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Finished Covered Porch with Cultured Stone. Living Room/Wood Burning Fireplace with Botticino Marble Surround. Primary Bed with En Suite. Fenced Yard with Oversized Patio. Close to SBU, Hospital, Shopping, Beaches, etc.
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By Steven Zaitz
If you weren’t sure if the summer was over on Long Island, all you needed to do was step outside your front door this past Saturday.
It was raw, damp, gray, windy and downright nasty, as our region dealt with the remnants of Hurricane Ian.
But for Head Coach Pat Campbell and his men, the Northport Football Tigers — it was one of the most unexpected days at the beach the team has ever had.
After sleepwalking through their first three games and somehow winning two of them, the Tigers faced arch-rival, previously undefeated, and consensus No. 1 team in Suffolk Conference II, Lindenhurst, and took them to the woodshed, blanking the Bulldogs 19-0; and if you can believe it, the game wasn’t even as close as the score would indicate.
The Tigers trounced the Bulldogs in all three phases of the football game, ripping off 287 yards rushing yards, dominating in the trenches on both sides of the ball, unleashing a relentless pass rush, and even winning on special teams.
Considering that Northport has had lapses in concentration and execution for long stretches of games this year, and Lindenhurst came into the contest having outscored opponents 79-29 in their three wins, a Tiger victory would have been considered a mild to medium-sized surprise. What happened on Saturday however was shocking to everyone as the Tigers ran the ball at will, ringing up 21 first downs. Lindenhurst only had three.
“We hadn’t played well yet as a team,” Campbell said. “We’ve been getting beat on defense with people getting behind us and we’ve have given up too many long runs. Today we played up to our capabilities and played great complimentary football. Our offensive line was great, our D-Line was fantastic. I’m proud of our guys.”
Like every good upset, there is a backstory. The Tigers had a 20-6 lead with 10 minutes to play in last year’s Suffolk semi-final, high-stakes playoff game at Lindenhurst. But in the fourth quarter, the Tigers missed an extra point, committed 75 yards of penalties, and allowed the Bulldogs to score two late touchdowns in less than five minutes to win the game.
“We lost our composure in that game,” Campbell said. “The guys that were here learned a lot from it and the guys that weren’t here, have heard about it from those that were. We never want to have that feeling again.”
Northport Senior Quarterback and Captain Owen Johansen was there — and certainly did not forget.
“It was a big emphasis for me to beat this team,” Johansen said, who had his sixth rushing TD in three weeks and threw the ball beautifully despite the less-than-ideal conditions. “This wasn’t just another game for me, and I don’t want to speak for the rest of the boys, but that loss was in the back of my mind all week and when this game was over, it felt better than just a normal win.”
All of these pent-up thoughts and emotions seemed to come gushing out from every Northport player on Saturday.
Johansen, who has built a reputation as a hard-hitting, run-stuffing linebacker, looked even more ferocious than usual. On the very first play from scrimmage, Johansen knifed into the Bulldog backfield and splattered running back Brady Dolan for a three-yard loss. This play set the tone for the afternoon, as the Tigers would consistently have three, four or five blue helmets surrounding Lindy ball carriers before they even got to the line of scrimmage.
“Besides being a great quarterback, Owen is just a nasty, instinctive football player,” Campbell said. “That play got us going right away and we were in attack mode — in their quarterback’s face all day and we shut down the running game.”
This gaggle of gang-tacklers, along with Johansen were Tim Cleary, Thomas Krause, Matt Diaz, Andrew Miller, Giancarlo Valenti and Christian Raio, who together made it seem like they stole a copy of Lindenhurst’s playbook, holding the Bulldogs minus seven yards rushing for the game. Lindenhurst’s All Long Island Wide Receiver Chris Carson caught two quasi-desperation bombs for 51 yards but if you remove those, the Bulldogs gained 18 yards on 35 offensive snaps. This is 0.5 yards per play.
“We knew they wanted revenge from last year but that is no excuse for the way we played” Carson said, who has been a star at Lindenhurst in baseball and football since his sophomore year. “It was just a rough game from top to bottom and our level of effort was not enough. Whatever the reason was, it will not happen again.”
As the defense enjoyed its finest game of the year, the Tiger offense was reluctant to play second fiddle, and it started with guys up front.
