The Amagansett Village Improvement Society, which held its first meeting on Sept. 21, 1921, will hold another event, its annual Summer Splash fund-raiser, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Amagansett Golf Club, formerly the South Fork Country Club.
The evening, which will feature an open bar, hors d’oeuvres, live jazz by the Steve Shaughnessy Trio, and a D.J., Eric Valdez, will honor its co-president, Joan Tulp, an AVIS member of more than 50 years and the hamlet’s unofficial mayor.
Upon its founding, the society stated as its objectives “the improvement of the roads, sidewalks, cemeteries, parks, and greens of the said Amagansett and vicinity, and for the improvement and advancement of the welfare and the best interest of said village of Amagansett.” The society was incorporated in 1937, at which time its aims and purposes were broadened to include “the preservation of historical objects [and] the gathering and dissemination of information concerning the early history.” The bylaws and constitution were again changed in 1948 to give men full membership.
Her colleagues are “being very kind to have this celebration for me,” Ms. Tulp said on a sunny day at the hamlet’s Indian Wells Beach last week. She spoke of the society’s many initiatives, including Santa Claus Day, during which 100 stockings filled with goodies are distributed to children at the Amagansett Firehouse and for which she serves as Mrs. Claus.
“We look at almost every tree — if you call and say it’s damaged or leaning, we take care of it. We do all the triangles” — with help from Luis Coronel, Whitmores Landscaping, and Charlie Whitmore and Sons — “and they look beautiful. We do all the Christmas boxes with the boughs. We do the Christmas tree, the big one [near the firehouse]. We raise the flag every day. I feel we do so much.”
The society also maintains the John Day Jackson Memorial Tennis Courts on Atlantic Avenue, displays flags on Main Street for special occasions, cares for the flagpole near the firehouse, and provides scholarships for Amagansett School graduates at East Hampton High School.
“I don’t think I’ve met anyone more committed to their hometown than Joan,” said Victor Gelb, co-president of AVIS. “She is the embodiment of loving Amagansett.” Ms. Tulp “has been an active AVIS board member for over 55 years, many of those as co-president,” he said. “Without a doubt, she is a driving force behind the mission of keeping Amagansett beautiful.”
Mr. Gelb noted that Ms. Tulp has been a member of the Ladies Village Improvement Society and a board member of the Art Barge, and is a current board member of the Amagansett Historical Association. “She has volunteered at the East Hampton Food Pantry, the Amagansett School, the Polar Plunge, and as a judge at the annual dog show each year. She is also a member of the Amagansett Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.”
“As the honorary mayor of Amagansett, Joan participates in the St. Patrick’s Day Am O’Gansett Parade each year to cheers from the gathered crowd,” Mr. Gelb added. “There is no person more committed to our hamlet than Joan.”
“I think the people on the board are just wonderful and very hard workers, even though they all have outside jobs,” Ms. Tulp said. “I’m one of the few people who’s retired, so it’s a little easier for me. I have to say kudos to my co-president, Victor Gelb.”
Tickets for Summer Splash are $125 and available at keepamagansettbeautiful.com or at the door.
