Villages

From the past pages of The Star . . .

When she was young, Shannon Cecilia Whelan was a crew member aboard a steel barge owned by her parents' marine construction business. A lover of all things water — sailing, fishing, surfing — Ms. Whelan, formerly of Sag Harbor, was the namesake for the barge. A mother of three children, she died in 2019 at the age of 38.

Joseph DeCristofaro was just 17 when he enlisted in the Navy in 1943, too young to join up without his parents’ permission but determined to do his part. “I had to get my folks to sign for me,” he said on Friday in his living room in East Hampton. “My father signed; my mother didn’t like it.”

The East Hampton Library unveiled a new online Long Island Collection research system that includes not only the impressive collection of historical records that the library holds but also an additional 23 collections, including the town and East Hampton Village's historic records and high school yearbooks dating to the 1950s. “I think this is one of the most important projects this library has been involved with,” Dennis Fabiszak, the library's executive director, said.

This etching, one of a number of works titled “The Much Resounding Sea” by the artist Thomas Moran of East Hampton (1837-1926), was completed in 1886, two years after his similar but less detailed oil painting of the same name. The etching is a newer acquisition for the Long Island Collection, bought at auction in May.

I remember the underscore of terror in the early days of the pandemic, wondering if my working in an I.C.U. and taking care of some of the first patients with Covid-19 in our region was going to endanger my family. Eighteen months later, I can hardly believe that I am watching a friend and colleague deftly vaccinate all four of my children against Covid-19.

Now that children 5 to 11 are eligible to receive Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine — the first that has been approved for pediatric administration in the United States — medical professionals and government officials here and across Long Island are quickly putting plans in place to meet families' needs.

As it turns out, the get-outta-town narrative, explored in last week's East Hampton Star by several prominent community members who recently moved away, is far from the only story there is to tell.

125 Years Ago1896

From The East Hampton Star, November 13

With a new effort to operate year round, a recently launched virtual store, and a decision to provide housing for some of its employees, Share the Harvest Farm is hoping to make a greater connection with the community it serves.

Is there life after East Hampton? The answer is a slightly bittersweet "yes," according to several longtime residents -- and very active community members -- who have moved away over the last couple of months.

Nia Dawson, 22, Black, and a third-generation Bridgehampton native, found herself in the midst of what she believed was a racially-fueled incident outside the Sag Harbor Launderette in August. Angered, upset, but not shocked, it led her to galvanize family members, friends, and notable figures in the community to form an organization called Exposing Inequities in the Hamptons.

A postcard from the Harvey Ginsberg Postcard Collection shows the house known as "the Chalet" off James Lane in East Hampton.

125 Years Ago 1896

From The East Hampton Star, November 6

When he began donating such Tapovana Lunch Box offerings as vegetarian curries, soups, chutneys, coconut quinoa rice, and hydrating elixirs to the Bridgehampton Child Care Center's food pantry in January, Corey De Rosa, who has been working out of a fully-remodeled kitchen at the Bridgehampton Community House since January, wondered how the South Indian food would be received.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton welcomed a new curate last month. The Rev. Joseph L. Cundiff IV has been assisting the Very Rev. Denis C. Brunelle for almost eight weeks now in an apprentice position.

Kimberly Quarty and Damon A. Hagan of East Quogue were married on Sept. 25 at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church.

While new recommendations released last week on Covid-19 booster shots for at-risk populations are not a broad suggestion that all vaccinated people get a booster, they do extend the recommendation to a great many people.

A proposal to replace the WLNG radio tower in Sag Harbor Village with a cellphone tower is facing fierce opposition from neighbors.

From The East Hampton Star this week in 1896, 1921, 1946, 1971, and 1996

More than two years after Drew Bennett, a town engineer, submitted a recommendation for repairs at the Springs Library, nothing has been done, the library’s trustees wrote on Oct. 9 to Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc.

East Hampton Town will honor the late Lt. Lee A. Hayes, a member of the 477th Bombardment Group of the Tuskegee Airmen, on Sunday when the Amagansett Youth Park is formally renamed for him.

A photo from the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection shows a group of people dressed in theatrical costumes outside the Moran family’s home and studio in East Hampton circa 1889.

Sag Harbor Village Mayor James Larocca put his stamp on the effort to develop a new zoning code for the village’s waterfront properties with a proposal that would expand the area covered by the code, create building regulations that preserve the village’s unique character, and require those seeking to build structures larger than 3,500 square feet to receive permission from the village board.

Once upon a time in The Star . . .

The owners of a new locally made beer business are seeking to convert a longtime auto repair shop in Springs into a brewery and taproom with outdoor seating.

An 87-year-old Springs woman said employees at the Le Caprice cosmetics store in East Hampton used high-pressure sales tactics to convince her to spend more than $14,000 on unwanted products.

Katy Casey of the East Hampton Housing Authority won acclaim for her clear overview of affordable and work-force housing. The 37-unit Gansett Meadow was the focus.

Hundreds of parishioners gathered at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church on Monday to call on Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre to reverse the decision to end "residence and faculties" for the Rev. Edward Beck, which in turn has led to the departure of the Rev. Bob Joerger.

In my medical career there are few things that I am as grateful for as the fact that I spent several years teaching college writing and literature before going to medical school.