Islip Town residents brought forth a variety of different comments and concerns during the public speaking portion of the recent Islip Town Board meeting, held on June 11 at Town Hall.

During the meeting, the town board unanimously voted to approve the symbolic renaming of Fawn Drive and Grenadier Lane in East Islip to Nina Cooley Way. The intersecting roads, located in the Country Village neighborhood, is symbolically renamed after Nina Cooley, who founded Amvets Post 18 of East Islip along with her late husband Harold.

Cooley’s grandson, Gary Bodenburg, addressed the town board during the public speaking section to share more about his grandmother’s life and legacy.

After her brother Stevie was drafted during World War II, Cooley aspired to become a participant in Veteran Affairs. She met her husband Harold after his return from duty in the United States Army.

“Nina and her family started a business called Twins Inn that became the first home of what would become Amvets Post 18,” shared Bodenburg. “Nina Cooley founded the Amvets Ladies Auxiliary Post 18 in 1965, becoming the first charter president of the post that would eventually find its home at 141 Carleton Avenue in East Islip.”

Cooley was elected to the Offices of the New York State Historian, New York State Treasurer, and was the youngest New York State Department President of Amvets Ladies Auxiliary in history.

Cooley, who resided in her Fawn Drive residence for over 60 years, will be remembered for all her inspiring efforts to aid local veterans through the symbolic renaming of Fawn Drive and Grenadier Lane.

Also, among those who spoke during the public portion was Madeline Sharrock, the executive director of Keep Islip Clean (KIC). A volunteer-based organization, Keep Islip Clean was founded in 1989 as a certified affiliate of the national organization, Keep America Beautiful. KIC members work to enhance every hamlet within the Town of Islip through litter cleanup, beautification, recycling and education.

Each spring, KIC joins with Keep America Beautiful and participates in the Great American cleanup, the nation’s largest organized community improvement program dedicated toward cleaning up litter-strewn areas and beautifying communities. An active group, Sharrock shared that since March 20, over a thousand volunteers from across the Town of Islip have picked up nearly 20,000 pounds of litter and planted 1,500 plants to beautify our communities.

Sharrock addressed the town board, seeking the town’s support for KIC’s next event, to be held on Tuesday, July 2: a trash mob.

“Think of those videos with dancing and singing flash mobs, but only on this day, individuals, families, community groups, companies, and municipalities are encouraged to get out and pick up as much trash as they can find in 15 minutes at one point during that day,” explained Sharrock. “Now if everyone in the United States did this at the same time and picked up 152 pieces of trash there would be no more trash on the ground for a moment.”