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'Shortwing on Acacia' by Diane Motroni. Image courtesy of STAC
'The Last Unicorn' by Joseph Weinreb. Image from STAC
'The Alchemist' by Julia Jenkins. Image from STAC
'Fisherman' by Teresa Cromwell. Image from STAC
'Haberdasher of Old Bethpage'. Image from STAC
'The Messenger' by Tyler Hughes. Image from STAC

Up next at the Smithtown Township Arts Council’s Mills Pond Gallery is Figurative/Narrative, a juried fine art exhibition featuring 58 works from 36 artists from 10 states including CA, FL, MA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, SD, TX, VA and 14 Long Island communities. The show opens June 3.

Through figurative or narrative paintings, artists give shape and character to the stories and people of our lives. Whether real or imagined, their art invites us to connect and engage with their characters and stories. We invite viewers to enjoy the expressions of the portraits or the illustrated scenes and imagine the untold stories of the lives of the subjects.

Exhibition juror Zimou Tan’s exhibit called for entries that celebrate contemporary realism and figurative and narrative paintings. Zimou is an Art Renewal Center Living Master (true masters in the visual arts…training and inspiring the next generation of artists, scholars, and teachers, to protect, preserve and perpetuate traditional painting techniques). Zimou noted that selected artists captured the essence of the human form and communicated compelling stories through their art.

Exhibiting artists include Diana Aliberti, James Xavier Barbour, Joanna Burch, Mónica Carmona, Yen-Ching Chang, Teresa Cromwell, Collin Douma, Christine Dupuis, Andrew Elsten, Ryan Flannery, Connie Gisi, Hank Grebe, Jennifer Hartzler, Gia Horton, Tyler Hughes, Julia Jenkins, Natreka Kelly, Frank Loehr, Avrel Menkes, Drigo Morin, Diane Motroni, Susan Perrish, Kai Lun Qu, William Dunham Reed, Anita Schnirman, Barret Schumacher, Eileen Shaloum, Angela Stratton, Mark Sweeney, Tracy Tekverk, Robert Tuska, Zoë Walker, Joseph Weinreb, Ashley Williams, Ni Zhu and Doug Zider.

Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A, St. James presents Figurative/Narrative from June 3 to July 1. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. 

The community is invited to an opening reception on June 3 from 1 to 4 p.m. to meet the artists and view their work. For more information, call 631-862-6575, or visit www.millspondgallery.org.

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All photos by Daniel Febrizio

On Memorial Day, May 29, hundreds of Smithtown residents gathered on Main Street to watch the 99th annual Memorial Day Parade marching westbound toward Town Hall where a short ceremony was held.

Parade participants included veterans, volunteer firefighters, high school bands, twirlers, Scouts and more.

After the singing of the National Anthem by a Smithtown West High School student at the ceremony, American Legion Post 833 Commander Bill Coderre said a few words to begin the ceremony. “On this memorial day, we are reminded that the rights and freedoms that we enjoy as Americans are possible in large part because of those who have protected our great nation through military service,” he said.

Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) spoke, reading a Memorial Day speech honoring the lives lost in U.S.-involved wars throughout its history. The piece concluded with, “Remember all that has been sacrificed when you look around at your beautiful families, at your homes, your neighborhoods and your friends. Only then can we truly appreciate the incredible gifts that we have: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.”

The ceremony concluded with a rendition of “God Bless America” while those in attendance sang along.

Other elected officials that spoke at the ceremony included state Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James), Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James) and Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy (R).

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Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23
Smithtown Historical Society Civil War Encampment 05/27/23

A HISTORY LESSON

The Smithtown Historical Society hosted a Civil War Encampment on Saturday, May 27. The well-attended event featured battle demonstrations, North and South camp life and infantry drills, music and dancing at the Frank Brush Barn, field hospital demonstrations and tours of the Epenetus Smith Tavern and Arthur Farmhouse

Photos from Smithtown Historical Society

 

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Shhh. Listen. If what you hear is nothing, then maybe you’re onto something.

