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Times of Huntington-Northport

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Photo from Unsplash/David Close

It’s summer, that time of year when our residents can enjoy the full splendors of our incredible seashores. 

It’s an opportunity for us to soak up sunrays and cool off in the ocean. But when enjoying a summer’s day at the beach, we must be on guard for sharks, remembering to take the appropriate safety measures.

Scientists are seeing rising shark populations in the surrounding waters of Long Island. Healthier waters have allowed marine life to thrive. And sharks, at the peak of the aquatic food chain, play an essential role in stabilizing the ecosystem. Rising shark populations suggest our conservation efforts are going rewarded.

Consequently, interactions with these apex predators have become more commonplace. Already this summer, there have been five reported shark encounters in Suffolk County waters.

As the likelihood of making contact with a shark increases, we must begin to adapt our behaviors to meet the demands of the changing environment and keep ourselves safe.

While we cannot eliminate the threat of shark interactions altogether, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation outlines ways to reduce these risks.

NYSDEC advises against swimming in areas with seals, schools of fish, splashing fish or diving seabirds. Swimmers should avoid bathing at dusk, night or dawn, as these are peak feeding periods for sharks.

We should also refrain from swimming in murky waters, stay close to the shore and swim in groups. And we must always remember to swim in front of a lifeguard and listen closely to their instructions.

Although a classic, the 1975 film “Jaws” did a tremendous disservice to sharks’ reputations. These marine creatures play an important role in regulating marine life; they are not monsters and are unworthy of the ridicule cast upon them by popular culture.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains that most sharks are not a danger to humans as we “are not part of their natural diet.” Still, when we enter their waters, we must play by their rules. 

A little precaution can go a long way. By taking a few positive steps and proactive measures, we can all enjoy this summer — humans and sharks both.

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Photo from Pixels

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Picture a cup.

Better yet, picture 100 drinking vessels, all of different sizes, lined up next to each across a long table.

Now, on a cold day, when you’re not that thirsty but could use something to warm your hands, you might choose a mug that allows heat to bring comfort against a cold wind and frigid temperatures.

On a hot day, when you’re running, gardening or watching your child play yet another sporting event, you might choose an insulated cup that has plenty of ice cold water. That container also might have condensation on the outside, which could give your palms a respite from the pools of sweat clinging to them.

When you’re handing your two-year-old a cup filled with milk, soy milk, water or juice, the container likely has a lid and a drinking attachment.

These cups can all be different sizes and shapes, can serve various purposes and can hold different amounts of liquid.

Even before you touch one of them or take a sip, no matter how eager you are for the liquid inside, you can imagine the feel of the cup in your hand, and you can gauge just how much your mouth and body can expect. You’re likely to take small sips of a scalding cup of hot chocolate, while you might down eight ounces of iced cold water in a matter of seconds.

What would you do if you had a cup mismatch?

Let’s say you were incredibly thirsty after a long run on a mid-July day when you pushed yourself to go further or faster than you had in months. Instead of a tall glass filled with water or a water bottle, you take out a shot glass. The water might be just as cold, but the amount could leave you wanting more and disappointed, even before you lift that small glass to your lips.

At various points in life, the size of the glass (OK, now I’m speaking figuratively) from which we drink doesn’t align with our expectations or hopes.

We want a day, an interaction, or an outing that fills a large cup, and, yet, the lived experience falls short of our hopes.

As a barometer of our expectations, the cup, like the small shot glass filled with barely enough water to wet our parched lips, can feel like it’s too small, leaving us disappointed and thirsty.

As we go through life, we, our friends, and our family members experience times – after a storm, amid a physical or mental health crisis, after leaving a satisfying job, to name a few – when the size of the cup, as a measure of the expected dose of happiness, coherence, joy, or meaning, falls short.

Those tough times become disheartening. We might lose faith or feel slighted or cheated. We need more to fill our cup.

While we can seek to fill the largest cup around with successes, accomplishments, support, and affection, we can also rethink the container.

A small child pouring water into a Dixie cup, for example, might be incredibly successful if a few drops make it.

As adults, the juxtaposition of our daily expectations against our experiences can dictate our mood and reflect our evaluation of the quality of the day. When something happens that reduces the likelihood of our achieving or enjoying our lives, we can feel like we’re holding a frustratingly empty cup that we have little prospect of filling.

