CLOSE
Authors Posts by Rita J. Egan

Rita J. Egan

1130 POSTS 0 COMMENTS

by -
0 460
Jim Girvan, this year’s grand marshal, in his Kings Park home Photo by Rita J. Egan

Kings Park resident Jim Girvan was thrilled when he heard he would be this year’s grand marshal in the hamlet’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

A scene from the 2019 Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Photo by Rita J. Egan

“As a Scout in parades, I never thought I would be a grand marshal,” he said, adding that when he was a kid, he would march in fire department parades.

Kevin Johnston, chair of the parade committee, said Girvan was the perfect choice for grand marshal. He remembered Girvan saying that when he was younger, he wanted a place where he had friends, a job and a town, and he found that in Kings Park.

“He epitomizes what we consider Kings Parkers,” Johnston said.

The committee chair described this year’s grand marshal as a delight to be around.

“It’s that Irish smile of his that is just beaming,” Johnston said. “He has a very welcoming and endearing smile and that’s what kind of brings people in.”

The 88-year-old Girvan has a deep connection with Ireland. His father, John Girvan, was raised there, and while his mother Mary McGuckin was born in Scotland, she was of Irish descent.

It’s Kings Park though where Girvan has established deep roots.

His father worked in a naval yard in Staten Island, and as a semiprofessional soccer player, would travel out to Kings Park to entertain patients at the psychiatric hospital. Girvan said when his father broke his leg and lost his job at the naval yard, he was offered a position as a kitchen helper at the hospital and worked his way up to head cook.

That move was a fateful one for Girvan, who has lived in Kings Park most of his life except for two years when he was a nurse in Philadelphia. He and his wife have also raised six children in the hamlet.

After graduating from St. Joseph’s R.C. Church’s grammar school, he said he received a scholastic scholarship to Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn. Girvan said he attended the school for two years until he asked his father if he could go to Kings Park High School. The grand marshal said he loved playing basketball, but couldn’t participate while commuting to the city to attend school, sometimes not returning home until 8 p.m.

He would go on to not only graduate from Kings Park High School but to also be part of the basketball team that won the 1950 Suffolk County Championship, the first time the school won a county title in the sport.

“He epitomizes what we consider Kings Parkers.”

— Kevin Johnston

Girvan went into nursing and worked at the Kings Park Psychiatric Center and then Northport Veterans Hospital. He said he was drafted by the army in 1966 but then was commissioned by the navy to work as a nurse in Philadelphia Naval Hospital, where he supervised the Acute PTSD Admissions Unit.

After two years living in New Jersey with his wife and children, and commuting to the Pennsylvania hospital, Girvan  and family returned to Kings Park. Through the decades the grand marshal has been involved in the Knights of Columbus, Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Kings Park Fire Department and Ambulance Committee and more. To this day, he is an usher at St. Joseph’s R.C. Church.

When it comes to Kings Park, Girvan realizes there has been a lot of development through the years, but he said when it comes to charm, it’s stayed the same.

“We didn’t change that much, believe it or not,” he said. “The town is pretty much the same.”

He and wife Irene, known by her nickname Rene, said they remember when the Northern Parkway ended in Nassau County and Smithtown was filled with farms. They also still call Commack “Comac” as many longtime residents do, the original spelling and pronunciation of the neighboring hamlet.

Girvan has marched in the Kings Park parade before with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, but this year will be special, he said. He and his wife said friends and family are coming from all over to see him lead the parade, including Texas, Maryland and Florida, and many will also walk with him. A good friend from San Antonio recently came up to surprise him for the Grand Marshal Ball that was held back in January.

“The Girvan family feels very good about it, and it will be in our hearts forever this day,” Girvan said.

Johnston said this year the parade will feature more than 20 bands, 15 of which will be bagpipes, as well as more than 10 fire departments and several local businesses.

The Kings Park 10th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade kicks off at noon Saturday, March 7, rain or shine. It begins at the corner of Lou Avenue and Pulaski Road, continues down Main Street and turns onto Church Street and ends down Old Dock Road at William T. Rogers Middle School.

by -
0 274
James Bouklas, president of We Are Smithtown, leads a protest against Gyrodyne March 2. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Civic groups from two neighboring townships joined forces March 2 to advocate for additional studies of a development along Route 25A.

George Hoffman, 1st vice president of the Three Village Civic Association, and others call for an independent environmental study of the property. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Members of the civic group We Are Smithtown organized a rally on the corner of Mills Pond Road and Route 25A in St. James to protest the proposed Gyrodyne property development at the site. The group was joined by representatives from the Greater Stony Brook Action Coalition, Three Village Civic Association, Town of Brookhaven Citizens Advisory Committee for Route 25A, Setauket Harbor Task Force and Smithtown activist Amy Fortunato.

The company is hoping to build an assisted living home, hotel, medical offices and sewage treatment plant on the property. 

James Bouklas, president of We Are Smithtown, said all in attendance opposed the development and were concerned about possible toxins in the soil of the former helicopter manufacturer’s land, along with a list of other concerns.

He and other protesters called on the Town of Smithtown and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to take action and conduct an independent and rigorous forensic environmental study.

He described the potential development as “akin to building a new Smith Haven Mall on this rural, country stretch of Route 25A.”

The civic group president gave examples of former aviation manufacturers such as Lawrence Aviation and Grumman that he said, “operated behind a huge wall, often in secrecy, and in the end, they all left a legacy of pollution and toxic plumes.”

