Who's Who in East Meadow: Bill Alderman

What do you do for a living?  I sell electronics (cameras, camcorders and photo equipment) mail order for Cameta Camera in Amityville. We were rated number one, which I have a large hand in. I also am the field liaison for the Long Island Lizards professional lacrosse team, a job I got because of my son’s connections to the team and the sport of lacrosse.

How are you involved with East Meadow? I have served on the PTA and in EMPAC (East Meadow Parents of Athletes Committee) when my son was in school there. I was very involved with the school board in the past too, especially when our teachers had no contracts. Currently I am an active member of the East Meadow Community Patrol, a program run by Legis. Norma Gonsalves, R-East Meadow, which I do often.

I am a friend of the East Meadow Public Library, a member of East Meadow CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and a supporter of the I was a youth sport coach at East Meadow Little League in the past, but now I am a youth sport coach for the fifth, sixth and seventh graders at East Meadow PAL Lacrosse and East Meadow summer lacrosse team. I am a member of the and the parking lot supervisor during the high holidays, making things easy and safe for the handicapped and elderly residents who attend. Plus I write a blog for the best online news service in the world, the East Meadow Patch.

What’s the best thing about East Meadow? The best thing is the East Meadowans (or East Meadowites) themselves. Recently, my nephew needed money for a liver transplant operation in Ohio and my neighbors and the residents came through like we were all one big caring family. The second best thing is the school personnel.

How did you end up in East Meadow? That is actually a funny story. Fifteen years ago my wife saw an ad in the Canarsie Courier, a local Brooklyn paper. The ad was for an up-and-coming, diverse, caring community — full of modern amenities (like restaurants, shopping, businesses, park, public pool) in a rural type setting with quality schools and public servants that was looking for young families to come in and take the place of the long time residents were moving to the new neighborhood assisted living complex.

We called the number in the ad and met with residents at the temple, library and diner over time and found the ad to be true. We also met Mario Taub, who would become our real estate agent and he treated us strangers like an extended loving family and helped us live the life we always dreamed of. It reminded me of my parents' childhood neighborhood and I knew this is where I wanted to raise my family and spend 30 or more years.

What do you do for fun? For fun I spend time with my wife and son all over Long Island and read comic books (tons of them). For enjoyment I hang out and watch real sports at local pubs and work with the Long Island Lizards.  And to relax, I go upstate to a farm in the heart of the Catskill Mountains and fish and spend time with ducks, chicks, alpacas and other animals.

Tell me about your family. Do you have any children or grandchildren? I have a beautiful and smart doctor wife, who is probably the hardest working woman on the planet. I have one amazing 21-year-old son who will one day soon become a teacher and I could not be any prouder of. And a fantastic semi-stepson, who I was the legal guardian of for a few years before he grew up and moved to Queens.

He has a sweet fiancé, that is like a daughter-in–law to me and I am step grandfather to her 17-year-old brilliant son (from her first marriage) and grandfather to their 1-year-old darling of a boy. They visit our East Meadow home often. Both my parents have passed on, but a day does not go by that I do not think of them.

What are your favorite places in East Meadow? Favorite places to hang out are (the bands on Friday night like Carman Avenue are top shelf). The , and the ball fields at .

Favorite places to eat... for great Italian food, for Chinese food, for Meat n’tatos and the for everything else that fills my big belly

Finish this sentence. You know you’re from East Meadow when… You rush to help those in need of assistance, regardless of your individual needs (or personal safety).

If you could change one thing about East Meadow what would that be? The traffic. I would try to make Hempstead Turnpike safer with more police officer presence. I would have the police give tickets to the residents who park in the ‘No Stopping Zones” alongside the Barnum Woods school to drop off and pick up their kids from there.