In the end, love — and some shrewd legal maneuvering — conquered all, as the wedding for Kevin O’Brien and Tara McCauley took place at the Hedges Inn on Saturday, overcoming a bitter permitting dispute between East Hampton Village and the inn.

Just 16 days earlier, the village, citing code and zoning restrictions, had denied a permit for the wedding, which was to be held in a tent on the Hedges property. That denial brought the groom’s mother, Joanne Lester O’Brien, who is an East Hampton resident and a member of the Fire Department, to the March 16 village board meeting, where she tearfully pleaded to keep the nuptials on track. 

In the following days, Christopher Kelley, the inn’s lawyer, said he was working with the village to reach a compromise. Ms. O’Brien finally received word on March 21 that a permit would be approved, but some changes would need to be made to the plans for the reception. She was told that the reception could no longer take place in a tent next to the inn’s patio, portable toilets would need to be ordered, and valet parking would be required. “It’s not exactly what we wanted, but at this late date we’ll take it,” she said at the time. 

As it turned out, the ceremony was held on the Hedges Inn’s lawn, but the reception took place at an adjoining property at 72 James Lane, which is reported to be owned by the same owner as the Hedges Inn (representatives of the inn would not confirm who owns the house, and the permit application lists a limited liability company as the owner). “Code enforcement approved a tent permit for 72 James Lane,” confirmed Becky Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, who said that the private residence had also received three other tent permits for the year. The other permits would likely cover the other outdoor events the Hedges had booked for 2018, including the June 9 wedding reception for the daughter of Stu Kaitz. Mr. Kaitz also took an impassioned stance against the initial permit denials at the March 16 village board meeting. 

A new law the village is considering would reserve the right to deny a permit for a large outdoor gathering at a private residence if the frequency of events is incompatible with the character of the surrounding area, but under the current code, Ms. Hansen pointed out, if no public roadway is being used for parking, a tent permit is all that is required for such an event.

Tented events at the Hedges Inn have been the source of frequent noise complaints over the years, predominantly from the inn’s neighbor, Patricia Handal, who has appeared at several trustee meetings seeking to curb the inn’s ability to hold large gatherings on its lawn. Although the inn was not the site of the reception for the O’Brien-McCauley wedding, there were noise complaints nevertheless. At 9:53 p.m. on Saturday, village police received a report from a resident of Jefferys Lane who was bothered by the sound of loud music and people talking “coming from the area of the Hedges Inn.” The report noted that an officer spoke to a manager of the inn who was in charge of the event. At the officer’s request, the manager then lowered the music and promised it would be cut off at 10:45 p.m.

Amagansett

Christopher Walsh

631-324-0002

The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society’s five-mile hike on Sunday at 10 a.m. will be at a fast pace and offer unspoiled views of Fresh Pond and Napeague Bay. Hikers have been asked to meet on Napeague Harbor Road about a half-mile north of Montauk Highway, just after the street marked “Private Road.” Irwin Levy can be contacted for more information at 516-456-1337 or [email protected]. 

From Sci-Fi to the Bard

The Amagansett Library’s science-fiction book discussion group will reconvene on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. to ponder John Wyndham’s 1951 postapocalyptic novel “The Day of the Triffids.” Copies are available at the circulation desk, or the library can be called to reserve a copy. All have been invited to join or listen to the discussion. 

The final tax preparation session for adults 50 and over who cannot afford tax preparation services happens on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those interested in assistance from an Internal Revenue Service-certified team of AARP volunteers have been asked to call or visit the library to reserve a time and for a list of documents to take to the session. 

The Suffolk County Water Authority will hold an informational meeting regarding a proposal for a ground storage tank to be built at its facility on Cross Highway on Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The public has been invited. 

Looking ahead, Richard Horwich will lead an exploration of “Othello” when the Shakespeare Discussion Group meets at the library on April 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The tragedy, believed to have been written in 1603, is based on the story “Un Capitano Moro” (“A Moorish Captain”) by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565. “Othello” revolves around two central characters: a Moorish general in the Venetian army and his unfaithful ensign, Iago. 

Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and repentance, “Othello” is still frequently performed in professional and community theaters alike, and has been the source for numerous adaptations. All have been invited to a lively and enlightening discussion of the Bard and his work. 

For Guide Dogs

On April 21, the East Hampton Lions Club will host Pints and Pups, a fund-raising event to support the Guide Dog Foundation and the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, from noon to 2 p.m. at the American Legion Hall on the corner of Montauk Highway and Abraham’s Path. The afternoon will include live music, face painting, food and ice cream trucks, and a cash bar. 

Owners of socialized and friendly leashed dogs have been encouraged to register their pets in advance to compete in one of six categories: most unique breed, most unique feature, floppiest ears, best trick, best dressed, and dog-owner look-alike. First, second, and third-place prizes will be awarded in each category, as well as best in show. Participants must be 21 and over or accompanied by a legal guardian.

Providing a guide dog to an individual in need costs $5,000 per year. The $30 registration fee per dog will help the Lions Club meet its goal. 

Bridgehampton

631-324-7827

Songs and Stories

The Songwriters Share concert series continues tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the meetinghouse of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork. Fred Raimondo, the featured musician, and guests including Sarah Greene will play songs and discuss the inspiration behind them. A reception will follow. 

Tickets are $20, $15 for students and senior citizens. Proceeds will benefit the Retreat in East Hampton, which provides support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The Retreat Boutique thrift store is having a sale through Friday, April 13. Many clothing items are marked down to $10, and shoppers can also receive $10 off the shop’s selection of designer fashions. All sales benefit the Retreat.

Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the Hampton Library will hold a forum featuring Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk volunteers who will discuss their experiences building affordable housing. Snacks and refreshments will be served. 

As part of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival’s spring concert series, the Pacifica Quartet will perform at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church. Tickets, which are $40 for adults and $10 for students, can be purchased on the festival’s website.

On Saturday at 10 a.m. at Bridge Gardens, Rick Bogusch, the garden manager, will lead a workshop on the best practices for growing vegetables at home.

Southampton

631-324-7827

Handbell Concert

This year’s Spring Ring, a food pantry benefit concert of handbell choirs, will take place on April 14 at 5 p.m. at the Southampton Presbyterian Church. The choirs of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church and the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor will join the Southampton choir, bringing together more than 150 handbells and about 50 chimes. 

Dinner in the church’s dining room will follow. Nonperishable food items are the suggested donation.

“Faces Places”

“Faces Places,” a 2017 documentary that was nominated for an Academy Award, will be screened at the Southampton Arts Center tomorrow at 6 p.m. The film follows Agnes Varda, an 89-year-old director who was part of the French New Wave, and JR, a 34-year-old photographer and muralist, as they take a road trip through the French countryside to meet the locals. 

The center is offering group singing classes that provide individual coaching on four consecutive Wednesdays starting next week at 5:30 p.m. The three-hour classes will be taught by Valerie diLorenzo. The cost is $175 for the series. Tickets can be purchased on the center’s website. 

Lincoln Center Trip

Cristina Fontanelli, an opera singer, will give a free concert at Rogers Memorial Library on Sunday at 3 p.m. A reception will follow. 

The library is organizing a Hampton Jitney trip to Lincoln Center for a matinee performance of the musical “My Fair Lady” on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. The price is $135 and includes a ticket for a mezzanine seat, the bus fare, tip, and snacks. The Jitney will pick up and drop off passengers in the Rite Aid parking lot in Southampton. Advance registration and a nonrefundable payment are required. 

Springs

631-324-7827

Among the new titles for borrowing at the Springs Library are “The Nothing” by Hanif Kureishi, “The Disappeared” by C.J. Box, and “The Punishment She Deserves” by Elizabeth George. “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” “So B. It,” and season four of “The Brokenwood Mysteries” are some new DVDs. A selection of new children’s books has arrived as well.

Water Mill

631-324-7827

The Long Island Traditional Music Association will hold a contra dance party on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at the Water Mill Community House. Admission is $15 for adults, $7.50 for older students, and free for children under 16 who are accompanied by an adult.