“Here is what we do know,” he added. “Gyrodyne was a defense manufacturer in those pre-Earth Day years of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when America wasn’t exactly careful about what went in the ground.”

The civic president also expressed concern that through the decades auto repair and photography businesses have operated on the Gyrodyne grounds as well as above-ground vehicle storage among others that may have released chemicals into the soil. The property is a short distance from Stony Brook Harbor.

“What goes into our groundwater quickly winds up as our drinking water,” he said. “There is no margin for error.”

In addition to environmental concerns, Bouklas cited traffic congestion on both 25A and Stony Brook Road.

Justin Bryant, who grew up in Smithtown and now lives in Stony Brook, said he too is concerned about chemicals in the ground at Gyrodyne, saying it’s been too long since a forensic environmental analysis was done.

“It’s important to remember where about 2,000 feet behind you a Superfund site, regulated by the [Environmental Protection Agency],” he said. “This site is on the national priorities list, which means it’s a site most at risk to the people who live in the area.”

“What goes into our groundwater quickly winds up as our drinking water. There is no margin for error.”

— James Bouklas

According to the EPA, there is a groundwater contamination site in the villages of Nissequogue and Head of the Harbor. Since the pollution was discovered in 1997, the agency has been monitoring the area’s ground and surface water. 

Herb Mones, chair of the Three Village Civic Association land use committee and a 30-year resident of Stony Brook, said the historic corridor should be protected and preserved and any development should be done in a reasonable and sensible way to protect the surrounding communities.

George Hoffman, 1st vice president of the Three Village Civic Association, was co-chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Route 25A, where the Town of Brookhaven met with residents to gather their thoughts about what needed improvement on the corridor.

“You can’t save one part of the highway without saving the entire highway,” he said. “This is a really historic corridor.”

He pointed to an environmental study done more than 10 years ago, when the State University of New York bought 250 acres of Gyrodyne property, that found several chemicals in the soil. However, both Hoffman and others at the rally said the chemicals did not show up in the recent environmental study Gyrodyne paid for in the location of the potential subdivision.

“We’re really suspicious of how one part of the property could have had a lot of chemicals in it, where this part of the property now has apparently been given a clean bill of health,” he said.

Cindy Smith, chair of the Greater Stony Brook Action Coalition/United Communities Against Gyrodyne, held the first protest against the Gyrodyne development on the steps of Smithtown’s Town Hall Nov. 2017. After the March 2 press conference, she said she is pleased with the bond that has been formed with “like-minded civic groups in Smithtown and Brookhaven.”

As a member of Friends of Stony Brook Road, she has helped addressed the impact of the overcapacity street. 

“We knew that the additional traffic from the proposed Gyrodyne development would cause even more quality-of-life and safety issues on our road, not to mention the increased financial burden to Brookhaven residents,” she said, adding she is also concerned about water quality, historical impact, increased taxes and more.

Smith said the organizations have given both town residents voice, and Greater Stony Brook Action Coalition/United Communities Against Gyrodyne has worked with environmentalists, including Carl Safina, Dick Amper of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society and John Turner conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society.

Smithtown spokesperson Nicole Garguilo said in a statement that the Town has been vigilant in following New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act requirement and law,

“It would be negligent, not to mention a dangerous, unethical precedent to ask the hard-working taxpayers of our community to foot a $500,000 (minimum) bill for a private property owners’ Environmental Impact Statement. Especially, when the EIS process requires the Town’s planning, engineering and environmental professionals to thoroughly review and verify the analysis,” Gargulio said.

A representative from Gyrodyne could not be reached for a comment about the protest or environmental study. 

At the Suffolk County Legislature’s March 3 general meeting, a vote for a comprehensive planning study for the corridor was tabled until March 17.

by -
0 236
Dave Wolmetz, second from left, and Keith Handler, second from right, owners of Urban Air, have pledged to raise $100,000 for research at Stony Brook Medicine. Dr. Huda Salman, left, and Dr. Theodore Gabig, right, join the business owners at a press conference Feb. 27. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

While receiving treatment for leukemia, Dave Wolmetz distracted himself with plans to open an indoor adventure park, and now that business is allowing him to give back to the center that enabled him to carry on with his dream.

Wolmetz, of Commack, and his business partner and childhood friend, Keith Handler, have pledged to raise $100,000 for the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplant team at Stony Brook University Cancer Center over the course of five years. On Feb. 27, they presented doctors and nurses with the first installment of $20,000 at their Urban Air Lake Grove adventure park. The business opened in November 2019 and includes an indoor coaster, ropes course, indoor playground and more.

Dr. Huda Salman, director of both the Hematologic Malignancies Service and the CAR T Cellular Therapy Program, said Urban Air’s pledge will be a big help to the research program, which recently received approval for its first trial by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the Feb. 27 press conference, Wolmetz called the members of the medical team at Stony Brook “heroes.” The date of the installment presentation had a special meaning for him.

“My motivation was to recognize that I have a second opportunity around — second birthday today, Feb. 27, it’s the date of my stem cell transplant,” he said. “And this serves my purpose on the Earth at this point, to give back and create lives for cancer survivors.”

Wolmetz underwent total body irradiation and chemotherapy at the hospital after being diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2018. His treatment at Stony Brook inspired him to start the nonprofit Why Not Us Foundation, with the hopes of raising funds for the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell research program at the cancer center. The program supports Stony Brook scientists who work on developing personalized cell therapy to treat blood cancers.

Wolmetz said patients spend a lot of time alone and planning Urban Air with Handler helped him get through some difficult times.

