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D. None of the Above: From Suffolk, UK, to Suffolk, NY, a family reflects on the late queen

by Daniel Dunaief - September 14, 2022

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queen-g3f20b7e4b_1920 — Queen Elizabeth II. Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

During the Platinum Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the monarch’s 70 years on the throne, Clary Evans, a radiation oncologist who works at Northwell Health, her husband Tobias Janowitz, a scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and their families got together with another English family to mark the occasion.

They made a cake and had tea, “aware that this was probably the last time” they would celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s lengthy legacy, Evans recalled in an email.

Residents of Suffolk, England, Evans’s parents Philip and Gillian shared memories and thoughts on Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week at the age of 96.

Before Elizabeth’s coronation at the age of 27, Philip Evans, who was a teenager, traveled with his brother Anthony to Trafalgar Square, where they camped out near the fountain.

After a night filled with an early June rain in 1953, Evans and his brother awaited the moment to see the queen, whose coronation occurred 16 months after she became queen.

Gillian and Philip Evans with their Patterdale terrier puppy in Mettingham, Suffolk, UK in August of this year. Photo from Clary Evans

The next morning, as crowds continued to grow, the police pushed the newer arrivals in front of the group, which meant Phillip was in the third tier of onlookers.

Through the crowd, he caught a glimpse of the young queen, offering a stiff wave to her subjects.

“It was a marvelous thing to do,” Evans said by phone from his home. The travel and waiting in the rain meant it “wasn’t easy.”

Gillian Evans, meanwhile, traveled with her family to visit her aunt, who, at the time, was the only one in her family who owned a television.

“It was lovely to see what a beautiful spectacle it was,” Gillian Evans said.

The queen executed her duties admirably under an intense spotlight that never dimmed during her over 70 years of service, she added.

“What a remarkable lady she had been,” Gillian Evans added. “She said she would give herself to the nation for as long as she lived, and she did. Right up to the very, very last, which is wonderful.”

While Gillian Evans thought such conditions were akin to being in prison, with all the limitations and the constant responsibilities, she believed the queen “loved it. It showed in her face.” Being a part of a “love match” with her husband Prince Philip “must have helped enormously.”

The Evans matriarch, 83, who is a retired diagnostic radiographer, is amazed at the effect the queen’s death is having on residents.

Philip Evans, who said the queen did “jolly well,” recognized that the queen made mistakes, one of which arose during her muted reaction to the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in 1997.

“She had a really bad time when Princess Diana was killed,” said Philip Evans, who retired in 2000 as a general surgeon. “She was just pulled down by the power of the press. In legalese, ‘she was badly advised.’”

During a recent visit to the ophthalmologist, Evans chatted with three people about the queen and her son Charles, who has now become King Charles III.

People were saying “the queen had done a good job” and that they believed her son was “well suited” for his new role.

Philip Evans has noticed that the church bells ringing in the aftermath of her death don’t have their typical sound.

The sound alternates between loud and muted. The churches are using a so-called half-muffled peal, which creates a somber echo. The bells rang the same way last year after Prince Philip’s death.

“It’s very alarming and tells you that something is odd,” Evans said.

As the country prepares for the funeral of a queen born eight years after the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918 and who died two years after COVID-19, Clary Evans recognized that Queen Elizabeth II was a “link to those values of duty and service that were strong in those war and post-war years.”

Brookhaven Redistricting Committee fails to adopt a map, sends process to town council

by Raymond Janis - September 14, 2022

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Town Seal - Orange - Carousel — The Town of Brookhaven seal. Photo from the town website

Following a contentious virtual meeting on Monday, Sept. 12, the Brookhaven Redistricting Committee failed to reach a compromise on a proposed map, sending the redistricting process to the Brookhaven Town Council.

The committee voted on three maps during the meeting, none of which received the six votes necessary to adopt an official proposal. There was significant controversy leading up to this meeting. Despite this, all eight members and the committee’s mapmaker, David Schaefer, were present.

