Villages

High Covid-19 vaccination rates on the South Fork are giving residents and visitors the confidence to return to their pre-pandemic routines albeit with a dose of caution. 

Striking a positive note in the lengthy process of grassroots fund-raising required before breaking ground on renovations and expansion of the Montauk Skatepark, the Montauk Skatepark Coalition said its mid-June art auction was a big success and that it is continuing its efforts through Labor Day.

With illegal fireworks, noise complaints, bar fights, accidents, ambulance calls, missing pets, long traffic backups, and bustling business over the Fourth of July weekend, the South Fork officially shook off its remaining Covid cobwebs and picked up the pace for peak season.

While firefighters are often summoned to help animals in distress, it's a rare day when an aerial truck comes to the rescue. But that's what happened on June 25, when Montauk firefighters were called to help rescue a seagull caught in a power line near the Dock restaurant. 

When he takes office as Sag Harbor Village mayor on Tuesday, James Larocca intends to start making good on campaign promises to protect the waterfront from redevelopment, find a spot away from the waterfront for Bay Street Theater's new home, and come up with a new comprehensive plan.

An enduring presence on Newtown Lane, a street that has seen more change than not, the flower shop and greenhouse now known as Wittendale's is celebrating its 100th anniversary this summer. A sentinel of East Hampton Village, it has witnessed the passing of history and has created its own.

To serve the community more effectively, Hampton Library is planning a series of renovations working with H2M Architects and Engineers to design intentional spaces for the community's teens, in particular. The library was able to host eight discussions last fall and over the winter at which people were invited to comment on the renovations.

Tom and Joanne Luckey of Montauk and Wantagh have announced the engagement of their younger daughter, Devon Luckey, to Jaime Maldonado. Mr. Maldonado's parents are Ruth and Juan Maldonado of Millersburg, Pa.

The couple live and work in Manhattan. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Hunter College and is a teacher; he graduated from Lehigh University and is a finance manager for Ferragamo. They are planning a June 2022 wedding.

Spurred by the pandemic to follow his dream of becoming a farmer, Harry Pinkerton, the new owner of Spring Close Farm in East Hampton, is giving the 1.4-acre plot a fresh start.

Yet another variant of SARS-CoV-2 has arisen to cause concern, the Delta variant, which seems to spread faster and make people sicker. If you're like many people lately who have been wondering what precisely this means for the pandemic, you're not alone.

This July, the South Fork will welcome back many Independence Day celebrations that were missed last year because of the pandemic. While the village has not hosted a Fourth of July parade in a long time, it was part of the annual festivities decades ago, as shown in this photograph from 1915.

John H. Fowler (1887-1925) appears costumed on horseback in front of a large crowd in this photo by Frank Eldredge (1885-1965). Behind the crowd, St. Luke's Episcopal Church can be seen, suggesting the photo was taken near the village green.

"I have been driving past that building for decades. It has always been there," said Esperanza Leon, referring to a dilapidated little shack in Wainscott known as the Little House, which was built in the 1920s to house migrant workers. When she and a group of fellow Wainscott residents learned that the property had been sold and the house was to be torn down, they got to work to save it, and their efforts have borne fruit.

This year, we're able to observe a few more traditional end-of-the-year celebrations and events like graduation ceremonies. For generations of East Hampton High School seniors, those traditions included a class trip. In this photograph, the East Hampton High School class of 1937 poses in front of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on April 6, 1937. The travelers are dressed for colder weather, with a couple of young women wearing fur-trimmed coats over their suits and skirts. The young men all wear suits and ties, suggesting it was still rather chilly that April.

The Amagansett Village Improvement Society honored Joan Tulp, a board member for decades and the hamlet's unofficial mayor, on Monday with the dedication of a tree and plaque at the society's tennis courts at the corner of Main Street and Atlantic Avenue.

When the sangha gathers Friday at Mandala Yoga Center for Healing Arts at Amagansett Square, it will observe both the center's reopening at its renovated space and its 20th anniversary. The sangha -- a Sanskrit word meaning association or community -- is in a celebratory mood, the reopening coinciding with the lifting of most Covid-19 regulations and the long pandemic's apparent decline.

