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LEGISLATIVE  RESOLUTION commemorating the 65th Anniversary of The Colony
Shop of Patchogue, New York

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to take  note  of  and
publicly  recognize  those businesses within the State of New York which
have positively impacted their communities; and
  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its  long-
standing  traditions,  this  Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 65th Anniversary of The Colony Shop of Patchogue, New York, on
Wednesday, March 2, 2011; and
  WHEREAS, The Colony Shop opened on March 2,  1946,  locating  on  Main
Street, where it has remained a fixture of the Village of Patchogue as a
family-owned business for the past 65 years; and
  WHEREAS,  The  store was founded by Eloise Staudinger, who was born in
Northport in 1908; she was raised by her grandfather on a Northport area
farm where she met Booker  T.  Washington,  the  famed  African-American
educator and founder of Alabama's Tuskegee Institute, who was a neighbor
in Fort Salonga; and
  WHEREAS, As a young mother in the mid-1930s, Mrs. Staudinger could not
find  a  baby's  hat  for her daughter, so she opened her first store, a
Greenport knitting shop, which weathered the deadly hurricane  of  1938;
and
  WHEREAS,  After  World War II ended, she moved to Patchogue and opened
The Colony Shop in 1946, in time for the first wave of the post-war Baby
Boom and its demand for children's clothing; and
  WHEREAS, Since its grand opening, The Colony Shop has been known as  a
high-end  place  for  children's  clothing, especially knitted blankets,
hats and sweaters, as well as outfits for christenings  and  communions;
and
  WHEREAS,  The Colony Shop is a true family business; Eloise Staudinger
herself worked at the store for more than 60  years,  until  she  passed
away at the age of 101; and
  WHEREAS, Over the years, other family members have become employees of
the store, including Staudinger's two daughters, Lorice Fiala and Judith
Gueli,  her  granddaughter,  Lori  Belmonte,  and a great-granddaughter,
Jessica; and
  WHEREAS, In addition to a business on Main Street, the owners  of  The
Colony Shop have been active members of the Patchogue community; through
their  efforts,  the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce's beautifica-
tion committee was formed; in recognition of these efforts, the revital-
ized alley on West Main Street has since been dedicated  and  identified
with a large sign as the "Eloise Staudinger Walkway"; and
  WHEREAS, It is with great pleasure that this Legislative Body acknowl-
edges  this  exceptional business and its contributions to the local and
State economies, fully confident that it  will  continue  to  enjoy  the
sparkling successes it has experienced thus far; now, therefore, be it
  RESOLVED,  That  this  Legislative  Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 65th Anniversary of The Colony Shop  of  Patchogue,  New
York; and be it further
  RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to The Colony Shop, Patchogue, New York.