However, members calling attendance seemed to be the only unanimous outcome of the night, as the three Democratic appointees clashed with their Republican and Conservative Party counterparts throughout the evening.

The meeting got out to a rocky start after an unsuccessful motion to adopt an agenda. Schaefer then presented three maps that the committee requested during the previous session.

Schaefer first presented a “map of least change.” This map addressed only Council Districts 2 and 6, the two districts whose populations fall outside the 5% deviation allowable under the Town Code. After a vote, this map failed 3-5, with Democratic appointees Rabia Aziz, George Hoffman and Gail Lynch-Bailey voting “yes” and all others voting “no.”

Schaefer also presented a map that loosely follows the proposal of Coram resident Logan Mazer. On the whole, the Mazer map was viewed favorably during the public hearings. However, this proposal was ultimately shot down by another 3-5 vote, with the same committee members voting for and against it.

Schaefer’s final presentation was a map that followed the boundaries of Proposal 2, one of the two original draft proposals which met fierce opposition during the public hearings. With some adjustments to the boundaries of CD1 and CD2, this new map kept much of Proposal 2 intact.

In the face of this public opposition, the map was the highest vote-getter, with a 5-3 vote count — one vote shy of formal adoption by the committee. Ali Nazir, Edward McCarthy, Delilah Bustamante, Krystina Sconzo and Chad Lennon voted “yes,” with the entire Democratic caucus voting it down.

In a phone interview, Lynch-Bailey confirmed that the redistricting committee officially disbanded the following day around noon after Nazir and Aziz, the co-chairs, could not reach a compromise. Failing to adopt a proposal, the committee sends the process to the Town Council.

During a Town Board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) discussed some of the criteria he will be looking for in the new map. He said he hopes to achieve an equal population distribution across council districts, keep minority communities together within district boundaries and reduce the number of split communities. The Town Board must adopt new council district outlines by Dec. 15.

The supervisor expects a new map to be available on the town website by next week. A public hearing on the matter will be held at Town Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 5 p.m.

Visit our website to follow features on this important issue:

Between You and Me: Ode to a good handyman

by Leah Dunaief - September 14, 2022

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handyman-g535cf623f_1920 — Handyman. Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

If you grew up in an urban apartment, as I did, you would marvel, as I do, at living now in a house. Some of my earliest memories involve neighbors in the building.

For example, I loved to play jacks, a game on a hardwood floor with a bouncy rubber ball and 10 small metal pieces (called jacks), each to be lifted after the ball bounces but before it drops. When played, it surely made tapping noises on the ceiling of the apartment below, but that was nothing compared to the banging with what was probably a broomstick that the downstairs neighbor used to retaliate. The jacks trembled with each blow, and I certainly trembled at the attack. I remember bursting into tears and running to find my mother.

“You can’t play that game indoors,” my mother explained. “It bothers the neighbors.”

Another memory involves my husband and me, shortly after we were married and had moved into our first apartment. Canadian Royal Mounted Police aerobic exercises were popular then, we had bought the book and were in the first few lunges after work one evening when there was a loud knocking at our door. When my husband opened it, an older couple shouted at us that we were bringing down the ceiling on their heads, and what were we doing up there, anyway?

I’m skipping over the years of squeaky violin music being practiced in the apartment to the left of ours, the midnight screaming by the couple two apartments further down the hall, the acrid smell of cooking from the apartment to the right of us each night, and so many other instances giving proof that we were not alone in our building.

Of course, we made noises, too, and otherwise let our presence be known. That was apartment living and somehow, we all survived it.

The first time I lived in a house was when my husband was in the Air Force, and we were in base housing. To me, it was miraculously quiet, even though airplanes flew in regular intervals over our heads. “Someday we will have a house of our own, yes?” I asked my husband and kissed him when he agreed.

So then we moved to the North Shore of Long Island and had our own house. That was when I discovered that a house was a living thing. It needed tending regularly. The toilet wouldn’t flush, the kitchen faucet dripped, the light fixture sizzled out, the venetian blind got stuck in the open position, the dishwasher wouldn’t dispense soap, the cabinet door was askew, there were ants in the basement and the front door knob threatened to fall off.

