Grind

A holiday decorating contest and a visit from Santa are coming up in Montauk.

The Covid-19 pandemic has cast a shadow over the holiday season for many families. The good news is that Toys for Tots, now in its 35th year, is stepping in to fill gaps and provide gifts for children whose families need help.

Bringing today’s current challenges to life onstage, Pierson High School students are making theater more accessible than ever by tapping into 2020’s most relatable phenomenon: quarantine. Their production of Don Zoldis's "10 Ways to Survive Life in Quarantine" will be live with a limited audience and stream free online.

Evelyn Ramunno, the executive director of the the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry, and the pantry's volunteers are this year's recipients of the Community Service Award from the Sag Harbor Partnership.

The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society will host a three-mile hike to the seal haul-out trail in Montauk on Saturday at 10 a.m.

For those seeking to shop locally this holiday season, the Village True Value Hardware Store in East Hampton now has a special section of locally made products.

Merry Madoo’s Santa Stand will be selling the conservancy’s home-grown paperwhites, apple and orange pomanders with velvet ribbons, and boughs of fresh-cut greens from the garden for holiday decorating needs.

Marine fishing industries that have experienced significant economic losses because of the pandemic can apply for federal grants through New York State's fisheries relief program starting on Tuesday. The application period ends on Dec. 31.

As Covid-19 surges anew on the East End, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has once again suspended most visitation privileges.

It's time to start decking the halls.

The Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce will hold a weekly holiday event with Main Street stores offering discounts and free gifts with purchases, restaurant specials, and more starting this week through Dec. 18.

The Pike food truck at the Corwith Farmstand in Water Mill has a Thanksgiving menu of appetizers, soups, entrees, side dishes, and desserts. Appetizers offered by the dozen include pigs in a blanket for $14.50, barbecue pulled pork quesadillas for $18.95, and curried tuna cakes with mango salsa for $12.50. The entrees offered by the pound include citrus glazed ham for $14.99, herbed-rubbed turkey for $16.99, blackened sea bass for $17.99, and Cajun roasted pork tenderloin for $22.99.

While many holiday traditions may be curtailed in light of Covid, the Riverhead Holiday Light Show promises to be as bright as ever. The largest drive-through light show in Suffolk County opened on Thursday.

Lots of interesting things are happening in Sag Harbor this weekend and beyond.

A poet and a particle physicist, who happen to be married, walk into a bar. Well, actually appear in an East Hampton Library Zoom program Monday at 5 p.m. on the ways that poetry and science can enrich the understanding of the universe.

The East Hampton Historical Society will hold a holiday event at the Mulford Farm on Nov. 28 and the Thomas and Mary Nimmo Moran House and Studio will open on Nov. 29 for a holiday exhibition of festive decor, postcards, period silver, and antique toys to evoke a 19th-century Christmas.

In honor of National Family Caregivers Month this November, Peconic Bay Medical Center’s sixth annual Caregivers Retreat day will be held virtually, over Facebook Live, on Friday.

Thanks to promising weather over the next few days, the Leonids meteor shower can be seen in the pre-dawn skies this week. It will peak Monday night and the viewing will be made easier without moonlight, according to the Hamptons Observatory.

The East Hampton Lions Club will host a blood drive at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett on Monday from 11:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. The hall is on the corner of Montauk Highway and Abraham’s Path.

Two local libraries are helping kids say "thanks" to essential workers and others, just in time for Thanksgiving.

The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor has an online college essay workshop planned for tomorrow from 4 to 5 p.m., promising tricks and tips for writing college admissions essays.

Honoring Veterans with ceremonies and perks.

The Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays will host an online training session on Tuesday for people who have an interest in volunteering to care for sick, injured, or orphaned wild animals.

On Thursday, Gail Baranello, co-owner of the A&G Dance Company, will lead a gentle, Covid-safe workshop called Moving Through Isolation, based around how people have been feeling during the pandemic.

East Hampton Town residents who have been holding on to those old paints, half-full gas cans, and the like can safely dispose of them on Saturday in Montauk.

The Greater East Hampton Education Foundation, which provides grants to local teachers for equipment and activities not covered in school district budgets, began selling tickets for its Winter Cold Cash Raffle this week.

If all 400 tickets are sold, the grand prize will be $2,500. A $1,000 prize for second place and two $250 prizes for third place will also be drawn. Ticket sales end Nov. 10, and the drawing will take place on Dec. 16.

Anticipating a disputed result of Tuesday's presidential election, an activist group called Progressive East End Reformers has scheduled a post-election rally on Wednesday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Community House.

On Monday evening, Artists for Democracy will continue their East End projections to encourage residents to vote on Tuesday, which is the official Election Day.

The police departments and school districts in Southampton Town will be joining forces to collect non-perishable food items for East End food banks from Nov. 1 to Nov. 20.

Halloween will look a little different this year because of the pandemic, but there's still plenty of fun to be had.