‘Tis the season for tree lightings and holiday festivals.
Stony Brook Village and the Ward Melville Heritage Organization hosted the 37th annual Holiday Festival and Holiday Tree Competition Dec. 4 at the Stony Brook Village Center.
Times Beacon Record News Media invites you to share your fondest holiday memories and traditions with our readers, your neighbors, to be featured in a special Holiday Memories edition in our Arts and Lifestyles section. This will appear in all six of our newspapers in the December 22nd issue. To share your memory or story, please email it to [email protected] or mail it to Times Beacon Record Newspapers, 185 Route 25A, Setauket, NY 11733 or, you can drop it off to our office, no later than December 17th please. We also welcome family and historic photographs to accompany the memory. For more information, call 631-751-7744, ext. 109.
The Setauket Exhibition raffle winners are Barbara and Les Wuerfl of Stony Brook, who won the painting “Welcome to the Party” by exhibit coordinator, Irene Ruddock; and Pat and Dennis Statuch of Port Jefferson, now proud owners of “Turning Tides” by oil painter Jim Molloy. Congratulations!
By Patty Yantz and Patty Cain
The Three Village Historical Society hosted its 38th annual Candlelight House Tour last weekend. Titled Visions of Historic Setauket: A Look Back in Time, the event attracted over 1,000 visitors to our little hamlet.
This year’s tour was dedicated to four members who passed away this year, Blanche Tyler Davis, Chuck Glaser, Bruce McCauley and Elaine Stow, each of whom played a vital role within the society.
Four of the five homes featured in this year’s tour were originally owned by members of the Wells family. The tour served as a history lesson of life as it was around the pond. The ticket contains much history of the area and is a keepsake in itself. We are honored to have the kindness of the wonderful homeowners who opened up their beautiful homes decked out in holiday decor.
Gallery North and the Three Village Historical Society history center added more historical interest to the tour. We are so thankful for our generous sponsors and restaurants, and the numerous volunteers who served as decorators, house chairs, committee chairs, traffic people and docents and our staff who worked hard to make this event come to life. Without their support and generosity the tour would not be possible.
The Candlelight House Tour is the biggest fundraising event held by the society. The proceeds enable the society to continue to preserve local photographs with proceeds benefiting the society’s educational programs.
This year the Friday night tour with a reception at the Old Field Club was in such high demand that for the first time we opened a few tickets to the Friday night tour without the reception. This too proved to be successful. On Saturday people could start the tour with breakfast at the Old Field Club. The food and the views at the site set the tone for a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the homes were perfect, the location was perfect and everyone who supported this event was perfect!
On behalf of the society, a deep heartfelt THANK YOU for all who helped make this year’s tour the success that it was. It is events like this that makes the Three Village area a wonderful place to live!
Patty Yantz and Patty Cain are the tour co-chairs of this year’s Candlelight Tour.
With Suffolk County’s dire financial straights for the present and the future, some legislators are proposing ideas to trim the fat and save costs, while others think the real problems are not being addressed.
County Legislator William Lindsay III (D-Bohemia) has drafted two bills, one that would freeze salaries for all legislators for five years and another to consolidate the Legislature from 18 members to 13.
County legislators receive an annual raise equal to 4 percent or the increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. This year the raise is expected to be 0.58 percent, according to Lindsay’s office.
Lindsay has advocated to get rid of the automatic increases for some time, and recently drafted legislation for a five-year freeze — a motion that didn’t receive a seconder in the Government Operations, Personnel, Information Technology & Housing Committee. Fellow members Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset), Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) and Robert Calarco (D-Patchogue) declined to second Lindsay’s motion. Hahn and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment.
“This sends a message we’re serious about tackling the issue,” Lindsay said. “Everyone should feel the pain a little. We should lead by example. This gives us more credibility.” Lindsay froze his salary when he first took office in 2013, and other legislators have done the same.
Lindsay said he was surprised the proposal didn’t get more consideration from his colleagues.
