Episode 3 - "Doing Good" Radio Show - Featuring Riverhead's Jim Wooten

In Ep. 3, Sal Mangano sits down with Jim Wooten, Riverhead Town Clerk and Family Service Assistant at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home, for a heartfelt conversation about public service, community support, and making a difference in the lives of local families.

Jim shares his journey from public office to funeral service, reflecting on the values that guide his work and the deep connections he’s built across the East End of Long Island.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share our YouTube channel @ManganoFamilyFoundation to help us continue highlighting those who are truly Doing Good and visit our website at https://www.manganofamilyfoundation.com/

#ManganoFamilyFoundation #ManganoFamilyFuneralHomes #DoingGood #MyCountry961 #JimWooten #GivingBack #radioshow #RiverheadNY #LongIsland

https://www.manganofamilyfoundation.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station, JVC Broadcasting Management, or its sponsors.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

We're here with Sal Mangano, who's the president of Mangano Family Funeral Homes, and our special guest today is Riverhead Town Clerk Jim Wooten, who also serves as a family services assistant at Tudhill Mangano Funeral Home. Jim and Sal, thanks for joining us today. Thank you very much for having us. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

All right. So, Jim, you were elected as Riverhead Town Clerk in 2023 after serving three terms as Riverhead Councilman. Uh so obviously you love Riverhead. You're a multi-generational uh Riverhead resident, and your family's been there for a long time. So tell us about why you why you love Riverhead and and talk about why you you know you chose politics and being an elected official.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

Well, I think it comes down to just the history of the Riverhead. I mean, I my mother was born there, my grandmother was born there, so actually I was raised in Riverhead, and I knew Riverhead, you know, sixty years ago when it was quite a little smaller than it is today. But I became a police officer as a young kid and spent twenty-five years doing that. Um I don't find politics I f as you know is I I think is community service, really. Being a politician is one to serve the community in the best way that you can. And so I took that avenue um when I retired from the police department. And then of course I my part-time job uh on the night was working at the at the local funeral home, which uh I enjoy doing that. I enjoyed the interaction with the families. And uh then when I retired as a uh town councilman, I turned myself out. Um Sal, who was uh recently purchased the the title uh funeral home, um asked if I would stay on. And we became very good friends, and I saw his involvement in the community and his investment in the community, and it was a nice fit for me. So I stayed with him, and then the opportunity came to run for town clerk where I could serve the town again, and I did that, and that's where we are today.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

That's great. And and so what are some of the things? So you were uh you know town councilman for twelve years? Twelve years, yeah, from town country. And so what were some of the things you went you enjoyed about that position and well we did a we did a lot of work.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

The master plan had just come in, um, so it was a lot of rezoning going on. Um there was a lot of uh community um where we had the uh money come in from the uh the two percent tax for uh land preservation and buying up farms and trying to create that atmosphere north of Route 58, you know, the agricultural uh shift that we did. Um and of course I I got more involved in the politics of it as far as the community. So I created dog parks and we I created legislation for telephone poles that were broken that had to be replaced, and I put really put Verizon on the on the on the shopping block to get that fixed. So there was a lot of th little things like that I did behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Um Riverhead is such a wonderful community, it's very diverse constituencies you have to work with from you know farmers, you know, to business people, and you know, it's really an amazing community.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

And it's a growing community, and yeah, and now we're going through a big renaissance, of course, with this town square project that's gonna be really changed the whole face of Riverhead. Um through uh our community development, uh we were able to secure over twenty-four million dollars in grants, which was for acquisition of land and creation of a town square, uh a parking garage, and there's just so many moving parts to it. But you know, we're gonna be breaking ground very shortly, probably in the next month or two. It's probably a five-year plan, but it's gonna change the entire face of Main Street. So we're looking forward to that. It's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Yeah, and I think you you did, you know, uh almost the impossible, which was really preserving the beauty of Riverhead, the traditions, the history, while recognizing, understanding that things need to advance and move forward.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Well and right, the balancing of you know, with all the open space that we preserved, over 7,000 acres, that had to be balanced off with commercial growth, of course. You have to balance the the pods. So, of course, 58 became Route 58, which is a big commercial district for us. Um and so we had to balance that off with what's north of 58, which is all the farmland and the wineries and the buffalo farms. And I mean, it it's a nice balance. And I mean, if you go one or two blocks off of Route 58, which are our main corridor on the on the uh north side, it's pure beautiful. And it's just an absolute beautiful, and that's never that will never change. So you have to balance that. And then the we have the school district, which has its own its own problems, um, which we're helping them with that, but that's their own little government. But we have a big influx in our community. Um I think Riverhead's probably one of the fastest Spanish communities in town. In fact, our our elementary schools are over 70% Spanish. So we're looking to hire um additional interpreters and stuff. I'm hiring one in my office starting next week just to help us with that, to bridge that gap and to try to really address that need in our community as well. That's great. That's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