The business partners, who both graduated from Ward Melville High School in 1988, said they were tired of seeing so many people engaged in a digital world. It inspired them to create a place where children could get out and be physical, which plays into healthy habits.

“We talked about things over the years, but we never got serious until two years ago, and one thing led to another,” Handler said, adding the best reviews they get are when parents say they got their best night’s sleep because their children slept in after running around the indoor park.

Wolmetz and Handler said the decision to donate locally was an easy one for them. Wolmetz said it was excellent medical care, a positive attitude and faith that got him to a place where you could think of other things, including giving back to those going through the same experience that he had.

“We both agreed it was an important initiative that when we serve the community with our business to give a percentage and proceeds back to a meaningful campaign,” he said.

For an appointment with Stony Brook University Cancer Center, call 631-722-2623. For information about the CD4 CAR T-cell clinical trial, call 631-728-7425.

by -
0 352
Photo from VFW Post 3054

Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars East Setauket Post 3054 are beginning to see the results of working together with the community and elected officials.

The women’s bathroom before renovations at Post 3054. Photo from David Tracy

A year after post members began fundraising to help renovate their headquarters, which is at least 90 years old, they have been able to check a few items off their to-do list. Post Commander Jay Veronko credits not only the post’s fundraisers at Country Corner, Madiran and Prohibition Kitchen, but also contributions from community groups and the help of Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) and state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket).

“We got some money rolling in now, and we’re putting that money back into the building,” Veronko said.

With funds raised, the post members have been able to replace the hood over the range in the kitchen and make the women’s bathroom an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restroom. They also installed a new fire system.

The post commander said several donations gave the post a head start, including $15,000 from Facebook group Three Village Dads raised at their August golf outing, a $30,000 grant from the Rommel Wilson Memorial Fund and a $10,000 state grant with the help of Englebright. Local businesses also donated supplies.

David Tracy, of Three Village Dads, said the partnership with the post began when the members wanted to raise money for a good cause. He said a few members now belong to the post. Members of the Facebook group, which recently became a nonprofit, assisted in the demolition and renovation, while 3VD members Mike Kinney did the plumbing, Chris and John Prussen of South Setauket-based JP Electric worked on the electricity and Tommy Raftery, along with his crew from Stony Brook-based Elite Home Improvement Services, undertook the majority of the rebuild.

Before the bathroom renovation, the space had two stalls and a different layout which made it hard to maneuver a wheelchair. It now has been made roomier and has a grab bar by the toilet, a wider door and an ADA-compliant sink. Veronko said Old Country Ceramic Tile in Port Jefferson Station donated all the tiles.

Hahn said it’s important to have an ADA-compliant bathroom as veterans age so they can still visit the post.

“That’s an important step that they took to make it accessible,” she said. 

Hahn coordinated a visit with local trade union representatives to the post more than a year ago. She said many local skilled laborers want to volunteer and use their skills to help veterans, which helps defray costs. The tour led the Sheet Metal Workers International Local 28 to build a custom range hood in the kitchen.

In the future, Veronko said, the post members hope to renovate the windows, floors and bar.

Renovations to the women’s bathroom in Post 3054 have made it ADA-compliant for all to use. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Englebright said the renovations to the building are important, and he was glad to help with the state grant as the members are generous with their time. He said the post is fundamental to the community, especially when it comes to continuing the tradition of the Memorial Day parade in East Setauket.

“One of the great events is the Memorial Day parade and at the end of each parade many of the marchers work their way back to this site,” he said. “It is a celebration of the day that takes place there with many of our veterans hosting anyone in the community who may want to have a hot dog and a soda.”

Veronko said the hope is that one day the post, which in addition to the Memorial Day parade hosts the Veterans Day memorial service and the fall chicken barbecue fundraiser, will be able to organize more community events like farmers markets. He added the 3VD hold their monthly meetings at the post, and the building is available for community and other veterans groups to meet.

Veronko said the renovations are needed for more than updating a historic structure. 

“The building needed updating absolutely, but we’re doing it for the next generation because we’re going to have a lot of Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans at some point,” he said. “I think there’s probably more of them than Vietnam vets that are eligible for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.”

The post will be holding another fundraiser March 14 at Country Corner in East Setauket from 4 to 8 p.m. For more information visit www.post3054.com.

Donations can also be sent to 8 Jones Street, Setauket, NY 11733.

by -
0 510
Legislators and residents are worried about how possible development in St. James and Stony Brook will affect traffic and water quality, while others are in favor. Photo from The Northwind Group website

Elected officials and residents are weighing in on proposed and possible developments along the Route 25A corridor in St. James and Stony Brook.

While the development of Gyrodyne — which would include subdividing its 75-acre land for a hotel, assisted living facility, offices and sewage plant — has been a hot topic of conversation on both sides of the town line, many are also keeping their eyes on the sites of the International Baptist Church in Stony Brook and BB & GG Farms and Nursery in St. James.

On The Northwind Group website, under the proposed developments tab, is listed a 55-and-over community called Stony Brook Meadows that will stand on approximately 12 acres of property.

According to the website, it “will address a need for housing for a valued regional resource and at the same time, help to alleviate various housing concerns.”

On its site, Northwind said the development will result in little or no impact on local streets and, as far as the economic impact, the property is currently not taxed due it being occupied by a religious institution, and “the redevelopment will result in increased tax dollars for the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County and New York State.” The website also claims it will provide much-needed jobs during the construction phase, and any new community residents will support local businesses.