“We need to show we can be an example, that we’re cutting back during fiscally challenging times.”
—Sarah Anker
“With the financial issues we’re facing, we need to look at alternatives to cut spending,” he said.
Lindsay’s second proposal to drop from 18 to 13 representatives was created in the same spirit. The first public hearing on the bill was due to be held Dec. 6. If the bill is approved by the Legislature it will be up to a voter referendum.
“Why shouldn’t we allow voters to decide how they should be governed?” Lindsay said.
The 8th District representative said he thinks cutting legislators would help reduce costs without sacrificing the quality of representation for each district.
His proposal would see each representative go from roughly 80,000 constituents to 110,000.
According to a 2015 government census report, Suffolk’s population is approximately 1.5 million. By comparison two Californian counties, Sacramento and Alameda, each have five representatives for their 1.4 million and 1.6 million residents respectively. Both of these counties function with a board of supervisors, instead of legislators.
According to Lindsay’s office, Suffolk almost doubles the national average of representation while each legislator represents only one-fifth of the average constituency nationwide.
Lindsay’s proposal states that at present each county legislator receives a salary, is assigned three paid staff members and is entitled to a district office, among other benefits.
If this legislation passes, it would not go into effect until 2021, after the county district lines are set to be redrawn.
Lindsay’s suggestions all take aim at relieving some of Suffolk’s budgetary issues. Legislators, a credit rating agency and the director of the Budget Review Office for the Legislature have said the county’s financial situation is dire.
Robert Lipp, director of the Budget Review Office, expressed concerns in his assessment of the county budget.
“How are we able to provide services at needed levels when facing a structural deficit that is far in excess of $100 million in each of the past several years? It is a conundrum,” Lipp said in a letter accompanying his review of the budget in October. “The short answer is that the county’s structural deficit is increasingly driving our decisions. As a result, some initiatives, that may be considered crucial, are funded without regard for our ability to pay, while others are funded at less than needed levels because of our deficit position.”
He said the county has set a bad precedent by borrowing money to pay for operating expenses. The credit rating entity Moody’s Investors Service has projected a negative credit rating outlook for the county due to outstanding debt and a reliance on borrowing.
Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) said the budget is deeply flawed, but he does not believe either of Lindsay’s proposals would help fix the problem.
“This is pennies compared to the problems we have,” Trotta said in a phone interview. “It’s showboating.” The District 12 representative is most concerned with the county’s contract with the Suffolk County Police Department, which he said costs Suffolk $135,000 per day.
“We’re in these binding arbitrations that we have no ability to pay,” he said.
Trotta’s primary concern is contractual pension and pay increases for county police officers. The county and the Police Benevolent Association agreed on the current contract in 2011, which runs through 2018. Trotta, a former SCPD detective, estimated for every 200 cops that retire, it could cost the county more than $60 million.
“We need to generate businesses and growth, but we can’t afford to,” he said.
Trotta said a five-year salary freeze for legislators is equivalent to a grain of sand on the beach, but he would support a salary freeze of all government employees. As for a reduction in members, he said he doesn’t think that goes far enough either.
“It should be six or seven members,” he said. However, Trotta warned fewer representatives could put grassroots campaigns at a disadvantage with more ground to cover in a single district. Ultimately he called the idea a double-edged sword.
Lindsay’s proposal acknowledged this concern, stating districts would still be small enough to “allow underfunded candidates to compete effectively in legislative races and permit winning candidates to provide excellent services to their constituents.”
Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) said she supports the five-year freeze. She froze her own salary in 2011.
“We need to show we can be an example, that we’re cutting back during fiscally challenging times,” she said in a phone interview.
But Anker doesn’t back a smaller Legislature. “If you have less representation, that’s not in the best benefit for the public.”
By Rich Acritelli
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve.”
Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, the architect of the attacks on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago, supposedly uttered these words as he assessed the immediate aftermath of Dec. 7, 1941. Up until Japan attacked, most Americans still subscribed to the popular sentiment of remaining out of the conflict, inspired by the words of Charles Lindbergh — “America first.” The America First Committee openly resented any notion that the United States should prepare for war. Even the first peacetime draft conducted in 1940 that expanded the military forces received stiff anti-war congressional opposition. While German tanks easily invaded France and later pushed through the Soviet Union, officers like Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley and George S. Patton still saw the cavalry play a major role within the mobility of the Army. All of this changed when Japanese fighter planes swarmed into Hawaii and attacked the air, naval and Army bases that manned the “jewel” of our forces in the Pacific Ocean.
When word of the attack spread to Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Cordell Hull was in the midst of negotiating with his Japanese counterpart. After a couple of choice words for the diplomat, the nation was rapidly placed on track for war. Within seconds, Americans were on lines blocks long to enter the service. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation with his “Day of Infamy” speech that was adopted as a rallying cry by American citizens to defeat the Axis powers. Unlike the political gridlock seen today, Roosevelt’s words were accepted without reservation, and supporters and opponents of the president’s New Deal listened to the beloved leader. The “sleeping giant” of productivity, strength and endurance was awakened to defeat a global enemy. Prominent baseball players like Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg and Yankee Manager Ralph Houk hung up their uniforms during the prime of their careers to support the war effort. By the end of 1942, the size of the U.S. armed forces had doubled from the previous year. The enthusiasm could be traced to a commitment to avenge Pearl Harbor and defeat Hitler and the Nazis.
Americans today do not realize how close the Allies came to losing the war. Although the U.S. government was fully committed to fighting and helping its allies, America had a steep learning curve in teaching its young men the ways of modern warfare. The Japanese crippled America’s naval forces and Hitler looked unstoppable in Europe, but Roosevelt promised armed forces would be fighting the enemy in the Pacific and in North Africa before the close of 1942. Americans were drafted so quickly into the military that there were not enough uniforms, weapons, tanks or trucks for them to utilize for their training. Longtime Wading River resident Michael O’Shea, who passed away in 2009, was a navigator in a B-17 Flying Fortress and experienced the earliest aspects of the war efforts.
The New York City kid watched Yankee games and attended Stuyvesant High School. Like other young men, O’Shea was horrified by the attack on Pearl Harbor and wanted to forgo his senior year to enter the military. His parents were adamant that he finish high school before enlisting. As a young recruit into the Army Air Force, O’Shea for a brief time was stationed in Atlantic City, N.J. He was not issued a uniform, did not have many knowledgeable instructors, and the lack of heat in the military housing made people sick. The local resident flew 24 combat missions and had the rare experience of being shot down twice over Europe. He was later imprisoned in Stalag Luft III, the same camp depicted in the film “The Great Escape.” In the spring of 1945, Patton’s Third Army liberated O’Shea. He was present to see the noted armored general speak to all of the freed Americans. O’Shea was a good friend to Rocky Point High School, where he was a proud representative of the “Greatest Generation” and spoke about his crusade against totalitarian powers.
It was 75 years ago that America was propelled into a war it did not choose, but the people worked together and completely sacrificed for the safety and security of a thankful nation. Citizens like O’Shea, without hesitation, risked their lives for the well-being of the country. On this Pearl Harbor anniversary, may we never forget those men and women who were lost and wounded in the defense of this nation and continue to do so today at home and abroad.
Joseph Lalota of the Rocky Point History Honor Society contributed to this story.
Rich Acritelli is a social studies teacher at Rocky Point High School and an adjunct professor of American history at Suffolk County Community College.
Port Jefferson’s 21st annual Dickens Festival brought together members of the community and neighboring areas for a weekend full of events based off Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Christmas Carol” Dec. 3 and 4. But for a group of local activists, the event was a reminder about social consciousness.
