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This year’s event will feature samplings from Danford’s WAVE Seafood & Steak. Photo from PJCC

It’s back! The Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce hosts its 12th annual  The Taste @ Port Jefferson at the Village Center, 101-A E. Broadway, Port Jefferson overlooking Harborfront Park and the harbor on Thursday, Oct. 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. 

In celebration, the chamber has reached out to the greater Port Jefferson restaurant community and will highlight over 30 restaurants and purveyors offering top-quality food tastings and desserts as well as samples of wines and beers. The event will feature musical entertainment by the Denice Given Band, a local favorite performing swing, standards, Latin, disco, top 40, pop, rock, R&B, Motown, reggae, country and everything in between.

This year’s event will feature samplings from Kilwins. Photo from PJCC

New this year is a 20- by 40-foot beer tent featuring Po’Boy Brewery, PJ Brewing Co., Montauk Brewing Co. and Blue Point Brewing Co. and a LI Cuban Cigar and Bourbon Experience mobile lounge — a 25-foot trailer with a master server catering to each guest, cutting each cigar, while artfully speaking to each flavor of bourbon. 

Adding to the ambiance for the evening Kunz Greenhouses will be suppling table arrangements for the special VIP dinning lounge and Organically Green Horticultural Services will be providing planters and horticulture to welcome attenders into the event.

Participating businesses also include Barito Taco & Cocktails; Fratelli’s Bagel Express; Costco; Dos MexiCuban Cantina; Due Baci; Fifth Season; Kilwins; Flying Pig Cafe; La Bonne Boulangerie Bakery; Local’s Cafe; Lucky Lou’s Gourmet Rice Pudding; Nantuckets; Roger’s Frigate; Pasta, Pasta; Port Jeff Lobster House; Port Jeff Bistro & Pub; Prohibition Kitchen; Slurp Ramen; Starbucks; The Steam Room; Tuscany Gourmet Market, Top Shelf Trading Corp; Uncle Giuseppe’s; The Waterview at Port Jefferson Country Club; Danford’s WAVE Seafood & Steak; and Zorba the Greek.

Sponsors this year include St. Charles Hospital, SERVPRO of Port Jefferson, TBR News Media, BNB Bank, Blue Point Brewing Co. and DiCarlo Food Service.

Transportation will also be provided for those who don’t want to be bothered in finding a parking spot. A shuttle will make continuous loops from the northeast corner of Belle Terre Road and Myrtle Avenue to the Port Jefferson Village Center. Cars may park in this large and well-lit parking lot and have a quick ride to the event. You can text our Port Passport shuttle at 516-939-8960 to obtain a ride. 

Save your appetite as there will be samplings in abundance and TASTE the local fine cuisine, wines and beers.  

Tickets are available on line through Eventbrite: $50 per person for general admission entrance at 7 p.m. and $75 for VIP guests at 6 p.m., which includes early access by one hour and exclusive third-floor water view VIP lounge. This is an adult evening so guests must be 21 and over. For more detailed information call the chamber office at 631-473-1414 or visit www.thetasteatportjefferson.com.

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The Town of Brookhaven Town Hall. File photo

In a joint investigation, the Town of Brookhaven, along with the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General found a Southampton taxi company, which picked up Medicaid recipients and transported them to appointments, was not licensed to operate in the town, officials stated in a press release. 

Hometown Taxi faces up to $26,000 in fines after racking up 52 tickets and is currently suspended from operating in Brookhaven. They also could face NYS violations. 

The charges against the Southampton taxi company came out of a larger investigation of unlicensed cab companies operating in the town. In Brookhaven, cab companies are required to be licensed by the town. Also, under state law, cabs that pick up Medicaid recipients for medical appointments must be licensed by municipalities in which they do business. 

“Brookhaven Town and New York State take Medicaid violations very seriously and we will continue to pursue any company that operates without a license to the fullest extent of the law,” said Brookhaven town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R). “I have asked the town attorney to proceed with the investigation until every company is in compliance.” 

