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Monthly Archives: July 2016

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“Just looking at her calendar would make your head spin,” Jennifer Paley Ambro said of her late mother, Suzanne Paley.

Paley died on July 18, at the age of 86, after a year-long battle with cancer. She was married to The Smithtown News publisher Bernard Paley for 65 years and was very active within the Smithtown community.

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Suzanne Paley was a resident of Smithtown for more than 20 years. Photo from Jennifer Paley Ambro.

According to Dave Ambro, son-in-law to Paley and editor of the Smithtown News and The Observer, she was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx by parents Annette and Giuseppe Piazza, both immigrants from Italy, along with her late brother and sister, Frank and Josephine.

Paley was the first member of her family to receive a college diploma, graduating cum laude from Brooklyn College in 1950, where she met her husband. She then worked as a teacher in New York City public schools for five years.

“She could never have imagined the life she would live,” Ambro said of her mother. “She grew up in a tenement sharing a bed with her brother and sister, and sharing a hall bathroom with her neighbors. She was so grateful for her life, which she truly cherished.”

The couple married in 1951 and moved to Kings Park where she taught elementary school at the district for five years. Paley left the school to raise her two daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, then settled with her family in Smithtown. Later she worked as a teacher at Western Suffolk BOCES before retiring in 1985 and helping out at The Smithtown News as a proofreader and doing rewrite work.

“She and my father moved out to the suburbs with virtually nothing but my mom’s teaching job and together built a life filled with world travel, including month-long trips to Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Portugal, Ireland and through the United States,” Ambro said.

Paley’s daughter Elizabeth echoed the same sentiments about her mother’s zest for life.

“My mom lived such a meaningful and passionate life,” she said. “Whether it was having us all up to Vermont to go skiing, dragging us all out to Montauk to go camping or inscribing a special book for every birthday, her greatest joy was spending time with her family.”

Ambro said her mother loved spending her winters in Vermont, where she skied daily well into her 80s, and her summers on Fire Island and the Berkshires, where she loved to go to the Tanglewood Music Festival.

“She never turned away from what she believed or the people whom she loved and respected.”

—Bernard Paley

Paley enjoyed many passions including bridge, and was an active member of the Smithtown Bridge Studio.

She enjoyed the theater and museums — she was a season ticket holder at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — though she also supported smaller theater companies throughout Manhattan. Paley was a past president of the League of Women Voters of Smithtown.

Paley’s husband said she loved running into old students and parents around town.

“She never turned away from what she believed or the people whom she loved and respected,” her husband said. “She still had friends she kept in touch with from the second grade.”

Donations in memory of Paley can be made to the New York Philharmonic Education Fund, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023; or to the Smithtown Historical Society, 239 E. Main St., Smithtown, NY 11787. Arrangements were entrusted to the care of Branch Funeral Home of Smithtown and the Vigliante family.

Quotes and information with permission of The Smithtown News.

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Summertime provides an opportunity to slow down, renew our energy and get ready for the intensity of the fall. These summer days encourage us to relax and enjoy those beautiful summer breezes and those sunny days.

We all need time to renew and refresh our energy. However, we still must be vigilant when it comes to parenting our children and attentive to what is happening in our world. Too often during the summer parents relax their rules and give their teenage children a little slack. The challenge is to find the balance. Too often during this time, parents turn a blind eye to serious social circumstances. Underage teenage drinking escalates. There are more parties to attend, more opportunities to socialize at the beach, on the boat, at the park and going to concerts, just to name a few.

Too many parents see teenage drinking as a rite of American passage. Unfortunately, my experiences document that more and more teenagers are under the influence of alcohol when they first try illegal drugs like heroin.

Heroin use within our community is escalating daily. Young people of privilege even have this drug delivered to their home. Parents need to be more vigilant. The local clergy have indicated that in their respective congregations they are burying at least one young person a month who has died because of a heroin overdose — that is tragic!

