Through a series of unique circumstances, Ellen Degeneres came to Glen Cove last month to attend a fundraiser for the Glen Cove Youth Bureau at North Country Reform Temple. The visit began through the RSVP initiative Ms. Degeneres launched on her television program and through its website so that she could attend one event when she visited New York. Jane Launer, whose father-in-law, Lee Launer, is the Glen Cove Youth Board vice chair, sent an invitation to Ms. Degeneres and through a series of on-air phone calls, Ellen selected the Casino Night fundraiser. FULL STORY

Glen Cove Mayor Mary Ann Holzkamp joined fellow Long Island elected officials last month for Vision Long Island's 2004 Smart Growth Summit in Huntington. Mayor Holzkamp was a featured speaker during a plenary discussion of the summit's theme, "Setting the Standard." The mayor described how the City of Glen Cove has set the standard for smart growth with the location of Avalon Bay apartments in the city's downtown, the economic upswing of the downtown and the revitalization/development of the city's waterfront. Glen Cove CDA director Cara Longworth described the city's waterfront project during a workshop highlighting emerging developments in Nassau County. FULL STORY

The weekend of November 19 was an exciting one for girls swimming in New York State. Section VIII hosted the Girls Swimming New York State Championship meet at Eisenhower Park. Representing Glen Cove High School in her finest moment was junior Elizabeth Goldson, who stood on the first place award block twice that weekend. However, two gold medals was not all she earned. Elizabeth was named an automatic All-American in her two events by the end of the day on Friday. It was music to Nassau County ears as Elizabeth was the first swimmer at the New York State Championships of 2004 to earn this prestigious achievement. Elizabeth swam the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events. She was the obvious leader in the 200 freestyle in both the preliminary and final rounds. In the 500 free, Elizabeth and Whitney Sprague (Elizabeth's old friend and swim rival from Westchester County) fought out the 20-lap swim giving coaches and spectators a breathtaking event to watch. Elizabeth paced herself against Whitney for 16 of the 20 laps, and in the last 100 yards turned up the speed to finish in first place with a time of 4:50. FULL STORY

The annual North Shore High School Football and Cheerleaders Dinner was held recently at the middle school. It was an exciting and emotional evening. FULL STORY