Instead of being disappointed, we might consider reaching for a different container. I’m not suggesting that we aim low or that we stop striving for personal achievement and growth.

A smaller cup, however, breaks the iconic model of the optimistic half-full cup or the pessimistic half-empty container. Instead, we can choose to fill a smaller cup.

Over time, we can increase the size of the cup, filling it each time until it runs over.

This process might restore our sense of accomplishment and help us appreciate what we have and not lament what’s missing.

As life changes, we can redefine what we need to feel fulfilled.

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Alexander Hamilton's statue in Central Park. Photo from Wikipedia

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

“What if,” is always a tempting game to play with history. This week in July, thanks to what we learned from the play “Hamilton,” makes us wonder. 

What if Alexander Hamilton had not been fatally wounded on July 11, 1804? He died of his stomach wound the next day, yesterday, all those years ago.

He is reputed to have tossed away his shot, but Aaron Burr didn’t.

What if the two men, bitterly at odds over The Jefferson-Burr election for President in 1800, had never had a duel? Even though Hamilton was a member of the Federalist Party along with Burr, still Hamilton campaigned for Jefferson, a member of the Republican-Democratic Party, as having the better character.

What if Burr and Hamilton’s father-in-law, Philip Schuyler, had not opposed each other in the election for New York State Senate? Subsequently, would Hamilton still have said such derogatory things about Burr’s character that prompted Burr to challenge him to a duel?

Hamilton’s oldest son, Philip, was killed in a duel not long before, reportedly defending his father’s honor. Instead, he brought unimaginable grief to his parents. Hamilton is said to have thrown away his shot in turn because of the anguish caused by that killing. What if that great loss hadn’t happened? Would Hamilton have accepted Burr’s challenge, then deliberately missed? After all, Hamilton had been a highly decorated Major General, proficient in battle. He surely knew how to use a gun.

What if Hamilton had lived? After all, he was only in his 40s at the time of his death. Hamilton had been of enormous influence, first as an aide-to Camp for George Washington, then in writing most of the Federalist Papers and helping to get the Constitution passed, again as the United States first Secretary of the Treasury and setting up the national banking system that still exists today during Washington’s administration. (Perhaps less known, to get the Southern members of the Congress to vote “aye,” he agreed to their demand to move the Capital from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, a far easier destination for them.)

Hamilton is regarded today as a brilliant visionary and one of the most outstanding men of his century, at least according to the French diplomat Talleyrand in 1794. His life and thoughts have spanned three centuries. What more might he have given us had he lived?

What if?

His wife, Elizabeth, known as “Eliza,” lived to age 97 and is saluted for her remarkable contributions to the young nation.

Initially left with young children, a mortgage and bills, she was to additionally suffer the loss of her father, who had at the time of his death lost his fortune. 

With the help of friends, she was able to hold on to her home but eventually was forced to move her family to lower Manhattan from her 35-acre estate in Harlem. Her children were well-educated and went on to impressive careers.

Eliza became co-founder and director of New York City’s first private orphanage in the area now just south of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. She remained in that role for 27 years, during which time she oversaw 700 children. She also was a founder of the Orphan Asylum Society. Throughout her life, she remained sensitive to the plight and the needs of orphaned children, reflecting the world her husband had grown up in.

Eliza also was dedicated to preserving her husband’s writings and legacy, including the purchase of his work by Congress. This is how we know so much today about his life and thoughts. His writings are in the Library of Congress.

We might play, “What if,” at any turn in history, some of which could send shivers down our spines. This week, though, it seemed clearly Alexander Hamilton’s turn. He did much to create the world we live in today.

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Charles F. Wurster. Photo by Malcolm J. Bowman
Prepared by Malcolm J. Bowman

Charles F. Wurster, professor emeritus of environmental science, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, last surviving founding trustee of the Environmental Defense Fund, died on July 6 at the age of 92.

Wurster came to prominence on the issue of the toxic effects of the persistent pesticide DDT on nontarget organisms. During the 1950s and 60s, DDT was used in the mosquito-infested swamps of Vietnam during the war, sprayed on farmer’s crops and impregnated in household fly traps.