On the nine-play drive which was their opening offensive series, the Tigers had runs of 18, 10 and 15, slashing and dashing behind blowout blocks of Cleary, newly inserted right guard Justin Macke, Mason Hecht, Conner Hennigman and Matt McGovern. It was both exhilarating and shocking a thing to see — a defense of Lindenhurst’s caliber getting carved up like a Thanksgiving Butterball. Johansen finished the opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run, squeezing past All-County linebacker Nick Rose at the front left pylon.
Macke, who made a key block on Johansen’s score, was a junior fullback last year and used the heartbreak in Lindy as inspiration.
“We haven’t beaten them in four years and this win was absolutely amazing,” Macke said. “They ended our season last year and we worked long and hard since then to get to today — and today we played Northport football and showed what we are capable of.”
A 98-yard drive is a pretty good indication of capable. That’s just what Northport did early in the second quarter.
After losing a yard from their own two, Northport rammed the ball down the Bulldogs’ throat for a 99-yard touchdown march and a 14-point lead. The highlights of the drive were a 39-yard run by Giancarlo Valenti off left tackle and a play-action pass to his brother Nick for 27 yards. Running back Michael Raio finished off the drive by flipping up and over the tackle attempt of Dolan and into the end zone for a five-yard score. Lindenhurst had no answers for any of this.
“Our offensive line was excellent today,” said Raio, who combined with Giancarlo for 177 rushing yards. “On the touchdown, He (Dolan) came in low, so I tried to jump over him. He got a piece of my foot and I went flying. I’m glad I came down in the end zone.”
After another three and out near their own goal line, Bulldog punter Ian Webb mishandled a snap that rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety, giving Northport a 16-0 lead that they took into the half.
The Tigers continued to dominate territorially after the break but were not able to put up any points in the third quarter. Even with a 16-point lead, Campbell admits to having flashes of déjà vu of November’s playoff debacle as his teams’ penalties started to accumulate and it remained a two-score game.
“Lindenhurst is ranked number one in the league for a reason,” Campbell said. “We bogged down a couple of times in the third quarter and we all know what happened last year, so yeah, it crossed my mind.”
Tiger Placekicker Billy Griffiths did his best to put Campbell’s mind at ease when he made a 33-yard field goal with 7:30 remaining in the game. It finally gave the Tigers the three-score lead they craved.
“I was pretty confident that I’d make it,” said Griffiths, who played on the Tiger soccer team last year and has earned the nickname Billy the Boot. “The weather was a factor throughout the game, but for that kick I had the wind at my back, so I felt pretty good.”
As the soggy Northport crowd came to a crescendo, sensing a win, Chase Sasso, a senior running back, carried the ball for a couple of first downs and the game was officially sealed for Northport. He was thrilled to be on the field for such a big win.
“It was great to be out there and to finish the game,” Sasso. “I ran as hard as I could, making sure I held on to the ball with both hands.”
Northport is now tied with Lindenhurst for first in the Conference II and like Sasso, was not going to let this opportunity slip through its fingers.
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum has received the largest donation of archival materials since its inception in 1950. The gift, donated by the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve, includes materials from the former Dowling College and Vanderbilt Historical Society collections, comprising photographs, maps, and written correspondence. The donation marks a significant moment in the broader historical community’s efforts to preserve and promote the heritage of the region.
This donation will aid researchers and historians in forming an understanding of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Long Island, and it will greatly augment the kinds of programming that can be offered by the Vanderbilt, Suffolk County’s first museum and public park.
Paul Rubery, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Vanderbilt Museum, and Janet Soley, President of the Friends of Connetquot, worked alongside New York State and Suffolk County officials to determine the best way to preserve the content of these archives for future generations. They established that, because the VanderbiltMuseum aims to interpret the totality of the Vanderbilt family’s contributions to the development of Long Island, Centerport would be the ideal resting place for the wide-ranging collections.
All items donated by the Friends of Connetquot are now being processed and digitized by staff at the Vanderbilt Museum. These measures put to rest what some once regarded as the uncertain fate and future of a vast collection of historical materials assembled in Oakdale by local historians and academic archivists.