The North Country Peace Group, established in December 2002, has been periodically visible on the corner of Route 25A and Bennetts Road in Setauket to share its message. For the last six years members of the group have used the village’s holiday festival to expand their audience.
Myrna Gordon, a member of the group since its inception, was among the people passing out informational flyers and holding props in front of their faces to simulate being behind bars, which included the message “Debtor’s Prison — Justice for some, not for all,” among others with similar themes.
The group believes in nonviolent activism as a means to combat social injustice, poverty and inequality. They use the festival as a platform to highlight analogous issues in Charles Dickens 19th century London and present-day America.
“It’s important that people don’t forget while they’re moving around and being festive and being joyful, that we have a lot of things in our country that are filled with social injustice, economic injustice, class injustice — and we’d like to bring attention to it to let people think about it,” Gordon said while standing on the corner of East Main Street and Main Street in Port Jeff Village, where the group set up shop for the afternoon. “While they probably have thought about it for the last 18 months, it’s something that we’ve been doing here for six years now, and we feel it’s important to be part of this event. I’m a Port Jefferson resident, so I feel that this is my way of making a statement but in a different way.”
Gordon referenced the outcome of the presidential election as evidence that instances of social injustice may be heading in the wrong direction in 2016 America. She said she was concerned about the future of the Supreme Court, health care for women and education, among other issues going forward as a result of Donald Trump’s (R) surprising victory.
Village Mayor Margot Garant said she had no problem with the group’s message or desire to use a popular village event to spread their message, given that they are conscious of keeping sidewalks and streets clear for festival attendees.
“That’s democracy at its highest form of expression,” she said during a phone interview. “I applaud them for taking time out of their day to come down and relay their message.”
Gordon has lived in Port Jefferson for almost 50 years, she said, and called the area a microcosm of the United States.
“I think Port Jefferson does have things that can be better, as in any small community,” she said.
Despite the celebratory nature of the event, which features performers in Dickensian attire, and the group’s use of props, Gordon said she wasn’t worried their message would be construed as part of the festival.
“They may not get the full scope of it, but I think once they see the signs a connection is being made,” she said. “Especially when they see the words ‘debtor’s prison,’ and then they read the contemporary statements underneath the signs. The same things went on then that are going on now.”
By Bill Landon
With a mix of first-year varsity wrestlers and All-County and league champions at its core, returning senior Kenny Cracchiola said his confidence in his Ward Melville wrestling team has never been higher.
“This is my fourth year on varsity and honestly this is the best overall team we’ve had and I think with this year’s team we can knock off [some] of the top teams in the county,” said the four-year starting who is closing in on 100 varsity wins, despite the team losing two county champions to graduation last year. “We lost to Brentwood the last couple of years, but If we could take down Brentwood that would send a message.”
Cracchiola will be joined by classmate Sean Fitzsimons, who is in his second year at the varsity level and is a returning league finalist and an all county competitor.
Fitzsimons said the feel and the mentality in the practice room has changed this year.
“I feel that we all have something to prove this year — I think some of the other teams are brushing us off and we’ll be looking to knock off a few big names this year,” Fitzsimons said.
The Patriots finished last season 3-3 and are looking make a splash in League I, under first-year head coach Garrett Schnettler.
“There are three teams that are ranked in the county who are ahead of us in our league — Brentwood, Sachem East and Patchogue-Medford — so those are three teams we’d like to go after,” Schnettler said. “We were beaten by those three last year pretty convincingly, but this year we have a really deep team at every weight and we have someone that’s reliable in each class.”
Schnettler said he expects big things from junior Nabeel Ahmed, who got a late start to the season due to the success of the football team that went to the county championship game. Ahmed, a wide receiver and free safety, was injured last season and didn’t see action on the mat, but according to Schnettler, that unknowingness of other teams will work to the Patriots’ advantage.
Rafael Lievano, a junior in his second year on varsity, is a returning All-League and All-County standout who Schnettler expects to have a breakout season.
