Playbuilding in Southampton

Kasia Klimiuk of Our Fabulous Variety Show will lead an eight-week “playbuilding” workshop for ages 10 to 18 starting next week at the Southampton Cultural Center. The workshop will build on foundational acting and improvisational skills as well as “playbuilding, or creating original theater centered in the ideas of the participants,” Ms. Klimiuk said in an email. Participants will “reflect on what it means to be a theater-maker and active, engaged citizen in society.” 

Workshops will meet on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 8 from March 3 through early April and will prepare that month for a final performance of original plays on April 21. The cost is $225. Sign-up is with Ms. Klimiuk at [email protected]. 

Music and Movement for Tots

Two spring music and movement classes for toddlers and preschoolers will begin next week at the Ellen Johansen Music Studio in East Hampton. 

Cycle of the Seasons: Suncatchers, a program to encourage musical development in 3 and 4-year-olds, with an emphasis on imaginative stories and listening skills, will meet on Tuesdays from 3 to 3:45 p.m. The cost, including home material, is $325 for 15 classes. Dance With Me: Family Music for Toddlers, for ages 15 months to 3 years, will run on Wednesdays or Fridays from 10 to 10:35 a.m. The cost for 15 classes and home material for families is $275. 

Ms. Johansen, a music and movement specialist for young children, has taught Musikgarten classes for 25 years. Reservation is by phone at 418-5497 or online at ellenjohansenmusicstudio.com. Her studio is on Stratton Square. 

Shy Animals and Patterns

Sometimes being shy is a good thing. On Saturday, the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton will take a look at some of the East End’s shy animals and “explain why being shy and quiet in the natural world has tons of benefits,” according to the museum. The program is for ages 6 to 8 and will begin at 10:30 a.m. 

Children 9 and older will look to tiling patterns in the natural world to create their own nature-inspired art on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in a workshop led by Melanie Meade. Advance registration has been requested for both programs. 

Happy 100th

The Amagansett Library is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a party for the whole family on Saturday at 1 p.m. There will be cake and birthday hats, and a quilt made  by community members of all ages will be on display. Additional programs for adults will also be offered that day. 

On Sunday at 2 p.m., the library will mark leap year with a story and craft time all about leaping. 

Show Us Them Choppers!

Saturday will be Dentist Day at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. From 10 to 10:45 a.m., a dental professional will be on hand to talk teeth: How many do we have? How do we keep them healthy? Then maybe those next trips to the dentist won’t be so worrisome. The program is for families with children ages 3 to 7. The cost is $14 including museum admission, $2 for members. 

Looking ahead to Friday, March 4, the museum will celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday during its monthly Pizza and Pajama Night from 6 to 7:30. Kids will listen to one of his classics and make a Seuss-themed craft. The evening is free for members, $10 for others. Advance registration is required.

The Sag Harbor School District has announced it will hold its first public workshop pertaining to the potential purchase of the former Stella Maris Regional School on Wednesday. The workshop will follow the release of a 42-page document on Tuesday containing information and a survey to gauge taxpayers’ opinions about the possible purchase.

The decision to hold a workshop next week came about two weeks after an online petition surfaced asking the district for an immediate public meeting about Stella Maris, but Katy Graves, Sag Harbor’s superintendent, said the petition had no bearing on the decision to schedule the workshop. The focus of this first meeting will be an introduction to the material and to the survey itself.

“All this information was starting to become rather deep. The board of education recommended that we have a workshop just about taking the survey itself,” said Ms. Graves, who has requested that residents read the documentation before taking the survey.

The workshop is planned for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sag Harbor Elementary School. It will be formally advertised in a districtwide mailing to all households that will be sent out later this week. The information on Stella Maris itself, including the real estate appraisal, potential uses of the building, and the possible effect on the budget, will be available at the John Jermain Memorial Library and both schools and will be posted on the district’s website, sagharborschools.org, on Tuesday morning.

“I really wish they gave more than one week’s notice,” James Sanford, who started the petition and who opposes the purchase of the Stella Maris property, said Tuesday. “I hope it’s an open format where residents can have an open dialogue and aren’t limited in input to asking questions. That’s what I’d really like to see.”

Stella Maris was a Catholic school that closed in 2011 after experiencing declining enrollment and financial woes. The property has been listed for sale at $3.5 million. The Sag Harbor School District has been formally exploring the purchase of the property since last summer. 

Students are getting an unexpected four-day weekend. Administrators in school districts on the South Fork have decided to close Monday as another round of snow is supposed to blast Long Island. 

