Observances of East Hampton Town's 375th anniversary will begin on Saturday with a history fair on the Town Hall campus on Pantigo Road from 1 to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The festivities will begin with the Montaukett Women's Dance Circle leading an opening ceremony at 1:15. That will be followed by presentations on local history topics prepared by students in various schools, and live music performances.
Hugh King, the town's historian, will be on hand to answer questions, and films depicting significant events in the town's history, provided by LTV, will be screened inside Town Hall throughout the day. Reproductions of town records provided by the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection will be on display.
Knowledge of the town's history can be tested with trivia and scavenger hunts, and food and ice-cream trucks will visit throughout the day.
Students from several schools will present local history projects including the East Hampton Middle School sixth grade, which will offer sea shanties and school history; the Sag Harbor Elementary School's third grade, which will perform songs about the history of whaling, and the Montauk School's photo quilt inspired by Carl Fisher’s vision for Montauk. East Hampton High School students will present "Art Panels and Historical Significance." Students of the Springs School will present songs from the fourth-grade opera about Jackson Pollock.
Job Potter and Friends, Chelsea Walker, and Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc will perform music.
Several nonprofit community groups will have tables at the fair highlighting their history. These include the East Hampton Farm Museum, the Parrish Art Museum, the Springs Historical Society, the Arts Center at Duck Creek, the Eastville Community Historical Society, the Amagansett Village Improvement Society, the Springs Improvement Society, Ashawagh Hall, the Montauketts, the Everit Albert Herter post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Montauk and Amagansett Libraries, and the town's Aquaculture Department.
A committee including representatives from the East Hampton Historical Society, schools, libraries, and community groups has been meeting to plan future events, which will include a 375th anniversary and East Hampton High School homecoming parade and fair on Sept. 23.