“In the off season I wrestled five to six times a week to stay sharp, because this is a big year for me and I want to make some noise this year,” Lievano said. “Physically, I’ll keep my weight down, and mentally, I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing and stay confident. I want to make a run this year.”
Schnettler said he couldn’t be more pleased with the progress he’s seen and the commitment from every member of the team.
The Patriots open the season on the road at the Sprig Invitational in East Hampton Dec. 10, which begins at 7:30 a.m.
“We’ll be here at 5 a.m.,” the head coach said, “and the guys will check their weights, anybody over will be in here running and we’ll roll out at 6 a.m.”
Parade will begin on Main Street in Setauket near the Emma S. Clark Library and elementary school
After a one-year hiatus, a long-running holiday tradition is returning to Setauket.
It was ‘lights out’ for the Electric Holiday Parade last December, when a couple of glitches prevented the popular event from taking place. Cheryl Davie, longtime organizer of the event, which has been around for two decades, said there were budgetary cutbacks at the town level and a permit deadline was missed.
Billy Williams, a civic-minded local businessman and a member of the Setauket Fire Department, Three Village Kiwanis and the Three Village Chamber of Commerce, said he heard of the issues last November — just not soon enough.
“I remember moving to the area in the late ’90s and bringing my kids to the parade,” he said in an email. “I thought it was a great hometown experience. I was saddened when I heard it wasn’t happening last year.” But by the time he found out, he said, it was too late to make it happen. So he decided to pick up the pieces and planned to resurrect the parade this year.
Davie immediately offered her assistance and expertise and the two became a team. Williams joked he is the producer and Davie is the director. She’s in charge of “the script” and running the show. He’s responsible for making sure the funding comes through.
“I have put together a team of small businesses and individuals who wanted to produce a great parade,” Williams said. “We have about 20 sponsors that have generously donated to offset the cost of producing the parade. State Farm [Williams’ business], Shea & Sanders Real Estate, Four D Landscaping and Shine Dance Studios are the major sponsors — with many others contributing as well. Each has made donations of money, time and/or other needed goods and services for the event.”
Lights will blaze again when the parade kicks off Sunday, Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. There will be floats and marchers, lights and music, decorated conveyances of all kinds, entertainment, hot chocolate and cookies — not to mention the arrival of Santa Claus on the Setauket Fire Department float — according to Davie.
“We have a lot of floats signed up,” Williams said. “Thirty-five have registered so far. We are also hiring a professional marching band to perform as well as providing many other great attractions for the kids. We have Wolfie from Stony Brook University attending, as well as the SBU pep squad.”
Williams said the Three Village school district will also be well represented. Many of the elementary schools are building floats — at all grade levels — which is a change from previous years when only sixth-graders were invited to create floats. The Ward Melville Jazz Band will also perform.
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, dance academies, preschools and local businesses have registered online to participate in the parade of lights. Registration will remain open until Dec. 10.
“The more, the merrier,” said Davie, referring to participants and spectators alike.
No article about the Electric Holiday Parade would be complete without a shout out to one of the original founders and supporters. Michael Ardolino was a member of the small group that established the parade 21 years ago. Today he is very happy and proud.
“I’m so excited the parade is back,” Ardolino said in a telephone interview. “I’m so proud it’s going to continue. So pleased with the new group that has stepped up to create this year’s parade. I’m looking forward to coming and enjoying it with my granddaughter. The tradition continues.”
For more information about the parade — or if you’d like to sign up — visit www.3vholidayparade.com. Staging for the parade will begin at 3:30 p.m. along Main Street in Setauket near the Emma S. Clark Library and the Setauket Elementary School. Kick-off is at 5 p.m. sharp.
By Daniel Dunaief
The Museum of Natural History in New York City features a slice of a 1,400-year-old sequoia tree that was cut down in California in 1891. The cross section of the tree offers a testament to history on its inside. That’s where the tree rings that grow every year mark the passing of another year. As it turns out, humans have something in common with trees. While people may not have rings in bones that an observer can see, they do have age-related changes in their genetic material, or DNA.