A world-class birder, Wurster was concerned with the effects of DDT on birds, ranging from the colorful species of the tropics to the penguins of Antarctica. While a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College in the early 1960s, he gathered robins that had fallen from Dutch elm trees on the campus. In his biochemistry lab, he found their bodies riddled with DDT. The trees had been sprayed to kill the Dutch elm disease.

Of particular concern to Wurster was the concentration of DDT found in birds of prey, including pelicans and raptors, such as the osprey and bald eagle. DDT caused a thinning of eggshells, which led to a catastrophic decline in the osprey reproductive success rate to 2%. The bald eagle was heading toward extinction in the lower 48 states.

In the fall of 1965, Wurster began his academic career as an assistant professor of biological sciences at the newly opened Stony Brook University Marine Sciences Research Center. He gathered 11 colleagues from the university and Brookhaven National Laboratory. In October 1967, for the sum of $37, the group incorporated as a nongovernmental organization in New York State and called it EDF — the Environmental Defense Fund. 

Departing from other environmental organization’s approaches, the EDF used the law to ensure environmental justice. The EDF sought the court’s help in halting the application of toxic and lethal chemicals, with a focus on DDT.

After the EDF filed a petition in New York State Supreme Court in Riverhead to halt the spraying of DDT on South Shore wetlands by the Suffolk County Mosquito Commission, a judge in Suffolk County issued a temporary restraining order. Although EDF was later thrown out of court for lack of legal standing, the injunction held.

Under Wurster’s leadership, EDF set up its first headquarters in the attic of the Stony Brook Post Office. This was followed by moving to a 100-year-old farmhouse and barn on Old Town Road in Setauket.

Lacking funding, EDF nonetheless made a bold public step, taking out a half-page ad in The New York Times on March 29, 1970, picturing a lactating Stony Brook mother nursing her baby. Highlighting the concentration of DDT in humans, the text read “that if the mother’s milk was in any other container, it would be banned from crossing state lines!” Funds poured in.

In 1972, following six months of hearings, founding administrator William Ruckelshaus of the Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of DDT nationwide.  

EDF rapidly grew into a national organization. Its purview spread into new areas, including litigating against the U.S. Army’s Corps of Engineers dream of completing a cross-Florida sea level shipping canal (1969), removing lead from gasoline and paint (1970-1987) and eliminating polystyrene from fast-food packaging. 

Today EDF boasts 12 offices throughout the U.S. and in China, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Mexico and has three million members and an annual budget of about $300 million. It focuses on environmental justice, protecting oceans and fisheries, sustainable energy and climate change.

In 1995, at Charles Wurster’s retirement from Stony Brook University, Ruckelshaus traveled from Seattle at his own expense to address the campus celebration.

In 2009, Wurster was awarded an honorary degree from Stony Brook University for his seminal contributions to environmental science and advocacy.

Wurster’s enduring leadership and tenacity helped put SBU firmly on the world stage for environmental science, education and advocacy.

Wurster is survived by his two sons Steve and Erik, daughter Nina and his longtime partner Marie Gladwish.

 

Malcolm J. Bowman is a distinguished service professor emeritus of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. He joined the faculty in 1971 and closely followed the development of EDF for over 50 years, becoming a close associate and personal friend of Charles Wurster.

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The sand tiger shark, pictured above, is one of several shark species that inhabit the surrounding waters of Long Island. Photo by Christopher Mark from Wikimedia Commons

Last week’s Fourth of July celebrations brought fireworks, family gatherings, barbecues and interactions between people and sharks.

Independence Day has increased the number of brushes between these apex predators and humans over the last two years, particularly as people head to the beach in larger numbers around the holiday.

Christoper Paparo, Southampton Marine Science Center manager at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. File photo

Sharks go “wherever there’s salt water” and they often follow bunker fish, which can come closer to shore, said Christoper Paparo, Southampton Marine Science Center manager at Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. People encounter sharks around Independence Day because “there are more people around state parks on the Fourth of July weekend.”

Despite potential hysteria and concern about the dangers posed by sharks, most of the encounters around Long Island are “minor” and “not life threatening,” Paparo added.

The waters in the area are a nursery for many species of fish, including sharks. Young sea turtles, dolphins and whales also live along the more protected shoreline.

