Villages

Not many people can say they have been to Antarctica, but can you imagine sailing there on a wooden ship with cloth sails, navigating by compass and stars?

All too often, it seems, the story of Covid-19 is told through statistics and trends. Beyond those numbers are hundreds of thousands of human beings — real people — who lost their lives to the pandemic across the world. As told to The Star by their families, here are some of their stories from the East End.

This is the second year the Ellen Hermanson Foundation is holding a benefit virtually, because of the pandemic. This year's event, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, will feature a knockout lineup of female comedians, singers, and other performers. As always, the foundation will honor women in the community who have made a difference.

Several longtime members of the East Hampton Ladies Village Improvement Society, including former presidents, have resigned from the society in recent weeks, following the announcement of the 125-year-old women's group that it had hired a man to be its first executive director.

From the parking lot in the mall to the emergency room in the hospital, community members are showing how kindness — any time, any place, to anyone — can be a real shot in the arm during the pandemic.

There are few, if any, absolutes in medicine. For example, the medical establishment spent years telling people that low-fat diets would lower their risk of dying, particularly by lowering high cholesterol and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Armed with a computer, an internet connection, and a humanitarian streak, East End residents who have become adept at using New York State's website for booking Covid-19 vaccine appointments are helping others get their shots.

The Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons organization informed Mayor Jerry Larsen on Saturday that the group had recently spotted turtles in the pond. They asked to have the dredging delayed so that other turtles, including hatchlings, could be safely removed.

This postcard shows the residence of Samuel A. Beardsley (1856-1932), a prominent New York lawyer. Designed by William Strom, it stood on Lee Avenue in East Hampton.

Despite the frustrating nature of wearing a mask, multiple studies have shown over the past year that doing so can significantly decrease the transmission of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 by more than 70 percent.

More than 250 people from communities of color received Covid-19 vaccinations at a pop-up clinic in East Hampton organized by the Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, part of a state effort to make sure minority communities receive access to the vaccine.

A senior Stony Brook Southampton Hospital official said this week that the post-holiday surge of Covid-19 patients is over, and now it's a matter of public vigilance until vaccinations yield widespread immunity to the virus.