631-324-7827

For the Scheffer Boys

A fund-raiser at the Harvest restaurant on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. will benefit Coen and Benjamin Scheffer, the young sons of Deborah Lee Scheffer, who died in February from complications of childbirth. Hosted by the Montauk Historical Society, the event will include hors d’oeuvres, a buffet, and a cash bar, plus raffle prizes. Tickets cost $25 and are available at Becker’s Hardware, the Montauk Lighthouse gift shop, and at the door.  

Foods from around the world can be sampled during a multicultural night at the Montauk School on Friday, April 13. The event is sponsored by the school’s PTA and will run from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20 per person or $30 per family, and will be available at the door. 

A save-the-date has been issued for Sunday, April 15, when a fund-raiser for the Montauk Community Garden will be held from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Harvest. There will be an auction, raffles, food, and a cash bar. Music will be by Lost Time.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $20 at Naturally Good Food and Cafe, the Salt Cave, and White’s Liquors. They will cost $25 at the door. 

Fish, Films, Budget Vote

Chris Paparo, a.k.a. the Fish Guy, the manager of the Marine Sciences Center at Stony Brook Southampton, will speak at the Montauk Library tonight at 7:30 p.m. about our local water challenges and how to protect the environment.

Francisco Roldan, a classical guitarist, will perform works by a range of composers from Bach and Giuliani to selections of Spanish music by Segovia on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. 

“I, Tonya,” the Oscar-winning film about the competitive figure skater Tonya Harding and the scandal that brought down her career, will be shown tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the library. The screening was originally scheduled for March 21, but was canceled due to snow. 

“Molly’s Game” is the Wednesday night movie, also showing at 7. The film is a true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier, who ran an exclusive high stakes poker game and became a target of the F.B.I. Jessica Chastain stars. Refreshments will be served at both movies.

Tomorrow the AARP will offer tax return assistance to older residents. One-hour appointments can be booked between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. People have been asked to take last year’s tax returns.

The Montauk Library budget vote and trustee election will be held on Tuesday, from 2 to 8 p.m. The proposed 2018-19 budget is just over $999,000, an increase of $54,200 over this year’s budget.

The tax rate would increase from $28.60 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $30.20 per $1,000 of assessed value. Carter Tyler is running unopposed for trustee to fill the late Jim Donna’s position.

Christopher E. Schubert, a supervisory hydrologist with the United States Geological Survey, will be the guest speaker at a May 17 fund-raiser in Manhattan for Concerned Citizens of Montauk. 

C.C.O.M. recently partnered with the U.S.G.S. on an effort to track the sources of bacteria and nitrogen entering Lake Montauk. Dr. Schubert will discuss microbial source tracking in the lake and how the U.S.G.S. and C.C.O.M. plan to use the scientific data collected to implement targeted solutions to clean up the lake. 

The fund-raiser will be held at a private residence from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. Tickets start at $250 and can be reserved at 631-238-5720 or online at PreserveMontauk.org/NYC.

Kati Tikkanen of this hamlet has made the dean’s list at the University of South Carolina’s College of Arts and Science for the fall semester. A sophomore majoring in business, Kati is the daughter of Beth Tikkanen of Montauk and Keith Tikkanen of Panama. Her grandmother is Edna Steck of Edgemere Street.

631-324-7827

Trees and how to care for them will be the subject of a panel discussion on Monday at 3 p.m. in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church’s Hoie Hall organized by the Ladies Village Improvement Society. Experts will take questions about all things trees. The panelists will be Deborah Green from Bartlett Tree Experts, Mike Gaines from CW Arborists, Charlie Marder from Marders, and Mariah Whitmore from Whitmore’s. 

The program will be moderated by Olivia Brooks, the L.V.I.S. tree committee chairwoman. Interested members of the public have been invited; R.S.V.P.s can be sent to [email protected].

“Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House,” a film about the Watergate scandal starring Liam Neeson, will be shown at the East Hampton Library tonight at 5 p.m.

Craig Boyd will perform solo jazz guitar at the library on Saturday at 1 p.m. Mr. Boyd is a professor of music at Suffolk Community College. His album “Back on Track” has received airplay on smooth jazz stations across the country.

