A Taste of the Neighborhood fundraiser returns

A Taste of the Neighborhood fundraiser returns

Setauket Neighborhood House. File photo

By Irene Ruddock

The Setauket Neighborhood House will host its annual Taste of the Neighborhood fundraising event on Friday, May 13, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Local restaurants, including Fratelli’s, O Sole Mio, Country House, Three Village Inn, Curry Club, Chick-fil-A, Fifth Season, Bliss, Setauket Gourmet Deli, Mario’s, Old Field Club, Setauket Pastaria, Luigi’s, Villa Sorrento and Elegant Eating, will provide their signature dishes accompanied by beer or wine compliments of the SNH.

Live music by members of the Ward Melville High School Jazz Ensemble will enliven the atmosphere, providing a joyful backdrop for all in the local community to re-connect after a long winter while supporting this fundraiser.

Contributing to the festivity of the evening by setting up and serving will be members of the High School Key Club. Raffle baskets, complied by SNH board members with numerous gift certificates from local businesses, will tempt all to purchase tickets. Drawings will be conducted that evening, but you don’t have to be present to win.

Artists Joan Bloom, Anne Katz and Paula Pelletier, all members of the Setauket Artists, will be exhibiting their work as well as each donating an original painting for the raffle. Paintings will be for sale for several weeks after the event, which will give people time to view the exhibit. (Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but call 631-751-6208 for details and gallery hours.) All proceeds from the raffle baskets and sale of paintings will go directly to the Setauket Neighborhood House.

The Setauket Neighborhood House originally was built in the early 1700s. In 1820, it was moved from its Conscience Bay site in Setauket to its present location by Dr. John Elderkin. When passed on to his son John in 1836, the rooms, now known as the Victorian Parlors and the Board Room, were added. The house then became known as Ye Old Elderkin Inn. Besides being an inn, the house also had a general store, post office, bank and library in the building. John Ederkin’s wife, Renelcha, was a woman of great refinement and energy. She oversaw the inn, which was noted for its hospitality and fine food with many famous people stopping there. During the 1860s, the inn serviced a stagecoach line from Setauket and the Lakeland Railroad Deport near Ronkonkoma.

When Dr. Elderkin died in 1885, the house was passed on to his niece, Julia, and then on to Julia’s niece Augusta Elderkin and her husband, Captain Beverly S. Tyler. The Tylers named their inn The Lakeside House and it operated until 1917.

The Old Field industrialist, Eversley Childs and his wife Minnie, purchased the property in May of 1917 and together with an endowment presented it to the community. The Childs also provided funds for the addition of the present-day Ballroom. The Setauket Neighborhood Association was formed to maintain and preserve the house, and it has since served as a community meeting place.

Tickets for this event may be purchased for $30 online at www.setauketnh.org or at the door for $35. Checks may be sent to P.O. Box 2192, Setauket, NY 11733. Please join them at this wonderful community event to raise money for the maintenance and preservation of one of our most beloved community treasures — The Setauket Neighborhood House!