Guest speakers will include Suffolk Coutnty Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) and mentoring and networking coach Michael Capaldo.
The meeting is free and open to all who wish to attend. Light appetizers and soft drinks will be served.
Artwork from Kiara Anderson, who graduated from W.S. Mount Elementary School last year, appeared in the 2017 Pens & Pencils supplement of The Village Times Herald. Image from Three Village Central School District
By Rita J. Egan
The Village Times Herald is asking teachers in the Three Village Central School District to submit creative work from their students.
Artwork from Breena Harrington, a student at Minnesauke Elementary School. Image from Three Village Central School District
The June 7 edition of the paper will include a pull-out section called Pens & Pencils featuring selections of art, prose and poetry provided by the elementary, junior high schools and high school in the Three Village school district.
In the past, we have relied on teachers from the English and art departments of the schools to select and forward those art and writing projects they feel are worthy of inclusion. We try to include — space permitting — as many representative samples as possible from grades K through 12.
We have always received more submissions than would fit in the available space, so please make no promises to any students that their work will be included in the supplement. We will do our best to publish the remaining submissions in the Arts & Lifestyles section of the TBR newspapers throughout the summer.
Submissions must be received by Friday, May 18. Teachers can email art, prose and poetry to [email protected] or mail to: The Village Times Herald, 185 Route 25A, Setauket, NY 11733. Any questions, please call Rita Egan at 631-751-7744.
Stony Brook ophthalmologist and Port Jeff resident Aaron Wigdor. Photo from the Wigdor family
“The eye is like a camera,” was the ophthalmologist’s favorite expression.
Aaron Wigdor, an eye doctor with a practice in Stony Brook who lived in Port Jefferson since the 1960s, died in April at 82. He was among those who led the charge for Port Jefferson Village to purchase Harbor Hills Country Club from the late 1960s through the ’70s, an asset the municipality still owns today, and was the first men’s tennis singles champion at the club. He is survived by his son Douglas; daughter Caren Skutch; daughter-in-law Catherine; son-in-law, William; and four grandchildren, Jacob, Simon, Julia and Carly.
Wigdor was born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey. He attended Princeton University as an undergraduate and went on to medical school at New York University. He served in the United States Army Medical Corps in Texas at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. He was also President Lyndon Johnson’s on-call ophthalmologist for a time.
“The eye is like a camera.”
— Aaron Wigdor
In 1968, he and his late wife Ellen moved from Texas to Port Jefferson, where the couple remained until relocating to Florida in 2016, reluctantly, according to his son.
“He really did love Port Jefferson,” his son said.
Both of his parents played a part in organizing the senior prom at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, which was a long-standing tradition in Port Jeff, for parents of the senior class to help pick a secret theme unveiled only on prom night and organize the over-the-top event.
Wigdor had many close friends in Port Jefferson, and as a young man enjoyed spending time out from of Darling’s Stationery, where many from the community would gather in what probably would resemble a social media chat group today.
“You would never know he was a gossip,” his daughter said. “After my mother passed away, he got very sad. As a couple, they had a lot of friends in Port Jefferson. They were always going out. They were really pillars in the community.”
Skutch described her father’s sense of humor and intellect as “acerbic,” a trait she said she loved. She said he enjoyed reading the dictionary as a hobby, and it was a favorite response of his to instruct his kids to “go read the dictionary” when they complained of being bored.
“They were always going out. They were really pillars in the community.”
— Caren Skutch
“He was just an all-around good dad,” she said, adding that as a grandfather Wigdor taught her kids how to swim and play ball.
Wigdor’s son said he hoped people who knew him would remember how caring and dedicated he was as a doctor at his practice on Nesconset Highway, which he established in 1969.
“In this day and age when people go to see their doctor and are rushed in and out, I know that my father and his practice spent time with patients in caring for them and I believe his patients really respected that,” he said.
Longtime Port Jeff residents Anita and Arthur Spencer, who knew the Wigdors, traveled to Puerto Rico and Atlantic City among other destinations regularly together.