But unlike in the service, there was no one to call who would cheerfully arrive, fix the problem, then wish us a good day and leave. Oh, we could summon repair people to come, but when they left, we were less than cheerful. They had each gone off with a large chunk of our disposable income. In fact, we were lucky if we didn’t have more than one problem per month. Usually, the breakdowns seemed to caucus with each other and happen all at once.

We still love our house. You might ask, why? The answer is simple. We have found a handyman. Just as every first baby should come with an instruction manual, every house should be accompanied by a handyman. This person is a quiet, unsung hero. He, and it’s almost always a he, arrives with little fanfare shortly after he is called, carries two screwdrivers, a regular and a Phillips head, a hammer, a wrench, maybe some tape and seemingly little else. He squats down and patiently analyses each problem, pulls out the uncomplicated tool and sets everything right.

Oh, and did I mention that he doesn’t ask a month’s mortgage?

Now this person is not easy to find. In fact, there must be several unsuccessful trials before Mr. Right comes along. Ask your neighbors, your friends, your cousin, the hardware store, anyone who might help with a referral, but they may not want to share. Good luck!

Setauket Fire Department remembers those lost on 9/11

by TBR Staff - September 14, 2022

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The Setauket Fire Department invited the community to its annual 9/11 ceremony at its memorial park on Nicolls Road in Setauket Sunday evening.

Volunteers from the Setauket and Stony Brook fire departments, below, raised a huge American flag in front of the Nicolls Road firehouse adjacent to the memorial.

Setauket Chief Richard Leute, right center, opened the ceremony that included speakers state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), left center, and Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook).

During the ceremony, Stony Brook and Setauket firefighters along with community members lined up around the memorial pond that contains a piece of steel from the World Trade Center and an artist’s impression of the flag that day. Later, attendees participated in a candle lighting ceremony.

Three Village area becomes Culper country for the day

by Rita J. Egan - September 14, 2022

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The Three Village area and downtown Port Jefferson were filled with local history buffs Saturday, Sept. 10.

Culper Spy Day, presented by the Three Village Historical Society and Tri-Spy Tours in collaboration with more than 30 local historical and cultural organizations, returned in full force for its eighth annual event. Due to COVID-19, organizers hosted a downsized version last year and a virtual presentation in 2020.

The spy day celebrates Gen. George Washington’s spies who operated in Three Village and the surrounding area during the Revolutionary War.

The majority of activities, such as reenactments, readings, docent- and self-guided tours and more, took place on the grounds of the Three Village Historical Society headquarters. Other sites included Setauket Neighborhood House, Patriots Rock, Caroline Church and cemetery, Setauket Presbyterian Church and cemetery, Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, Setauket Elementary School auditorium, Sherwood-Jayne House, The Long Island Museum and Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum in Port Jefferson.

Mari Irizarry, TVHS director, said she estimated around 1,300 people visited the historical society grounds on Sept. 10.

Margo Arceri, of Tri-Spy Tours, said Irizarry was a huge help spearheading the planning of many of the activities. Arceri said she was grateful for all the volunteers, sponsor Heritage Spy Ring Golf Club and participating organizations, who were not just locally based but from all over Long Island, who made it a success.

“We’re all telling our part of the Revolutionary story,” she said.

Arceri added she was impressed by the people from all different age groups she met at the event and showed interest in the Culper spies.

“This is not just one age group that enjoys and is attracted to this story,” she said. “It’s really for all ages.”

TVHS historian Beverly Tyler said he also noticed the age range of attendees.

“They were absorbing everything, asking questions and even proudly telling us their connections with ancestors in the Revolutionary War or things they have from the colonial period,” he said.

Tyler said he also saw children fascinated by demonstrations that included writing and mailing a letter in colonial times and hearing stories about youngsters during the era as well as recent local history.

In Port Jeff village, local historians greeted visitors with a tour of the Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum, a structure that dates back to the 18th century.