According to Hometown Taxi’s website, the company provides transport to medical offices, airports, wineries and other destinations. Hometown Taxi’s fleet includes vans, taxis, sports utility vehicles, town cars and taxis. The company’s service area extends to the East End including the Hamptons. 

“Hopefully this will send a message to other similar cab companies, they need a license to operate in the town even if its Medicaid,” Romaine said. “It’s our job to enforce this and it’s the town’s responsibility.”

The town has also been informed by the Medicaid inspector general that several other taxi companies have been providing transportation services for medical care involving Medicaid recipients without the proper licensing under New York State code 18 NYCRR §500. 

Romaine said the investigation into unlicensed taxi companies is still ongoing and more developments could come out in the next month or two. 

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File photo

Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are investigating a single-vehicle crash that killed a woman in Port Jefferson Station Oct 15.

Kaitlyn Schaal was driving a 2001 Jeep Cherokee southbound on Old Town Road when the vehicle crossed the northbound lane and struck a tree on the east side of the road at Greenhaven Drive at 6:03 a.m.

Schaal, 19, of 60 Chestnut St., Mount Sinai, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. Detectives are asking anyone with information on this crash to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

 

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Gillian Winters
Susan Folan (left) and Katie Specht

The Long Island Apple Festival returned to the Sherwood-Jayne Farm in East Setauket for its 30th year on Sept. 29. Presented by the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities and Homestead Arts, the fun event attracted over 2,000 visitors this year in celebration of the humble apple. 

One of the highlights of the day was the apple pie contest which was judged by Port Jefferson Village Mayor Margot Garant; Lisa Basini, founder of The Baking Coach Inc.; Chef Marc Anthony Bynum,

Rosolino Gould

restaurateur and owner of MB Concepts; Adam Devine, manager of Three Village Inn’s Mirabelle Restaurant & Tavern; Bernice Fehringer from Chocolate Works in Stony Brook; Chef Phil Morizio, chef and owner of Café Al Dente in Oyster Bay; Nick Acampora, president of Port Jefferson Historical Society; New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright;  Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright; and Town of Brookhaven historian Barbara Russell. 

First place for Best Tasting Pie went to Gillian Winters of E. Setauket; Alice Glass of Setauket won second place; and Rosolino Gould of Kings Park captured third place. The Most Beautiful Pie award went to Susan Folan and Katie Specht of Setauket. Congratulations to all!

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First ‘Market Day’ Fair the Old Field Clubhouse, Sept. 1929. Photo courtesy of Three Village Garden Club

By Arlene Oliver

When the Three Village Garden Club decided they wanted to present a history of the club for their 90th Anniversary Celebration, they started a scavenger hunt that unearthed priceless treasures. The members searched their attics and basements and turned to older friends and members. They found original minutes from the start of the club, as well as ancient photographs and newspaper articles from the 1920s,1930s, and beyond.

These sources told the story of a group of women who had just gotten the right to vote in 1920, and were now ready to take the bit in their teeth and tackle the problems they confronted in their community.

They were a diverse group of women. Some were used to wealth and privilege and social status. But many were ordinary village women, who cajoled their husbands into plowing up a vegetable plots and replacing them with flower gardens. They all took great pride in using their voices to tackle the issues of the day.

Some of these issues involved community beautification, such as planting flowers and trees in public spaces and removing unsightly billboards that proliferated on roads in an early advertising fever.

But they were also concerned with the plight of  the unemployed  during the  Depression, the  institution of garbage  removal and making safe public water available to  the community.  During World War 11, they engaged in War Relief efforts, grew Victory Gardens and manned the Lighthouse to watch for German planes.

After the war, the club focused on spreading the love and knowledge of gardening. They worked on wildlife conservation, environmental issues, and supporting students interested in these areas through scholarships to college and environmental camps.

As the years rolled on, the TVGC partnered with many other non-profit groups such as the Guide Dog Foundation, the Veterans Home, and Kings Park Hospital. Through their World Gardening Program, they supported indigenous people in the Amazon and helped provide safe drinking water through organizations in Africa and the U.S.