Anita Spencer called Wigdor a very sociable guy who had many friends and talked to many people during his days in Port Jeff.
“He was very friendly,” she said. Anita Spencer said the two couples avidly followed the Kentucky Derby and the other triple-crown horse races, though Wigdor was also a huge fan of the New York Knicks. “He had loads of friends. He was very concerned about what was going on in the village, being part of the village.”
Local authors and their readers enjoy conversations during an event at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library May 6. Photo from Emma S. Clark library
Local authors and booklovers had the chance to chat face to face.
On May 6, the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library hosted a reception and book signing where nearly 100 attendees had the chance to meet with local authors. The event kicked off with mingling in the Periodical Reading Room and an hour of music provided by Ward Melville High School students Emily Yang, Lawrence Lan, Dara Berman and Preeti Kota. It was followed bychatting and refreshments with the authors in the Vincent R. O’Leary Community Room.
In attendance were more than 20 authors includingGina Ardito, Roger Armbruster, Cynthia Blair/Cynthia Baxter, David Bouchier, Malcolm Bowman, Carmen Bugan,Susan Davis, Paul Jay Edelson, Yassin El-Ayouty,Annika Eriksson, Gus Franza/August Franza, John Edward Gill, Susan Pierce Grossman, Jaclyn Gutleber, David Hicks, June Capossela Kempf, Christine Murdock, Philip F. Palmedo, Priscilla Pratt, Anand M. Saxena, Christina Schlitt, Norena Soumakis, Rachel MarieStone, Milicent G. Tycko, E. J. Wagner, Kenneth Wishnia, Michelle Young and Marguerite Rochelle Zangrillo.
Library staff also received help with coordinating the event from two teen volunteers, Rebecca Fear and Julianna Kobarg.
Just look at those beautiful brown eyes! This handsome boy is Jesse, a 2-year-old lab mix who was rescued from a high kill shelter in Texas and is now waiting for a new home at Kent Animal Shelter. Jesse had a rough start in life and because of this has tested positive for heartworm. He is currently undergoing treatment and is on the road to a full recovery! He just can’t wait to live the good life with a family and home of his own. So hurry up and come down to meet him today! Jesse comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines.
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. For more information on Jesse and other adoptable pets at Kent, visit www.kentanimalshelter.com or call 631-727-5731.
STONY BROOK: Following the overwhelming response from its previous painting events, The Reboli Center for Art and History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook will host its fourth Painting Party on Wednesday, May 16 from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
The instructors for the evening, Eileen Sanger and Linda Davison Mathues of The Winey Painters, will lead participants in creating a new painting using Joseph Reboli’s “Hydrangea Cottage” as inspiration. Artists, past and present, lived very interesting lives, and The Winey Painters will combine art history with the painting.
With the instructors’ many years of teaching experience, everyone leaves happy and sometimes amazed at their own hidden talent. Registration fee is $45 per person and includes all supplies. No experience needed. To sign up, drop by the Reboli Center or call 631-751-7707.
A scene from ‘Life, the Theatre, and Other Unlikelihoods’. Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
By Heidi Sutton
When a beloved community theater is about to turn 50, it is time to celebrate in a big way. For the next three years, Theatre Three in Port Jefferson will present a series of special events building up to its 50th anniversary, beginning with Life in the Theatre: A Glimpse Behind the Curtain on Sunday, May 20, at 7 p.m.
John Fugelsang will be the host of the evening
The fundraiser, which will be hosted by actor, comedian, broadcaster and Theatre Three alum John Fugelsang, will include an original comedy by Executive Artistic Director Jeffrey Sanzel followed by a special guest appearance by musician, actor, writer and radio host Seth Rudetsky.
Founded in 1969 by Jerry Friedman and John and Linda Herr, the troupe started out performing at the Smith Haven Ministries at the Smith Haven Mall. “They all lived in the Three Village area, hence the name, ‘Theatre Three,'” said board member and former artistic director Bradlee Bing, who joined the group shortly after.