A winter storm warning is in effect until Monday at 6 p.m. A hazardous morning commute is expected with "near blizzard conditions" throughout the day, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy snow is expected to fall on the East End with precipitation starting before daybreak. Accumulations of four to eight inches have been forecast, along with strong winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour with gusts up to 35. "The combination of strong winds and heavy, wet snow will bring down tree limbs and power lines," the weather service said in a statement at 4:30 a.m. 

The Amagansett, Bridgehampton, East Hampton, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Springs, Southampton, and Wainscott School Districts are closed, as is the Ross School. Classes were also canceled Friday when about five inches of snow dropped on the South Fork. 

Though Southampton Town offices and facilities were supposed to open two hours later than usual on Monday, by 7 a.m. Supervisor Jay Schneiderman decided they would be closed all day. At 6:45 a.m., East Hampton Town announced on its website that all town government offices and facilities would be closed Monday.

For more on what's closed around East Hampton, click here.

Have a photo you want to share with us during the storm? Email [email protected], Tweet us at @EHStar, or tag us on Instagram @easthamptonstar. 

Potentially icy road conditions and the possibility of more snow on Tuesday have school administrators planning delayed openings for Tuesday morning.

Rich Burns, the East Hampton School District superintendent, announced a two-hour delayed opening on Tuesday at around 5 p.m. on Monday. "The district needs time to clear the buses of snow and make sure the pathways to schools are safe for students and staff," he said in an email.

The Amagansett, Bridgehampton, Montauk, Sagaponack, Sag Harbor, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts will all have two-hour delayed openings Tuesday. Montauk's prekindergarten class will start at 10:30 a.m. A note on the Montauk School's website also reads, "More snow expected later tonight, so please be prepared for possible closing again."

Katy Graves, Sag Harbor's superintendent, said district officials will re-evaluate the road conditions at 5:30 a.m. "Safety has got to come first in these circumstances," she said by phone on Monday.

The Child Development Center of the Hamptons, the Ross School, and Our Lady of the Hamptons will also open Tuesday on a two-hour delay. The Hayground School and the Southampton School District had not posted announcements online as of 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

As much as eight or nine inches of snow fell in areas of East Hampton Town, according to Stephen Lynch, the highway superintendent, who said he measured as much when he responded to a fire that broke out on Egypt Lane Monday afternoon. Strong winds and high tides under the Lunar moon caused water to breach at least two locations, Gerard Drive in Springs at the Second Causeway and Napeague Meadow Lane. Both were impassable, starting Monday morning. Mr. Lynch said the wind from the northeast storm was blowing the tide in. Police are monitoring those roads and have set up barricades. 

While schools and government offices on the South Fork were closed, many people still had to get to work, he said. The "considerable traffic" on the roads packed the snow down, making it more difficult to plow. But, Mr. Lynch had no complaints about the drivers. "You can't ask for a better public than East Hampton," he said. Motorists seemed to use caution by driving slowly and leaving extra room between vehicles as they drove. 

East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said there had been "a handful of accidents," none serious. "We've really seen everyone slow and use extra caution driving," he said.

Town highway crews have been out working since 5:30 a.m., were still working when he was reached by phone Monday just after 5 p.m. They had several more hours of work ahead as temperatures drop to around 19 degrees overnight, the National Weather Service said. "Now everything's turning to ice, so we're mixing up a 50-50 salt/sand mixture so people have traction," he said.

Plow drivers will go home late Monday night, but be back on the road no later than 6 a.m. Tuesday, depending on how much gets done Monday night and how much precipitation falls overnight, though Mr. Lynch said he isn't expecting much. The goal is to get the roads plowed again in the morning before the buses hit the road, he said.

During the day on Tuesday, three or four more inches of snow is expected. Another "dusting" of snow is forecasted for Wednesday, Mr. Lynch said. Saturday could bring another four to eight inches, "with another one behind that for next week. They were calling for rain, now snow," he said. 

"Hopefully the morning commute should be much better," Chief Sarlo said, adding that Mr. Lynch and his crew had done a great job Monday. 

Valentine’s Day Cheer

The Amagansett Library will host Valentine’s Day activities at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, featuring crafts and stories about love, friendship, and hearts, and open to children of all ages.

 Also on Saturday, children 5 and up can make bouquets of tissue flowers and a papier-maché vase at the Children’s Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton. The event starts at 10 a.m. and costs $5 for members, $17 for non-members.