And um, you know, so you were in councilman for twelve years, and now you're back in Riverhead as town clerk. Town clerk. Um talk a little bit about what the town clerk does. I know if I need a dog license and a marriage license in the same day, I go to you. Right. Um, but as long as you're not marrying your dog, it's a good shape.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Yes, no. It's really it's uh the town clerk's main job is is to uh secure the records and keep records, whether it's vital records, whether it's birth certificates, death certificates, or marriage certificates, dog licenses, fishing licenses. That's the day-to-day stuff that we do. But there's more. I create agendas, um uh issue local laws that are voted on, they have to go to the state, um, oath of offices, uh marriage official. There's a lot of moving parts to it. Most of it is just record retention and record keeping, really. Gotcha. And that's um so that's a f is that a four-year term that you're a four-year term. Is there term limits on that? There is not, but I I think that the governor um in New York is trying to move everything to even years. Um now Riverhead passed a resolution to pull a home rule to keep elections on the odd year, and we lost that. So now we're we're filing an appeal in Supreme Court to see if we can get that overturned. Um my first year is a four-year term, and if we can't get that overturned, then my second term would be a three-year term. So until everything goes on the even years. I sort of like the odd years, to be honest with you. I think local politics and local people running for office really is a an a a community thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

It's not doesn't get lost in the shuffle then.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

You absolutely get lost in the shuffle. I mean, nobody you want to pick a president for the United States, why why do you have to go all the way down to the you know, six hundred names to find what you're doing in local level, you know, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yeah, and it's also going to cost a lot more money to try and run campaigns to try and get your message out there, that's true.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Right, right. Yeah. And a local level, and a lot of times party line doesn't really play too much of a line in a local level. Um, it's really your ideas and where you stand on issues locally.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah. Listen, there's an old adage, there's no Republican or Democrat way to pick up the garbage, right? That's true. I mean, it's it's it's really hyper-local, people are high touch and know their local elected officials.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

I mean, when you come there with local politics, it's about what you can do for the community and how you would make it better, or you know, it really is it's a whole different level than uh the national, I'll be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

And you and you really have dedicated you know your entire life to public service. And talk to us a little bit about you know your time as a police officer, how you you went into that. I think you were also was PBA president or I was.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

I spent most of my uh about twelve years uh as on on the PBA president and vice president. I kept going back and forth with the president who we I was vice and he was president, and then he was vice and I was president. So we went back and forth and back and forth. Um yeah, that was just about looking after the the the rank and file, you know, trying to get decent um you know, salaries and and benefits and you know, looking at the long run for the police officers. Um I'm I'm trying to think I I I I became a police officer only because I wanted to help somebody. I when I was young, I was like 20 years old, a friend of mine died in a really bad car crash, and um and it was because of drug-related at the time. I mean it was the 70s, I mean who wasn't, but um so I really decided I was gonna, you know what, I want to do something about that. And my career took a lot of different changes. I was a patrolman, and then I was a footman, and then I I actually went into the East End Drug Task Force, became an undercover police officer, did a lot of work with um drug interdiction and drug buys, then I did a street crime unit, and then and then as I got older I got and ended up being in property and Evan is in court and all that stuff. So I mean I think I've touched everything. I was probably forest gump of Rivet Police Department. There's not much I didn't do in the police department, but uh the PBA president was a was a big deal for me, really.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

And how and how about how big is large is the police department in River?