Over the years, Theatre Three occupied several different spaces including in the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street in the village before purchasing the current building at 412 Main St. in 1979 after the United Artist Theater closed. In the beginning, there were “only adult-themed musicals, plays and cabaret-style revues,” Bing said. The theater has since expanded to offer children’s theater, educational tours, concerts and acting lessons.
“It is inconceivable that 48 years have passed so quickly,” said Bing who first approached Sanzel about launching a three-year celebration.
Seth Rudetsky will be the headliner in the second act. Photo courtesy of Theatre Three
The event on May 20 will open with the world premiere of “Life, the Theatre, and Other Unlikelihoods,” a one-act musicalfeaturing original songs by Brian Crawley (Tony nominee for “Violet”), Tim Peierls, Douglas J. Quattrock and Sanzel. Starring Dylan Robert Poulos, the play will celebrate the joys and challenges of becoming an actor, from taking acting lessons as a child to landing that big role, or not.
Directed and narrated by Sanzel, the 17-member cast, playing dozens of roles, will also include Melanie Acampora, Marci Bing, Meg Bush, TracyLynn Conner, Jessica Contino, Ginger Dalton, Sari Feldman, Andrew Gasparini, Eric J. Hughes, Linda May, Phyllis March, Steve McCoy, Cameron Turner, Steven Uihlein and Stephen Wangner.
For Sanzel the experience of creating this one-act musical has morphed into “becoming a celebration of what we do … and is one of the greatest and most joyous writing experiences I’ve ever had.”
He continued, “Yes, the world of theater is fun and interesting but it is a huge amount of work and an enormous commitment. The flipside is the reward which is extraordinary. This play traces how we all come together as family in this amount of time and then we say goodbye and the poignancy of that.”
For Bing, this event is just the beginning. “We have identified it as year one, getting ready, year two, getting set and year three, go. We are developing activities that will prepare us for our final year celebration that will be a three-day event featuring a cocktail reception free of charge open to everyone that has ever been associated with the theater: actor, musician, technician, subscriber, ushers, family and friends on June 5, a semiformal sit down recognition, celebrity dinner on June 6 and a show at the theater highlighting 50 years of theater performances on June 7.”
For Sanzel, “It really is a celebration of theater, the universality, but it is also a celebration of Theatre Three. This event is the perfect launch toward our 50th anniversary.”
Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson will present “Life in the Theatre” on May 20 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 presale, $75 at the door. Proceeds will go toward programming at the theater. To order, please call 631-928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.
Mary Mayrick of Kings Park snapped this action shot of an osprey returning to its nest at Nissequogue River State Park on April 17. She writes, ‘Theosprey nest is over the area that changes from river to Long Island Sound water with the tide. It is an amazing place to view many of their habits from a safe distance without disturbing them.’
Rob Gitto of The Gitto Group, representative from the Long Island Rail Road Ryan Attard, grant writer Nicole Christian, Tony Gitto of The Gitto Group, Leg. Kara Hahn, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, village Mayor Margot Garant, village Trustee Larry LaPointe, Trustee Bruce Miller, and Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright during a groundbreaking for an upper Port Jefferson revitalization project May 9. Photo by Kyle Barr
After years of planning upper Port’s redevelopment to deal with blighted buildings, traffic and a lack of parking space, Port Jefferson Village officials are finally ready to say, “Don’t believe me, just watch.”
As part of the village’s revitalization efforts — a project dubbed “Uptown Funk” — village, Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town officials held a groundbreaking ceremony May 9 for a new parking lot in the space at the corner of Texaco Avenue and Linden Place. The lot should allow for another 74 parking spaces, largely for Long Island Rail Road commuters using the Port Jefferson train station.
“The village is thrilled to partner with the county, Empire State Development and the Long Island Rail Road on improvements in upper Port to enhance pedestrian connectivity and safety, revitalize blighted commercial properties, and promote safe living and economic growth,” Mayor Margot Garant said.
The revitalization of upper Port is part of the Connect LI project of Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D). The plan behind the initiative is to use both existing and new public transportation options to connect people to commercial centers and main streets as in Port Jefferson.
