Here’s what you need to know for the week ahead in Riverhead

Twenty years ago, there was a change at the helm of the Riverhead Community Awareness Program. This week in 1999, Felicia Scocozza was introduced as the new executive director of the Riverhead-based nonprofit whose mission is to prevent alcohol and substance abuse among Riverhead youth.

Scocozza is only the second executive director the organization has ever had. She followed Mary Lundberg in the post, when Lundberg, CAP’s first executive director, retired. Lundberg had served in that position for nearly 20 years, since the early 1980s.

Riverhead CAP board president at the time, Nancy Binger, joined the Riverhead Town Board in honoring Lundberg at the board’s Nov. 16, 1999 meeting. “Right from CAP’s infancy to the mature state that exists today, Mary has nurtured this organization as if it were one of her own children,” Binger said.

“Being a certified social worker, she understood the need for children to be able to seek help and talk to someone so that they may flourish,” Binger said, according to the town board meeting minutes. “It was Mary who wrote grants that now enable CAP to provide free social workers in our schools. She also realized that students needed the skills to prevent drug abuse so under Mary’s direction the substance abuse prevention program administered to fourth- and fifth-graders in our schools by peer leaders and adults,” Binger said.

Lundberg thanked the town board for its support of CAP over the years and introduced her successor, in whom she expressed great confidence.

Scocozza, who like Lundberg, is a licensed MSW, has grown the organization over the past 20 years to include more social workers who work in Riverhead schools to educate children about the dangers of substance abuse and help them avoid substance use of all kinds. Under her leadership, CAP has established the Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth which partners with community members, businesses, health care providers and government agencies to prevent drug use and underage drinking and smoking.

Like her predecessor, Scocozza is a tireless advocate for the health and safety of Riverhead’s youth.

Coming up this week:

Monday is Veterans Day, a federal holiday set aside for honoring our nation’s military veterans. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the holiday. Riverhead Town’s Combined Veterans Committee will hold a ceremony at the World War I Memorial on the corner of West Main Street and Court Street at 11 a.m. Calverton National Cemetery’s Veterans Day ceremony begins at 1 p.m. See story.

If you’re a caregiver to someone you love, you won’t want to miss the Caregiver’s Retreat at Peconic Bay Medical Center on Tuesday. The program starts at 9 a.m. and includes a resource fair, brunch, a panel discussion and a meditation and relaxation session.

Residents are invited to participate in a community forum on downtown design on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. The forum will be held at the Riverhead Human Resource/Senior Center at 60 Shade Tree Lane in Aquebogue.

It’s a full moon Tuesday night. Group for the East End is hosting a full moon walk and a reading of “Moonglow” Tuesday might from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Downs Farm Preserve in Cutchogue.

Thursday’s an opportunity to get your pet spayed or neutered at low cost, sponsored by Talmage Farm Agway. The Riverhead store’s low-cost spay and neuter clinic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 14. A second clinic is planned for Thursday, Dec. 12. Services are available by appointment only; call or text 631-566-8870 to schedule. The fees are: Dog spay (up to 65 lbs.), $125 to $200; dog neuter (up to 70 lbs.), $120 to $165; cat spay, $65; cat neuter, $50; vaccines, $25 to $37; wellness exams, $40; and microchipping, $35.

Public meetings this week:

Tuesday, Nov. 12

• Riverhead Town Recreation Advisory Committee, 5:30 p.m., Riverhead Town Hall
• Riverhead Board of Education meeting, 7 p.m., Riverhead H.S.
• Wading River Fire District meeting, 7 p.m., Wading River FD headquarters
• Farmland Committee, 7 p.m., Riverhead Town Hall

Wednesday, Nov. 13

• Senior Citizen Advisory Council, 10 a.m., Riverhead Town Hall

Thursday, Nov. 14

• Town Board work session, 10 a.m., Riverhead Town Hall
• Community Forum on Downtown Design, 6:30 p.m., Shade Tree Lane center

In case you missed it

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