Dowling College Materials
Dowling College was established in 1968 at Idle Hour, the former mansionand 900-acre estate built in 1900 for William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920). Vanderbilt was the father of William K. Vanderbilt II (1878-1944), who created the Eagle’s Nest estate, home of the Suffolk County VanderbiltMuseum.
Dowling College’s paper records were in jeopardy when the school ceased operations in 2016. Nearly a year later, its administrative and collegiate archives were transferred to Adelphi College, the college’s former parent institution. This arrangement spoke to Adelphi’s mission and directly benefited the wide network of Dowling alumni in the region. However, certain items were not covered in the original agreement between Adelphi and RSR Consulting, LLC—the company charged with liquidating assets in the bankruptcy proceedings—and those materials were folded into the listing placed up for bankruptcy auction.
The bankruptcy sale of Dowling’s assets was complicated by false starts and unrealized transactions. After the initial deal with Princeton Educational Center failed to transpire, Mercury International, LLC, acquired the property in 2017 for $26.1 million. During Mercury’s ownership, a representative from that company offered boxed materials in good condition to the Friends of Connetquot. For Mercury, the campus property and outbuildings were the primary concern, not the papers still left in many areas of the campus. Mercury ceased ownership of the property in December 2021, when the Chinese state-owned enterprise China Orient Asset Management purchased a majority stake in their parent company for $42 million.
The items given to the Friends of Connetquot—and now, through their donation, to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum—include the Muriel Vanderbilt, National Dairy, and Peace Haven collections.
Additional Material
Additional sections of the archives donated by Friends of Connetquot were acquired by that organization at auction. The Friends of Connetquot is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and history of the 3,473-acre State Park Preserve, with the legacy of the South Side Sportsmen’s Club as their primary focus. The Sportsmen’s Club was among the elite social clubs of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century, claiming presidents and titans of business among its membership.
Below are brief descriptions of the collections donated to the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum by the Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve. To increase access to public history and stimulate interest in Long Island’s heritage, the Vanderbilt Museum will make them available online in the coming months.
Muriel Vanderbilt Collection: Muriel Vanderbilt was the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt II and Virginia Graham Fair. She was an American socialite and an accomplished breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.
The Muriel Vanderbilt collection contains personal photographs and other materials that she donated to Dowling College in 1970. Some collection highlights include wedding and engagement photographs, in which Muriel wears the bridal veil of Marie Antoinette; extensive documentation of horse stables and rodeos; images of family members; and architectural photography of breathtaking estates.
Peace Haven Cult: The collection associated with the Peace Haven Cult is among the most unique archives on Long Island. In 1937, a group called the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians purchased William Kissam Vanderbilt’s Idle Hour and renamed it “Peace Haven.” Founded by James Bernard Schafer, a doctor from North Dakota, the Master Metaphysicians integrated behaviorist psychology, Christian spiritualism, and mediative techniques to achieve certain personal goals. The cult caught the attention of the international press during the custody proceedings over “Baby Jean.”
“Baby Jean” was central to the cult’s ambitions. The Master Metaphysicians informally adopted “Baby Jean” from her mother, a local waitress, and placed her at the center of a grand metaphysical experiment. Schafer maintained that he could give the child eternal life with an exclusively plant-based diet and protection from negative stimuli. The Master Metaphysicians returned “Baby Jean” to her birth parents after less than a year, and her mother eventually filed a legal suit against the cult.
National Dairy Collection: After serving as the headquarters for the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians, the Idle Hour estate was acquired by National Dairy Research Labs. National Dairy, which would eventually become Kraft Foods, purchased the estate’s mansion, carriage house, and twenty-three acres of land in 1947. The collection features photographs of the interior and exterior of the buildings at the time of sale, extensive documentation of the newly created research laboratories, and some press materials.
Bronco Charlie’s Collection: Bronco Charlie’s was a family restaurant located in Oakdale. Its owner, “Bronco” Charlie Miller, was a revered storyteller who claimed that he was the youngest ever rider on the Pony Express. Although many of his stories were undoubtedly fanciful, his tremendous life was chronicled in a range of print media. Highlights from the Bronco Charlie Collection include plates, menus, photographs, and correspondence.