In recent weeks, five people have reported shark bites along the South Shore. In one incident, a shark bit a 15-year-old boy on the heel and toes. He was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Also last week, a 15-year-old girl was injured with puncture wounds from an unknown source at Robert State Moses Park.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, at podium, urged residents to take protective measures to minimize the risk of shark encounters. Photo from Bellone’s Flickr page

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) recently announced that the county would step up its surveillance efforts, adding two high-tech drones at the ocean beaches.

“Shark bites and shark incidents are something that we’re going to have to be addressing on a more regular basis,” Bellone said at a press conference at Smith Point County Beach announcing the new measures. “It’s simply going to be a part of the routine of what we do out here every day in terms of the monitoring that our ocean lifeguards do.”

Surveillance teams go out on wave runners and paddle boards, while lifeguards also use binoculars to watch over swimming areas.

The county will train lifeguards as drone operators.

“This is not a simple thing,” Bellone said. “This is something that requires skill and expertise.”

As county beaches await the arrival of these new drones, the beaches have area fire and rescue available to respond to any needs.

“Our goal here is first and foremost to keep residents safe,” Bellone added, “and to provide a sense of reassurance and comfort, knowing that when you come to the beaches, we have every tool at our disposal ready to assist.”

New surveillance drones, pictured above, will help the county government monitor shark activity along its beaches. Photo from Steve Bellone’s Flickr page

Protective measures

Bellone urged the public to take measures to minimize the risk of shark encounters.

The county executive advised people not to swim at dawn or dusk when sharks might be feeding. He also cautioned against swimming toward schools of fish, which might attract sharks who can’t differentiate between a fish and a person swimming.

“Always swim in a lifeguard-protected area,” he added. “Don’t swim when lifeguards are not on duty.”

People who paddle board, kayak or surf should go out in groups.

The sharks in the area are a reflection of a healthy ecosystem, Paparo indicated.

“You need everything below [a shark] to support it,” he said. “If there are no fish or the water is polluted, you won’t see sharks.”

Sharks rely on other senses besides eyesight to find their prey. A swimmer in murky waters can send the same type of electromagnetic signal a shark picks up from a school of fish on the surface of the water.

The sharks “hone in” on the similar sounds, Paparo added.

Paparo also suggested people should avoid swimming near seals, which are prey for great white sharks. That’s not often a problem around Long Island as seals are more prevalent in Massachusetts.

Taking measures like avoiding swimming in murky waters will “increase the odds of not encountering them,” Paparo said.

A range of sharks swim around the waters of Long Island and can include sand tigers, dusky and sandbar sharks.

“We do have mako, blue, thresher, southern, black tip, spinner, scalloped hammerhead and smooth hammerhead,” Paparo said.

Paparo added that the numbers of bites this year — five so far — are still infrequent, especially compared with injuries people sustain in car accidents or other activities.

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Cliff Eberhardt (above) and Lucy Kaplansky will headline this year's Huntington Folk Festival.
Cliff Eberhardt and Lucy Kaplansky (above) will headline this year’s Huntington Folk Festival. Photo by Beowulf Sheehan

The 17th annual Huntington Folk Festival is set for Saturday, July 22, at Heckscher Park, 2 Prime Avenue, in Huntington from 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a dinner break from 6 to 7:15 p.m. The free event is co-presented by the Huntington Arts Council, Folk Music Society of Huntington and AcousticMusicScene.com as part of the 58th Huntington Summer Arts Festival produced by the Town of Huntington. An evening concert featuring internationally touring singer-songwriters Lucy Kaplansky and Cliff Eberhardt will be preceded by a series of amplified song swaps and an open mic during the afternoon.

Hailed as “the songwriter laureate of modern city folk,” (The Boston Globe), Lucy Kaplansky is a NYC-based contemporary folk singer-songwriter with a luminous voice whose recordings have frequently topped the folk and Americana radio charts. Among the most respected and covered touring songwriters on the folk scene, Massachusetts-based Cliff Eberhardt, like Kaplansky, cut his musical teeth playing NYC clubs centered around Greenwich Village during the folk/songwriter renaissance of the 1980s. When not doing their own thing, Kaplansky and Eberhardt have been part of an On a Winter’s Night tour that also features John Gorka and Patty Larkin.

Prior to the evening concert on the park’s Chapin Rainbow Stage, Michael Kornfeld, president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington and editor & publisher of AcousticMusicScene.com (an online publication for the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities), conducts an on-stage conversational interview with the evening’s featured artists at 7:15 p.m.