SPEAKER_03 9:50

Well when I was when I was PBA, I retired almost 20 years ago. Um, there was 84 members. Now there's 100 members. Wow. Our current supervisor, uh uh Tim Hubbard, made it his mission because he was a retired police officer as well. He did 32 years, so he did like 10 years more than me. And he knew the need. You know, there was a study done maybe 15 years ago that said that 100 man was uh what we needed in a in a town the size of Riverhead, and we never got it. So unfortunately, well not unfortunate well, I'm glad he did. I mean, we built it up to a hundred men or women, a hundred officers. And uh but it it cost us, you know, it cost us uh the tax rate. You know, we had to bust the cap last year to do that. But in the long run, I mean I maybe I'm talking out of school, but I think the only thing the government has to provide is safety and security. So of all our tax dollars that we put into all these different things, that's the main thing for me. Because people the the residents really demand it. You know, they want to feel secure, they want somebody to answer crime and help and all that. So it's the only thing that government should be funding. I mean, without a doubt. All the other things we can look at, but that's the main thing for me.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Yeah, and it's nice that, you know, I know that the the town, you know, has such a great reputation in terms of you know working with other law enforcement agencies and our district attorney and our sheriff, and I think now for the first time in a long time, there's a lot of cooperation out there amongst all different agencies and levels of government, so it's nice to be. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Well, Riverhead's still a township, but I mean we we depend on the county for their homicide detectives and their uh crime labs and their um you know all of that. So and there's there's a working relationship with the the county as well as the state, actually, with that too.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

And so, you know, running for political office obviously is not for everybody. And um, you know, you kind of put yourself out there and probably at times saying, Oh my gosh, what did I get myself into? Um, but what kind of drove you to to run for office the first time?

SPEAKER_03 11:53

I I I really think it was in fact I know it was, it was my my wanting to serve the people of Raven. I mean, there was not one particular issue that I was up on, but this goes back to, let's see, nine well 1996 the town was gifted the Grumman property, which is Epcal, which is a 3,000-acre land up there in Calverton. And for almost 10 years, the town and they hired, you know, they got a committee together and they're gonna look at economics, they're gonna look at development. Nothing ever happened. So I remember my very first speech running for office was I think we've got to do something with Epcal because we've got to uh not only give the economics that we need, but we have to create jobs, we have to do all this, and that per you know, the property is perfect for it. And that's what I ran for in 2007. Um here we are fast forward to it still sitting there, but you know, it is what it is. I mean, but um that was my big thing to try to do something with that cow to create a nice uh future for the town of Raven, really.

unknown 12:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

I remember that election, one of the best uh slogans in politics, rooting for Wooten. I remember I remember it. I still use that actually. I use it this past this bit. Yeah. It's a Long Island politics museum as one of the uh Yeah, rooting for Wooten.

SPEAKER_03 13:17

And then people have uh taken a pun on that too with saying other tootons and but I won't tell you what they came up with.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

And um I know you know part of your you know career, you know, and just you know the what your personality and your reputation is really like rooted in volunteerism and the local community. And I know part of your um bio, you know, that um you're you know 50 years serving as a trustee and deacon in the first congregational church. That's still a big part of my life. Yeah, talk a little bit about that and why it's important, you know, to give back to local community on the volunteer level and and you know, well, because some you know everybody has talents and everybody has gifts and everybody has a desire to serve, I really believe that.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