Artists’ Colony Collection: Founded in 1926 on the grounds of the William Kissam Vanderbilt I’s summer estate, the Idle Hour Artists’ Colony was inspired by other prominent cultural communities like Yaddo, McDowell, and the Barbizon. Lucy Thompson, a socialite and the wife of a wealthy oil merchant from Texas, purchased the property and renovated its stables and outbuildings to accommodate a theater, restaurant, and artist studios. Highlights from the Artists’ Colony Collection include a map of the colony, real estate listings from the 1920s, and a watercolor from one of the original artists.
Sometimes art can be used as a way to raise awareness about issues that affect us in our daily lives. Such is the case with the Art League of Long Island’s latest exhibit, Time’s Running Out: An iPhonography and 3D(isaster) Sculpture Exhibition, which presents a body of digital photographic artwork and trash sculpture highlighting the contrast between nature’s beauty and the environmental pollution and decay found throughout the country, including on Long Island’s roadways, parks, and beaches.
Created by Scott Schneider of Toxic/Nature Studios®, the eye-opening show will be on view in the Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery from Oct. 1 to 28.
“Toxic/Nature Studios® features environmental photography that celebrates the majesty of nature and laments its demise, in small moments. Using close-up macro techniques, the photographs express my appreciation for and concern about the environment,” said Schneider. “As we become increasingly distracted by our devices, we tend to overlook small disasters beneath our feet. Likewise, we can fail to notice the beautiful moments present in nature. Beauty can also be found in the rust, decay, and textures of everyday objects.”
Schneider chose to take all photos by iPhone, “thereby leveraging the power of technology to observe rather than to distract,” he said. The artist then created archival, digital pigment prints using environmentally friendly inks on bamboo paper, which is highly sustainable.
In addition to photographs, the exhibit will also feature a series of sculptural pieces Schneider calls 3D(isasters). “This thought-provoking artwork is designed to challenge the viewer to make sense of the quantity of litter displayed in a #finditfillit container,” he explained.
Schneider hopes the exhibit will inspire others to notice the world around them and to take action to preserve its natural beauty. “We can’t do this while plugged in and tuned out,” he said.
“That’s why I ask viewers to unplug, look around, and get the small picture. By turning off our blinders of technology, and noticing the small detail of a piece of litter, a fallen petal, or an interesting bit of rust, we can then look up and notice the big picture, which is that the world needs our help.”
The community is invited to an opening reception on Oct. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m. Viewing hours through Oct. 28 are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Art League is located at 107 East Deer Park Road in Dix Hills. For more information call 631-462-5400 or visit www.artleagueli.org.
The Reboli Center’s October Artisan of the Month is Renee Fondacaro: candlemaker and founder of Old Field Apothecary. Fondacaro founded the company in 2020, with the goal of creating beautiful, clean, naturally scented candles and home accessories.
An artisan and registered nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from SUNY Oneonta and a Nursing degree from Syracuse University, Fondacaro creates natural, handmade products with ingredients sourced sustainably. As a two-time cancer survivor, this aspect of her business is very important to her.
“Our mission at Old Field Apothecary is to create hand poured, small batch candles, wax melts and home accessories with captivating scents, beautiful minimalist designs, and the best ingredients. All products are made from a luxurious vegan wax blend made of natural coconut and apricot. Coconut and apricot waxes are gluten free, toxin free, paraben free, phthalate free, and come from renewable sources. The entire blend utilizes only FDA approved waxes,” said Fondacaro. In addition, all candles have a crackling wooden wick and each candle is wicked, poured and labeled by hand.
Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center, said, “Renee has had a pop-up store at the Center in the past and it is wonderful that she is the Artisan for October. With the holidays just around the corner, this is an excellent opportunity for residents to shop for their homes, as well as for gifts for family and friends.”
The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook, and is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am-5pm and on Sunday from 1pm-5pm. Admission is free. For more information, please call 631-751-7707 or visit www.ReboliCenter.org
Reviewed by Jeffrey Sanzel
“We can safely assume that one of the greatest threats to existence on the planet is distancing from the natural world.”
Karen Lloyd’s collection Abundance: Nature in Recovery (Bloomsbury Publishing) asks us to “bend closer” in viewing the planet. She wants the reader to see “the holes humans have created” during this current geological age (the Anthropocene). She uses her observations to “work out what [she’s] not been looking at but should have seen.” The book balances a healthy wonder with the perception of the losses incurred during the modern era and the destruction caused by human beings’ willful intent or, at the very least, ignorance.