Kornreld will also emcee a series of amplified song swaps from 1:30-4 p.m. near a canopy tent on the upper lawn area overlooking the stage and from 4-6 p.m. on-stage. These will be preceded by an hour-long open mic hosted by singer-songwriter Toby Tobias, who co-hosts the NorthShore Original Open Mic (NOOM) that is co-presented by FMSH and the Cinema Arts Centre in the Cinema’s Sky Room on three Wednesday nights each month, while FMSH’s monthly Hard Luck Café concert series takes place on the third Wednesday.

Artists slated to showcase their talents during the afternoon include Josie Bello, Suzanne Ernst, Roger Street Friedman, Rorie Kelly, Ray Lambiase, Bill Lauter, Mara Levine, The Levins, Annie Mark, Stuart Markus, Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale, Louise Mosrie, Mark Newman, James O’Malley, Nico Padden, Carolann Solebello, Hank Stone, Christine Sweeney, and Toby Tobias.

Festivalgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or they can walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants).

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. Additional support is provided by Presenting Sponsor Canon U.S.A., with partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning.

Huntington Folk Festival Schedule

12:30 — Open Mic (hosted by Toby Tobias)

 1:30  —  Huntington’s Own: Josie Bello, Suzanne Ernst, Ray Lambiase

 2:00  — LI Guys: James O’Malley,  Hank Stone, Bob Westcott

 2:30  — LI Gals: Rorie Kelly, Nico Padden, Christine Sweeney

 3:00  — Huntington’s Own II: Bill Lauter, Annie Mark, Mark Newman

 4:00  — A Pair of Duos: The Levins and Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale

 4:30  — Let’s Hear It for the Guys:  Roger Street Friedman and Toby Tobias

 5:00  — Classic Folk Covers: Mara Levine and Stuart Markus

 5:30  — Women of Note: Louise Mosrie  Coombe  and Carolann Solebello

 6:00  — Dinner Break

 7:15  — A Conversation with Cliff Eberhardt and Lucy Kaplansky

 8:00  — Evening Concert with Cliff Eberhardt and Lucy Kaplansky

For more information, visit www.fmsh.org.

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An assistance dog leads a man who is blind. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
By Emma Gutmann

For 77 years, the Guide Dog Foundation, at 371 Jericho Turnpike in Smithtown, has used small classes, individualized instruction and generosity to turn the $50,000 expense of breeding, raising, training and placing an assistance dog into a purely joyful human right for those who are blind or experience low vision or other disabilities. 

At no cost to the individual, the GDF provides a welcoming, reputable community and matches each student with the perfect canine companion. Volunteering is the gear that keeps the operation going. 

In a phone interview, Puppy Program Manager Lorin Bruzzese said that while every helping hand is valuable, puppy raisers are the heart of the operation. Raisers are responsible for housing, training and caring for a foundation puppy from eight weeks to 16 months old. While the pups may be hard to let go, Bruzzese considered puppy raising a gratifying and enriching opportunity.

“You know you’re involved in a beautiful dog’s life and their upbringing, but it’s not really letting go,” Bruzzese said. “It’s gaining so much when you’re able to see how they impact somebody really special.”

Variations of the puppy raiser role include breeder caretakers, who care for adult breeder dogs in between sessions, and litter hosts, who take in a litter of future guide puppies and their mother for six weeks.

For shorter-term commitments, one might become a puppy camper, taking pups for two to three weeks at a time when extra help is needed. Similarly, temporary home volunteers open their fenced-in, dog-safe homes to a puppy or adult dog for an agreed-upon timeframe.

There are also plenty of opportunities for those allergic to dogs, partial to cats or otherwise unable to host. Non-canine-related volunteering on the Smithtown campus consists of serving meals to students or clerical work.

Young volunteers looking for community service might arrange a toy drive or puppy shower with the help of accessible resources like GDF’s Amazon Wish List. They can also distribute flyers looking for puppy raisers around their neighborhoods to assist with outreach.

The volunteer services team continues to invent new and modify existing roles to meet the foundation’s needs. The Taxi Team has been expanded as the organization searches for volunteers willing to travel long distances to transport dogs, clients and volunteers along the East Coast. With the vehicle and travel expenses provided, the Taxi Team is only asked to donate their time.