Also at the library on Saturday, the East Hampton Group for Good Government has organized a 3 p.m. panel discussion on aspects of the Deepwater Wind offshore turbine plan. Panelists include representatives of the Deepwater company, environmental groups, and commercial fishing.

A support group for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers meets at the library at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. It is set up by the Alzheimer’s Association Long Island Chapter.

Meaghan Guzman, a certified lactation counselor, will lead a breastfeeding class for new mothers on Wednesday at 10 a.m.

“The Black Road” by Tania Carver is the mystery book club’s next subject, with a discussion meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Friday, April 13, movie, at 1 p.m., will be “Experiment in Terror,” which starred Lee Remick as a bank teller threatened by a murderer.

A weekly bereavement group run by East End Hospice meets on Tuesdays from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the East Hampton Healthcare Center on Pantigo Place. A once-a-month program will happen next Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Information about East End Hospice’s bereavement programs and counseling is available at 631-288-8400.

Looking ahead to April 14, the Historical Farm Museum on North Main and Cedar Streets will celebrate its spring reopening with country music, dancing, and tours of its new farm tools exhibit, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A $5 donation to help support the museum has been suggested.

The Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center was one step closer to reality this week after the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board approved its building plans on Tuesday evening. The Sag Harbor Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review will render its decision, the center’s final hurdle, after a public hearing on April 12. 

The design calls for a three-story structure with two theaters, a screening room, and a rooftop deck. The facade will be rebuilt to match exactly the original movie house, which was destroyed by fire in December of 2016. 

While the vetting process has been underway, the Sag Harbor Partnership, an organization that spearheaded last year’s successful fund-raising effort to buy the property, has been hoping to see construction begin this summer. “We’ve been interviewing contractors and project managers and doing all sorts of due diligence,” said April Gornik, the vice president of the partnership. 

  The group’s goal is to raise $3 million by July, with a yard sale benefit planned for May and a tent party on July 8. Nick Gazzolo, the partnership’s president, said there is now a more upbeat air surrounding their efforts. “It’s less do or die,” he said. “We’re focusing on the fact that this is an amazing thing that we can do for the community.” 

Few residents attended the public hearing before the planning board on Tuesday, but that was interpreted as a strong indicator of support for the center. “I think that was a very good sign,” said Neil Slevin, a planning board member. “If I were the Sag Harbor Cinema, I’d be feeling very, very good about the degree of acceptance from the community.”

For Kathy Keller, this year’s grand marshal of the Montauk Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s Day parade, leading the parade on Sunday is part of a family tradition. The seeds for the annual event were planted by her grandfather, Eddie Pugh, and three of his friends on St. Patrick’s Day in 1947, when, while leading a white horse, they marched from Second House to the Trail’s End restaurant. Where they got the white horse is lost in the mists of time. According to Ms. Keller, the four men and the horse took a brief detour to the Montauk Tavern on Main Street, now known as the Shagwong.

The parade went unmarched for many years after that. But in 1962, 12 men put together a new parade. It has been held annually ever since. “My father was one of the original group,” Ms. Keller said last week. The route, in its post- 1962 form, began in front of the I.G.A. on Main Street, headed east, then up Edgemere Street to the firehouse. Eventually, the route was reversed.

“The Friends of Erin called me in June,” Ms. Keller said. “I thought they were kidding.” It was no practical joke. “I am so honored. My father was the grand marshal in 1969, and my brother in 2007.”

She was asked what her main responsibilities were, as far as parading went. “To show up and not fall down,” she said with a laugh. The Friends of Erin “make sure that I have my tux and top hat,” she added. “They have been great.” Even before being honored as grand marshal, Ms. Keller has played a critical role each year, as secretary of the Friends of Erin for many years and a member its Ladies Auxiliary, by handling the logistics of the parade. She is responsible for the correspondence between the organization and the groups who march — and it is no easy job. Some participants dawdle and procrastinate before confirming their involvement, and once they have finally pitched in, Ms. Keller must figure out where they all fall in the order of the parade.