Meanwhile, Citarella will hold its annual Valentine cookie workshop at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Saturday at 1 p.m. The class is taught by a professional pastry chef; a $10 fee includes ingredients.

The Montauk Library will host a prekindergarten “Dance and Play” party to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday from 1 to 2 p.m., featuring music and educational toys geared toward children ages 2 to 5.

Movement, Creativity, and Lunch

Camp SoulGrow will hold workshops for kids to get moving, be creative, and have some lunch next week while school is out. Three daily sessions for kids ages 7 and up will be held at Gurney’s in Montauk. The program will be broken into movement workshops from noon to 1:30 p.m., lunch from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., and creative workshops from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Advance sign-up is required at campsoulgrow.org. The programs are free but a donation of $10 per program has been suggested.

Arts and Rec

The East Hampton Town Recreation Department will offer morning arts and crafts and recreational activities for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade Tuesday through Friday next week at the Montauk and John M. Marshall Elementary Schools. The program, which is free, will go from 9 a.m. to noon. Sign-up is at the schools each morning.

Cardboard Explosion

The Goat on a Boat Puppet Theater production at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor on Saturday will be by Brad Shur of Puppet Showplace. It involves storytelling and audience participation using lots of cardboard. Kids will battle dragons, choose a super-power, and use cardboard props created right before their eyes. The program is recommended for kids ages 5 and up. Showtime is Saturday at 11 a.m. Tickets are $15 to $25 at the box office or online at baystreet.org.

SoFo Fun

 An environmental educator will lead a search for animal tracks in snow — or mud — in the vineyard field at the South Fork Natural History Museum on Saturday at 10 a.m. Painting and printmaking will follow, and the event will be appropriate for all ages. SoFo has suggested that participants dress to get messy. Another SoFo event is a behind-the-scenes look at feeding the museum’s animals and learning the differences between carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores. It is set for Sunday at 10 a.m. for kids 9 to 12, with a repeat on Feb. 20 for younger children.

Lots of Movies

Bay Street Theater is offering a children’s movie series on Sundays at 2 p.m. This Sunday’s film is “Finding Nemo.” Admission is $5. The East Hampton Library will show several family-friendly movies in the coming week, including “Oz the Great and Powerful” today at 4:30 p.m., “Stuart Little” next Thursday at 1 p.m., and “Sleeping Beauty” next Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Parrish Art Museum will screen “Song of the Sea,” a hand-drawn, animated movie about a “seal-child” and her brother, who take an epic journey. It will be shown on Friday, Feb. 19, at 5:30 p.m. and is free for students and children under 18.

Medieval Times

How did people create books before the printing press was invented? By hand, of course. A lesson and craft titled “Medieval Illuminations” will teach children about ancient manuscripts and give them the chance to draw and decorate their own using gold leaf. The activity is planned at the East Hampton Library on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. for children at least 4 years old.

The East Hampton Library will also host a book club featuring cupcakes for students in grades six to eight on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. New books will be the focus.

Tea at CMEE

Tea is one of the oldest beverages known, and there’s a science behind brewing the perfect cup. Kids will learn about this during a drop-off workshop for kids ages 5 and up on Saturday at 10 a.m. They will even have the chance to develop their very own tea flavor. The cost is $5 for members, $17 for non-members.

Art in Abundance

Kids who enjoy art are in luck this week, as projects and programs are plentiful. It’s Art Week at Guild Hall, which will feature a tour of the student art exhibitions and a different art project each day from Tuesday to Friday. The program runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and costs $10 per day. A “light painting” activity, in which kids will use glow sticks and flashlights to create designs through long-exposure photography, is planned at the John Jermain Memorial Library on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This is ideal for children ages 7 and up; advance registration is required. A workshop in making a musical gourd rattle is planned at the East Hampton Library on Friday, Feb. 19, at 1:30 p.m. Children ages 4 and up will be welcomed, but must be accompanied by an adult if under 7 years old.

Also at John Jermain

Nancy Remkus, a singer and songwriter, will offer an interactive show for kids ages 4 and up on Saturday at 11 a.m. Playing rhythm instruments, learning sign language, and dancing with scarves will be among the activities. Advance sign-up is required. Kids who love Play-Doh, and are between the ages of 3 and 9, can come to John Jermain on Wednesday at 11 a.m. to roll, smash, mold, and play with the stuff. No advance registration is necessary. For children 5 to 12, “Nature at Night” will bring the Cornell Cooperative Extension to the library on Friday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m. for hands-on activities about nocturnal animals like bats, owls, and bugs. Sign-up is required.

