Villages

A piano tuner comes to Sag Harbor. That's 1898. One hundred years later, outraged citizens sang a tune of complaint when they gathered in an effort to stop the Rennert monstrosity in the Sagaponack dunes.

From the still-shuttered Cranberry Hole Road bridge to dead trees on Napeague to traffic on Main Street, the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee had a lot to talk about on Monday night.

“Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” ran from May to July at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute and featured about 200 dazzling creations from the late fashion designer’s legacy. A piece of that show now lives on at the Retreat Boutique in Bridgehampton.

Installation of the 13 monopile foundations that will support the South Fork Wind farm’s 12 turbines and offshore substation is complete, the wind farm’s developers, Orsted and Eversource, announced last week. Additional foundation components, including platforms and anode cages, are also being installed.

Better use of the aquifer, and an appreciation of it as an existential resource, could help mitigate the vicissitudes of nature when it comes to the health of our water supply, and the Suffolk County Water Authority is at work on both fronts.

Covid-19 cases have been increasing across New York State in recent weeks, with a new Omicron subvariant to blame. The good news, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital said this week, is that even among people who are admitted with Covid, it has not recently seen patients who are in need of intensive care treatment.

East Hampton Town is a place of both abundance and scarcity, an extreme example of the widening gap between rich and poor. But a new initiative, Hamptons Pantry Pickup, aims to connect the two, in a sense, while simultaneously reducing waste and providing for those in need.

This photograph from The East Hampton Star’s archive shows a group of eight lounging on the beach in front of the Maidstone Club cabanas. They look as if they escaped from an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, and the photo captures the spirit of a summer beach day.

In 1973, the public shouted down nuclear plants at Shoreham and Jamesport. In 1998, deer killed two Springs residents. And much more.

A 2021 American Bird Conservancy model estimated that 1.17 million birds are killed by wind turbines in the United States annually, though nearly all turbines in operation at present are on land. A spokeswoman for the South Fork Wind farm’s developers said this week they have conducted extensive research in crafting measures to minimize risk to birds when the offshore wind farm is operational.

Two weeks after opening registration for the new school year, Ruta27, an English-language program for adults, already has 60 students enrolled and expects more than 200 by the time evening classes start on Sept. 12 at East Hampton High School. To help meet the demand, the nonprofit is looking for volunteers interested in teaching English.

Forget stadium binoculars and nosebleed seats — some 500 people lucky enough to score access into Sirius XM’s exclusive concert by Ed Sheeran on Monday night under a tent at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett were so close to the pop star they could see the sweat glistening on his neck while he performed a solo set that included almost every hit since his first single, “The A Team,” debuted on American radio stations in late 2012.

The Wainscott Heritage Project, a nonprofit formed in 2021, will undertake a survey of historic structures in that hamlet after receiving a $14,400 grant from the Preserve New York initiative, funded by the Preservation League of New York State, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

From building a brand-new training facility to renovating its catteries and engineering new dog kennels, the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons has created an oasis for rescued animals in its newly completed Forever Home, which officially reopened in Wainscott this spring after a 21-month renovation. 

The Dominy Shops Museum, a restoration and reconstruction of the North Main Street house and workshops of the famed Dominy family of 18th and 19th-century craftsmen — renowned for their clocks, watches, cabinets, and furniture — will open to the public on Aug. 17.

This photograph from The East Hampton Star's archive shows the popular girl band the Angels, who performed at the Pink Panther Club in Southampton, a weekend nightclub for teenagers.

Nancy Nano has run Nancy's Tailoring and Alterations out of a brick-and-mortar spot in Noyac since 2008. Now, she's taking her business on the road with a new, custom Mercedes-Benz van for house calls.

With its new Regional Tick-Borne Disease Center in Hampton Bays officially opening on Monday, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is hoping to stave off what seems to be a growing epidemic of tick-borne illnesses. 

Pot smokers versus cops in 1973, and more ripped from the pages of Ye Olde Star.

With many members of their family and friends looking on, the brothers Joe and Sal LaCarrubba unveiled a plaque at the Main Street, Amagansett, building that once served as the hamlet’s U.S. Life-Saving Station on Monday.

The East Hampton Historical Society has been awarded a $125,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation to “support an innovative digital technology program to educate the community about the history of the American Revolution in East Hampton,” according to the society.

This photo from The East Hampton Star’s archive shows a tennis trophy designed by McClelland Barclay (1891-1943), the celebrated illustrator, and presented to the Maidstone Club.

With a careful, calculated touch, Robert Greene, a renowned decoy carver who lives in Springs, creates pieces so realistic they could easily be mistaken for taxidermy. “You gotta know the wood, you gotta be a halfway decent carver, you gotta be a decent painter. . . and you gotta be an artist,” he said.

Notes from the Summer Colony, and more from the days of yore.

“There’s maybe been some hurricanes where we’ve had similar debris, but I would say this is right up there with the best of them,” said Tim Treadwell, senior harbormaster for East Hampton Town Marine Patrol. “It’s kind of interesting how much stuff came from New England and how it found its way here.” The debris is a particular issue for boaters at night.

A benefit softball game between the staff and members of the South Fork Country Club last month raised $30,000 for the East Hampton, Springs, and Montauk food pantries.

A daylong program at the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton on Friday, Aug. 11, will explore nature as a balm for healing and rejuvenation.

A champagne cork, seven packets of condiments, balloons, straws, and more: The Star talks trash after spending two hours collecting garbage at Ditch Plain on Saturday.

Industrial Road, because of its geography and development, has long been a dangerous area for birds. One woman has found 11 dead gulls near the PSEG electrical substation there since late June, and it's not just gulls that are dying.

Katie Baldwin and Amanda Merrow, co-owners of Amber Waves Farm in Amagansett, started the farm during 2008 financial crisis. “Our friends who had taken more conventional paths were losing their jobs,” Ms. Merrow said. "It felt risky starting a business, but it feels like life is risky, and it was less risky for us to be in control of our destiny. We thought, ‘The world is a weird place, maybe we should grow our own food.’ ”