An artist, author, and educator, the Rev. Candace Whitman, a Long Island native, majored in art history at Yale University, later taught at New York University, and is the author of several children's books. But hearing a call to the church, she attended Princeton Theological Seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 2011.

The establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday late last week was long overdue, if you ask William Pickens III of Sag Harbor. "I'm so delighted that it's come to fruition. This is the celebration and commemoration that America needs," said Mr. Pickens, whose grandfather was one of the founders of the N.A.A.C.P. in 1909.

Health care is immensely complicated at times, and there are only so many minutes in the day. Finding a means both to make sure all of a given patient's concerns are addressed while still making sure the time allotted to other patients is not unfairly infringed upon is one of the hardest balancing acts that health care providers are asked to accomplish, and delineating clear expectations from the start of the visit can work wonders in this regard.

Pride Month, celebrated in June each year since 1970 in response to the Stonewall uprising in New York City in June of 1969, celebrates the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community and brings attention to its needs. On the South Fork, that attention might come through an interfaith service, a safe space for teens, or a health care center that prioritizes the needs of L.G.B.T.Q.+ people.

The Hampton Hopper, a seasonal bus service serving Montauk that was suspended during the pandemic last year, will resume service as soon as Thursday, with an expanded service territory.

Quality-of-life issues were the center of attention Monday night when the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee held what may have been its final Zoom session. Gas-powered leaf blowers, illegal Airbnb rentals, sign clutter at the beaches, beach fires, loud parties, and litter, litter, litter, all got a thorough airing.

This photograph from the Amagansett Historical Association's Carleton Kelsey Collection shows the Long Island Rail Road's engine No. 84, with James C. Eichhorn's name painted on the side.

Local engines making short trips were known as "scoot" engines. This engine was one of four of the most modern types available when the L.I.R.R. put them into service in 1898. The railroad began naming locomotives after their operating enginemen in 1924, which helps date this photo.

When Denise Smith organized a celebration of Juneteenth last year at Agawam Park in Southampton Village, the holiday was still an unofficial one, though just as important as ever. About two weeks later, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo formally declared Juneteenth a state holiday — and other states and municipalities eventually followed suit — so heading into this weekend, there's a lot to celebrate.

Clearly, some sort of benefit does come from going out into the world and engaging with the micro-organisms waiting to be found in the dirt of playgrounds and on the snot-covered tables in classrooms. But there is no way of knowing which encounters with micro-organisms will be relatively benign and lead to increased immunity, and which have the potential to be devastating.

Seventeen years ago, Gloria Cannon had an idea, to preserve “The Barbershop,” a longtime Southampton gathering place for Black East Enders. On Saturday, Juneteenth, after years of planning, fund-raising, construction, and a few setbacks, her vision will be realized with the grand opening of the Southampton African American Museum at 245 North Sea Road, the site of the former barbershop built by Emanuel Seymore in the 1940s.

In this timeless photo from the Amagansett Historical Association's Carleton Kelsey Collection, Dorothy Lester (1919-2015) is oceanside in a striped romper and canvas sneakers, wind in her hair.

New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said this week that when 70 percent of the state's adult population has gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine most of the remaining pandemic restrictions will be lifted. While much of the rest of New York State has yet to reach that mark, East Hampton Town has already surpassed it, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc announced Tuesday.

Those curious about all the activity at the site of the former Il Mulino restaurant in Wainscott or perhaps surprised to see that this week the building there had disappeared could have had their questions answered at Saturday's Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee meeting, when Kim Quarty of the Peconic Land Trust briefed the group on the new preserve at the head of Georgica Pond.

Some of the biggest names in skateboarding culture have signed on to support the renovation and expansion of the Montauk Skate Park, which will benefit from an art auction to be held on Saturday at the Montauk Beach House.

"I remember exactly what I was wearing, I remember exactly who was in the class, and I remember how hard I cried," said Colleen Saidman Yee of Yoga Shanti of the day in March 2020 when she closed her Sag Harbor yoga studio because of the pandemic. After barely surviving a 15-month shutdown, Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor is seeking to regain its footing with new protocols designed to make students breathe easy about returning to group classes.