Through its membership in the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, the TVGC is part of a larger community of dedicated gardeners in New York State. FGCNYS is very effective in promoting knowledge of gardening, horticulture and environmental awareness. The Three Village Garden Club is proud to have been cited by this parent group for its outstanding work toward these goals.

In 2019, our club is still made up of enthusiastic and hardworking members who are engaged in changing the world for the better, while quietly cultivating their own  gardens.

The spirit of the roaring twenties will come alive on Sunday, Oct. 20 when The Three Village Garden Club invites the community to its 90th anniversary celebration, “Welcome to 1929,” at The Bates House, 1 Bates Road, Setauket from 3 to 6 p.m. Guests will enjoy entertainment by musicians from Ward Melville High School; The Algorhythms, a barbershop quartet; and a dance demonstration by Arthur Murray Dance Centers.

Highlights from the club’s 90-year history will be enlarged on panels that will parallel global events and Elegant Eating will cater a  wide variety of  delicious gourmet food and dessert served with wine and non-alcoholic beverages. A roaring twenties theme will be highlighted by details in the decorations and guests are encouraged to dress in 1920s attire.

The cost of the event is $50 per person and reservations and payment must be made in advance by calling  631-751-2743 or 631-689-7186.

Arlene Oliver is a history enthusiast and member of the Three Village Garden Club.

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Photo courtesy of St. Catherine of Sienna

“Life is like a disco, no matter how the music changes, you just keep on dancing.” The charmed quote is taken from the 2011 movie, Jumping the Broom, and captured the essence of St. Catherine of Siena Hospital’s 8th Annual Pink Ribbon Salute, held on Oct. 2. Each year, the breast cancer survivor event adopts a creative theme to add a layer of fun to the celebration.

This year, the event took on a disco theme — and more than 100 breast cancer survivors showed up in their best Saturday Night Fever attire ready to dance the night away as they triumph, despite the changes cancer may have brought upon their lives. 

“It was wonderful to see familiar and new faces in our growing family of courageous women celebrating their fearless determination to overcome,” said St. Catherine’s Administrative Director of Reconstructive Microsurgery Dr. Diana Yoon-Schwartz.

The event was moderated by St. Catherine’s breast health navigator Meiling Alsen, and a special welcome was given by chief nursing officer Mary Jane Finnegan. 

“When I look at all of you, I know I am surrounded by strong, courageous women, along with your family members and friends, who have survived or are in the process of surviving a fight that no one should ever have to fight — you truly are my inspiration,” said Finnegan. 

The welcome was followed by the latest updates in breast care by St. Catherine’s Medical Director of Breast Health Services Dr. Jana Deitch, who also took the opportunity to address survivors directly. “Tonight is a wonderful night about celebrating women who fight the tough fight every day — you are not only surviving, but thriving and giving back to other women who may need some encouragement on the journey to healing,” said Deitch.

The disco mood was further set with live renditions of the era’s top hits, played by Just Cause Band. The band, originated by attorneys, has grown into a diversified group, born from the love of music and a desire to help the community by supporting charity events at no cost. Thanks to the philanthropic and harmonizing skills of Just Cause Band, survivors and supporters danced and sang all night, and when the rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” was played, the room erupted in unified triumph. 

“It is a moment I will always remember — it was electrifying and inspiring,” said Deitch.

The Pink Ribbon has become a tradition that survivors and staff look forward to annually. “Our survivors and staff dance the night away in celebration — it is an evening we all cherish, filled with laughter and hope, share with family and friends,” said St. Catherine’s Medical Director of Breast Imaging Dr. Anne Green. 

“I’m proud to be a part of an exceptional group of compassionate breast health specialists who service patients from one location in their own community — we are a community that provides the true continuum of care for our patients — so, we will keep on dancing right beside them!”

The Pink Ribbon Salute is supported by St. Catherine of Siena’s senior leadership, and the event was co-sponsored with the support of Suffolk Anesthesia Associates, Genomic Health Inc. Myriad Genetics, New York Cancer Specialists, New Street Plastic Surgery and Square Care.