Legos, of Course

Kids who love Legos can stop by the John Jermain Memorial Library or the Montauk Library next week. John Jermain’s Lego League is for ages 5 to 12 and features a “huge pile of Legos” on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon. The kids’ creations will be displayed at the library for a week afterward. The Montauk Library’s Lego Club will meet on Friday, Feb. 19, at 4:30 p.m., and student creations will also be displayed for a week.

A Sag Harbor resident has launched a petition on the website change.org seeking support for an immediate public hearing on the possible purchase by the Sag Harbor School District of the Stella Maris Regional School and for a referendum in May in which voters would be asked whether the district should make the purchase.

James Sanford, a member of the school district’s facilities planning committee who ran unsuccessfully for a school board seat last May, opposes the acquisition of the school, which closed in 2011 and is on the market for $3.5 million. The school board and superintendent have met at least five times in executive session to discuss Stella Maris, and the district paid an architect $11,500 to study potential uses of the former Catholic school.

“While the petition comes from an individual who is against the purchase, it merely states something that should be acceptable to everybody, which is let’s have a public discussion on it,” he said in an interview on Monday. “We can ask the superintendent why and the citizens can openly vet it.”

The petition can be found by clicking here.

Katy Graves, the Sag Harbor superintendent, responded on Monday, saying the district had not yet held a public meeting on the possible purchase because she and the school board want everyone in the community to have access to the same information at the same time. In order for that to happen, the district has been planning to put information on its website regarding the real estate appraisal it received, the potential cost of renovations and of possible uses of the building, along with a survey seeking public opinion. The survey will also be available at the John Jermain Memorial Library.

“We’re working toward a May vote and we are absolutely working toward having open hearings about that, but first we wanted to survey our entire community and provide information,” Ms. Graves said. “I really do understand the feeling of urgency. I’m feeling that same sense of urgency,” she said.

The Bridgehampton School District is facing about a 55-percent jump in transportation costs for the 2016-17 school year, while also facing contractual increases for teacher salaries, health care, and pensions. At its meeting on Jan. 27, the school board heard the news and pledged to think creatively and ask the community for suggestions on how to get around such a big increase for busing.

Bridgehampton has projected the cost of transportation to be $718,123 next year, up from $455,847. The figure excludes the cost of buses the district obtains through the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which is also scheduled to go up, from $52,500 to $67,500.

“These numbers are so insane,” Doug DeGroot, a school board member, said.  “How is it not possible to get a better way to do it?”

Robert Hauser, the district business administrator, said that when the district uses private contractors, each bus costs about $60,000. In addition to BOCES buses, the district contracts with the McCoy Bus Company of Bridgehampton and the East Hampton and Sag Harbor School Districts.

“It could be one student on the bus or several,” Mr. Hauser said. “We try to exhaust our options with Sag Harbor, then we try East Hampton. If we can’t contract with one of the local districts, we go to the local contractor.”

The cost of transportation for a student who recently moved into the district and who is deemed to have special needs creates an unusual situation. It was agreed the student could, as before, continue attending the Springs School. As a result, it would cost Bridgehampton about $240,000 in tuition and transportation for the 2016-17 school year. Mr. Hauser said the arrangement has the district’s budget advisory committee considering transportation alternatives, including the purchase of the district’s own buses. Mr. DeGroot objected to that idea while other school board members said it should be explored.

Unlike most school districts, Bridgehampton, which successfully pierced the 2014-15 tax cap, will be able to raise its property tax levy by about 3 percent. The actual increase for each district is based on a number of factors. In Bridgehampton’s case, the increase is higher than the .12 percent the state allows because of certain exemptions and the tax base’s growth, which is the result of new construction and increasing property values in Southampton Town.

As a result, the 3-percent tax cap for Bridgehampton is expected to be one of the highest on Long Island. In dollars, that means the district can increase its tax levy by about $320,000. But the first draft of next year’s budget came to about $1.45 million, which was about 11.3 percent higher than this year’s $12.8 million budget.

“The number we come to, as we discuss it more, should come down,” Mr. Hauser said.

The increases in teacher salaries are due to a .5-percent raise negotiated with the Bridgehampton Teachers Association, along with contractual increases teachers earn for extra training and course work. A 14.4-percent jump in contributions to the New York State teachers retirement system and a 25.6-percent increase in health care costs are also anticipated. However, the district is expecting a small decrease in the state employees’ retirement system, for staff members who are not teachers, and is also expecting to spend less on after-school activities and legal expenses.