Noise envelops us. Some of it, like the sound of a Broadway musical, the waterfall laughter of a giggling child, or the deep resonant breath of a humpback whale surfacing amid floating cubes of ice in Alaska can give us peace, pleasure and joy.

Many noises, however, are irritants or worse. We step out of a loud airplane onto a jetway, where loudspeakers announce the boarding in group four of a flight awaiting takeoff. We walk through a crowded airport, as fathers shout to their children, a woman calls to ask Breanne if she “wants fries with her burger,” and a man informs his wife that he “has to pee so badly that he’s not sure he’s going to make it.”

We step outside of the airport, where whistles from people directing traffic echo in our ears and where officials in orange vests bark orders at drivers to “vacate this spot immediately!”

We try to ignore many of the harsher and more abrasive sounds, even though our nervous system tracks noises as a way to protect us in case someone yells something we need to hear.

And then there are those wonderful moments when we hear nothing, not even the buzzing of a lightbulb, a dog drinking in the next room, or a cat cleaning himself on a nearby chair.

Silence.

If it lasts long enough, it’s the pause that refreshes, giving our ears a rest and our brains a chance to hear an inner voice that might otherwise get lost.

We can find those moments when we’re on our own. When we’re surrounded by others, the silence is harder to discover, as we either speak or hear the noises they make as they unwrap a newspaper, chew their gum, or shake their leg up and down so rapidly that the material from their pants makes a repetitive rubbing sound.

But then, we can go to a meditation or yoga class or a religious or memorial service and reflect with others who sit still like a slope of shaded stones in an Ansel Adams photo.

During those moments, we can slow our breathing, think beyond the constant fast twitch need to act and react to our phones, and can allow our minds to make unexpected connections.

During one of those recent times, I pondered symmetry in nature, where you can draw a line down the middle of something like our faces, and see that the image on one side, excluding freckles, beauty marks, and that scar from the time we tripped and got stitches, is incredibly similar to the one on the other.

With so much chaos in nature, I wouldn’t expect such symmetry. At a distance, most leaves have remarkable symmetry, as do the shape of most animals. Human designs often have a pleasing symmetry, with windows, flying buttresses and A-frame houses looking remarkably similar on the left and right. Almost every field or arena for a sporting event has some symmetry, except for those with irregular outfield fences.

During a recent service, I enjoyed time when I couldn’t look at my phone and when I could read religious text. I haven’t considered these texts in a while and was drawn in by their drama and story value, as opposed to the spiritual and life guidance I often imagine. Basic struggles for power, sibling rivalries, and the search for food and stability dominate these narratives, which makes it clear why religion (and mythology) continue to offer connections for people whose lives, at least on the surface, are considerably different from the ones people lived lo those many years ago.

Ultimately, silence can be refreshing, giving us auditory time and space to reflect and to clean a cognitive filter cluttered with chaos and cacophony.

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METRO photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Suddenly it’s June. Didn’t we recently put our holiday decorations away? Wasn’t it mid-winter break just a couple of weeks ago? Time warps, especially if we have busy lives. We look up and five months of the year have already passed. 

But of course, June is most welcome. It is the month of high school graduations, of weddings, of the official turning to summer with the summertime solstice and the most daylight hours of the year. For those readers interested in random data, June is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days and the third of five months to have fewer than 31 days. Take that to “Jeopardy!”

June is also the month when all the trees are dressed in their finest, lushest leaves, when the weather beckons us outdoors because it is neither too cold or too hot quite yet. June is when the swimming pools in the neighborhood shed their covers and offer to the eye patches of refreshing blue as we drive along the local roads. June is when allergy season begins to recede with the gradual lessening of tree and grass pollens.

Early June is when I like to travel because each day is longer, and I feel I am really getting my money’s worth on a tour. That’s also when most families are still home, their young ones not yet finished with school, and therefore all services, from palaces to restaurants are less crowded. Unless I am in the southern hemisphere, where it is technically the start of winter, the weather in June tends to be perfect, not much rain, the temperature ideal.

June was probably named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage and the wife of the supreme deity, Jupiter, There are also other suggestions for how the month got its name, but we really don’t have to list them all because no one I know is actually preparing to appear on “Jeopardy!”