This year, there are at least 12 fire departments participating, 8 marching bands, 19 floats, and 3 color guards. The order in which they march is important. You don’t want to put a fire department right on top of a marching band, lest the firemen blow their horns and sound their sirens while the band is trying to play. (And there is a reason why horses and other animals usually come near the end.) Everything comes together in the final 10 days before kickoff. “I’m going to be nuts.”

As for which fire department goes where, it starts with the Montauk department, then Amagansett, East Hampton, Springs, and so forth, from east to west, with the departments the farthest west of the hamlet bringing up the rear. Ms. Keller marvels at all the volunteers, as well as both governmental and non-governmental organizations, that pitch in to make the parade a success. “The Parks Department is amazing. They help with everything. The highway department, the fire department. All the fire police come and help. It is really a community effort.” The helping- out continues after the parade, when Mickey Valcich volunteers the services of Mickey’s Carting to help with the cleanup.

In addition to the parade itself, there are two major events in Montauk in connection with St. Patrick’s Day. — every Friday, each year, before the parade — John Behan’s Annual Grand Marshal’s Luncheon is held, during which the marshal will be toasted, roasted, and presented with her sash, top hat, and shillelagh. Tomorrow’s party will begin at noon at the Montauk Yacht Club. Tickets, which can be bought at the Montauk Laundromat, if still available, are $60; more information can be found at the Montauk Friends of Erin website. Then, on Saturday, the Friends of Erin will throw its traditional cocktail gala, with a dinner buffet and music by the band Booga Sugar, at Gurney’s Hotel and Spa from 4 to 8 p.m. Tickets for the bash are $75 in advance and $100 at the door. Ms. Keller will reportedly be marched into the venue by the Amityville Highland Pipe Band.

“I think of the parade as the beginning of spring,” Ms. Keller said. “The restaurants start opening up, the motels start opening up, and the shops.” This year, Ms. Keller will be wearing the green — and orange — as she leads the community forward to greener days.

Renovations began last week at the Long Island Rail Road station in East Hampton Village, marking the start of a months-long project that will keep the building closed well into the summer season, even as train service remains uninterrupted. 

“Work on the station house will be wrapping up in midsummer 2018 and work on the platforms and surrounding areas will continue through March of 2019,” said Aaron Donovan, a spokes­man for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operates the L.I.R.R. The station has been encircled by chain-link fencing and flanked by trailers, one of which is functioning as a makeshift waiting room that is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

The project, which is part of a state-funded $120 million program to upgrade 16 stations on Long Island, will simultaneously modernize the East Hampton station’s facilities while restoring its appearance to the way it looked when it was built in 1895. 

“As I understand it, the restoration is planned to be quite accurate and respectful of existing original material,” said Robert Hefner, the village’s historic services director, who consulted with the L.I.R.R. on the project. The plans include stripping paint from the building’s red-brick facade, restoring its triangular dormer windows, and painting the exterior woodwork its original shade of dark green. 

As for the modern upgrades, LED lighting will be installed throughout the station, and train schedules will be displayed on electronic screens the M.T.A. refers to as “digital totems.” There will also be U.S.B. device-charging stations in and around the building as well as free Wi-Fi. New bathrooms and benches will be installed, and the site will receive sidewalk alterations to make it easier to for people with disabilities to navigate to and from trains.

Lauren M. Hersh and Kevin M. Starke were married on Saturday at Firefighters Park in Great Neck. The Hon. Neil R. Finkston, a justice in the Village of Great Neck, officiated, and a reception followed at Wild Ginger Asian Fusion restaurant, also in Great Neck. 

The bride is the daughter of Brenda Hersh of New York City and East Hampton and Robert M. Hersh of Roslyn Heights. The groom’s parents are Sandra J. Starke and Roy H. Starke of Great Neck.

The bride earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clark University in Massachusetts. She is an adjunct lecturer in English at Queensborough Community College, an adjunct assistant professor at Nassau Community College, and a tutor in the writing center there. 

Mr. Starke earned a degree in sports medicine from Methodist College in North Carolina. He is an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. 

On their wedding day, the bride wore an off-white dress with lace trim and a pink shawl. 