In the Town of Brookhaven’s Route 25A — Three Village Area: Visioning Report, the International Baptist Church was cited as an ideal spot for an assisted living facility due to residents not driving and staff members coming and going at various hours. In order for the development to go ahead, a zoning variation would be needed from the town.

As for BB & GG, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) signed legislation in October that gave the county Legislature the go ahead to appraise the land for possible county purchase under the Drinking Water Protection Program. According to the resolution, an application was made by William Borella for the property to be considered for inclusion in the Suffolk County Farmland Purchase of Development Rights Program, which was approved by the Legislature in July. County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said the farm is currently in the appraisal status.

“Kara is exactly in the right direction by putting the resolution forward, and I strongly support both the concept of protecting this part of our historic North Shore and all of the national and local treasures that are found there.”

— Steve Englebright

Resolution Proposed

At its Feb. 11 general meeting, the county Legislature tabled a resolution to study a segment of road in the vicinity of the Smithtown and Brookhaven border. The resolution, introduced by Hahn, would allow the county to analyze the Route 25A corridor in St. James and Stony Brook to determine the regional impacts associated with proposed and planned development projects in this area. It would also identify vacant and preserved parcels as well as existing zoning, amongst other criteria. The resolution will be voted on at a future Legislature general meeting. The next general meeting, March 3, will be held in Riverhead.

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), who has addressed the Smithtown Planning Board at past public meetings about the downfalls of development along the corridor, said in a phone interview that the stretch of road in the area was recognized by the state in the early 1970s for its historic importance and a number of structures along or right off the route are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Englebright said nearby Stony Brook Harbor is the last unspoiled harbor in the vicinity. He added it has been sheltered by the Head of the Harbor village and wise land-use policies, and the proposed county legislation is important to reconcile some of the issues in the area.

“Kara is exactly in the right direction by putting the resolution forward, and I strongly support both the concept of protecting this part of our historic North Shore and all of the national and local treasures that are found there,” Englebright said.

Hahn said there needs to be real discussions in Smithtown, because while she understands development is needed, she said there needs to be smart planning.

“There’s just a lot of availability in an area that is bucolic and historic, and it would be wonderful if there could be a check on development,” she said.

The county legislator added, regarding the sewage treatment plant that is planned for the Gyrodyne property, that other spots may be more beneficial to many areas of the town. The property is located on the northern part of Smithtown. Currently, plans are to hook up Lake Avenue businesses to the sewage plant. She said there is a lot of state money for downtown development if it is done properly, and if a sewage plant would be positioned centrally, it can not only benefit St. James, but also Nesconset, Smithtown and Jericho Turnpike to get businesses off antiquated cesspools and hooked up to sewers.

“It’s shortsighted to propose a project that would only address one downtown, when properly placed it could help several, and spur economic development, help water quality, and help out development where it should be in our downtowns and by our transportation zones,” Hahn said.

“We take our responsibility as stewards extremely seriously. This plan has been a long time in the making. We have worked closely with the Town of Smithtown to accomplish their goals.”

— Richard Smith

Gyrodyne the Catalyst for Controversy

At the Legislature meeting, residents spoke for and against the resolution. Richard Smith, a member of the Gyrodyne board of trustees and mayor of Nissequogue, asked legislators to vote “no” when it came to the resolution.

Smith said he and the Gyrodyne board have worked with the Smithtown Planning Department to fulfill the requirements of the town, which he said has done comprehensive studies of what the community needs for their downtown areas.

He said the company has worked more than three years on a “smart plan” and added that Gyrodyne would have the right to subdivide more extensively than they have, but chose now to. There will be a 200-foot setback from Route 25A, and he said he feels the sewage treatment plan will protect the groundwater and Stony Brook Harbor. He also cited the benefits of the tax revenues to the town and county as well as the St. James Fire Department.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who is more concerned with this area than myself and my colleagues on the board,” Smith said. “We take our responsibility as stewards extremely seriously. This plan has been a long time in the making. We have worked closely with the Town of Smithtown to accomplish their goals.”

Recently, the civic group We Are Nesconset changed its name to We Are Smithtown to address all development issues in the town instead of just in their hamlet. The civic group originally worked to oppose a boutique hotel near the Watermill Inn on Route 347 and the proposed Nesconset development The Preserve at Smithtown.

“Our focus currently is Gyrodyne and its effect on the environment, especially given what’s going on with Grumman Aerospace,” Phyllis Hart, vice president of the group, said, referring to the so-called Grumman plume in Bethpage.

In a recent email to members to explain the name change, the group called the Nesconset projects and Gyrodyne a “terrible trio” of projects. The group said the three, as well as other developments, were “all but dead until 2018, when the town council “decided to prioritize development at all costs.”

Hart said the civic group asked the town to place a moratorium on any new building until Smithtown’s master plan is complete.

However, Smithtown’s public information officer, Nicole Garguilo, said in an email that a moratorium on development before the master plan is completed would be a reckless decision.

“The financial ramifications that a moratorium on development would have, not just on the town’s fiscal stability but on the taxpaying residents and small business owners, would be catastrophic,” she said. “Demanding a moratorium on development makes for a great press soundbite … but there’s not a planner or engineering professional on the Island that would make a recommendation like this and for good reason.”

Garguilo said a moratorium would not only hurt developers but homeowners and small business owners. She said a moratorium could also cause a rush to the town’s building and planning departments to submit site plans before it takes effect.

“The answer here is balance and moderation, as well as removing outdated ordinances and loopholes in the town’s existing master plan, to avoid unwanted types of development,” she said. “All of which we are currently doing.”

