Mineola Holds Inaugural Taste & Styles Event

This past Wednesday night Mineola Village Trustee Lawrence Werther wasn’t in his usual chair on the far left of the dais in . Instead he was home, putting the finishing touches on his tuxedo, while Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Phantom of the Opera” score played in the background.

Werther, along with  and fellow trustees Paul Cusato, George Durham and Paul Pereira had been asked to participate in the inaugural  event, a combination dinner and  at  to help benefit various organizations around the village including the Friends of the, , the , the , , the , Mineola , the Mineola VFW, Mineola American Legion and the , which is headquartered on Willis Avenue.

“Thank you all for coming out here tonight and... supporting the businesses in Mineola,” Strauss said to the crowd which numbered over 200. “This really is a fabulous night and everybody gets to sample the fabulous food that we have here in Mineola and the surrounding local communities.”

Numerous businesses and restaurants also lined the space offering samples of their extensive menus to guests, including , ,, , ,  and more.

“You will never have the opportunity to partake in Mineola’s finest cuisine all in one spot ever again, or at least until next year,”  said, thanking the Mineola Chamber of Commerce “for bringing together all of our businesses, all of our restaurants, our residents for taking in that which is best. No one does it better.”

NBC News personality Lauren Scala, a graduate of , was mistress of ceremonies for the girls’ portion of fashion show, which featured numerous dresses for young ladies and older teens.

“I don’t get to come back as often,” she said, noting that she does enjoy when the station “gets a traffic hit.”

Bill Greene took over emcee duties for a portion of the show featuring furs and leather jackets from , which followed the selection of tuxedos.