For the community’s continued efforts, the GDF hosted an appreciation event on Saturday, June 10. 

“At Volunteer Recognition Day, we provide interaction with our staff, different events and ways to make keepsakes,” Bruzzese said. “We have the acknowledgment of each person’s role. They add ribbons to their name tags with all of the different ways that they’ve been involved in supporting our program. We also held a graduation ceremony for some of our guide dog clients.”

In an email, Allison Storck, director of marketing and public relations at GDF, said people of any age or skill set could find a volunteer role that suits them.

“The first step is to apply online on our website,” Storck said. “There is a web page with all the current opportunities listed, and by clicking on a button for the volunteer position, it will bring you to the appropriate application.”

She added, “Every volunteer attends an Introduction to Volunteering class and then the appropriate training class for the position.”

Even a simple donation through the foundation’s website will help improve the lives of puppies and their companions. The Allen E. & Patricia M. Murray Foundation will match all gifts up to $34,000 made on July 13 for Giving Bark Thursday.

To begin your journey, visit www.guidedog.org.

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Photo by Capturing Life as it happens from Pixabay

In recent years, much has been said of the state of division in the United States. But as the nation celebrates its 247th birthday, Americans should remember the many struggles they have overcome.

After the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln believed the Confederate South would never peaceably re-enter the Union. The country was engaged in the defining conflict of its history and the deadliest war its citizens had ever fought. 

Yet Lincoln helped the nation carry on, ensuring that Americans would reunite under one flag. In a speech to Congress on July 4, 1861, he asserted the cause of the Union as that of the American Revolution. The Civil War, Lincoln affirmed, would prove to the world the viability of self-rule.

“It is now for [Americans] to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election can also suppress a rebellion,” Lincoln said, “that ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided there can be no successful appeal back to bullets.”

And the nation endured.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson nervously watched as European powers marched toward World War I — the “powder keg” ignited after the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated. 

“Nobody outside of America believed when it was uttered that we could make good our independence,” Wilson told a beleaguered nation. “Now nobody anywhere would dare to doubt that we are independent and can maintain our independence.” 

After his re-election in 1916, Wilson declared war against Germany in April 1917 to make the “world safe for democracy.” As it had during the Civil War, the nation again endured.

In early July 1945, the United States was nearing the end of World War II. With Nazi Germany defeated, America was one month away from dropping the atomic bomb against the Japanese. On July 4 of that year, President Harry S. Truman tied the war effort to the cause of American freedom. 

“This year, the men and women of our armed forces, and many civilians as well, are celebrating the anniversary of American independence in other countries throughout the world,” he said. “Citizens of these other lands will understand what we celebrate and why, for freedom is dear to the hearts of all men everywhere.”

The war would end the following month, and the nation endured once more.

President John F. Kennedy presided over the federal government at a volatile moment. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961 and only months away from the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Kennedy reminded his fellow citizens of the cause of independence on July 4, 1962.

“For that Declaration unleashed not merely a revolution against the British, but a revolution in human affairs,” Kennedy noted. “Its authors were highly conscious of its worldwide implications.”

Despite the tumult of the 1960s, the nation still endured.

Near the end of the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan was determined to ensure American victory over the Soviet Union in this global conflict. With tensions mounting between these two superpowers, Reagan reminded citizens of the resolve of America’s founders.

“Their courage created a nation built on a universal claim to human dignity — on the proposition that every man, woman and child had a right to a future of freedom,” Reagan said in his July 4, 1986 speech, likening the cause of independence to the triumph over communism.

The U.S. won the Cold War, and the nation endured.

Today, as Americans enjoy outdoor barbecues and spend time with loved ones, they should remember that the legacy of independence still flourishes. In the face of brewing tensions abroad, Americans must remember that we have experienced such challenges before and will do so again.

And the nation will endure.

Rich Acritelli is a history teacher at Rocky Point High School and adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College.

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Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of history at Brown University. Photo by Kenneth C. Zirke from Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the 247th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

In the nearly two-and-a-half centuries since this formative moment in American history, much has changed, with an uncertainty of the country’s long-term future.

Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of history at Brown University and 1993 Pulitzer Prize recipient for his book, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” remains optimistic that America’s future is bright. 

In an exclusive phone interview, he detailed why the American Revolution is relevant today, dismissing apocalyptic predictions. 