“This is a model of what we need to be doing around the region,” Bellone said. “My administration is committed to providing funding to assist our towns and villages with these revitalization projects. The project we broke ground on today is a major step in continuing our efforts to make Suffolk County a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
Phase one of the project will cost $850,000 to be funded by grants from the county’s Jumpstart program and other financial contributions. Along with the parking lot the first phase of the project will improve sidewalks that lead to the train station from The Hills at Port Jefferson apartment complex.
Phase two of the project will include a renovation of the north, east and south LIRR parking lots with new pavement, lighting and plaza entryway.
Phase three will create “Station Street,” a new one-way road that will provide access to the new renovated parking lots. Garant said the road should also reduce congestion on Main Street and allow for smoother access into the train station parking lots.
Part of the hope for the project is that students coming from Stony Brook University and other commuters will help create interest in the area, which in turn should incentivize businesses to invest in upper Port and remedy the blighted property seen on Main Street, according to Garant.
“We want feet on the street,” Garant said.
Last year Nicole Christian, a consultant at law firm HB Solutions and grant writer for the village, helped apply for several grants for the Uptown Funk project. Last year Port Jefferson Village was awarded $250,000 in Jumpstart money to start plans on the project and the village also applied for a grant from the Empire State Development Corporation, a state entity, for $500,000.
“Empire State Development is excited to support this roadway realignment that will foster this transit-oriented development and revitalize this community to create a true linkage from upper Port Jefferson to the waterfront,” Howard Zemsky, ESD president, said in an email.
Part of the purpose of the new parking lot is also to help facilitate foot traffic from The Hills at Port Jefferson to the train station across the street. “All of the apartments in two separate buildings, which were completed in 2016, have already been rented out and there is already a long wait list to get in,” said Tony Gitto of The Gitto Group, the real estate development company behind development of the apartment complex, during the event.
The Town of Brookhaven and Port Jefferson Village worked with Gitto and his company to create the two-building complex. To incentivize the creation of the apartment complex, Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency, an arm of municipalities dedicated to funding projects to stimulate job creation and economic growth, gave Gitto and his company sales tax exemptions on construction items, a mortgage tax exemption and a 10-year property tax abatement.
Gitto said that they provided money toward the funding of the new parking lot.
“They hired the contractors and we made a financial contribution,” Gitto said.
COLD SPRING HARBOR: The Whaling Museum has been a Cold Spring Harbor fixture since opening its doors in 1942. What many people don’t know is that the museum offices are housed in the historic home located next door to the museum — the Captain James Wright House built in 1894. On Friday, May 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., a dedication ceremony will take place honoring the installation of a new Pomeroy Historic Marker celebrating the Wright House.
Captain James Wright served in the Navy during the Civil War and went on to become a successful Coastwise Captain on many ships, including the Excelsior that sailed out of Cold Spring Harbor. The exterior architectural detail of his home has remained intact, from the stained glass windows down to the captain’s wheel adorning the porch gable.
The William G. Pomeroy Foundation awarded the marker to this museum, to highlight the Captains Row residence of a noteworthy individual who was part of Cold Spring Harbor’s rich maritime history. The Whaling Museum purchased the home in 1956.
“It has been a pleasure working with The Whaling Museum to commemorate the historical significance of the Wright House and Captain James Wright through our Historic Roadside Marker Program,” said Paula Miller, executive director of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. “We hope that bringing a marker to this site on Captains Row will give the public another opportunity to discover local history in Cold Spring Harbor.”
The dedication ceremony is open to the public and will take place on the museum grounds with several local dignitaries as well as a representative from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. The museum will be open for a wine and cheese reception, followed by a historic walking tour through Cold Spring Harbor village. Donations will be accepted to support the museum’s maritime history-based education programs.
The Whaling Museum & Education Center is located at 301 Main St. in Cold Spring Harbor and specializes in the culture and history of our maritime heritage as illustrated by the Cold Spring Harbor whaling industry of the 1850s. Hours are Tuesday to Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and weekends from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-367-3418 or visit www.cshwhalingmuseum.org.
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