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Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A dancer from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company performs at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A dancer from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company performs at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A dancer from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company performs at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A dancer from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company performs at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
A dancer from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company performs at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Members from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company perform at the Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Attendees of the Oct. 13 event learn a couple of salsa steps. Photo by Rita J. Egan

On Oct. 13, The Ward Melville Heritage Organization celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, at its Educational & Cultural Center with performances from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company.

Attendees, including students from The Stony Brook School, were treated to an array of dances including flamenco, salsa, the Argentine tango, Mexican folk and more. Maria Loreta, founder and artistic director of Sol y Sombra, provided a brief history of the origins of the dances before each performance. After the presentation, audience members got up to try a few steps of salsa, and then sampled empanadas, churros and rice and beans.

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The Town of Brookhaven Town Hall. File photo

The Town of Brookhaven outlined the first steps toward creating a program that could lower gas and electric rates for homeowners at a public hearing Oct. 3. 

Town officials are considering creating a Community Choice Aggregation or CCA, which is an energy program that allows local governments to buy electricity and gas on behalf of its residents.

In a presentation to the Town Board, Matt Miner, town chief of operations, outlined how the program could be beneficial to residents. 

Essentially, CCA is a municipal energy procurement model that replaces the utility companies as the default supplier. It can be used for either gas or electricity.  

“The suppliers, National Grid and PSEG, would still be responsible for energy delivery and billing,” Miner said. “The advantages of a CCA is pooling those demands and allow us to negotiate lower rates for residents.”

The town chief of operations added it would allow Brookhaven to pursue other clean energy programs. 

The next step in the program would be for the town to begin to work with its eight villages to see if they wanted to participate in the CCA. From there, the town would seek to appoint a program administrator. 

“[The] CCA administrator would then seek bids from energy services companies to obtain competitive rates for residents on behalf of the town,” Miner said. “They would be responsible with creating a data projection and implementation plan.”

CCA is an opt-out program, so residents are not bound by a contract and can go back to their original supplier if they chose to do so. 

The CCA program was created by the New York State Public Service Commission in April 2016. Westchester was the first New York county, through the Sustainable Westchester consortium, to launch the CCA program under Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). If successful, Brookhaven will join more than 50 municipalities in the state to enact legislation to begin a CCA including the towns of Hempstead and Southampton on Long Island. 

Miner said if the bids and rates aren’t competitive then the town doesn’t have to move forward with the program. 

“I want to be clear, this only goes forward if we can save all the residents and businesses in Brookhaven money” 

– Supervisor Ed Romaine

The town would first pursue competitive rates for gas and then would move on to electricity. According to town officials it could take about a year to implement the program. Bid contracts could last from two to four years.  

George Hoffman, a vice president of the Three Village Civic Association, said at the public hearing he supports the town’s initiative to adopt the CCA and believes it moves them closer to clean energy.

“It’s about time we started to take back some local control over our energy future,” he said. “We all thought then, when LIPA was created, we would be starting to get back some of our local control of our energy policy, but that was taken away by Albany. I think this a good start in taking back our energy future.”

 

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Participants during a recent Walk, Yoga, Meditate & Chocolate class at The Bates House. Photo from the Community Growth Center

An exercise program at The Bates House in East Setauket not only provides residents with a chance to get some physical activity but also the opportunity to donate to a local organization.

Port Jefferson Station’s Community Growth Center, which provides holistic health services, is currently offering its Walk, Yoga, Meditate & Chocolate series at the venue every Thursday for a suggested donation of $10. During the exercise program, participants are led on a 30-minute walk around the Frank Melville Memorial Park pond with flashlights in hand, then to an hour yoga session that ends in shavasana — a pose used for relaxation and meditation — and before they leave, everyone gets a piece of dark chocolate.

Michael Hoffner, co-founder and executive director of Community Growth Center, said the program ties into the center’s mission to create a sense of community and to give people an outlet to become healthier in mind, body and spirit.

“We’re really trying to build a community of people that are all working to heal and grow together,” he said. “All aspects of this event help to facilitate that type of growth. Whether it’s the physical exercise or the meditation or yoga, all of it ties into helping people grow in mind and body.”