Revolutionary relevance

Wood contends that despite prolonged separation from the American Revolution, this cause remains highly relevant today.

“It is the most important event in our history, bar none,” he said. “It not only legally created the United States, but it infused into our culture everything we believe.”

Wood maintains that America is “not a nation in the usual sense of the term.” By this, he means Americans are not bound by any common ancestry. Instead, the United States represents a particular set of ideas to which Americans subscribe.

“Someone once said that to be an American is not to be somebody but to believe in something,” Wood noted. “And what do we believe in? We believe in those things that came out of the Revolution: equality, liberty and so on.”

“There’s no other adhesive to hold us together, so I think we need to emphasize that,” he said.

American stability

Within contemporary national discourse, some have expressed fears that America is a declining democracy. Even the nonprofit think tank Freedom House, which measures the strength of democracy in countries around the world, has scored the United States incrementally lower in recent years.

Wood characterized some recent historical developments as “destabilizing,” though he maintained these concerns are often overblown.

“We’re still the greatest power the world has ever known,” the Brown professor emeritus said. “I think that we’re very stable, and I certainly think we’re at the height of our powers.”

Assessing the current geopolitical landscape, Wood acknowledged China is a rising global power. However, he maintained that America’s long-term outlook remains promising.

“I don’t see any evidence that China is going to replace us,” he said. “I think it would be unfortunate if we got into a war with China over this fear of being displaced, but it’s just not in the cards.”

He added that fears of American decline have been pervasive throughout the nation’s history, with concerns about China just the latest iteration of this long historical pattern.

“We have a lot of apocalyptic thinking that goes on, and that’s not new,” Wood said. “We’ve always done that. There are always people saying that we’re going to fall apart.”

Triumph of the future

Wood suggested Americans have an unusual relationship with their national history. “I don’t think we have ever been a historically minded people compared to other nations,” he said. “I think it was President James Polk [1845-49] who said the United States is the only country in the world that has its history in the future.”

Since the Revolution, Americans have always been a “future-oriented people,” according to Wood. Yet the ideas articulated by the Founding Fathers have been passed down to subsequent generations of Americans, and those values are still practiced today.

Americans “know about ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ and ‘all men are created equal,’” Wood said. “Those are phrases that are very potent and available to most people, but I don’t think there’s much real interest in history as such among Americans.”

But, he added, “I’m not sure that that’s a bad thing. We’re future-oriented. We think the future is going to be better than the present.”

Wood concluded by saying that America’s faith in the future has long attracted new immigrants. Despite the numerous complications throughout its history, America still draws in people from all around the world. 

Wood indicated that this attraction demonstrates how the American Dream lives to this day.

“Immigrants still want to come here because they can get a better life here than they can where they came from,” he said. “It’s an optimistic view.”

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Thank you, TBR

After reading the story in the June 22 edition informing the community about the Guide Dog Foundation in Smithtown, I would like to share as a volunteer — both as a puppy raiser and presently breeder-caretaker — the joys and fulfillment over the years of seeing first-hand people helped by assistance and service dogs.

The Guide Dog Foundation truly helps people “live life without boundaries.” After seeing its flier stating so in a local supermarket, all staff members in various departments helped me through my different roles of training and preparing these special dogs in lives of service. As a volunteer, I have always been treated with courtesy and appreciation in visits, contacts and calls.

Thank you TBR News Media for publishing in detail the mission I am myself living each day, which is close to my heart.

Anna Fisco-Aubree

Ridge

Port Jeff needed change

One must sympathize with Mr. William Snaden’s “broken heart” considering his wife’s loss to Mayor Lauren Sheprow’s remarkable win through a write-in ballot [Letter, “My heart is breaking for Port Jeff,” The Port Times Record, June 29]. 

Mr. Snaden cannot bring himself to understand his wife’s loss in terms of her apparent efforts on behalf of the Village of Port Jefferson. What he fails to recognize is that the people of Port Jefferson needed a change from the same old approach to problems that were pursued by the Garant-Snaden administration. 

Let us face the future with fresh ideas and with the guidance of Mayor Lauren Sheprow. I anticipate that the Village of Port Jefferson will rally in supporting Lauren and her new administration.

Herb Herman

Port Jefferson

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation.

Email letters to: [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

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