If we are going to turn the tide on this devastating health crisis, we need to form a coalition of concerned persons who are willing to demand change from our insurance companies and from our government leaders. We need more detox and long-term treatment beds today — not tomorrow, not next year, today! Enough with the political lip service to this serious life issue.

This summer we’re getting a real education in American civics. It is a very disturbing lesson! Both major parties have formally nominated their candidate for president of the United States. The money that is being wasted on negative campaigning is shameful. Attacking the character and integrity of each party’s candidate is a real distraction from the real issues that we as a nation must confront.

Our political landscape is wrought with land mines that do nothing but distract us from what is important and blur the real truth. This political season has been embarrassing. It seems to be more fixated on divisiveness than unity. We are a nation blessed with diversity; we need to work harder at building bridges instead of walls between us.

Both candidates should commit themselves to a language of respect, inclusiveness, human rights, social justice and equality for all Americans. Yes, this election needs to address our racial divide. It needs to address discrimination based on sexual orientation and socioeconomics, loss of respect for law enforcement, our broken and inhumane immigration system, our deteriorating schools, the cost of college education, our position on the world stage, international terrorism and the renewed violence in our nation.

Whoever we elect as president of the United States in November must bring us together as one nation founded on freedom and respect for all citizens no matter what our human circumstance. He or she must give voice to every American!

Fr. Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

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By Nancy Burner, Esq.

Consider this scenario: An individual executes a will in 1995. The will leaves all of his personal property (household furnishings and other personal effects), to his friend who is also the named executor. The rest of his estate he leaves to his two sisters. When he died in 2012, his two sisters had predeceased him. There were no other individuals named as beneficiaries of the will.

The executor brought a petition requesting that the court construe the decedent’s will so that she would inherit the entire estate as the only living beneficiary in the will. The executor stated that the decedent intended to change his will to name her as the sole beneficiary, but he died before he signed the new will. There was also an unwitnessed handwritten will that left his entire estate to the executor.

The court held that the testator’s intent to give his residuary estate to his two sisters was unambiguous. Having failed to anticipate, at the time that the will was executed, that his two sisters would predecease him, the court was not allowed to find that the decedent intended a gift of the residuary estate to his friend, the executor.

The court held that there were limitations on its ability to rewrite the decedent’s will to accomplish the outcome sought by the executor. Since the executor was only named as the beneficiary of personal effects, she could not inherit the rest of his estate. This is because the sisters predeceased him and they had no children, the will failed to name a contingent beneficiary.

The result was that the individuals who would have inherited had he died without a will would inherit. In the case at hand he had a distant cousin (to whom he never intended to leave anything) who was entitled to inherit all of his residuary estate. If the decedent had no other known relatives, his residuary estate would have escheated to New York State at the conclusion of the administration of the estate.

What it is important to realize here is how crucial it is to review and update your estate planning documents regularly. This is especially true after experiencing a significant life event such as a birth, death, marriage and/or divorce. You want your documents to reflect your intentions as they are today, not as they were 20 or 30 years ago.

If you are an unmarried person, with no children, living parents or siblings and your only relatives are aunts, uncles and/or cousins with whom you do not have close relationships, you especially want to make sure you have estate planning documents in place to avoid intestacy and having these relatives inherit by default. With these family circumstances, you also want to consider avoiding probate all together with a revocable or irrevocable trust.

If you have missing relatives, the nominated executor would have the burden of finding your aunts, uncles and/or cousins wherever they may be located to obtain their consent to the probate of your will. This can be expensive in both time and money. If these relatives cannot be found, the court will require a citation to be issued to these unknown relatives and a guardian ad litem will be appointed to investigate the execution of the will on their behalf. This is another layer of added expense and delay to the probate process, and a good reason to avoid it.

Whether you have a will or a trust, you want to be sure to review and update it regularly to make sure that your designated beneficiaries are still living. In a situation such as the scenario above, you also want to pay special attention to your contingent beneficiaries. The contingent beneficiaries take precedence if a primary beneficiary has predeceased. If you are unsure about naming contingent beneficiaries at the time you execute your will or trust, you may want to consider choosing a charity or allowing your executor/trustee to choose a charity for a cause you care about as a contingent beneficiary. This way, no matter what happens, your estate does not escheat to New York State.