But I was unfortunately when I was 10 years old, my father passed away at 42 years old and left, you know, I had five brothers, so left my mother alone. And a a young pastor at that church visited our house, and I became a member of that church when I was like 11. And I've been there ever since. Um but uh throughout my teenage years running a youth group and then moving into adulthood and becoming a deacon. Um and then actually when I got into the police department and started doing the drug interdiction, and there was a lot of problems in Riverhead. Crack the crack hit Riverhead in 1988 is when it hit Riverhead, and we lost a whole generation to that. But during this time in the church, we were doing food pantries and giving out food. Then I'd be doing drug interdictions in an area of Riverhead, and I'd see our food going there being traded off for drugs. So I was like, well, this is no good. So then we decided to create a soup kitchen where we feed people. So now people come to this day. We have almost 400 people a week to come to get food. Wow. You know, Monday, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we give out meals. So and that helps out a lot. So we feel better giving food. But that whole volunteerism it comes down to um pretty much who I move uh the circles I move in are all people that that give back to their community. You know, see I belong to Townscape, which runs the country fair and it does the summer concert series, and and so I've I've coordinated those um with a lot of help from Sal, by the way. Um it's just a way to I'm just so involved. I I mean Sal will tell you when whenever I I work at the funeral home, there's very rarely a family comes in that I don't know somebody in that family. You know, and it comes from you know 65 years being in the in the town. Um I've seen it change, but I I just I think giving back to your community and it just makes it home. You know, no matter how big the community grows, it makes it home. And there's so many volunteer organizations in Raved between the Anti-Litter Committee and the, you know, my gosh, there's just I can't even I didn't even make a list of all the volunteer committees that we have in Raved, but um there's plenty to do, and it's just fun to give back.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, and it's it's it's so important, you know, and um yeah, that's one of the things, you know, with Sal and the Family Foundation is you know, they're they're so ingrained and involved in the local communities that they serve. And that's you know, really one of the goals about putting on, you know, like a show like this is to, you know, highlight those opportunities.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

I could say something about Sal and Nut because he's sitting near me, but I can tell you when he purchased Tuttles and I was there, I I could not believe he didn't just give to he became a part of the community. I mean, he did not only did he run a shredding event, once or twice a year, every year, something that was unheard of. I had the summer concert series I used to run every summer, like eight concerts in the in the park. He'd say, How can I help? He'd sponsor a band, he'd he'd give out giveaways, he was always there. The very first time we had a Halloween um uh fest, there was a coffin race. Well, guess who sponsored all of it? You did. Out of the blue. And they didn't ask him. He said, How can I help? And he reached out to the coordinator and says, I'd like to give I'd like to give out prizes. And and so he actually adopted Riverhead and uh and he makes it part of his life. And I I realize he has three locations, but I don't think he everyone is important to him. But uh we certainly appreciate all he's done for Riverhead for sure, with all the things he's done.

SPEAKER_04 17:45

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

It's true, and you continue to do. And it's not just, you know, um, you know, when you go and you know ask for assistance, you know, Sal and his family and the funeral homes are always saying, What can we do to be helpful? How can we get involved? What what do you need from us? And that's something that makes you know Sal and his family and the foundation so special. Yeah. Is that they're very proactive in their involvement in the community.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

Right. And you know, I realize it's it's a funeral business, but they understand people and they understand, you know, uh how to make things. I mean, you just you how to make things better. I mean, you run the Christmas drive that you do and the Thanksgiving drive, and I can't even begin. All the things I probably don't even know about. Involved in Rotary. I mean, all the things he's done um and continue to do. And if you ever drive down Main Street and you look at his home, Tuttle Man Gano Funeral Home, it's beautiful. The plantings and the flowers and thank you very much. I know I used to work there. I used to, can you get out and wipe the railings? Yeah, but whatever. You know, so you get a chance, can you pull the weeds? But whatever. I mean, he cares about the community, he cares about the impression that he gives. It's good. It's really good.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

So yeah, and Sal, you want to if you want to talk a little about, you know, Riverhead and you know your involvement there and Riverhead's a beautiful community.

SPEAKER_04 19:01

Um it's uh it's a growing community. Uh they're um I believe they're changing for the better now. Um there's a little period of time where uh they were like a little bit stagnant, but now um Jim and the the rest of the board, they're just uh you know doing all the right things in the community. And it's uh you know, it's a great place. Um a lot of families moving out there if they like to, you know, um, you know, it's a place for families to to grow and you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

It's a great area. Yeah, and they're creating more opportunity, more small business opportunities, and you know, with more housing and more development. Well that that's in a in a positive manner on the right way.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