The museum has been relocated twice before finding its way to its current resting place at the intersection of West Broadway and Barnum Avenue. During the Revolution, it was the former home of Phillips Roe, a known member in the Culper Spy Ring.

Mark Sternberg, the spy ring historian at Drowned Meadow Cottage, said he was elated by the day’s success and the public’s degree of interest.

“It has been awesome to have so much new information to share with people, specifically about [Phillips, Nathaniel and John] Roe and their involvement in the Culper Spy Ring,” he said. “A lot of Port Jeff residents don’t know that Drowned Meadow had such an important role during the Revolution, so the response has been great — and we have had so many people.”

Irizarry said she enjoyed all the organizations taking part in the day to tell their Revolutionary War stories. She added organizations such as Four Harbors Audubon Society discussed making ink from natural products, and Sweetbriar Nature Center representatives talked about birds of prey that existed during the 18th century.

“It wasn’t just talking about the spies and the war, but it was really just talking about life during the 18th century, which is the bigger picture also, which was nice to see,” Irizarry said.

Additional reporting by Raymond Janis.

Goodbye Queen Elizabeth II, arise King Charles III

by TBR Staff - September 12, 2022

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Middy photo — Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the South of England Show in Ardingly in 1984 which our writer attended. Photo courtesy Mid Sussex Times/SussexWorld.co.uk

By John Broven

It was like a “JFK” or “9/11” remember-where-you-were moment when the news broke Thursday, just after 1:30 p.m. EST: “Queen Elizabeth II has died.” For this Brit expat, it was a big shock even though she was 96 years old. Only two days before, she had held the “kissing the hands” ceremony with new prime minister, Liz Truss (C).

It became clear the queen’s loss was being felt far beyond the United Kingdom as tributes poured in from every corner of the globe, signaling the enormous impact of a 70-year reign during which she performed her often centuries-old duties with wisdom, dignity, gentle good humor and an essential mystique.

The new King Charles III, her son aged 73, caught the moment when he said in a statement, “I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”

I am a member of the knighted Mick Jagger-Elton John-Paul McCartney generation (where did I go wrong?). It was Jagger who summarized our thoughts when he tweeted, “For my whole life Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, has always been there.” And now she isn’t. The second Elizabethan era is over.

The queen’s death Sept. 8 in Balmoral, Scotland, has been covered extensively by the media. Briefly, she was born in Mayfair, London, on April 21, 1926; married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh — her pillar of strength — on Nov. 20, 1947; became queen of the U.K. and other Commonwealth realms on Feb. 6, 1952, also head of the Church of England; was a working mother with four children including Charles; and owned a string of corgi dogs and racehorses through the years.

Such basic facts obscure the sweeping social and economic changes she saw in her reign, without revolution or revolt, from postwar austerity and the Swingin’ ’60s through to post-modern Britain, even as the sun set on the old British Empire. Soon the currency notes, coins and postage stamps bearing her likeness will be phased out and replaced.

Personal reflections? My first big memory was in relation to the death of Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, in 1952 while she was on a trip to Kenya, East Africa. I was in Mrs. Vidler’s class at Polegate Primary School, East Sussex, and you could hear the proverbial pin drop when we were told “the king is dead.” A dark February Wednesday morning became even darker. In our childhood grief, we had no idea nor cared that the queen’s first prime minister was Winston Churchill. She was only 25 when ascending the throne.

The coronation did not take place until June 2, 1953, but what a glorious affair it was with celebrations in every city, town and village. Some 20 million viewers were able to watch the glittering, expensive ceremony from Westminster Abbey live on television, with many households — including ours — buying their first TVs, in black and white.

As Jagger indicated, the queen was a constant, whether for the annual Christmas televised message that highlighted her strong Christian faith, the State Opening of Parliament, Trooping the Colour, the Royal Ascot and Epsom Derby horserace meetings, or various other occasions.