That said, you still might like to know a few of the month-long observances for June. There is: 

African American Music Appreciation Month 

ALS Awareness Month in Canada 

Caribbean American Heritage Month 

LGBTQ+ Awareness and Pride Month 

National Oceans Month 

PTSD Awareness Month 

Great Outdoors Month 

And my personal favorite, National Smile Month, which is celebrated in the United Kingdom and should migrate across the globe.

There is also: 

International Children’s Day on the first Tuesday 

World Bicycle Day on the first Wednesday 

National Donut Day on the first Friday 

Father’s Day on the third Sunday 

Here is one to ponder: Seersucker Day on the second Thursday 

And on the third Friday, National Flip Flop Day. 

Hmmm. Maybe with all that said, we should give a second thought to “Jeopardy!”

When our children were in elementary school, I always welcomed June with enthusiasm. It meant that July and the end of the academic year were not far away, which in turn meant sleeping in and not having to prepare for the early bus to school, long, lazy days at the beach, family baseball games on the empty school fields on weekends and frequent outdoor barbecues. This year, June means, among more hedonistic pursuits, a month with five Thursdays, and therefore five issues of the papers and website to fill with local news that we will report to you. 

Happy reading!

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File photo
Do you recobnize this man? Photo from SCPD

Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit Detectives are investigating a bank robbery that occurred in Central Islip on May 30.

A man entered Bethpage Federal Credit Union, located at 233 South Research Place, at 9:36 a.m. and passed a note to a teller demanding cash. The teller complied and the suspect fled on foot with cash northbound through the parking lot.

The robber was described as 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 7 inches tall with dark skin. He was wearing sweatpants, a plaid hooded sweatshirt and a medical mask.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on the robbery to call the Major Case Unit at 631-852- 6555 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

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Kara Vertucci stars as the rebellious Princess Ida in the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island’s 2023 production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Princess Ida. (Photo by NanMagna. Copyright 2023 The Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island.)

The battle of the sexes will break out into open warfare when the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island brings its 2023 production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic Princess Ida to the Smithtown Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 17, at 8 p.m.  The production will feature a 23-piece orchestra.

 Princess Ida—which debuted in 1884 at London’s Savoy opera, with book and lyrics by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan—is a favorite with Gilbert & Sullivan aficionados, with its score in particular regarded as perhaps Sullivan’s greatest.  The current production is the Light Opera Company’s first since 2007.

More dramatic in tone than any other Gilbert & Sullivan work, c In the end the story boils down to whether the opera’s young people are doomed to grow into their parents, repeating all their mistakes, or if they can escape the machinations of their parents, move beyond hatred and violence, and forge a new future for themselves.

In the new production of the opera, Kara Vertucci of Lindenhurst plays Princess Ida and Joseph Anthony Smith of Freeport plays Prince Hilarion, with Chris Jurak of Brightwaters as King Gama and Ben Salers of Northport as King Hildebrand.  Lady Psyche is played by Patricia Gallagher of West Hempstead, and Lady Blanche by Terry Hochler of East Meadow, with Alyssa M. Mener of Massapequa Park as Melissa; Jordan Breslow of Bellmore plays Florian and Richard Risi of Locust Valley plays Cyril.  Ida’s brothers, the formidable Warriors Three, are played by Henry Horstmann of Lindenhurst (Arac), John Benvenuto of Floral Park (Guron) and Marc Eliot Stein of Brooklyn (Scynthius).  Tamara Shyngle of Brentwood plays Sacharissa, Claudia Arroyo of Port Washington is Chloe and Hanna Roth of Upper Brookville plays Ada.  The director is Gayden Wren, and the music director is Leonard Lehrman.

“Princess Ida is unlike any other Gilbert & Sullivan opera,” said Wren, a longtime member of the company and also the author of an acclaimed book about Gilbert & Sullivan.  “It’s Shakespearean in its scope, and its humor—which combines farce, slapstick, satire and burlesque—is in the service of a story of unique emotional power.  Ida and Hilarion are two sides of the same coin, young aristocrats who’ve been pawns in their fathers’ rivalry almost since they were born.  The story pits them as enemies, but as the opera progresses they begin to see something of themselves in each other, and to sense the outlines of a future different from the one they’ve always been told awaits them.