Human genes go through a process called methylation in which a methyl group comprised of a carbon and three hydrogens attaches to DNA. Methylation upstream of a gene generally reduces transcription, or the copying of that gene into messenger RNA that can then begin the process of building proteins.
Using broad time-based methylation changes, Shyamalika Gopalan, who is earning her doctorate at Stony Brook University in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, recently received a three-year grant from the Department of Justice to refine an understanding of methylation and aging. The DOJ would like to use this kind of analysis to gather more information from a scene at which the remaining clues include DNA that isn’t in one of its databases.
Gopalan isn’t the first scientist to study genetic methylation and aging. Other scientists have used blood, saliva and other tissues. She is starting with one type of tissue in the bone. “I’m trying to make” the analysis “more specific to bones,” she said. She doesn’t know how much variation she will find in the age-related methylation patterns depending on ethnicity and lifestyle. “It does appear that some sites are remarkably ‘clock-like,’” she said. “It is these types of sites I’m hoping to find and use in my research.”
Gopalan explained that millions of sites can be methylated. She’s hoping to hone in on those that act more like a clock and that change in a linear manner with time. She’s not sure how many sites she’ll use and said some changes in methylation involve removing methyl groups. “Some methylation increases and some decreases,” she said. “If you know the pattern with age at any site, you can start to build an estimate from those.”
Methylation occurs with age for several possible reasons. “A major theory for these changes in methylation level with age is that the epigenetic patterns are drifting from the optimum,” she said. “This may explain some, or even most, of the changes we observe, but I don’t think it is universally true for all sites in the genome.” Still, there probably is a biologically relevant reason why some of these sites are changing, she suggested.
Gopalan said we know that these methylation patterns are crucial in early development, from conception to birth and she suggested it probably doesn’t completely stop changing there. Some sites are probably regulated throughout life.
Gopalan is hoping to have the bone data prepared by this summer and then believes she’ll be able to get methylation types and start working on a computer algorithm to build a predictor for the next year. After her initial work, she will also shift to saliva and blood.
Like a scene from “Law & Order” or other crime shows, the DNA methylation test may be another clue for police officers or prosecutors to use to rule in or out potential suspects from a crime scene where DNA, but not a driver’s license, is left behind. If the genetic material is not in a database, “you could build a profile and it could be useful for narrowing down suspects,” Gopalan said. At this point, she is taking data for people of age classes but with different ethnicities and lifestyles and comparing them to people of a different age with a similar range of backgrounds and lifestyles.
Gopalan is using samples from medical schools around the New York area, borrowing from anatomy departments where people have donated their bodies to research or teaching. More broadly, she is interested in studying diverse populations, especially in Africa. She has worked with her thesis advisor Brenna Henn, exploring methylation from two different populations. These are the ‡Khomani San of South Africa and the Baka of Cameroon.
Gopalan was interested in working with methylation as a biomarker for aging when she came across this funding opportunity from the DOJ. “It was a good fit for what I had already been studying,” she said, adding that she hopes this method will be used in the future in forensics to assist in criminal investigations.
Krishna Veeramah, an assistant professor of primate genomics at Stony Brook and the chair of her thesis committee, described Gopalan as an “intellectually engaged student who is always eager to absorb information.” Veeramah explained in an email that he thinks “there is scope for this work to transition from basic research” to an application “in criminal forensics and related areas. It will certainly require more work and testing.”
Gopalan has been at SBU for over three years. She lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and commutes about 90 minutes each way most days. She enjoys the beaches, farms, apple picking and the natural beauty of the area. Gopalan would like to continue to perform research after she earns her doctorate, whether that’s with a company, a research institution or with a university. She is excited about extracting and working with DNA, particularly from archeological sites. These samples “come from a field and, once you dust them off, it makes it personal. This is a part of a story.”
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