A view from the ferry.

Trouble this year within the web of suppliers that bring goods from manufacturers to retailers has made holiday buying fraught.

In one of the more heavily debated purchases of its kind in recent years, East Hampton Town will soon close on the purchase of less than two wooded acres off Green Hollow and Buckskill Roads.

Eighty years ago this month, the mayor of the Village of East Hampton issued an urgent plea: An important piece of early American history was in danger of being lost.