I saw her in person twice, both during my management spells at Midland Bank, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, in the 1970s and ‘80s. The first occasion was when she visited the neighboring headquarters of the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind. Imagine my surprise when I was walking to my car after work and, with nobody else around, she passed by me in the royal vehicle with no motorcade or security guards in sight. I swear she gave a little regal wave. The next time was when she presented prizes at the South of England Show in Ardingly, where the bank’s meet-and-greet pavilion gave us a ringside view. There was a majestic aura that seeped from her as she beguiled everybody at the agricultural showground — as she did elsewhere in a long lifetime of public service.

King Charles III

What of King Charles III, who represents continuity and has made a promising start to his reign. An often unfairly misunderstood man, he has been ahead of his time on environmental matters, wildlife preservation and climate change. His views on architecture were more controversial if personal. On a different level, his image was severely dented by the disastrous marriage to Diana, with whom he had William — now heir to the throne as Prince of Wales — and current-U.S. resident Harry. Charles married longtime flame Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005 and she is now queen consort. Time has gradually healed the British public’s disdain toward them both.

It is not widely appreciated that Charles founded the Prince’s Trust. For a while I was a trust business counselor in Ashford, Kent, and can attest to the value of the scheme for young entrepreneurs. Another factoid is that he has been patron of The Goon Show Preservation Society. The website noted, in the spirit of the groundbreaking 1950s comedy show, that “we would like to thank Prince Charles for agreeing to be our patron and look forward to the coming years with trembling socks.”

Britain now has a novice king and a novice prime minister, both unelected by the people at large. There are difficult days ahead for a country badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the self-induced Brexit debacle, inflation currently running at 10% with soaring energy costs due to the Russia-Ukraine war, rumblings on the Scottish independence front, possible Irish trade confrontation, threatened departures from the Commonwealth and, indeed, concern for the future direction of the monarchy itself.

Still, as President Joe Biden (D) and First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement, “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era.”

Thank you Queen Elizabeth II — and God save the king. The state funeral, combining solemnity with pageantry, will be held Monday, Sept. 19, at Westminster Abbey, London, at 11 a.m. (6 a.m. EST).

East Setauket resident John Broven is subeditor and proofreader in the TBR editorial department and has written three award-winning music history books. He recently edited and contributed to “New York City Blues” by Larry Simon. His three Brexit articles can be found online at tbrnewsmedia.com. With thanks to Mark Dunford, editor of National World, and the website www.sussexexpress.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/nostalgia-3691487.

Ward Melville Patriots land Sharks

by Bill Landon - September 12, 2022

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When the Patriots of Ward Melville came knocking on Eastport South Manor’s door the Sharks would take the match to five sets in league volleyball action Sept 8.

Ward Melville senior Jaron Popp, a powerhouse at the net, had 37 kills in the contest leading his team to the 3-2 victory — 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 24-26 and 15-11 in the fifth and deciding set.

Teammate Carlo Fontanini killed 11 along with four blocks, and Keelan Sohl had 38 assists.

The win lifts the Patriots to 3-0 and hands Eastport South Manor their first loss, dropping the Sharks to 2-1

WMHO scarecrow competition seeks entries

by Press Release - September 12, 2022

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DSC_0515-scaled — The Groomery won first place in the professional category in last year's scarecrow competition. Photo by Heidi Sutton

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization is currently accepting submissions for its annual Scarecrow Competition. This will be the 32nd year the spooky and silly six-foot creations will adorn the pathways of picturesque Stony Brook Village Center for visitors to enjoy and vote for their favorite.

You can pick up a registration form at any of the shops in Stony Brook Village, or you can download it digitally from the events section of the Stony Brook Village Center website. To enter this competition, please return the completed registration form to The Ward Melville Heritage Organization, P.O. Box 572, Stony Brook, NY 11790, with the entry fee of $30 by Sept. 23.

Vote for your favorite scarecrows by picking up a ballot at any of the shops and restaurants at the Stony Brook Village Center from Oct. 1 and 26. Deadline for voting is Oct. 26. Winners will be notified on Oct. 28 by 5 p.m. and will be announced during the Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Halloween Festival on Oct. 31.

For more information on the Scarecrow Competition, please call the WMHO at 631-751-2244.