In fourteen intriguing essays, she addresses a host of issues. She concedes that often problems are “hyperobjects”— concepts, ideas, and things that are so vast as to evade intellectual and emotional grasp. These include the biosphere, climate breakdown, evolution, capitalism, and politics. What makes her writing exceptional is that while she acknowledges this limitation, it has not stopped her from exploring them with insight and depth, offering both simple and breathtaking awareness.
The book is unique in its point of view. It is not a traditional dissection of environmental issues. Instead, it is a mosaic of thoughts and experiences. Lloyd focuses on the ecological but draws on art, photography, poetry, history, and personal anecdotes to build her case. Hers is an unusual, affecting, and effective approach. Her language is vivid and rich, even dealing with the depletion of the landscape and the entanglement resulting from modern encroachment. But, always, her anthem is that the natural world should be the center of our existence.
Her consideration of wildlife drives much of Abundance. She regards animals both as they are and in an anthropomorphized stage. When describing eight American brown pelicans rescued from an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, she sees, “the disposition of the pelicans is that of a Pieta, although without the central protagonist.” For Lloyd, the “act to save birds and other species from ruination caused by humans is not only a profound sense of engagement with our imagination but illustrates that human agency is also the dynamic of repair.”
She cites a range of examples of organizations repairing the damage, like the Wolves in the Netherlands Project, which is about coexistence. Here, Lloyd brings up the issue of doing as opposed to “we can talk about anything as long as we don’t have to live with it.” She details her scrutiny of birds and beavers and the many impacts of the “man-made mess.” Each account, whether pastoral or harrowing, is a visceral reminder to witness: “At what point did it begin to form, this void inside us that caused us to forget how to see?”
Engagement is the cornerstone and foundation, urging people to let their children experience the natural world and not through a screen. She recounts her adventures with a contrast of hard facts and beautiful metaphors, frank observations, and lyrical expression. As indicated, Lloyd highlights the human need for comparison. “To make allegiances between images and ideas. To render the metaphysical, the supra-human in form and word.” Thus, vultures look like Lawrence Olivier got up as Richard the third. Lapwings sport Robin Hood caps. A black-winged stilt summons the image of Audrey Hepburn. A pair of hoopoes flare like Incan gods. Her frustration with misinformation reveals a wit that tips towards gallows humor as in the discussion of Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, followed by hilarious but pointed imaginary discussion between beavers fleeing their home.
Enjoying a plate of olives on a beautiful Friday night, she wants to forget the danger new olive plantations represent to the bird population because of the drying of the land. She learns that wind turbines designed to fight climate change pose are a threat to the avian population. “… Electricity is progress, and green energy is more progress still. Even though there will always be a cost, I’ve chosen to be more upfront with myself about this. I still want electricity. I still want to eat olives.”
She is unusual and unusually brave in her honesty and continues to unpack the big questions. Whether meditating on the extinction of a species in our time, analyzing agribusiness, or pondering predator control, she never loses sight of the contradictions and complexities. There is raw bravery in both her awe and exasperation.
Ultimately, it comes down to this: “Consider the situation from all sides. Keep hold of the bigger picture. Tune out the interference and the white noise. Tune in to the ways and means in which the landscape communicates. Pay attention to what it needs to perform its work efficiently.” Lloyd’s thoughts, hopes, and perspectives are complicated. But they are a valuable reminder to open our eyes and minds to the world we have … while we still have it.
Pick up a copy online at www.Amazon.com or www.BarnesandNoble.comm.
Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook welcomes the Peking Acrobats featuring The Shanghai Circus on the Main Stage on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. Combining time-honored Chinese music and groundbreaking special effects to create an environment that mirrors the festive pageantry of a Chinese Carnival, The Peking Acrobats are set to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime evening of exuberant entertainment. Fun for the whole family! Tickets range from $39 to $68. To order, call 632-2787 or visit www.stallercenter.com.
REVIEWS
“If daring and dexterity turn you on, this is a show that will probably twist you around in your seat. It’s amazing and exciting!”
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