Grind

Project Most, the nonprofit that that has partnered with the East Hampton Neighborhood House to expand its after-school activities for children, will have open house hours at the Neighborhood House on Thursday to familiarize parents and kids with its programs. 

The Southampton Town Board has put out a poll in the hope of gauging public opinion on banning the sale, distribution, and release of balloons within the town. 

The Sag Harbor Elementary School PTA, along with Gary Osborne, an art teacher, and Traci Robinson, a parent, will host a talk Thursday at 7 at the school about the Wait Until 8th movement in schools.

PSEG-Long Island launched a new mobile app on Tuesday that enables customers to more easily manage their electric accounts.

The Cancer Services Program of Suffolk County is urging women to get screened for cervical cancer, as January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

Martin Luther King’s Birthday will be celebrated with a special Monday service at Calvary Baptist Church on Spinner Lane in East Hampton at 1 p.m.

Furthering their work to promote cultural understanding and dialogue about race and diversity, the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center and the Hayground School have teamed up to host a screening of the film “Just Mercy” on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Regal Cinema in East Hampton.

Russell Bennett, the front office manager at The East Hampton Star next door, was the 10,000th customer Wednesday. He got a large coffee.

The 2020 Academy Awards nominations were announced on Monday morning. Films with local ties did very well with "The Irishman" tied for second with most nominations at 10.

Starting Monday, riders on the South Fork Commuter Connection will be paying $1 less for bus rides associated with the commute. 

A masquerade ball fund-raiser at Union Cantina on Saturday will help underwrite a Southampton doctor’s mission in the Dominican Republic.

Looking to help people make 2020 the "healthiest and happiest year yet," The Spur and the Wellness Foundation have announced that they are joining up for a wellness market on Saturday in Southampton.

Visitors can sample snacks and skin products, discover new and helpful workout methods, and learn about immune-system health and nutrition. Seventeen vendors, such as East End Row and Hamptons Hot Yoga, will be on hand to offer their products and expertise.

Films with East End connections were well represented among the Golden Globe nominees, and also logged some wins. 

Various programs through Stony Brook Southampton Hospital aim people to feel better and get healthier in 2020. 

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church will host the first free community soup dinner of the new year on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m.

The new year begins Friday night with the sixth annual Songwriters Share concert series at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse of the South Fork. Each concert will support a local charity.     

Up for a challenge . . . for a good cause?

The bravest swimmers on the South Fork can answer the polar plunge call to raise money for charity by taking a winter dip on New Year's Day in Montauk, East Hampton, or Wainscott.

The first one of the day is on the beach at Gurney's Montauk Resort at 10:30 a.m. Donations collected during the Gurney's polar plunge will benefit the Retreat, a domestic violence shelter program based in East Hampton.

The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society will host three hikes this week in Montauk.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed into law a bill establishing protection and conservation areas for marine mammals and birds that live on the land and waters of Plum Island, Great Gull Island, and Little Gull Island.

To celebrate New Year’s Eve in a safe, alcohol-free environment, the South­ampton Town addiction and recovery committee will throw a New Year’s Eve party at Parrish Hall at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. The 2020 Clear Vision Party, as it’s called, will start at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and go until about a half-hour after the ball drops. There will be live entertainment and refreshments.

A menorah lighting will take place in Herrick Park in East Hampton Village on Friday at 4:30 p.m., organized by Chabad of the Hamptons with cocoa, chocolate coins, and raffle prizes. The event will be preceded by a parade of lights from the Chabad house on Woods Lane starting at 3:30 and an ice-carving demonstration at Herrick Park once the “menorahcade” arrives.

Shakespeare and Co.'s three-week residency at the school culminates in performances of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Thursday. All 78 students, ages 3 to 13, have had a hand in this year's production.

The holiday festivities are in full swing with Santa likely showing up in your hamlet sometime over the weekend and plenty of places to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list, such as the annual Artisans Gift Show in Springs. In between all of that, catch a "Mixed Nuts" performance at Bay Street or take a dip in the ocean during the Polar Bear Plunge at Cooper's Beach in Southampton Village to raise money for Heart of the Hamptons, an organization which assists more than 1,500 people in the community each year. 

Friday, December 13 

The Wainscott C.A.C. on Saturday announced that this year's business awards recognize Michael Del Piero Good Design and Wainscott Main Wines and Spirits for aesthetic and community-minded accomplishments.

Films and television offerings with East End connections found love from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which nominated several of them for their annual Golden Globes Awards.

If you are looking for farmland or you have farmland and want a farmer to work it for you, an upcoming Peconic Land Trust forum in Riverhead is for you. Next Thursday, Dec. 12, the Peconic Land Trust will review the Farmland for a New Generation New York program, which is coordinated by American Farmland Trust in partnership with the State Department of Agriculture and Markets, agricultural organizations, and land trusts. There will be specific information available to farmers and farmland owners on Long Island.

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will bring holiday cheer to East Hampton with its annual production of “The Nutcracker,” which opens Friday at Guild Hall.

With 20 days until Christmas, it's time to get serious about holiday shopping, and with the many holiday fairs happening between Montauk and Southampton, it should be somewhat easy to do. Check out all the fairs, and more holiday festivities, like the Santa Parade and "The Nutcracker" performances, happening around town: 

Friday, December 6 

A ban on bump stocks and other rapid-fire modifications to guns is now in effect in New York State. On Nov. 26, the ban on the possession, manufacture, transport, shipment and sale of such items became law, closing a statutory loophole.

The first blast of snow in eastern Suffolk County was not quite enough for a snow day, but icy roads caused a two-hour delay for some school openings on Tuesday morning.