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NYS Agriculture Department Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine and Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky examine freshly laid eggs in the chicken coop at John Bowne High School in Flushing during a tour of the grounds.  Commissioner Aubertine is a sixth generation farmer from Cape Vincent, NY, and met with students in the school's Future Farmers of America chapter, which placed sixth in the country at the FFA National Convention earlier this month.

State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky recently returned from a nine-day trip to Russia, where she was a member of a bipartisan legislative delegation on a cultural and economic mission.  The legislators paid their own way.  They visited the cities of Kazan, which is the capital of the Federated Republic of Tatarstan, St. Petersburg and Moscow.  Here, the group visits the Grand Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg, the second-largest synagogue in Europe.  It was restored in 1999 with a $5 million donation from the Safra family.

Sen. Stavisky tours the 9/11 memorial garden planted by the Korean-American Senior Citizens Society of Greater NY with KASCSGNY President Kyong Shik Kim.  The garden is a 50-foot by 100-foot flower bed planted in the shape and colors of the American flag, and the Korean-American Senior Citizens Society displayed photos, student essays and victims' names in memory of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky participated in the New York State Senate's first ever interactive ethics reform forum.  More than 200 people followed along by videoconference and asked questions.

Sen. Stavisky attended the Spring Breakfast at the Jewish Child Care Association's Forest Hills Child Care Center.  The children sang songs about famous painters whose artwork they have studied. 

Sen. Stavisky meets in Albany with Rabbis Shmuel Butman and Yisroel Rubin of the Lubavitch Youth Organization to discuss their programs.  Rabbi Butman is a Chabad rabbi in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and the director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization.  Rabbi Rubin is co-director of the Chabad of the Capital District, which is also affiliated with the Lubavitch Youth Organization.

Sen. Stavisky met with residents and directors at ANIBIC (the Association for Neurologically Impaired Brain Injured Children) in Oakland Gardens to view plans for a residential complex for older clients.  She discussed capital grant funding.  In the photo with her are ANIBIC clients, ANIBIC Associate Executive Director John DeBiase, and ANIBIC Executive Director Gerard Smith.