“Ultimately this is a story of generational conflict, of young people trying to get past the mistakes and hatreds of their parents, trying to forge a new world they might actually live in together,” Wren concluded.  “When people ask me what it’s about, I say it’s about a prince, a princess and an arranged marriage … but also about climate change, racial and ethnic rivalries, inequality, social justice and pretty much anything else that’s going on in the world today.  It’s funny, it’s beautiful, but there’s no Gilbert & Sullivan story that’s more directly relevant to the world of today.”

Princess Ida will be presented on Saturday, June 17, at 8 p.m. at the Smithtown Performing Arts Center, 2 East Main Street in Smithtown.  Admission is $30, seniors and students $25.  For further information, call (516) 619-7415 or visit www.gaslocoli.org.

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A scene from the 2022 Northport Memorial Day parade. Photo by Media Origin

‘Remember those who served before.

Remember those who are no more.

Remembers those who serve today.

Remember them all on Memorial Day.’

— Emily Toma

Centerport 

The Centerport Fire Department will host a Memorial Day Parade on May 29 at 10 a.m. from Centershore Road, Harrison Drive, east on Mill Dam Road Centerport, southeast on Prospect Road, south on Little Neck Road.  Ends at Park Circle, Centerport followed by a ceremony at the memorial monuments in the park. 631-261-5916

Centereach

The Centerach Fire Department will host a Memorial Day Parade on May 28 at 1 p.m. Parade kicks off at Horseblock Road at the bowling alley and ends at the Centereach Fire Department on South Washington Avenue. 631-588-8652.

Commack

VFW Elwood-Commack Post 9263 hosts a Memorial Day parade on May 29 at 10 a.m. Kick off is at the Home Depot parking lot at the intersection of Larkfield Road and Jericho Turnpike and head east on Jericho Turnpike to junction at Veterans Highway to Cannon Park for a ceremony. 631-368-9463

East Northport

Father Judge Council Knights of Columbus hosts the East Northport Memorial Day Parade with kick off on May 29 at 12:15 p.m. at Clay Pitts and Larkfield roads and proceed to John Walsh Memorial Park adjacent to Northport-East Northport Library. 631-262-1891

Farmingville

The Farmingville Fire Department will host its annual Memorial Day Parade  on May 29. Parade starts at 11am from CVS on Horseblock Road  to the memorial at Nicolls Road and Portion Road. 631-732-6611.

Greenlawn 

Organized by the Greenlawn Fire Department, a Memorial Day parade will kick off on May 29 at 9 a.m. on East Maple Road, south on Broadway to Greenlawn Memorial Park, at the corner of Pulaski Road and Broadway. 631-261-9106

Holbrook 

The Holbrook Memorial Day Parade will be held on May 29 at 11 a.m. Route starts at 1069 Main St. South to Furrows Rd West to Grundy Ave.South and culminates at the Holbrook Vietnam Memorial. 631-471-2725

Kings Park

The 97th annual Kings Park Memorial Day Parade, sponsored by American Legion Post 944, will be held on May 29 at 9 a.m. Kick off is at the RJO School at Old Dock Road and Church Street to the Veterans Plaza at Route 25A for flag ceremonies. 631-269-4140

Northport

Organized by the Northport American Legion Post 694, the parade will begin at 10 a.m. on May 29 at Laurel Avenue School and proceed to the Northport Village Park. 631-261-4424

Huntington 

The Town of Huntington will host a Memorial Day Wreath Ceremony on May 28 at Veterans Plaza on the front lawn of Huntington Town Hall at 100 Main Street at 10 a.m. Patriotic music will be performed by the Northport High School Choir. 631-351-3012

On May 29, a Memorial Day parade organized by American Legion Post 360 will commence at 10 a.m. at West Neck Road and Gerard Street and head east on Main Street to Stewart Avenue in Huntington. 631-421-0535

Port Jefferson

On May 29, American Legion Wilson Ritch Post 432 will be performing a Memorial Day ceremony honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces at Port Jefferson Memorial Park, West Broadway, Port Jefferson. Call 631-473-9774 for the time.