Roann Cinco and Cary Chew of Brooklyn were part of the “crew of honor.” The bride was also attended by Danielle Primis-Goldberg of Commack and Carrie Stern of Carmel, N.Y., as bridesmaids. 

The bride’s stepnephew, Donald Sivin of Sea Cliff, and the groom’s nephew, Dylan Schroeter, were the ringbearers. 

The couple live in Great Neck.

On Friday, just two weeks and a day before her son’s wedding reception at the Hedges Inn in East Hampton, Joanne Lester O’Brien learned that East Hampton Village had denied a permit for the March 31 event and five others planned at the inn this year. 

“When my son got engaged last summer, it made all the sense in the world for us to have this wedding with our friends instead of at an UpIsland wedding factory,” she told the village board on Friday. Her son had signed a contract with the inn months ago. She found out that the plans were in jeopardy just an hour before Friday’s village board meeting.  

Linda Riley, the village’s attorney, and Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. insisted that the decision was not based on a proposed amendment to the village’s mass assembly law that would enact more stringent permitting guidelines for special events at private residences and commercial properties and prohibit the village’s inns from holding events outdoors or in tents. Rather, Ms. Riley said, the permits were denied because special events at the inn are not consistent with village code, the property’s certificate of ccupancy, or with the legally-established pre-existing nonconforming uses for the site. 

Nevertheless, Ms. O’Brien joined members of the clergy, the lawyer for the Hedges Inn, and others who had events planned there in speaking out against the proposed amendment at a hearing on Friday. 

Christopher Kelley, the inn’s lawyer, said that the Hedges had received a letter the evening before the meeting informing it that six permit applications it had submitted for events this year had been denied. “This letter we got last night reverses the history of the last several years where the village has granted permits and recognized this special events use at this site,” said Mr. Kelley, who added that he was particularly concerned that the permit denials would upend plans for wedding receptions scheduled to take place at the inn, including that of Ms. O’Brien’s son, Kevin O’Brien. 

As Ms. O’Brien spoke, she sounded near tears as she told the trustees about the now-tentative plans for the wedding and about how her friendship with Jennifer Lilja, the general manager of the Hedges Inn, and Ms. Lilja’s mother had swayed the family’s decision on the venue.

“How can they do this to us based on a change in the law that hasn’t taken effect yet?” she asked later in the week. 

Charlotte Sasso, the owner of Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett, also spoke at the hearing in opposition to the proposed law. Ms. Sasso had held a party for her son’s bar mitzvah at the Hedges Inn last April, after applying for and receiving a permit. She told the board that she really had no other choice of venue for her event, which, she said, had approximately 135 guests in attendance. “It was April 1, so a lot of places were not open. The only solution was to put up a tent on the Hedges property,” she said. 

Stu Kaitz, the father of a bride-to-be whose wedding reception is on the books for June 9 at the Hedges Inn, expressed dismay that the village was suddenly changing course on allowing events to take place there. “We’re 84 days away,” he said. “All the plans are in place. I didn’t think I’d be sitting here, when I have a contract with the Hedges Inn, talking about can we have our event. So many events have been had there successfully,” he said. 

Among other things, the proposed law requires that a permit application be submitted at least 21 days in advance for anyone holding a gathering of 50 or more people that takes place in whole or in part outdoors. That drew criticism from East Hampton clergy and others who expressed concern that the law might abridge people’s right to practice religion. 

Leonard Ackerman, an attorney and an East Hampton Village resident, wrote a letter to the board, read by his neighbor Andrew Goldstein, that described how the proposed law would have impeded his ability to practice the proper Jewish rite of mourning, following the death of his wife, Judy, last August.   “The number of people who came to pay their respects exceeded 50,” wrote Mr. Ackerman, who noted that many of his guests spent time outside in his garden. “If the new law is adopted I would have been in violation.”

Rabbi Joshua Franklin of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons attended the meeting, along with the Very Rev. Denis Brunelle of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and the Rev. Scot McCachren of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church as representatives of the East Hampton Clericus. All echoed Mr. Ackerman’s concern that the proposed law does not explicitly provide an exemption for events with a religious purpose either at an institution or at a private residence. Mr. Brunelle also wanted to make sure that his church’s annual fair would not be negatively impacted by the law.