The takeaway from the scenario above is how crucial it is to regularly review and update your estate planning documents. You want to be sure that whoever you want to inherit at your death, actually inherits your property.

Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.

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'Downward Dog' by Dan McCarthy

By Talia Amorosano

In conjunction with the start of the last month of summer the Smithtown Township Arts Council’s Mills Pond House Gallery in St. James will host an exhibit devoted to the creative depiction of the nonhuman creatures who share our Earth.

Entitled Animals in Art — Our Partners on the Planet, the show kicks off with an artist reception on Saturday, July 30, at 2 p.m. The exhibit is juried and judged by renown art collector, Tim Newton, founder and curator of American Masters, a contemporary art exhibition and sale annually hosted by NYC’s Salmagundi Club. Prizewinners will be announced on opening day.

The exhibition will showcase 55 works by 39 artists from 16 states in a variety of media including pencil and ink, acrylic, oil, watercolor, bronze and pastel. Regardless of chosen medium or style, all of the works convey an appreciation for and attention to the unique lives and experiences of animals.

'A Perfect Perch' by Sharon Way-Howard
‘A Perfect Perch’ by Sharon Way-Howard

One of the 11 participating artists from Long Island is Sharon Way-Howard of Sayville, a frequent exhibitor at the Mills Pond House who describes her 36- by 30-inch watercolor painting of an osprey atop a sailboat, “A Perfect Perch,” as a work of art within her wheelhouse: “I tend to do a lot of marine-based art; birds, boats, shoreline creatures … I had done this piece a year and a half ago and it fit the description of the show perfectly.” She describes this particular painting as the result of her prolonged observation of one particular bird. “[My studio] overlooks a beautiful canal and there’s a sailboat two houses out from us,” she said. “That osprey comes almost every day and sits on that perch. I’ve observed him for many days and in order to help me with the painting I took many many photographs of him as well.”

Way-Howard, who was the first woman elected to hold the office of chair of the Art Committee of the Salmagundi Club, referred to juror Tim Newton as “an avid collector of art and sponsor of artists” who “really believes in the power of living artists.” She cited her work at the Salmagundi Club, plein air experience and bird-watching and boating-filled upbringing in Bay Shore as influences for her work.

To participating artist James Berger of Holtsville, the Animals in Art exhibit presented an opportunity to elicit artistic beauty from a deeply personal experience of loss. His 22- by 36-inch oil-on-panel painting of a wolf entitled “Twilight’s Preyer” was largely inspired by the death of Berger’s art teacher of over 15 years, Frank Covino, who resided in Vermont and had mastered the art of classical painting while working with the likes of Norman Rockwell. “[Frank] got sick and it bummed me out enough for a little over a year that I wasn’t doing anything art-wise at all,” said Berger. “It was depressing.”

'Twilight's Preyer' by James Berger
‘Twilight’s Preyer’ by James Berger

When Berger received word of the Animals in Art exhibit, he initially wanted to submit an older piece, but eventually came to the conclusion that the piece would not be a good fit. This realization prompted him to begin work on his first new piece in over a year, inspired by an old photograph of wolves at a zoo. “I felt like something was pushing me into the exhibit,” said Berger. “You get this feeling like someone is looking over your shoulder — that’s how I felt — as weird as that sounds — throughout the entire creation of this piece … I feel when I back away and I look at that painting it was [Frank] through me and its him through me saying, ‘You can do it. You can totally do it’.”

As further homage to his instructor, Berger painted his piece in the classical style with a progression of layers: sketch, underpainting, painting and gesso. He also added marble dust to areas of the piece, bringing more texture, weight, novelty and value to his one-of-a-kind labor of love. “I personally enjoy the freedom of painting animals,” said Berger, who described the art of depicting wildlife as different from that of portraying people, who tend to be judgmental regarding images of themselves. In the immediate future, Berger plans to continue painting (largely in the classical style) and hopes to someday showcase his work in a local solo exhibit.