Port Jefferson Station

On May 29, American Legion Wilson Ritch Post 432 will hold a Memorial Day ceremony at Steven J. Crowley Memorial Park on Old Town Road in Port Jefferson Station at 9 a.m. 631-473-9774

Rocky Point

Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6249 for a Memorial Day service to honor the fallen. The Rocky Point VFW Post 6249, 109 King Road, Rocky Point will host a Memorial Day service on May 29 at 11 a.m. 631-744-9106

St. James 

A Memorial Day Parade organized by Sgt. John W. Cooke VFW Post 395 will be held on May 29 at 10 a.m. The parade steps off at the corner of Lake Avenue and Woodlawn Avenue and proceeds to St. James Elementary School for a ceremony. 631-862-7965

Setauket 

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3054 will hold its annual Three Village Memorial Day Parade in Setauket on May 29 at 11 a.m. Parade starts at the corner of Main Street and Route 25A with an opening ceremony at the Village Green across from the library and a closing ceremony at Memorial Park along Route 25A. 631-751-5541

Smithtown 

The Smithtown Fire Department will host a Memorial Day Parade on May 29 at noon. Kickoff is at the corner of Main Street and Singer Lane, continuing west on Main Street to Town Hall. 631-360-7620

Stony Brook

The Long Island State Veterans Home, 100 Patriots Road, Stony Brook will host a Memorial Day ceremony in its Multipurpose Room on May 26 at 2 p.m.   Congressman Nick LaLota (NY-1) will give the Memorial Day keynote address to veterans and residents of the Long Island State Veterans Home. Congressman LaLota will join other elected officials in honoring the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in our armed forces with the laying of a memorial wreath. The ceremony will include a color guard, firing detail, taps memorial, wreath laying ceremony and “tolling of the bells” memorial service.  631-444-8615

Sound Beach

The Sound Beach Civic Association hosts a Memorial Day service at Veterans Memorial Park, New York Ave., Sound Beach on May 29 at noon. 631-744-6952

 

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METRO photo

Boating can be one of the most joyous parts of summer, especially on Long Island. 

There is truly nothing like the breeze running through our hair as we relax with family and friends, soaking up the natural beauty and the overwhelming landscape. 

But it’s important to remember that boating is a privilege, not a right. Despite the fact that a night on the water could create lifelong memories, you don’t need a boat to get to work, the doctor or the grocery store.

This makes it even more imperative to be safe and considerate while on the water. It also makes it even more senseless when tragedies occur. Even the most experienced of boaters, like James Jaronczyk, of Massapequa, who died in the Great South Bay earlier this month, clearly can succumb to the dangers of the water. Sadly, these stories are not unique.

According to the United States Coast Guard, there were 636 boating fatalities nationwide in 2022, a 3.3% decrease from the 658 deaths in 2021. The most devastating aspect of the statistics is that several of the deaths were preventable. 

Of the total fatalities 88 deaths, or 16%, involved alcohol. “Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, excessive speed and machinery failure,” were other contributing factors, according to the Coast Guard report. Of the victims 75% drowned, and of those drowning victims, 85% were not wearing a life jacket. 

As the Coast Guard advises, boaters must stay sober, check the weather, carry an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon — which signals if you get into trouble — and have VHF-FM radio on hand in case cell service drops. 

Also always let someone who is staying onshore know your float plan, which breaks down where you are going, how long you will be gone, a description of your boat and the safety equipment you have on board. Boating is not a time to take risks or explore coves and inlets you have not been to before, if you do not know what you are doing.

Most importantly, boaters should register for a boating safety course as they can never be too experienced to refresh their knowledge or learn something new. They have an obligation to themselves and those on board to practice responsible boating habits and return home safely. 

We at TBR News Media wish you a happy, fun and safe summer on the water with your families and friends.

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