SBU News: Research of a wild primate shows maternal effects key to gut microbial development

by Press Release - September 12, 2022

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0-2 — A baby gelada foraging in Simien Mountains National Park in Ethiopia. Their early-life gut microbiome, from infancy through first years of life, are shown to be influenced by bacteria likely passed down from mom. Photo by Sharmi Sen

The bacteria that reside in the human gut (“the gut microbiome”) are known to play beneficial and harmful roles in human health. Because these bacteria are transmitted through milk, mothers can directly impact the composition of bacteria that their offspring harbor, potentially giving moms another pathway to influence their infant’s future development and health. A study of wild geladas (a non-human primate that lives in Ethiopia) provides the first evidence of clear and significant maternal effects on the gut microbiome both before and after weaning in a wild mammal. This finding, published in Current Biology, suggests the impact of mothers on the offspring gut microbiome community extends far beyond when the infant has stopped nursing.

A research team co-led by Stony Brook University anthropologist Dr. Amy Lu, and biologists Dr. Alice Baniel and Dr. Noah Snyder-Mackler at Arizona State University, came to this conclusion by analyzing one of the largest datasets on gut microbiome development in a wild mammal.

“Early life gut microbial development is known to have a large impact on later life health in humans and other model organisms,” said Lu, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University. “Now we have solid evidence that mothers can influence this process, both before and weaning. Although we’re not 100% certain how mothers do this, one possible explanation is that they transfer specific bacteria to their offspring.”

The research team used high throughput DNA sequencing to identify and characterize the bacteria residing in the guts of young geladas, and identified 3,784 different genetic strains of bacteria belonging to 19 phyla and 76 families. However, this diversity was not equally distributed across the developmental spectrum: similar to what is seen in humans, younger infants had the least diverse microbial communities that gradually became more diverse as they got older. These changes reflected what the infant was eating, specifically when they switched from consuming milk to consuming more solid foods. These diet-focused bacteria actually help infants process foods – for instance, milk glycans, which cannot be digested without the help of bacteria.

However, it was the team’s findings of strong maternal effects on the infant gut microbiome both before and after weaning that was the most groundbreaking.

“Infants of first-time moms showed slower development of their gut microbiota, meaning that their guts were specialized toward milk digestion for longer compared to kids from other moms. This may put offspring of newer moms at a slight developmental disadvantage,” said Baniel. “In addition, even after infants were weaned, their microbiome community was more similar to mom’s than to other adult females in the population, suggesting that mom’s may be sharing microbes with their offspring.”

According to Snyder-Mackler, “these early life changes might have far-reaching consequences–impacting the health and survival of these offspring once they become adults.”

Future work from this research team will focus on examining how differences in the gut microbiome during infancy influence other aspects of development, such as growth, the maturation of the immune system, or the pace of reproductive maturation. Because they are continuing to study the same infants as they age, they expect to eventually be able to link the infant gut microbiome and the early-life maternal effects to health, reproduction, and survival in adulthood.

The research was funded by several grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Leakey Foundation, and from the University of Michigan, Stony Brook University, and Arizona State University.

The Stony Brook School marks 100th year

by TBR Staff - September 12, 2022

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By D. Bruce Lockerbie

On Sept. 13, The Stony Brook School marks the 100th anniversary of inaugural ceremonies that, in 1922, made the front pages of national newspapers. Here’s the backstory.

The Stony Brook School’s Frank E. Gaebelein, center, board and faculty members, and students in 1922. Below right, Frank E. Gaebelein in 1963 the year of his retirement after 41 years as headmaster. Photo from The Stony Brook School

Early in the 20th century, Presbyterian pastors decided to follow the example of Methodists, establishing summer conferences to instruct Sunday school teachers for the next year’s Bible lessons. The most prominent voice belonged to the Rev. John Fleming Carson, whose Brooklyn congregation was the second largest in the country. Carson had a summer home on Christian Avenue in Stony Brook — now the Stony Brook Community Church’s administration building — and so recommended locating the proposed Presbyterian enterprise here.