Gerry Duff, a 30-year resident of Stony Brook who lives on Stony Brook Road, said he recently joined the Three Village Civic Association due to his concerns about the proposed development at Gyrodyne and talk of others in the area. He said the congestion at the end of Stony Brook Road around rush hour, which he said starts around 3:30 p.m., backs up to the Stony Brook University entrance. He added he and others feel that Smithtown will receive the tax benefits of developments such as Gyrodyne, while Stony Brook will inherit the headaches.

“[Smithtown has] blinders on, and they look at one project at a time,” he said. “They’re looking at Gyrodyne for example. They’re not looking at the fact that 100 feet to the left and 100 feet to the right are two more developments going on. All of this should be taken into consideration, because all of this is going to add to the traffic and the congestion and the pollution.”

by -
0 1569

Bethel AME Church and Higher Ground prepare to restore historic house

The Rev. David and Mary Baker-Eato House, circa 1984. File photo from Preservation Long Island

During the past 15 years, initiatives by Higher Ground Intercultural and Heritage Association  to increase protection of the district include: obtaining a Town of Brookhaven Landmark citation for Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Setauket; obtaining a districtwide Endangered Site nomination by Preservation League of New York; hosting A Long Time Coming Archaeological Project; starting a benchmark Cultural Resource Survey; and registering the district on state and national registers of historic sites in November 2017. In the same year, the Old Bethel Cemetery, which belongs to Bethel AME Church, was nominated to state and national registers of historic places through the remarkable efforts of Vivian Nicholson Mueller and Simira Tobias.

The home of one of Bethel AME Church’s first pastors Photo from Preservation Long Island

In a joint collaboration to preserve historic inventory, and to expand the historical significance of the district, Bethel AME and Higher Ground are working together to restore the historic Rev. David and Mary Baker-Eato House, which is located within the historic district.

Research has indicated the house was probably built between 1900 and 1917. Recently, several grants opened a new window of opportunity to Higher Ground that boosted the restoration project. The organization recently received a $1,220 grant award from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook; a $3,000 award from New York Landmarks Conservancy which was directed to Bethel AME Church; and a $25,000 grant award from the Gerry Charitable Trust in October 2019.

With this fresh infusion of funds, the joint Eato House restoration project plans to start preliminary activities to build organizational capacity in the spring of this year, followed by planning the first stages of restoration at a later date. With sincere appreciation, Higher Ground acknowledges that the first funding to create and protect the BCALH District, between 2009 to 2015, was made possible by grants awards from The National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University and The Preservation League of New York State.

While there is only little information about the origin and date the Eato House structure was built, the historically significant occupants, the Rev. David Eato and his wife Mary L. Baker-Eato, offer us an alternate view of a portion of American history. Eato was born in August 1854 in Roslyn, where many members of the Eato family remained. He was the fourth of nine children of Peter Eato and Charlotte Corse.

In the early 1840s, before Eato’s birth, his father worked as a sailor on the sloop Andrew Jackson, a merchant vessel that served shore communities in New York and New Jersey. On March 12, 1840, Capt. Jacob M. Kirby listed 21 employees, including “Peter Eato or Etoo.” Captain Kirby paid his employees with some cash but also by bartering such items as watch repair, powder and shot, watermelons, boots and trousers. In later census records, Peter Eato was listed as a laborer or farm laborer. He died of cancer Nov. 19, 1899, age 87.

David Eato was heavily handicapped during his ministry with dropsy (vascular edema). In spite of his disability, he spent his life as pastor of several small AME congregations on Long Island. Beginning in Roslyn, he spent much of his service at Mt. Olive AME Church in Elmhurst, where he dedicated a new church worth $9,000 Thanksgiving Day, 1907. In 1906, he also served the Union AME Church (later St. Mark) in Jackson Heights. In 1908, he moved to the Mount Olive AME Church in Mount (Port) Washington. He may have served both the Port Washington Church and the Setauket Church simultaneously, since there is a note about his work in Setauket in 1911 and another reference to his work as a pastor at Port Washington in 1913.

Around 1915-16, he moved to Setauket with his second wife Mary Lucinda Baker-Eato. In Port Washington June 29, 1913, Eato married Mary, who played piano and organ at the Mount Olive AME Church.

Baker-Eato was born in 1868 in South Carolina, the daughter of Oliver Baker and Catharine Buite-Baker. Catharine Baker (called Grandma Kitty by her family) was born on the Baker plantation in Troy, South Carolina. It is presumed Mary Lucinda Baker, Catherine’s only known child, was born on the Baker plantation.

Baker-Eato graduated from Allen University in Colombia, South Carolina. Allen University was established by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Cokesbury, South Carolina, in 1870, and later moved to Columbia. She may have majored in music, since she later taught piano and organ. While she was still living in Troy, she married Robert Wydeman. Together, they had five daughters, Jessie, Katie, Josephine, Mary Louise and Frances. In 1901, Baker-Eato, her five daughters and Grandma Kitty all moved north to Port Washington. Eato-Baker worked as a cook (perhaps in a restaurant), gave music lessons, and played piano and organ in the Port Washington AME Church.

After the Eatos married in 1913, they were still living in Elmhurst in 1915 (according to the New York State census), taking care of one of her daughters from her first marriage, Katie Weidman, and granddaughter Helen Coleman. By 1917, they were living in Setauket, where the Hyde map listed David Eato’s name beside the Eato house. In 1920, the census noted that the Eato family rented a house on Locust Avenue, where they lived with Baker-Eato’s grandchildren Helen Coleman, 11, and Adolph Blake, 3.

