auntie once again as my brother; Andrew Goodman and his wife Danielle will welcome a baby brother for Skyler in October! Ann and Frankie Whitney will become grandparents in November when daughter Cassie and her husband Joe are due with their first child.In Other Winter News:
- Long time FH residents from Holly walk, D.J and Rose Jaffe, are celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in May… Pickles (their dog) officiated for the reaffirmation of their vows.
- Jeff Yapalater is celebrating his twins, Lauren and Alex’s birthday. Alex loves living in Chicago and Lauren in Bushwick. Big brother, Eric Yapalater turns the big 30 in Manhattan.
- Meredith and Josh Davis want to share that their son Jonas is graduating from St. Bernard’s School in Manhattan in June and will be going to Dwight-Englewood school next year for high school. He and his family are very much looking forward to seeing all of their friends for another sweet summer.
- Wendy Mono is proud to announce that her son Josh Ozeri a third generation “Fair Harborite” recently opened CURRENT, a beautiful indoor rowing boutique fitness studio.
Finally, I want to follow up on a story I reported on last summer. Timothy and his family are long time residents of Oak walk. Timothy is autistic and last summer his family set up an online fund to help him get his very own therapy dog. I am happy to announce that they met their goal and Timothy will be bringing home his golden retriever named Sky on August 31. The family has been going up to see his dog once a month. He has a book about Sky that his teacher made him that just makes him smile! We go to ECAD for training in August and Sky will be coming home on August 31!
My first weekend at the beach was just perfect. We got to Fire Island on a rainy Friday evening and woke up to beautiful sunny Saturday. The kids went swimming in the bay and I must say I ended up a bit sun kissed. All of my best friends were on Fire Island and we spent Saturday evening celebrating Mike Roth’s 40th birthday with a BBQ, some cocktails, cake and lots of laughter. Our first sunset of the season did not let us down and though the sky seemed stormy, bold purple and pinks made their way through the clouds and the sky glowed. It was the perfect end to a fantastic evening. Memorial Day is just around the corner and I will have lots to tell you. If you see me, come say hi! Feel free to contact me at fairharbor@fireisland-news.com with your news and events. See you in the sun!
