Stories

 

 

 

Amityville Rotarian Stan Newman has been Newsday’s Crossword Editor for 35 years, beginning in 1988. To commemorate the anniversary, on May 18^th, Newsday reporter Joye Brown interviewed Stan during an hour-long Newsday Live Conversation series, a program which several of our members attended.

Stan’s 10,000^th Newsday crossword appeared in 2019 and it is estimated that his Newsday Crosswords’ one millionth clue appeared last month in April 2023.

Since childhood Stan has been a crossword solver and his business was a result of his winning the first United States Open Crossword Championship in 1982. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brooklyn College where he majored in Mathematics and received a master’s degree in statistics from Rutgers University. Before his current career, he was a college teacher, consumer market researcher and Wall Street Bond analyst.

As a puzzle author, Stan has had his work appear regularly under his name and the pseudonyms Sally R. Stein, Anna Stiga and Lester Ruff. He holds the world’s record for the fastest verified completion of a New York Times crossword: 2 minutes, 14 seconds.

In 1990, Stan fulfilled his lifelong dream of appearing as a contestant on a TV game show. During his three weeks of appearances on “The Challengers,” hosted by Dick Clark, his cash winnings totaled $112,000. Stan is the author or editor of more than 200 of his own books and has organized and conducted scores or puzzle and trivia events nationwide, including seminars at the Smithsonian Institution and the first crossword tournament ever held at Yale University.

Stan and his wife Marlene live in Amityville and South Florida. They have three grown children.

 

 

Being the proud sponsors of Amityville Little League, Coach Joe Morin and a group of club members watched as 

Club President Kevin Battcher had the honor of throwing out the first ball of the 2023 Season.

What a wet, gray and windy day October 1st was! The tent was set up and the apples were delivered from upstate NY. But the ground was soggy and a continual drizzle spelled "dreary." However, thanks to Dr. Edward Fale, Superintendent of the Amityville School District, we (and our vendors and service organizations) were able to set up in the large cafeteria inside the Park Avenue Schools. Meanwhile, more thanks went out to all those who posted on Facebook that our event was being held inside the building and much gratitude is given to Wendy O'Neill, Assistant to the Mayor - on the day before, she sent out an e-bulletin from Mayor Siri to Village residents that our event would go on under shelter. So, all in all, it was a success! Shown here are photos of Friday evening's prep work and the event itself.

Upper Left: Donelle Cronin (far left)is Amityville rotary Club's newest member!!!

Our Club helped to provide gifts to families who might otherwise have had a bleak Christmas. Club members shopped for a gift for each family member, while Rotarian Elves Michele, Caroline, Connie (the three shown in the photo) & Jo wrapped everything at what's become "our workshop", Michele's Southside Florist. In order to respect the privacy of the families, Jo dropped the beautifully wrapped gifts at the school where Pupil Personnel Assistant Patti Doht worked diligently to coordinate our efforts!