125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, March 18
There will be another grand dance at Clinton Hall on the evening of March 28, for which invitations will be issued next week. The committee of arrangements is composed of H.D. Hedges, B.Z. Griffing, J.W. Hand, J.E. Huntting, and A.H. Culver. The music will be by the Center Moriches orchestra.
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The increased activity in the fishing business at the east end is resulting in long hours for the freight train crews. The single daily freight is taxed to its utmost to handle the great quantities of fish now being shipped. Wednesday morning's train took out nine loaded cars, and even then left a blockade at the terminus. The afternoon freight now arrives here about 10 o'clock at night.
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The masquerade dance given by the little folks in Odd Fellow's Hall last Friday evening was an unbounded success. The costumes worn by the little tots were well gotten up and excited much admiration. Nearly everybody dropped in to see the fun and juveniles took in over $18 at the door.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, March 16
The East Hampton of 1651 and its immediate environs bore different locality names than those of today. The south end, extending to the Lily pond, was "the Great Plain"; between Lily pond and Georgica lake lay the "Little Plain"; "Eastern Plain" extended from Hook pond to near the "Indian Wells," now Amagansett. These descriptions are rough outlines and are not presumed to specifically identify exact geographical situation.
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The jolly crowd, the members of which have been receiving dancing instructions from Carl Reutershan, held a get-together at the home of George Ingalls on Monday night. About twenty were present and the main attraction of the evening was a duck supper.
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One hundred years ago next May 8, "Home, Sweet Home" was sung in public for the first time. The melody came in the second act of an opera called "Clari, or the Maid of Milan," produced at Covent Garden. The libretto was written by a wandering American actor, John Howard Payne, and the music was composed by Sir Henry Bishop.
The opera died and was soon forgotten, but the centenary of the song it bequeathed to the English-speaking world is to be observed in London. As yet the nature of the commemorative ceremonies has not been decided upon, but leading musicians have expressed hope that the anniversary will be observed by the singing of the song at concerts throughout the world.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, March 18
The commercial airport to be opened soon at the site of the former Army airbase in Westhampton will serve as the major Eastern Suffolk terminus for regular passenger service linking the immediate areas with Western Suffolk, New York City and New England, according to plans outlined today.
Walter F. McGinty of Stony Brook, who has leased the 1,300-acre field from the county of Suffolk, said that it will be a regular stop on a schedule of five round-trip flights daily between Long Island airports and Fishers Island, New London, Bridgeport and New Haven, Conn., by Island Air Ferries.
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The Long Island Rail Road announced this week discontinuance of its Fishermen's special trains to Canoe Place and Montauk this year.
"A loss on their operation last year," said Henry A. Weiss, traffic manager, "as a result of increased costs in relation to the revenue, coupled with further cost increases this year, leaves us no other course."
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Only one of the five voluntary community hospitals in Suffolk County has a training school for nurses. That one is the Southampton Hospital.
Your hospital's nursing school has been in existence for twenty-four years, having been founded in 1924. Since that time hundreds of young women have been graduated as Registered Nurses and are serving not only in the Southampton Hospital but in many other hospitals throughout the nation. These graduates were able to practice their profession at little cost as the Southampton School of Nursing charges no tuition.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, March 15
Norton W. Daniels of Cooper Lane, East Hampton, who became a Town Assessor three years ago after 20 years in the field of real property operations and management for the Federal government, was chosen last week, as expected, to be the Republican nominee for County Legislator from the East End. The selection was made at a convention of the G.O.P. at its headquarters in Blue Point.
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A debate on offshore oil drilling will be held in the East Hampton Middle School at 8 p.m. next Wednesday. Taking the oil industry side will be Eugene Luntey, president of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company and chairman of the Atlantic Action Program, a consortium of 30 companies, including Long Island Lighting. The East Hampton Town Democratic Club will sponsor the debate.
His opponent will be Ms. Helen Sarvis of Montauk, who led a letter appeal to President Richard Nixon last summer about offshore oil. Some 15,000 letters were sent.
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The new Gristede's food store at 461 Pantigo Road (the Montauk Highway) between East Hampton and Amagansett will open officially with a ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Supervisor Eugene E. Lester Jr., who lives just across the way, is expected to do the honors.
The store will present a "pre-opening preview" Tuesday evening between 5 and 9 p.m. There is a Gristede's in Southampton already; another will open coincidentally with East Hampton's next Wednesday at Saint James.
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, March 19
Montauk will be saturated with petitions this weekend in an attempt to save a provision of a Suffolk County law that has continued to allow smoking in bar areas of restaurants, according to Laurie Costello, executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce.
When the smoking law went into effect three years ago, restaurant owners were "devastated," according to William Leudemann, the president of the Suffolk County Restaurant and Tavern Association.
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Litigants opposed to the runway reconstruction at East Hampton Airport failed to get a temporary restraining order to stop the work after arguing their case before State Supreme Court Justice Donald Kitson on Monday.
The same judge ordered East Hampton Supervisor Cathy Lester to sign a construction contract for the project in December following a suit brought by the chosen contractor against the town and Supervisor.
The Supervisor had refused to follow through on the contract, approved by the then-Republican Town Board majority, because she believed the project hadn't received adequate environmental or public review.
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Robert Pharaoh of Hempstead Street, who pulled an injured man from a burning car last year, was recently presented with the Sag Harbor Fire Department 1997 Firefighter of the Year award.
When James Baron of East Hampton lost control of his car late last summer on Scuttlehole Road, he struck a telephone pole. Fallen, live electrical wires caused the wrecked car to catch fire with Mr. Baron still inside.
