Josephine Asaro Wendell
Photographer and research assistant for Project Woodhaven
Woodhaven
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Josephine Wendell just recently became involved in community affairs, shortly after the launch of Project Woodhaven (www.projectwoodhaven.com), a not-for-profit web site that explores Woodhaven’s past history and current events, along with her husband, Edward.
Since then, the duo has covered local events ranging from civic meetings to parades and concerts in Forest Park.
“I enjoy the Town Hall meetings hosted by the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) the most,” said Wendell. “It’s where you get to meet people of all ages who really care about this neighborhood.”
PERSONAL: Wendell has lived her entire life in Woodhaven – in fact, she has lived her entire life in the same house. She is a graduate of St. Thomas the Apostle School and Franklin K. Lane High School and met her husband when his car broke down in front of her house. “My friends used to tell me that I’d never meet anyone just sitting on my porch, but that’s exactly what happened,” she recalled. A few years after that they were married – and 21 years later they’re still together.
JOB: After 18 years working for HIP, Wendell is now a housewife when she’s not out taking pictures of Woodhaven.
“I love taking pictures of Jamaica Avenue and finding something we had never noticed before, or something I know will catch people’s interest,” she said. “For example, we were driving down Jamaica Avenue, and a restaurant that was being renovated had taken down its awning and you could see the old sign for the ‘Bella Vista Restaurant’ underneath. This was a place that people loved and missed, so we pulled over and took lots of pictures; put them up on the web site, and people loved them. It brought back lots of memories.”
PROUDEST MOMENT: “Being named Star of Queens has to be right up there,” said Wendell. “The Queens Courier has interviewed so many good people who have done so many outstanding things for their communities that I am very proud to share this honor with them.”
FAVORITE MEMORY: “I have a lot of the same favorite memories that other people growing up in Woodhaven have, such as getting ice cream in Schmidt’s, going into Jason’s and seeing how many days there were left until Christmas, etc. If you grew up in Woodhaven you know how special those memories are.”
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “I’m very shy,” said Wendell. “Taking pictures of a building is easy, but taking pictures of people was a bit of a challenge initially, especially public officials. But after talking to a few of them, I got over my shyness. When Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Woodhaven earlier this year, I was right up front taking pictures with the rest of the photographers.”
INSPIRATION: “Whenever I go to one of the local meetings and hear people talk about someone like Mary Whalen or Frederick Schmidt – people who did a lot for our community long ago – and then I see people like Maria Thomson and Vance Barbour of the WRBA today, I realize that there will always be people around who care about Woodhaven, whether it be 10 years from now or a 100.”