In 1925, the census recorded David Eato, age 70, living with his wife Mary Eato, age 57; Arthur T. Blake, age 15; and Adolph J. Blake, age 8. Mary Eato bought the Eato house from R.W. Hawkins and Carrie Hawkins in 1928 and became one of several African American women who owned homes in this area.

In 1930, David Eato was not listed in the census. Mostly likely he died between 1925 and 1928, when Mary Eato purchased this house. Although sources of information about the reverend and his wife reveal the life of two individuals who left a vision and hope for their descendants, their lives are representative of the many thousands of African Americans who survived slavery in America and made their way to Long Island.

Those other lives, not recorded, represent stories lost and gone forever because of the erection and maintenance of an ages old framework of historical narrative largely unchanged in America, since the end of the 19th century. It is as though revelations of Native American and Afro-American history, their history in the Americas and throughout the world, have been intentionally buried.

Today, we are learning that a significant portion of the history of Afro-Americans in America is being revealed through scientific research and recent archaeological and anthropological discoveries. In recent years public activism, local and national preservation organizations and state and federal legislation have acted to conduct new research; to render a revised and more complete history of Afro-Americans, and fully integrate it into a more inclusive history of America. At the present time, a new coalition of 21st-century researchers have been on the forefront to revise this forgotten history, as opposed to educators and scientists that pandered to biased academia from the 17th century, lasting through most of the 20th century.

There is ample evidence that there are hundreds of Afro-American cultural sites with similar stories, such as the Eatos and their home on Christian Avenue, that give the viewer an opportunity to see history differently. When descriptions of the structure, site and occupants of historic cultural origin are joined together, they become a comprehensive story in stark revelation. They become a doorway — an entryway to the truth of a cultural legacy connected to an ancient time, 3,000 years ago. However, the complex paradigm of intractable narratives of American history that remain as a pedagogy, since post-Civil War Reconstruction is a gate still standing; gradually being broken down by people who want to know the truth.

We can begin at the gate by saying: “Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) did not discover the Americas.” From that observation, we are thus able to see misconceptions in the cultural and racial dynamics of history; to posit arguments against the old theories; engage in conversations that realize there is an imperative to rewrite a significant portion of American history. The huge number of obscured Afro-American communities, such as the Bethel Christian Avenue, Laurel Hill Historic District, their historic inventory and structures such as the Eato House have enormous importance, not only to America’s history, but that they are integral toward a revision that transmits truth into our education systems.

Robert Lewis is the president of Higher Ground Intercultural and Heritage Association.

by -
0 1757
1 of 9
Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School third graders Arianna Greene, left, and Diana Murillo, right, measure the ingredients to make Valentine’s Day slime. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Third grader Madison Lavey measures 4 ounces of clear glue. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Arianna Green measures 2 tablespoons of saline solution. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Pictured left to right, Arianna Greene, Diana Murillo and Madison Lavey. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Fourth graders at Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School designed Valentine’s Day cards for service men and women serving overseas. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Fourth graders in Mrs. Donohue and Mrs. Dayton’s class prepared Valentine’s Day care packages to send to troops overseas. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Fourth graders at Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School designed Valentine’s Day cards for service men and women serving overseas. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Fourth graders in Mrs. Donohue and Mrs. Dayton’s class prepared Valentine’s Day care packages to send to troops overseas. Photo from Harborfields Central School District
Fourth graders in Mrs. Donohue and Mrs. Dayton’s class prepared Valentine’s Day care packages to send to troops overseas. Photo from Harborfields Central School District

Students at Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School got in the spirit of Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14.

Third-graders visited math teacher Nancy Sordi and learned to measure different ingredients, like glue and red food dye, to make Valentine’s Day slime. Some students chose to make their slime even more festive with glitter and heart-shaped confetti.

Down the hall, fourth-graders in Danielle Donohue and Jane Dayton’s class prepared Valentine’s Day care packages to send to troops overseas. Students sorted lollipops, candy bars and cookies between three boxes that will be shipped to soldiers stationed in the Middle East. Additionally, each of the students designed a Valentine’s Day card to be sent with the care packages. 

by -
0 1256
Father Jerry Cestare and Kara LoDolce right before the kidney transplant procedure in January. Photo from Kara LoDolce

A blossoming love led to a lifesaving procedure for a local priest.

Kara LoDolce, left, with her fiancé, Scott Alu, and his children. Photo from Kara LoDolce

In January, Setauket resident Kara LoDolce donated her kidney to Father Jerry Cestare of St. James R.C. Church. When LoDolce first told him that she was going to donate her organ, he said he couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t know how many people can be that selfless,” he said.

The 55-year-old priest said his kidneys were compromised about nine years ago, and while he was careful about his health, at the beginning of last year he felt tired all the time and went for medical testing. He found out he had kidney failure and started dialysis in May, something he said is not a long-term solution for someone his age.

The priest said when doctors first told him to actively start looking for living donors, he felt hesitant because he grasped that someone was giving up something precious. While a few family members were tested, they were found not to be matches, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask others.

“How could I ask someone to do something like that just because I was sick?” he said.

Cestare said while he wasn’t afraid of dying or being incapacitated, he was afraid that he would lose what he loved to do — ministering.

The priest said the chain of events played out like a Hallmark movie.

LoDolce, 46, said she was compelled from the second she heard Cestare needed a new kidney. She and her fiancé, Scott Alu, 42, credit the priest for indirectly helping the two of them meet.

