For A Second Time, The Islanders Surprise And Delight Farmingdale

Kevin Grogan gazed out at his front lawn in Farmingdale, N.Y., filled Friday afternoon with family, friends and strangers to whom he’d just offered food and drink.

“It’s kind of like small-market, big-market,” Grogan said. “You have really savvy sports fans, but it’s an Island thing.”

Grogan was referring to the New York Islanders, but it was an appropriate summation of the area they — and he — call home.

Minutes earlier, Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky surprised Grogan’s 15-year-old son Dan — who just finished undergoing treatment for cancer — by presenting he and his family tickets to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, which is slated for Thursday night at UBS Arena.

Dan Grogan — who also received a jersey with his name on the back as well as a game-used stick from right winger Cal Clutterbuck, who learned about Grogan’s battle before selecting a stick to give to him — said his parents told him Friday morning they’d pull him out of school early so he could be home in time for a surprise visit.

“I see family coming and family I don’t see as often, so I’m like ‘What’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that leads to this?’” Dan Grogan said. “I couldn’t think of it at all. But then I see the Islanders truck and I kind of got an idea.”

The Farmingdale stop was the fourth of the day for Ledecky, who further solidified his reputation as the New York area’s most visible and outgoing owner by crisscrossing the Island — starting in Merrick and heading east to Holbrook and Kings Park before returning westward to Farmingdale and eventually Massapequa — giving out playoff tickets and Islanders merchandise to families enduring difficult times as part of the team’s “Surprise and Delight” program.

“Something that we love to do and we’ve been fortunate enough to make the playoffs five out of the last six seasons, so we’ve been able to come out and invite people to playoff games,” Ledecky said. “What’s great is when you bump into people you met four or five years ago. To actually meet with them again and see their progress and let them know that we’re still there for them and we want them to feel free to be in touch.”

Helping out the Grogan family marked the Islanders’ show of support this season for Farmingdale, a town that uniquely embodies the island as well as the fan base for a team that is located in the metropolitan New York area but has its roots in small-town suburbia.

Farmingdale straddles Nassau and Suffolk counties and is the eastern-most town situated on Hempstead Turnpike, which means it’s possible for Farmingdale residents to travel to both the Islanders’ homes — UBS Arena as well as the beloved if long-outdated Nassau Coliseum — without ever leaving the road. (Possible, if not advisable)

A few hundred feet from the Grogan home stood a stop sign adorned with a green ribbon, which served as a reminder of the “Daler Strong” tributes that appeared following the tragic upstate bus crash Sept. 21 involving Farmingdale High School band members, teachers and chaperones. Band director Gina Pellettiere and retired teacher Beatrice Ferrari were killed while more than 40 people were hurt.

The Islanders hosted more than 450 members of the Farmingdale community Oct. 17, when the Islanders edged the Arizona Coyotes 1-0.

“It was melancholy on one level, but it was very happy at another level — and that’s what I love about the children that we get to meet (is) the resiliency of these kids,” Ledecky said. “We’ve made several visits today where there were different situations. I’m struck by the resiliency of these kids and it’s very inspiring to me. It puts anything that normal people are dealing with, normal issues, on a daily basis seem so small in comparison to how these families and these kids are coping with what they’ve got going on. It doesn’t get any better than that, to come and be able to meet them. So I walk away inspired.”