His colleagues agreed and, in 1907, acting as the Stony Brook Assembly, began buying property: What we know as the Three Village Inn, along with “riparian rights” to Sand Street Beach and a large tract of land opposite the railroad station. By 1909, the Assembly was ready for its first season, held in a tent where the North Shore Montessori School stands today, at 218 Christian Ave.

The next year a “tabernacle,” modeled after popular evangelist Billy Sunday’s contemporary venues, was constructed — then the largest meeting space on Long Island. Summer-long attendance soared into the thousands as world-renowned preachers and other public figures came to speak. Guests from across the continent swarmed to the site, building summer cottages and even impressively large homes in the surrounding area. By 1918, two hotels had been added on the grounds. The Assembly’s influx of “summer people” had replaced shipbuilding as Stony Brook’s economic cornerstone.

From its outset, however, the Assembly had also weighed founding a school to occupy its facilities year-round. World War I delayed that decision, but by 1920 the Assembly board was ready to act. Their priority was to appoint a founding headmaster to execute faithfully the Assembly’s “Platform of Principles,” a creed-like document still in effect for every member of the board, administration and faculty, affirming its theological beliefs.

Among other nominees, the board chose Frank E. Gaebelein, a 22-year-old Harvard University graduate student. At a glance, he seemed stunningly unqualified for the job. Brilliant but painfully shy and handicapped by stammering speech, he had never set foot on the campus of an independent boarding school, and had never taken a course in education or administration. His only apparent assets were as a classical pianist — taught by a pupil of German composer Johannes Brahms — and his early avocation as an Alpine mountaineer.

Nonetheless the Assembly founders saw in this young man a deep spirituality and evidences of promise to be fulfilled over the next 60 years as a pioneering Christian educator and internationally respected spokesman for such schools.

The Rev. John Fleming Carson (1911) founder of Stony Brook Assembly and The Stony Brook School

Gaebelein spent a year developing his philosophy of schooling, hiring a faculty and recruiting students from families willing to risk their sons’ education by a novice. Expecting 100 boys, he enrolled only 27, scattered in grades 4 through 12, for whom he had already hired nine teachers. They would all reside and study in Hopkins Hall, one of the summer hotels but without central heating.

On Sept. 13, 1922, the auditorium swelled with supportive constituents and the merely curious for the inaugural ceremonies. Francis L. Patton, president of both Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, described “The Fourth R,” meaning religion, but the founding headmaster gave a more interesting address, stating his vision for “a grand experiment” in straightforward language.

Gaebelein’s remarks were historic and unique because his message ran counter to what leaders of every other college-preparatory school of that era would proclaim. To be sure, many of them were church-related, some with ordained clergy as headmasters, most with religious-sounding mottoes and even daily chapel services. But none would have dared to declare — as did Gaebelein on that inaugural day — that The Stony Brook School would strive to be both an academically demanding college-preparatory school and a place where its motto “Character Before Career” is set in a context of biblical teaching and example.

Over its history, the Assembly ceased its conferences in 1958, the school added female students in 1971, Frank E. Gaebelein Hall was built in 1982 and the number of day students has increased substantially. This year, some 440 students come from across the U.S. and 20 other nations.

Regarding this notable year, Joshua Crane, today’s head of school, said, “Our centennial year has been a remarkable time of reflection and celebration for The Stony Brook School as we consider the wisdom of our founders, the hard work and selfless dedication of our faculty and staff, and the students who have been the beneficiaries of an outstanding, rigorous education steeped in the Christian faith.”

The school will celebrate Founders’ Day on Friday, Sept. 16, at The Waterview at Port Jefferson Country Club.

Bruce Lockerbie served on the administration and faculty of The Stony Brook School for 34 years. He is author of 40 books, including “The Way They Should Go” (Oxford University Press, 1972), a history of the school’s first 50 years, and editor of Frank E. Gaebelein’s posthumous collection of essays, “The Christian, the Arts, and Truth” (Multnomah Press, 1984).

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