Because I remember people were saying, oh, Main Street's uh, you know, but you know what, uh shopping trends changed in the early 80s, late 70s. People weren't going to mom and pop stores. They were going, you know, my mother had five kids, she's not gonna go down to you know a local shoe store and spend $200 on shoes, she's gonna go to Tama Cannes, or she's gonna go to Favor, or she's gonna. That's the way it was. People are gonna go to Grants, or then it became Woolco, or became Caldor, or whatever, and then became Walmart, whatever it is. That's what people were doing. So those trends all changed. And now I'm afraid, you know, go ahead a decade from now, where 58 is all these big stores, people are doing all online stuff now. So I'm I'm the town's gonna have to get ahead of the curve there to find out what we're gonna do with 58 down the road when all of a sudden some of these bigger stores are saying, oh, you know what? So we're gonna have to maybe look at some creative zoning along 58 to take that place when that happens. But but they're always trying to stay ahead. And Main Street is gonna be really a place to come, see a show, maybe, maybe hang out near the river, do some fishing, playground, have a couple drinks. I it's good to be a really a nice place to to gather with your family, there's no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

No, that's that's uh that's fantastic. And um, you know, I know the the fan the foundation has been you know very busy, you know, recently, Sal, I know, supported, you know, Middle Island Caring for Kids and Little Flower Children and Family Services. We went out there, did a big donation for Easter, yes, uh, which was uh you know very well received. I know you do a lot of work with Middle Island Caring for Kids.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

And the the pastor across the street, uh he's a great guy, Pastor Joe Lecce and his wife, great family. Um he was an educator in Longwood for quite some time. And um in his retirement, uh he's focused more uh in the church. And as a great um great community partner.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Yeah, and I think we're uh speaking of Longwood, I think you have your scholarship uh night coming up where you're participating in.

SPEAKER_04 21:42

We do, yes. Is this the first year? No, this is probably the uh 15th, 14th year. Wow. Yes. Oh my gosh. That's fantastic. We have five scholarships for each of the uh fire departments uh in Longwood community, so Ridge, Middle Island, Yap Pink, Coram, and Gordon Heights.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, that's fantastic. And you work with each of the at the you do it interesting way. Um so you work with the local fire department, team up with them, and then they choose the recipient.

SPEAKER_04 22:09

Correct, yes. It's uh either um a member of the junior or a member of the fire department or a family member uh of the fire department who has a child that's graduating and going to college. And is it um a set amount for each scholarship? Each uh fire department that's a thousand dollar uh scholarship for each uh uh recipient from the fire department. In the past, some fire departments have split it uh where two recipients each get $500. Um other uh years it's just been one recipient. This year we have five recipients uh out of the out of all five departments. Five thousand dollar wow, that's very generous, very nice.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah, that makes that makes a big difference, that helps. Yeah, we've got to start a c scholarship for uh you know junior clerk in training or something.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Uh so there you go. You didn't know you had to uh make more investments during this uh radio show. Okay. Um that that but that's uh fantastic. I know at you know you had your shredding events recently.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

We have, and Astor Jim helped us out and uh his daughter Olivia. Um there was a great, great turnout this year um in Riverhead. Um every every year it's uh been a great turnout.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

Um people actually call they call town, they've been calling town hall. They call town hall. Well you do not I said it's not us doing it, it's Tuttle Mangano. Uh we'll partner with them and we certainly you know put on our board and some people know that it's there, but they think it's a town event. That's that's how well it's received. It's actually it's actually Mangano family.

SPEAKER_01 23:37

Yeah, that's great. You know, that's and people look forward to that, you know, and now once you start, you know, the people on an annual basis look forward to it. And between that and uh, you know, the Toys for Tots, you know, you started to do more engagement, I think, in Riverhead this year too. Yes, yes. You know, which is great.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

It's great, great uh Toys for Tots is a great organization. Um, you know, all the toys are donated right to the you know, the Marine Corps picks them up and then they donate them to kids in need, which is amazing. And um the Toys for Tots, they stay in the community, you know, basically they stay on Long Island.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yeah. And I know that I know that which is you know super important because I believe from one of the uh things that we were told that you know was actually overall in terms of the Toys for Tots donations on Long Island, they were a little less than they thought, you know, in terms of the actual donation. So, you know, getting involved, you know, being able to promote and get the community to give back is is so important. But that's great. Thank you. Jim, I wanna I want to I want to, you know, you police officer, councilman, clerk, you know, obviously, you know, you you found a way to kind of work with everybody, right? Diverse constituencies, cross-party lines. I'm I'm I'm just curious, like from your experience and your approach, you know, and your involvement in the community, you know, talk a little bit about leadership and how to work with people. I think that's so important in today's day, you know, with things are so polarizing. You know, how do you kind of rise above all of that?