LoDolce said her soon-to-be husband met her in a gym, while he normally wouldn’t ask out a woman with tattoos, which she has, he remembered a recent conversation he had with Cestare. Alu was talking to the priest about looking for a relationship after a divorce, as well as being a father to two children. LoDolce said her fiancé was told to keep an open mind by Cestare, saying, “One thing that God does is he takes the broken pieces of your life and kind of reshapes them into something new, and you just have to be open to opportunities. You have to be open to every opportunity that God puts in front of you.”

When she met Alu, LoDolce lived in Sound Beach, but she said 2½ years ago she moved in with him in Setauket, and she’s been going to the St. James church ever since.

LoDolce said while the church didn’t make an official announcement about Cestare’s condition, she was waiting to hear back from him to discuss her upcoming wedding in May. She was surprised when he didn’t get back to her, and she asked the receptionist who filled her in on what was happening.

When she and her fiancé met with him, she asked if he was on the transplant list. He told her it would be a five-year wait due to his blood type being B+. After the meeting, she called her mother and found out she was B+ also. When she dropped off paperwork, she left Cestare a note saying she would like to be tested.

She went in for the tests and right before Christmas discovered she could donate her kidney to the priest. She bought Cestare a stuffed kidney-shaped toy and gave it to him along with a card and a letter.

“She’s about to start a whole new life, and she’s thinking of me.”

— Jerry Cestare

He said when she gave him the gift, he didn’t open it right away and brought it to his parents’ house where he was going for dinner. When he opened it, he was surprised by the beautiful card and then began reading the letter where LoDolce told him she was a match.

His father asked him to repeat what she wrote because he, “couldn’t believe it,” and the priest said he and his mother started crying.

“Kara felt from the beginning if she could undergo a few weeks of discomfort so that I could get back to work and do what I do best, she said it was worth it,” Cestare said.

The priest decided to announce the good news to the parish at Christmas Mass. Even though he didn’t want the service to be focused on him, he felt LoDolce’s act of kindness symbolized the season.

He said many faiths talk about love but LoDolce, he said, showed it through action and gave him his life, health and ministry back.

“Lots of people talk about love, this woman showed with her action what love is,” he said.

He said Kara and her fiancé received a few standing ovations from the parishioners at the Mass after he announced she was donating her kidney to him.

“She’s about to get married,” he said. “She’s about to start a whole new life, and she’s thinking of me.”

LoDolce said she never wavered from her decision.

“People tell me I did something for him, I don’t feel that way at all,” she said. “I truly feel like he did something for me and he changed my life.”

While most take three or six weeks before they can even go back to work, LoDolce said she felt great after a week, and she was walking two or three miles a day. She also credits both of their recoveries to the parishioners and friends.

“Everyone in the Three Village community has been praying for us,” she said.

LoDolce said she is now putting the finishing touches on her May wedding.

“I joke that both my kidneys will be going to the wedding,“ LoDolce said.

Cestare said he has found the story has inspired others who have heard it with many telling him that they are going to pay it forward by being a better person.

“God is using this experience not only to give me back my life but to touch the lives of others,” he said.

“People tell me I did something for him, I don’t feel that way at all. I truly feel like he did something for me and he changed my life.”

— Kara LoDolce

SBU experts explain living organ donations

Father Jerry Cestare and Kara LoDolce went to Stony Brook University Hospital for their transplant procedure. The priest said many may think they need to travel to New York City for such a procedure, but SBU has a transplantation program right on Long Island.

Dawn Francisquini, administrative director of Stony Brook Medicine’s Kidney Transplantation Services team, said the hospital has been performing the transplants since 1981. She described the program as family friendly and said the staff’s goal is to make patients feel like a person — not a number.

“They know when they come to us they’re going to receive personalized care,” she said.

The first step, she added, is to educate the patients and their family members about the entire procedure as well as what needs to be done before and after. She said it’s important for the family to be part of the conversation because there is a lot of information to be taken in. She added that a transplant is not a cure for kidney disease but a treatment.

Stephen Knapik, living donor coordinator at the medical center, said finding a living donor can save a person’s life as the waiting list for organ transplants can be several years long. 

“I tell all the recipients you have to be your own living donor champion,” Knapik said.

He said he advises patients if they’re uncomfortable asking to get a friend to help spread the word. He also said sharing on social media has been successful in many cases, where after a request is posted, “The next thing you know I’m getting phone calls.”

Knapik said his role in transplants is keeping donors safe. In the case of Cestare’s transplant, he worked with LoDolce. He said donors go through multiple tests including CT scans, chest X-rays and cancer screenings such as mammograms and Pap smears for women and colonoscopies for those over 50.

“I tell all the recipients you have to be your own living donor champion.”

— Stephen Knapik

Once a donor is cleared through testing, a transplant team committee will discuss the donor.

“We want to make sure that we have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s to keep the donor safe,” he said.

Knapik said once a donor is found the transplant team will work with the schedule as far as when the surgeries will take place. For example, he said, a teacher can wait until summer. All the costs are paid by the recipient’s insurance.

He said while LoDolce was quickly back to walking and resuming her normal routine, it’s unusual. Many donors may take weeks to recover fully and can’t drive for about two weeks or lift heavy objects for a few weeks.

“Everybody heals differently,” he said.

He added that after the procedures donors will be required to have checkups to make sure their remaining kidney is compensating and doing well.

“We can take anyone’s kidney out, but we have to make sure, 10, 20, 30 years later, that the remaining kidney is doing well,” Knapik said.

