125 Years Ago - 1897
From The East Hampton Star, March 26
A delightful taste of spring on Monday, two days of easterly rain and drizzle, a sudden drop of the temperature and a howling wind on Thursday sums up the vicissitudes of this week’s weather as we go to press. However, the crocus blossoms in Mrs. Payne’s yard, the changing color of the village green, all remind us of the nearness of spring and good weather.
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A Sag Harbor dry goods clerk, who is evidently a bicycle enthusiast, thus accosted a customer who was looking at ladies’ shirt waists: “They are the ’97 pattern and have detachable sprockets.”
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The Long Island Railroad Company has placed on sale at its principal stations special excursion tickets at reduced rates for the use of “theater parties.” Full information relative to rates, etc., will be furnished upon application to Station Agent Smith at East Hampton or Agent Hawkins at Amagansett.
100 Years Ago - 1922
From The East Hampton Star, March 24
The hot political battle waged in this village last Tuesday resulted in the defeat of Village President Jonathan Baker and the election of N.C. Osborne for the office of Village president. The only other contest was for the collectorship of the village, the candidates being Raymond A. Smith, who sought re-election, and Clarence Thomas. Mr. Thomas won out by a majority of thirty-one votes.
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The following letter was recently received by C.H. Aldrich, of Mattituck, representing the County Transportation Committee of the Farm Bureau Association. It came from P.H. Woodward, representing the Long Island Railroad Company:
Dear Mr. Aldridge — I have your letter of March 13th. We have just come to a conclusion as to train service, daylight saving, etc. In the first place, all of the clocks of the Long Island Railroad will be changed on April 30th, in accordance with the daylight saving regulations in New York City. This will continue until the end of September, as was the case last year.
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Miss Alice White entertained a number of her young friends at a St. Patrick’s party at her home on Main street last Saturday evening. A first prize for the most original costume was awarded to Newton Tiffany.
75 Years Ago - 1947
From The East Hampton Star, March 27
The Princeton Theological Seminary Choir will conduct the morning service of worship in the First Presbyterian Church of Amagansett at eleven o’clock Sunday, March 30.
The choir will sing a program of the world’s great choral music, including works by Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn and several modern composers. Dr. Joseph L. Hromadka, Guest Professor of Apologetics and Christian Ethics at Princeton Seminary, a citizen of Czechoslovakia, will speak briefly on the claims of the ministry and the work of the Seminary.
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Guild Hall players and their guests will enjoy a “double feature” entertainment at their next meeting Monday evening, March 31. There will be a one-act workshop comedy under the direction of Mrs. Otis Barnes and a half hour documentary movie based on the activities of the Players filmed by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Juckett.
Appearing in the workshop comedy will be: Dan Rush, Mrs. Nelson Osborne, Jr., Joseph Hren, Donald Gould, and the Misses Jane Merrill, Elizabeth Fitzpatrick and Joanne Bergman.
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John A. Craft of Montauk, well-known vocalist and director of the Hampton Choral Society, will be the soloist for the early Easter Morning Sunrise service at the Methodist Church on April 6 at 6:30 a.m.
With the early morning light coming in through the stained glass windows, the worshippers will be led in meditation and praise focused upon the four phases of the life of Jesus. This résumé of His life will be told by readers and artists, through scripture, interpretation and music.
50 Years Ago - 1972
From The East Hampton Star, March 23
Zoning ordinance amendments designed to further control group renting were passed by the East Hampton Town Board at its meeting last Friday after a public hearing, during which support for the amendments was expressed. In other action, the board abandoned a proposal to relieve haulers of refuse in one-half ton and three-quarter ton trucks from purchasing a $50 annual permit, and noticed for re-hearing an associated recommendation which would allow commercial haulers to purchase for their customers up to 100 cubic yards of fill from the Town’s sanitary landfills.
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While the Montauk Chamber of Commerce is steaming into battle against foreign fishing fleets, mounting a campaign for a 200-mile offshore limit, Save Our Stripers, Inc., a group devoted to the passage of a no-netting striped-bass bill, is taking on the Chamber.
More precisely, Save Our Stripers is taking on Montauk business in general, and has announced “an economic boycott of Montauk, where the Legislator lives and operates his seafood business.” The Legislator is Assembly Speaker Perry B. Duryea Jr., who is blamed by SOS for its lack of success in promoting the no-netting bill.
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The East Hampton Town Highway Department and the Coast Guard Station at Star Island cleaned up oil-covered debris last Saturday that was washed ashore at Ditch Plains, Montauk, in a heavy surf.
Supervisor Eugene E. Lester Jr., who was at the scene, said the oil-coated seaweed and driftwood was confined to the beach south of Ditch Plains Road. The Highway Department sent a payloader and a dump truck to collect it, and Mr. Lester said that later the Coast Guard performed some clean-up work.
25 Years Ago - 1997
From The East Hampton Star, March 27
Following through on East Hampton Town’s new open space plan, the Town Board has invited the public to speak its mind on the plan’s recommendations to upzone 140 parcels — some large and some small, some innocuous and some highly visible — located from Wainscott to Montauk.
The open space plan, like its predecessor, addresses the development or preservation of more than 700 lots townwide. For decades officials have sifted through the list of vacant parcels and farmland earmarked for acquisition and acted to buy or otherwise preserve them as funds and the willingness of the owners allow.
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The chorus of complaints about the condition of Route 27 and the state’s decision to hold off on much-needed repairs until the year 2000 is growing louder.
Last week, the East Hampton Town Board agreed to join other local officials in “definite opposition” to the proposed starting date: December 2000. East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. have already written to the State Department of Transportation on the issue.
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If all goes as expected, a coalition of three hospitals — Southampton, Central Suffolk, and Eastern Long Island — will meet state requirements for incorporation within the week. As a result, East Enders may soon notice ripples of change in health care services.
The tri-hospital network received tentative state approval late last year to operate as a corporation, provided the U.S. Justice Department had no objections. The government review period for possible anti-trust issues ends tomorrow.
