125 Years Ago 1901
From The East Hampton Star, July 12
The Crimson Rambler rose is just now the prettiest thing in East Hampton, and one of the finest displays of this rose we have noticed is on the south side of T.L. Manson Jr.’s cottage.
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East Hampton never looked prettier than it does now. The town was never in better shape to entertain visitors than now, and the healthfulness of the place is excellent. These are facts that can be proved. East Hampton has a public supply of water that is as pure as can be found anywhere, and all drink freely of it without fear of evil results. The mortality record in East Hampton for the past year is lower than it has been in any year during the past decade. This statement can be verified by the town clerk’s records.
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Sun Brothers’ circus played to good-sized audiences Monday afternoon and evening. The company had 65 horses and a few other animals. The performance gave general satisfaction. Several of the summer visitors were in the audience in the evening, among them John Drew, the noted actor.
100 Years Ago 1926
From The East Hampton Star, July 9
An appreciative crowd watched the East Hampton fireworks display at the beach on Monday night, the 5th, in celebration of the Fourth of July. Aside from the local people and summer residents there were great numbers of out-of-town visitors who were attracted here for the display. Starting at 9 o’clock the men in charge of the setting off of the fireworks continued steadily until nearly 11 o’clock. It was pronounced to be the finest show that has been put on on the Fourth at our beach, for there were many special fireworks pieces this year.
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You radio fans, listen! We have some good news for you, news that you have been waiting patiently for. You have heard hundreds of rumors of it before, but now it looks as though your wishes are to be granted. We learned from Ralph Vanegas, manager of the local plant of the Independent Wireless Co., that old botheration himself, that the transmitting apparatus is going to be moved to the company’s East Moriches station. Then residents in that section will have an opportunity of knowing what real interference is.
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A fireworks display that rivaled our own display on the beach was given as a surprise to Carl G. Fisher at Montauk, on Monday, by his friend, Mr. Champion of the Champion Spark Plug Company. Fisher had invited Champion to visit Montauk over the Fourth and they came down on Fisher’s Shadow K. Champion figured that it would be a nice idea to surprise Fisher with some fireworks at Montauk, and had a big lot of fireworks and display pieces hidden in one of the life boats on the Shadow K, unknown to Fisher.
75 Years Ago 1951
From The East Hampton Star, July 12
The John Drew Theatre of Guild Hall opened Monday evening, July 9, in the glitter of South Shore society and the glare of Life magazine’s flash bulbs.
A capacity crowd saw Veronica Lake in “The Voice of the Turtle,” a delightfully poignant Broadway comedy hit by John Van Druten, which ranks as one of the longest-running plays in theatre history. The story is one of a World War II soldier who is “stood up” by his date. Faced with a lonely weekend, he turns with no enthusiasm to the company of his date’s girlfriend, Sally Middleton, played by Veronica Lake.
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Victor DePauw, painting and drawing instructor at the Art Students League and the Museum of Modern Art, is spending the summer at Three Mile Harbor. Mr. DePauw has paintings included in exhibitions all over the country. He is also on the art staff of the New Yorker.
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On Saturday, July 7, the Pallottine Fathers of North Haven gave a reception in honor of Vincent R. Impellitteri, Mayor of New York City, and Mrs. Impellitteri, who have been vacationing at Shelter Island. The guests were greeted by Father Joseph Mungari and the Rev. Louis E. Del Vecchio, Father Superior of the College. A buffet dinner was served in the garden of the Pallottine Fathers Novitiate in North Haven, a 97-acre estate formerly called the Barclay Estate.
50 Years Ago 1976
From The East Hampton Star, July 8
With memories of fouled beaches still fresh, the East Hampton Town Board at its meeting last Friday approved a resolution urging the State Legislature “to pass legislation prohibiting any community from dumping at sea raw sewage, processed sewage, sludge and garbage and to establish penalties for communities that violate these regulations.”
Councilman Samuel Lester, who introduced the resolution, said, after the meeting, “Someday they’ve got to do something; if you don’t, the garbage will keep piling up. It’s conceivable that with the right winds and tides we could get New York’s waste all the time.”
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A Volkswagen adorned with two stickers, “Summer Bugs Me” and “Winter People,” was seen headed west on Route 27 Tuesday morning. It was piled high with luggage.
One woman to another, in the crowd leaving the East Hampton Cinema Monday evening after a showing of “All the President’s Men”: “They’re making heroes out of those two young men, and all they really did was make trouble.”
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This summer is Alice Langan’s 30th as a seasonal worker at the Hither Hills State Park in Montauk, and her pay has just been cut from $3.57 an hour to $2.94. Her sister-in-law was offered a cut to $2.30 an hour after 12 summers on the job and quit instead. Another half dozen workers there, and hundreds at other State parks, received similar pay cuts, which the Long Island State Parks Commission attributed to “budget cuts.”
25 Years Ago 2001
From The East Hampton Star, July 12
It appears Hedge Row Lane in East Hampton is taking on a new look and a new outlook — solar power. Two of its houses are now partially self-sufficient, as their owners have installed active solar systems to convert the power of the sun into electricity.
Despite the conversion cost being in the five-figure range, and the fact that it takes years before any savings become apparent, the homeowners say that the issues at hand are the well-being of the planet and the people, not dollars and cents.
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, the former president, will speak at two South Fork fund-raising events, and possibly a third, over the July 20 weekend.
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Amid intense media coverage, Southampton Town police refused this week to comment on the details of their investigation into exactly what happened at the Conscience Point Inn in North Sea at about 2 a.m. on Saturday, when a young and prominent Manhattan publicist backed a sport utility vehicle into 16 people. Police neither identified those who were injured nor released their names.
The incident occurred after Elizabeth S. Grubman, 30, was said to have argued with two bouncers, William Maston Jr. and Scott Conlon, after they asked her to move the vehicle, which she had parked in a fire lane.