Francisquini said out of the 1,800 transplants the program has done since its inception, 1,000 patients still come to SBUH for routine follow-ups. She said anywhere from 270 to 300 patients are on the active waiting list at any given time, while another 200 can be in the evaluation process. The kidney transplant team performs 75 to 80 procedures a year.

“We have one of the fastest transplant rates in our region,” she said. “So that basically translates into if we put you on the list, we’re serious about transplanting you. We transplant you as quickly as possible.” 

To learn more about Kidney Transplantation Services at Stony Brook Medicine and how to become an organ donor, visit www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/patientcare/transplant/organ_donor.

by -
0 333
Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia (R)officiated over the Valentine’s Day Marriage Ceremony Marathon that took place in Huntington Town Hall Feb. 14. Photo from Town of Huntington

One Huntington official carried on a town and family tradition Valentine’s Day.

Tiffany and Luke LeGrow, above, renew their vows as their children Shane and Blakley look on. Photo from Town of Huntington

Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia (R)officiated over the Valentine’s Day Marriage Ceremony Marathon that took place in Huntington Town Hall Feb. 14. The event was first initiated by his mother, former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, in 1995. It was an event the new town clerk was pleased to continue.

“I am thrilled to be continuing on the tradition established by my predecessor, Jo-Ann Raia, of hosting multiple wedding and renewal of vows ceremonies on Valentine’s Day here in Town Hall,” he said. “This event has always been received enthusiastically by the couples that have participated, and it was a privilege and a pleasure for me to unite these couples and to share in their happiness on this very special day.”

Raia performed eight wedding ceremonies and one vow renewal during the marathon. Among the couples were Victoria Espinoza and Alex Petroski. A few years ago, the couple met while working at TBR News Media. Espinoza went on to become the editor of The Times of Huntington & Northport and The Times of Smithtown before she left the media group in 2017, and Petroski was the managing editor and editor of The Port Times Record and The Village Beacon Record before he left at the end of 2018. Jo-Ann Raia remembered Espinoza covering the event in the past.

“I am very proud of the way the new town clerk, Andrew Raia, planned his first Valentine’s Day Marriage Marathon, and I am pleased to see my tradition of 25 years continued,” Jo-Ann Raia said. “In fact, Victoria and Alex Petroski met at The Times of Huntington newspaper, and Victoria covered for the Times Beacon Record several years of my Valentine’s Day Marriage Marathon, and I’m excited they took the opportunity of getting married at Town Hall.”

Couples were able to bring family and friends along for support and 31 local merchants consisting of bakeries, restaurants, florists, supermarkets/food stores, pharmacies, gift shops, candy stores, a salon and spa donated items for this year’s celebration.

by -
0 1701
The Old Field Lighthouse. Photo by Huberto Pimental

When Old Field residents go to vote in the March village elections, there will be a familiar name missing from the ballot.

Michael Levine

Mayor Michael Levine has decided not to run again after 12 years in the position.

A partner with Rappaport, Glass, Levine & Zulio, LLP, Levine and his wife have lived in the village since 1992. He has two grown children, a son, who is also a lawyer, and a daughter, who is completing her master’s at Stanford University and planning to start medical school in the fall.

Recently, Levine answered a few questions via email discussing his decision not to run for mayor and his experience in the role.

Why did you decide not to run?

I’ve been the mayor for 12 years. It has been an unbelievable honor and privilege, but I decided it was time to give another resident the opportunity to be the mayor. All good things must come to an end every now and then.

What made you decide to run for mayor 12 years ago?

Twelve years ago, I was approached by numerous residents and asked to consider running for mayor because there was some animosity between certain board of trustees members at that time, and it was believed that an outsider who had no specific agenda might be able to calm things down and move the village forward. I believe I did just that — earned the trust of my fellow board members and helped to get the village back on the right track.

What did you find to be the most challenging part of being mayor?

One of the most challenging aspects of the position has been trying to keep village expenses under control in light of increased costs associated with goods and services and the 2 percent tax cap law. Even though from an outsider’s perspective the village is associated with some degree of affluence, the village operates on an incredibly shoestring budget and any unforeseen expenses can have a very detrimental impact on the overall financial health of the village.

What did you find the most rewarding?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being mayor has been getting to know some incredible residents and assisting them by timely considering their building permit applications. The turnaround time for the submission of an application for a permit to the time that it gets before the board for consideration is sometimes no more than a month or two. Another very rewarding aspect of the position has been the ability of the board to avoid lawsuits against the village. As an attorney, I know how to commence a lawsuit, but I also know how to avoid one too. During my administration, we have been very successful in avoiding litigation against the village.

Any advice for the next mayor of Old Field?

One of the keys to being a good mayor is to be responsive to the residents. I was elected 12 years ago to help out the residents of the village, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to be accessible at all times, try to give them what they want and be very open to their suggestions. I believe I did that, and this is one of the most important pieces of advice I can pass along to the next mayor.

Do you think you will still be involved in the village in some way?

I will continue to be very involved in the village. It’s in my blood to be community minded. I would hope every resident would feel the same way. Right now, I am working with other residents on a complete renovation of the village lighthouse with the hope that we will be able to fully restore it to its initial beauty.

The Village of Old Field will hold its election March 18 at the Keeper’s Cottage, 207 Old Field Road. Trustee Bruce Feller will be running for mayor, and Thomas Pirro will be running for a second term as trustee.

Prev1...585960...113Next Page 59 of 113
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©