In addition to Sharon Way-Howard and James Berger, participating Long Island artists include Marlene Bezich (Middle Island), Maureen Ginipro (Smithtown), Donna Grossman (Smithtown), David Jaycox Jr. (Northport), Elizabeth Kolligs (Glen Cove), Jeanette Martone (Bay Shore), Dan McCarthy (Selden), Terence McManus (Mount Sinai) and Margaret Minardi (Northport).

Animals in Art — Our Partners on the Planet will be on view at the Mills Pond House Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St. James, from July 30 to Aug. 28. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For further information, call 631-862-6575 or visit www.stacarts.org.

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Families walk along West Meadow Beach during low tide. Photo by Bev Tyler
The dock at Dr. Erwin J. Ernst Marine Conservation Center facing wetlands. Photo by Katelyn Winter
Snowy egrets take advantage of the low tide to look for small fish and snails; and a seagull snags a spider crab. Photo by Jay Gammill
A great blue heron searches for its next meal. Photo by Jay Gammill
Lifeguards Jack and Brittany make sure everyone stays safe. Photo by Katelyn Winter
Lunchtime for a local seagull at West Meadow Beach. Photo by Rob O'Rourk
A family enjoys the last light of day at West Meadow Beach. Photo by Bev Tyler

By Katelyn Winter

Water, sun, sand and rocks. West Meadow Beach in Setauket is made up of simple components, but stop by any day of the week, any hour of the day, and you’ll see a symphony of activity going on.

The 1,100-foot waterfront off Trustees Road is where beachgoers of all walks of life go — and some go just to walk! There is a wide two-mile trail that goes through an 88-acre wetlands preserve, where visitors can explore on bike or foot the beauty of the marsh area. At around the midpoint of the trail is the Dr. Erwin J. Ernst Marine Conservation Center, which features a small dock and beautiful views.

The trail is a popular spot for people looking to up their step counts, but this Town of Brookhaven beach is popular because it presents the opportunity for a wonderful day outdoors, no matter what you’re looking to do.

Purchasing a parking pass or paying a daily fee is necessary, and you can visit the website at www.brookhaven.org to find out more about what you’ll need to bring and how much you’ll have to pay. Regardless, the price is small compared to the summer of beach-day adventures it will unlock. 

“People love the sandbars,” says Jack Rachek, a town lifeguard working at West Meadow. “It’s our main attraction.” When low tide comes and the sandbars appear, you can expect to see young children and their parents heading out to wade in the shallow water and dig in the soft sand. Because the beach is part of the Long Island Sound, there aren’t big waves, and it’s small enough to keep that familiar hometown vibe.

Another lifeguard, Brittany, says she loves how “relaxed it is. There aren’t many saves; it’s just about keeping an eye out for the kids.” Lifeguards are on duty through Labor Day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekends, so you can always be sure there is someone watching your children in the water and out. West Meadow is a beach for families. In addition to the calm waters, there are two playgrounds, checkerboard tables, a gazebo for shady picnics and a water sprinkler park.

Those features are why so many Three Village residents have happy memories of days spent at West Meadow. Beyond what the beach itself has on its grounds, though, there is so much that the people who work to make West Meadow the mecca of summer activity that it is have in store.

“People love the sandbars. It’s our main attraction.”

—Jack Rachek

Nancy Grant, of Friends of Flax Pond, is one of those people. She and her team of volunteers are working hard on the species conservation of the diamond-backed terrapin turtle, whose numbers are way down. “I have wonderful volunteers,” says Grant, who explained that while the turtles nest in the marshlands it is illegal to touch or pick them up. If you are interested in helping the diamond-back terrapins, there are meetings for new volunteers on the weekends, usually at around 9 a.m. Email [email protected] for more information on how you can make a difference through volunteering.