Three days after the board meeting, Mr. Kelley, the lawyer for the inn, said that he and the village were working together to try to find a way to allow all of the inn’s 2018 events to take place. When reached to discuss both the board meeting and the potential deal, Becky Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, declined to comment. 

“We will take all the comments made under advisement,” said Mayor Rickenbach after every member of the public had a chance to speak. The mayor kept the hearing open until the board’s next meeting, on April 5. “It’s not an easy one to grapple with,” he said. 

In other business, the board approved a special event permit for the Chamber of Commerce’s spring fair to be held on May 12, and resolved to hold a public hearing on April 20 in regard to a proposed ban on polystyrene containers. It also extended an agreement with the East Hampton Historical Society to allow the organization to operate its headquarters at 101 Main Street, which is a village-owned building, as a museum through 2023.

Where and When:

The 56th annual Montauk Friends of Erin parade starts on Edgemere Road at noon on Sunday and winds south along Edgemere, turning west on Main Street to pass before the grand stand — under the eye of Rick White, the master of ceremonies, and gathered worthies and float judges — before ending at the Montauk I.G.A. about two hours later. Approximately 80 groups are expected to participate, including marching bands, whimsical and sometimes zany floats, many bagpipers in kilts, and fire departments from across Long Island. For many children, a highlight is grabbing the candy and bead necklaces handed out by many of groups as they march.

Warming Up:

From 11 a.m. on parade day, the Montauk Chamber of Commerce will be selling hot soup and chowder in commemorative cups in front of the chamber building, Main Street from the grandstand. The 2018 specialty mugs will be available for purchase as early as tomorrow (Friday) at the chamber's headquarters.

Crowds:

The Montauk parade is considered the second largest in New York State, after the annual march down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue — which was held last weekend — but it is hard to put a reliable number on it. In 2003, the East Hampton Town Police reported that their estimate of attendees at Montauk numbered as high as 45,000; in 2016, estimates were more like 20,000. Suffice it to say that tens of thousands will be there, and a lot depends on the weather. Also, thanks to a coordinated effort between police and the organizers, it is a much more calm and family-friendly crowd than it was several years ago, when young rowdy revelers poured off the Long Island Rail Road in various states of inebriation. (See details on L.I.R.R. sobriety, below.)

Getting There:

Expect Edgemere Road to be closed to automobile traffic from about 10:30 a.m. (Parade participants are asked to access the staging area by taking Second House Road and then Industrial Road over to Edgemere.) Main Street will close when the parade steps off at noon, and probably won't open again until 2:30 or even later.

Those taking the Long Island Rail Road should be aware that no liquids at all will be allowed on the Montauk-bound trains on parade day. This is part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority's continued effort to discourage the unruly behavior that used to be a feature of the parade but that has greatly declined in recent years, as a calmer decorum has been enforced. If the M.T.A. Police find a passenger with a beverage container on the train or the platform, the container will be confiscated.

The Long Island Rail Road has added two extra eastbound trains on Sunday. In addition to the regularly scheduled trains to Montauk (leaving Pennsylvania Station at 7:45 and 11:45 a.m.), there will be an extra St. Patrick's Day special run from Penn Station at 6:45 a.m., and another departing Babylon at 8:56 a.m.

Eating After the Parade:

Among the convivial spots where you can keep up the holiday spirit, and warm up your chilly bones, is O'Murphy's Restaurant and Pub, down by the marinas on West Lake Drive. They will be serving a lunch and dinner of corned beef and cabbage, with Irish music "all day and night," plus Guinness, of course, and Irish coffees.

Sammy's restaurant, also on West Lake Drive, is offering a St. Patty's prix fixe, with three courses — and an entree choice of corned beef, roast cod, roast beef, chicken potpie, or braised lamb — for $24.95; reservations are at 631-238-5707.

Shagwong, the old tavern on Main Street, will surely be thronged with happy revelers. And the Montauk Brewing Company can be relied on for an assortment of locally brewed stouts, ales, and lagers.