SPEAKER_03 25:03

I I do, and I and I really don't I don't draw the line in the sand, you know what I mean? It's people it all comes down to sometimes listening more than talking. You know, I listen to people all the time. And that all the time I'm not listening, I'm not formulating my rebuttal. I'm just listening to what they have to say. I thought, well, that's you know, I let them have their say. I might not agree with them, but I'm not gonna argue with them either, you know. So um, and they it it's a mutual respect type of thing. You know, everybody has feelings, and we're all innately the same when it comes to what our desires are and our our needs are as as a family and as a people, but our politics sometimes can get muddy, come muddy the waters. So you gotta you gotta let that go. You know, I I don't there's been some pretty heated debates in my house too, but but it it it's we keep that private. But in a public life, you you you really can't do that. You gotta be willing to listen and you don't have to agree, but you have to be respectful. So that's how that's how I've always done it. I've always, you know, maybe from being a police officer. You know, if you treat your yourself the way like everybody's listening to what you have to say, and everybody's watching your every move. So if you govern yourself with that attitude, then you you temper your yourself. You you make yourself a better person, right? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Yeah. So that's how I do it. No, that's great. And then you know the the town clerk's office. How big is that office do you have?

SPEAKER_03 26:34

I have two wonderful staff members. I have a deputy town clerk, Vanessa Lacan, and I have a senior uh clerk, um, Carol De Vecchio. There's two full-time clerks, and I just hired a part-time Spanish interpreter clerk who's going to start in two weeks. Um, and I'm looking forward to that. So, yeah, just three of us in the office, really. Oh, okay. And we get it done well. You know, I I talked to other clerks in the town that have much bigger staff. Of course, Ken, you know, has I don't know four or five hundred people in his office, I guess, but I don't know what that is. But we yeah, that we do everything. It's not it's not I'll I'll jump up from the desk and come help you with your dog license. You know, I'm not above any of that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

That's uh great. And so, you know, I know you're you work at you know the funeral home at Top Hill Mangano funeral home. Well, I worked there for four four years full-time.

SPEAKER_03 27:25

Um, and then you know, I still have the occasion to go and help out and uh work maybe work at a a wake service or a prayer service. Um it's it's in my blood, and it's it's just the interaction with the family. You know, we've all gone through loss, every one of us. We've lost something we care about. So those feelings are real, and and so I I I like that interaction with the families, and um so that's that's why I'll probably never I'll never stop doing it, really, unless you throw me out.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_03 27:56

There's all the funeral problems. But no, no, yeah, I do like that. I appreciate that Sal gave me the opportunity. We appreciate all your help. And when I retired, he's a from the when I turned myself out of the office, he goes, Come on, come work for me. You know, so it was nice. It was a way I could I could keep in touch with the community, you know, because you're seeing community families every day. Um so I think that helped too a little bit. But I would then go to the wayside, you know. So the public knows me, and they know my name, and maybe it's because of the rooting for Wootin, for kidding. But they know the name and they and oh I know you, I know you, so that's great.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

And um, so you know, with the with with Total Mangano funeral home, I know it's such a you know bedrock of the local community and the Mangano family who you know runs that does such a fantastic job. Sal, if somebody wants to get in touch with any of your funeral homes, what's the best way for them to do that?

SPEAKER_04 28:50

The best number to reach us on is uh 631-586-3600. And that uh that one number uh is the main number, and you can we can they can be reaching any uh any time at that number.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Gotcha. And you know, I know also like pre-pan pre-planning is such an important topic these days and a tool that many people should really consider as part of their state planning, even. Um how do they get in touch with you on that?

SPEAKER_04 29:16

You could uh reach us at the same number, 631-586-3600. We're a member of the pre-plan, which is the New York State Funeral Directors Association's uh pre-planning um uh investment uh tool.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

Gotcha. All right. Thank you, Sal Mangano, Mangano Family Funeral Homes, Mangano Family Foundation, Jim Wooten, we're rooting for you always. Thank you, Riverhead Tech. Thank you folks for joining us today. Thank you. Take care. Take care for that.