The diamond-back terrapins aren’t the only cause you can support, though! Citizen Ranger meetings and beach clean-ups are scheduled for the summer, and for information on those or any other program you should email the park ranger, Molly Hastings, at [email protected], or call 631-751-6714.

With so much going on at West Meadow, it is amazing how relaxed the beach environment really is. “It’s a great lunchtime escape,” says beachgoer Jeff, “and it’s an awesome windsurfing beach in the fall.” Indeed, outside the green flags that indicate safe swim areas, you’ll see lots of people enjoying the water in different ways.

In recent years, paddle boarding has become a popular way to exercise and enjoy the tranquility of being out on the water. Ocean kayaking is another way to get on the water without actually getting in it.

For those who are looking to get in the water, you should stay between the green flags, and be sure to leave the inner tubes, rafts and snorkel gear at home. And for kids who still need to brush up on their swimming skills, or even teens and adults who want to improve, you can actually take swimming lessons at West Meadow Beach with certified Red Cross instructors. Session III starts on Aug. 1 and lasts for two weeks. You can learn more by calling 631-281-2866 or visiting the beach’s website.

West Meadow Beach is a great place to have fun, but it’s also a great place to learn — whether you want to be able to do the front crawl or learn more about wildlife and conservation. The beach and trail are speckled with informative signs about the beach’s ecosystem and the animals that thrive in it. West Meadow Beach is a beloved Three Village attraction, and because of that, there are so many local groups, like Friends of Flax Pond and the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, that want to see it stay clean, safe and hospitable for people and wildlife.

As she went on her daily jog down the trail at West Meadow, a resident named Eileen stopped to tell me why she loved this beach. “It’s a wonderful place to grow up,” she smiled, “And it’s a wonderful place to keep nature as it is. As you go down this trail, there are over twenty species of birds you can see. It’s a very inexpensive pass for such a great summer.”

Whether your favorite part is being in the water or walking along the shore, this beach holds a special place in the hearts of those who visit it all year round. And that’s why West Meadow is a treasure among us.

Author Katelyn Winter is a rising junior at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.,  majoring in English and creative writing. She is from Stony Brook and hopes to one day work in the publishing industry.

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A Black Lives Matter banner below the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship sign is now gone. Photo by Sylvia Kirk

The Black Lives Matter banner that was affixed on July 3 beneath the sign identifying the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Nicolls Road was removed July 24.

Eileen and Sol Hummel, owners of the Imagination Pre-School, which has rented space in the fellowship for 20 years, discouraged its placement when they were first told it would go up.

Eileen Hummel said she responded to the notification with an email that simply read, “It’s going to hurt our business.” She said she made several subsequent requests to have the banner removed, including forwarding emails received from parents expressing dismay.

“The safety of the children is the most important thing for us,” Hummel said. She said police officers whose children attend the school were upset about the banner, and others were concerned about safety at the school because the message has created a heated debate nationwide in recent months.

“The safety of the children is the most important thing for us.”
— Eileen Hummel

The timing of its placement, shortly before the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the subsequent shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, intensified the controversy surrounding the banner.

“We hoped to have a discussion with the community about the need for reform in police practices,” said Peggy Cohee, a member of the fellowship’s Racial Concerns Committee. “We feel it’s a social justice issue, not an anti-police issue.”

Concerned about the possibility of legal action against the fellowship, Cohee said its board of trustees decided to remove the banner temporarily, pending a discussion among the entire congregation.

“I don’t think this is finished yet,” Hummel said. “The fellowship informed us they are having a community meeting.” She was told the preschool parents would be invited to attend.

“I’m not against the church,” Hummel said, “I’m against the banner.” She thought they should move it inside the fellowship hall.

Hummel’s response to the banner was “all lives matter,” according to Cohee. “While we agree [with Hummel], our concern is that we can truly say that only when it applies to everyone.”