Joanne Lauro, the center’s director of nutrition, leads the walks on Thursday nights, while the yoga portion is led by Erica Kremens. The program is different from other yoga classes as it starts with walking, which Lauro said is one of the best exercises to help with various health issues including heart and pulmonary problems and diabetes.

She said the group walks around the park three times, approximately a mile stretch. Participants can walk at their own pace whether briskly for exercise or slower to enjoying the swans in the lake and the deer and rabbits on the property.

“The person who comes can reap the benefits of whatever they enjoy,” Lauro said.

She added the center encourages “people to embrace their bodies and work a little bit harder so they won’t have heart disease or stiffness or pains.”

For a treat at the end of the night, everyone gets a piece of cacao — dark chocolate — donated by East Setauket-based Five North Chocolate, owned by Ben Conard. The director of nutrition said cacao is good for stress and anxiety, and due to being an antioxidant, it rids the body of free radicals.

Hoffner said the group calls the series a triathlon, and it was original board member Jennifer Ross who heard about the idea, as well as adding dark chocolate at the end, and thought it would be a fun way to raise money for the center, which doesn’t charge for its services.

Hoffner said the triathlon series is in its fourth year at The Bates House, and the agency has been grateful to the venue’s manager Lise Hintze who he said loved the mission of the Community Growth Center when he originally approached her. Hoffner said the center holds other events at the venue, including their upcoming Finding Balance: Wellness Conference, a Martin Luther King multifaith event in January and Spring Awakening at the end of April.

Lauro said she invites everyone to try out the class and take time out for themselves.

“Come down and enjoy the simplicity of nature and honoring your body and just being in a great place with like-minded people,” Lauro said.

Walk, Yoga, Meditate & Chocolate meets every Thursday at The Bates House until Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. (There is no class Oct. 31.) The series will start up again in the spring, and the suggested donation is $10 per class. For more information, call 631-240-3471.

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A rendering of the proposed development in Mount Sinai. Image from Steven Losquadro

A Mount Sinai millennial housing project, located on Route 25A near Myrtle Street, dubbed Mount Sinai Meadows inches closer to breaking ground on construction. 

On July 19, Woodmere-based real estate developer Basser-Kaufman was approved of a change of zoning from J-Business 2 to Planned Development District. The application is currently being reviewed by the Town of Brookhaven Planning Board. 

Lori Murphy, legislative aide for Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) said the application is currently being looked at by the Planning Board and will have to be reviewed by multiple departments including the Highway Department. 

Asked if she knew how long the Planning Board would take to review the application, Murphy said it varies from a case by case basis and could only confirm that the zone change was approved by the town. 

Site plans for the project call for 140 housing units, including 106 two-bedroom apartments and 34 one-bedroom apartments. The complex will have bike racks, walkable grounds, communal barbecue areas, electric car charging stations, a large open lawn for the use of residents and four spaces toward the northern end of the property that will be used for large retail spaces, according to a March 2019 TBR News Media article. There will be 21.78 acres used for residential housing, while 8.3 acres will be retail. 

The mixed-use complex will be geared toward creating a living space for young adults and young professionals. According to the developers, they are catering toward the 20-34 age group. 

Ann Becker, president of the Mount Sinai Civic Association, reiterated that the civic supports the development and are awaiting to hear updates from the town once it goes through planning. 

“We want something for young people and professionals,” she said. “We were looking for flexible options for available housing for young people, the developer has assured us at this point that the number of children won’t burden the community.”

She brought up another point that approximately 20 percent of the housing stock in the hamlet is for those 55 and older. Becker said they didn’t want an overload of senior living facilities in the area. 

Construction is currently underway for two projects, a 120-unit Bristal assisted living community and a 225-unit senior rental complex for individuals 55 and over at the corner of Echo Avenue and Route 25A.

Becker said while some children could come out from the development, she said she believes it could aid the declining school enrollment in the Mount Sinai School District. 

Marc Kemp, a representative at Bassar-Kaufman, said once they can get site plan approval from the planning board they will move forward with the development.

“It [the review] could take eight to 10 months,” Kemp said. “Once we get the approval we want to break ground as soon as possible.”

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