“This is our first preliminary budget. We have made literally no cuts to it,” Lois Favre, Bridgehampton’s superintendent, said during the meeting. “It’s just a ‘rollover’ and things we know we need. We’ll bring in budget advisory committee suggestions. We also will have a community forum to gather ideas, as we always do annually.”

That forum is set for March 9, although it may be scheduled earlier.

The East Hampton School District on Tuesday unveiled a fifth possible location for a bus maintenance barn on its high school campus, one that drew a few positive remarks from residents in attendance at the school board meeting.

The new option is in back of the school diagonally opposite the wood shop, past the cafeteria and the track, as designed by Mike Guido, the school district’s architect. It would take up about 20 percent of the practice soccer field, which would also need to be reconfigured slightly. Buses would be parked in the front of the school in a fenced-off area that would also include a gas pump, likely secured with an extra fence, for district use only, Mr. Guido said. A map of the potential location can be found on the school district’s website at easthamptonschools.org.

A handful of residents seemed to like this option the best, as it locates the bus barn away from houses and avoids putting an industrial-looking building in front of the school, which the district had previously explored.

“This site would be acceptable to me,” John Tarbet, a nearby homeowner, said. “It makes the most sense.”

As Camp SoulGrow prepares for its second annual Mardi Gras fund-raiser in Montauk on Tuesday, it has a lot to celebrate. For starters, the camp has a new used bus, which is in the midst of a major makeover, and, second, it is planning to again pitch its proverbial tent at Gurney’s Resort and Spa during the February school break.

 The 23-seat bus has already had a peppy exterior paint job with help from some professionals, and London Rosiere, the camp’s founder, is continuing its transformation. The inside ceiling will be painted to look like the sky, the floor like the grass.

 “It looks so pretty already,” Ms. Rosiere said Tuesday. “It’s vivacious and happy. We’re taking something and making it even better by putting love into it. That’s what I want to show the kids.”

The nonprofit camp offers workshops, adventures, and community activities for kids 7 and older in partnership with local businesses and organizations, tapping into their expertise to teach kids about their town and their place in it. The camp has a base at Third House in Montauk County Park, but has plans to take more programs to kids in East Hampton and Sag Harbor, something the bus will help facilitate.

Tuesday’s fund-raiser will be at the East by Northeast restaurant in Montauk and will include all-you-can-eat Cajun food, like jambalaya and boiled crawfish, and open taps of beer from the Montauk Brewing Company, as well as silent and paper auctions. Hopefully Forgiven will lay down the dance music, and Ms. Rosiere, who is from New Orleans, said “everybody will feel like they’re actually in Mardi Gras.” Tickets will be $25 at the door. People will also be able to check out the bus, which will be parked outside.

Looking ahead to the February school break, Camp SoulGrow will offer workshops from Feb. 15 through 19 from noon to 4 p.m. The afternoons will begin with movement classes from noon to 1:30. Lunch, with food provided by Gurney’s, will be each day from 1:30 to 2:30, and late afternoons, from 2:30 to 4, will be given over to creative endeavors like painting and cooking.

Workshops are free, but a suggested donation of $10 per program will support the nonprofit’s work. Advance sign-up online at campsoulgrow.org is required for each hour-and-a-half offering each day and can be done seven days in advance.

Jason Biondo, who was elected to the Montauk School Board in May 2014, has resigned his position effective Jan. 23.

Mr. Biondo said on Friday that with the growing demands of his two businesses, the Antique Lumber Company of Montauk and Hammerhead Construction, two young boys whose Little League teams he coaches, and a teenage daughter in East Hampton High School, he found he did not have the time he would have liked to dedicate to the board.

“I’m the type of guy who says yes to everything and I didn’t realize how much time it would take,” he said.

He ran in May 2014 against Cynthia Ibrahim, who has a daughter in the school, and won with 132 votes versus Ms. Ibrahim’s 78 votes.

Jack Perna, the school superintendent, said that Mr. Biondo sent an email message to the board saying that he does not have the time to do the job properly and wants to spend more time with his family. “It’s too bad. I felt he was a good board member.”

The board is deciding now on the proper approach to replace him, said Diane Hausman, the school board president. The district could hold a special election, which is costly, or it could appoint someone until the next election in May.

Mr. Perna said the board could operate with just four people until May, but since one one board member, Kelly White, is married to a school employee, Rick White, a computer resource teacher, some parents have raised objections about her voting on certain matters.

The board meets again on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the school library, but after that will not meet until March, when it begins to gather weekly to work on the district’s 2016-17 budget.