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Firefighters work to stop the flames. Photo from Huntington Fire Department
Firefighters work to stop the flames. Photo from Huntington Fire Department
Firefighters work to stop the flames. Photo from Huntington Fire Department

Firemen fought to put out flames at a house fire during a heavy thunderstorm this past Monday, July 25.

Huntington Fire Department volunteers were alerted to a fire on Prime Avenue in Huntington at about 4:30 p.m. Firefighters arrived to an active fire in the attic of a two-story home opposite Heckscher Park.

Crews from the Halesite, Huntington and Cold Spring Harbor fire departments quickly knocked down the blaze and overhauled the exterior and second floor ceilings to check for extension of the fire.

The Huntington Community First Aid Squad responded with an ambulance crew. About 60 firefighters and EMS personnel worked together with nine fire trucks under the command of Second Deputy Chief Brian Keane, with operations handled by Third Deputy Chief Scott Dodge.

There were no injuries reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation by the Suffolk Police Arson Squad and the Huntington fire marshal.

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The Eckford Base Ball Club is set to play a game with rules from 1864 during Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village

By Rebecca Anzel

Port Jefferson Village’s second annual Heritage Weekend is fast approaching. The event features more than 15 cultural and historical locations for residents and visitors to explore on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday Aug. 21. Each stop is set to include presentations with interesting information, historical photos of Drowned Meadow, as the village was previously known, and fun, interactive activities.

The Port Times Record will preview each of the featured locations around the village leading up to Heritage Weekend. This week includes a look at the pop-up exhibit of community favorite Grammas’ Sweets restaurant; an old-time baseball game at the chamber of commerce; a photograph exhibit and tour of Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum; and a historic schooner available for attendees to explore.

Grammas’ Sweets

Grammas’ original neon sign is being re-created by craftsmen for Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village
Grammas’ original neon sign is being re-created by craftsmen for Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village

The Home Art Gallery on Main Street will soon transform into a pop-up exhibit of cherished town restaurant Grammas’ Sweets.

Jill Russell, Port Jefferson Village media relations and marketing consultant, is the weekend’s chairperson and the woman in charge of the event. She said the right side of the space will be transformed into a re-creation of what Grammas’ looked like, complete with a checkered floor, candy cases and a soda bar.

The left, occupying what now is a gallery space, will be a timeline that tells the story of Grammas’ through photography, stories and anecdotes. There will be soda jerks behind the counter showing off old menus and display cases containing vintage candy around the space.

“What’s really going to get everybody’s attention is the re-creation on the right side,” Russell said. “But for me, the stuff on the left is going to be very, very fascinating. I just love the entire exhibit — I really do — for different reasons, and I think others will too.”

Despite rumors of Grammas’ original sign being used in the space, Russell said it was destroyed. Instead, she is working with craftsmen to create a new sign that will fit over the Home Art Gallery’s. It will be based on a photograph Russell found of the original neon sign.

Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce

The Eckford Base Ball Club is set to play a game with rules from 1864 during Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village
The Eckford Base Ball Club is set to play a game with rules from 1864 during Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village

The Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce is hosting two attractions sure to draw in a crowd. Parked in front of the building on West Broadway will be several Model A Ford Club of America cars, which Chamber Director of Operations Barbara Ransome said will hopefully bring visitors inside the building, which was constructed in 1682.

The historic building, called Roe House, has ties to the Culper Spy Ring. Descendants of John Roe helped get information to General George Washington to help win the Revolutionary War.

Outside will be a vintage 9-inning baseball game played by rules used in 1864. The umpires will be operating using rules from that time, which Ransome said are “totally different from what we do today.” Village residents will be competing against players from Eckford Base Ball Club of Brooklyn — both teams wearing 19th century uniforms. A quick presentation will precede the game and the Chamber will be giving out ices.

Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum

The Lettie G. Howard schooner, one of the last vessels of its kind in existence, will be available for attendees of Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village
The Lettie G. Howard schooner, one of the last vessels of its kind in existence, will be available for attendees of Heritage Weekend. Photo from Port Jeff Village

Down the road from the Chamber, on the corner of Barnum and West Broadway, sits Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum. Constructed around 1765, the building is named after the area’s original name.

Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, its historian and curator, will have two exhibits ready for Heritage Weekend. The first is called “History Squared,” where artists will use village archives to create artwork with various mediums on a 12×12 inch square. The second, called “Patriots’ Stand” will feature 28 rare prints from the American Revolution. Artifacts from Drowned Meadow will also be exhibited and tours of the building will be offered.

“This event is so exciting because it’s a way to celebrate our role in our nation’s independence,” Grier-Key said. “We take a lot of pride in this crowning jewel for Port Jefferson.”

Historic schooner

A national historic landmark schooner will be docked along the water. The craft, the Lettie G. Howard, was built in 1893 as a commercial fishing vessel and is one of the last vessels of its kind in existence. It will be representing Port Jefferson’s rich heritage of shipbuilding and be open to the public all weekend. Guides will be onboard to share the history of the boat and the village’s relationship with building such crafts.

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A suspicious package left near a donation box in the Three Village Shopping Center causes an evacuation of nearby stores. Photo by Donna Newman

A package that was left near a donation box in East Setauket caused a stir last week.

Suffolk County police were called to the Three Village Shopping Center on Route 25A in Setauket at 7:50 a.m., July 21, to evaluate a suspicious package left outside a donation box in the parking lot, according to police.

Sgt. Walter Langden said the item found in the lot appeared to consist of a wooden clock with wires connected to what might have been sticks of dynamite. Langden said it looked real, and SCPD emergency services were called in to evaluate the device.

The sergeant reported that a passerby had seen it and went into Starbucks, where a 911 call was made. Starbucks was evacuated and yellow police tape was used to close off the entire parking area.

Police said they were working to identify the person who initiated the call.

Police cars and emergency vehicles converge at the Three Village Shopping Center. Photo by Donna Newman
Police cars and emergency vehicles converge at the Three Village Shopping Center. Photo by Donna Newman

Lt. Kevin Burke said the item looked like a legitimate threat. It was taken into an emergency services van, where police officer and bomb technician Toby Monaco X-rayed the device and determined it was not a hazard. Burke said it was most likely a decorative item discarded at the donation bin.

Multiple departments responded to the call, including the Setauket Fire Department.

“We were here for backup support for the police department,” assistant fire chief, Paul Rodier, said at the scene. “It was more precautionary, for safety.”

Larry Hall, a fire officer at the scene, reminded the public to remain vigilant.

“That’s the way it’s supposed to work,” Hall said. “The public are the eyes. [If you] see something, say something.”

Starbucks employees said company policy did not allow them to speak to a reporter. Next door, at Island Packaging and Shipping, owner Gigi Querido said when her employee arrived that morning, she asked police if it was OK to open the store.

She was told not to open until all was clear. When Querido arrived at 9:15 a.m., she said there was a significant police presence in the parking lot, including police cars and a bomb squad van. A Setauket Fire Department ambulance was also parked nearby.

On July 25 a police spokesperson said the investigation is continuing and asked for anyone with information to call Suffolk County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS (8477).

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Erik Burgdoerfer recently signed an NHL contract with the Buffalo Sabres. Photo from Erik Burgdoerfer

In most cases, we have the right to choose. For one hockey player, the ideal situation chose him.

East Setauket native Erik Burgdoerfer has finally earned his chance to play in the National Hockey League, but what makes his situation unique is that the Buffalo Sabres — the first team to ask him to sign an NHL contract — happen to play in his extended family’s hometown.

“I would go to Sabres games as a kid — I have a big, extended family, and they’re out of their minds,” his mother Jane Burgdoerfer said. “We’re all huge Sabres fans. This is the biggest thing that could ever hit Buffalo.”

The newly signed defenseman will have a built-in fan base when he first hits the ice in Buffalo.

“We were sitting at the table talking about how it would be great if he was at opening night against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 13, and we were counting and talking to people who would go. We would need upwards of 65 tickets,” Erik Burgdoerfer’s uncle Larry Catalano said, laughing. “And this was just literally within the first hour of us talking about it.”

Erik Burgdoerfer previously played for the Hershey Bears, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals’ organization. Photo from Erik Burgdoerfer
Erik Burgdoerfer previously played for the Hershey Bears, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Washington Capitals’ organization. Photo from Erik Burgdoerfer

The news came July 21, when the Sabres announced they signed Burgdoerfer to a one-year, two-way deal. This means that the 27-year-old can be sent between the NHL and the American Hockey League without having to clear waivers, which gives the team flexibility.

“I’m very happy to be joining the organization there and it’s an added bonus that my family is around there,” the player said. “I’m in a new setting now, but I just want to continue trending up, and hopefully with a little more hard work, I can reach my goal of playing in the NHL. But until I get those games, I’m not done yet.”

After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he started as the youngest college hockey player in the nation, Burgdoerfer began his pro career in 2010 with the Bakersfield Condors, a minor league hockey team in California, where he played for four seasons. There, he had one of his most successful seasons when he put up a career-best 11 goals and 22 points in 67 games and, as a captain, led the team on a 16-game run through the Kelly Cup playoffs, which is the longest playoff run in team history.

His head coach with the Condors, Troy Mann, left for the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, and took the player along with him.

“He’s a real hard-working character kid, and I thought he had some good tools in terms of being able to climb the ladder,” Mann said. “When I got the head coaching job at Hershey, I felt that if we were going to sign depth players for us, I preferred players I either coached against or knew personally, and I was pretty adamant about getting Burgy under contract.”

“He has that physical component to him, very strong, his stick positioning and stick work is much improved … and he’s just a warrior-type player where his will to win is better than a lot of players.” 

— Troy Mann

According to Mann, his defenseman was excellent in training camp, though he was sent down to South Carolina to play for Washington’s East Coast Hockey League affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays. Mann said as soon as Burgdoerfer was recalled to Hershey, the rest was history.

“He became a vital part of our team and we’re very sad that we’re losing him for this upcoming season,” he said of the 6-foot, 2-inch 210-pound defenseman who recorded 20 points off six goals and 14 assists, and 59 penalty minutes in 74 games. Burgdoerfer also added four assists and 18 penalty minutes in 21 playoff games for the Bears, who reached the Calder Cup finals for the 20th time. The team lost, but has won 11 championships.

“I put an emphasis on how much that experience has meant to me,” Burgdoerfer said of playing with the Bears. “My development in my career that’s led to this point — a lot of that has happened in the past two years. A couple of playoff runs and a great coaching staff have made for a great place for me to grow as a player and a person.”

He will likely begin the season with the Rochester Americans, Buffalo’s AHL affiliate, unless he makes the NHL squad out of training camp, but his continued dedication to the sport has also helped him reach a new level.

Erik Burgdoerfer celebrates with his Hershey Bears teammates. Photo from Erik Burgdoerfer
Erik Burgdoerfer celebrates with his Hershey Bears teammates. Photo from Erik Burgdoerfer

“He continued to follow his dream like nobody I’ve ever seen before,” his mother said. “I don’t know anybody that’s worked harder for their goal. His focus and determination has been unwavering.”

She also said she believes her son is a goalkeeper’s dream on the blue line.

“He’s not a flashy player,” she said. “He’s the guy that gets the job done and that every goalie loves because he’s very protective.”

Mann is looking forward to seeing how his now former player progresses. He said he knows that Burgdoerfer was at the point in his career where he really wanted an opportunity to play in the NHL, and is glad to see he found that with the Sabres.

“He’s very well-rounded,” the coach said. “I think that one of the things you need to be able to do playing today’s game is skate, and I think he skates very well for a big man. He has that physical component to him, very strong, his stick positioning and stick work is much improved over the three years I’ve coached him, and he’s just a warrior-type player where his will to win is better than a lot of players. I’m real happy for him. I wish him well and really hope he sees some games in the NHL this year.”

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