The Village of Port Jefferson seeks volunteers ages 13 and up for a Community Garden Build at Beach Street Parkland (150 Beach St.) in the village on Saturday, May 22. Choose a session (9 a.m. to noon, noon to 3 p.m. or 3 to 6 p.m.) to help assemble garden bed kits, fill beds with topsoil, dig post-holes and install fence posts and staple up deer fencing. Snacks and gloves will be provided. Masks are mandatory. To RSVP, email [email protected].
The Town of Brookhaven came together last weekend to clean up its community.
For its 13th annual Great Brookhaven Cleanup on Saturday, May 15, people from the North Shore, South Shore and Middle Island gloved up and grabbed their garbage bags to help keep their town clean.
In Port Jefferson Station, specifically, the train car located on the corner of Routes 112 and 347 had a large group of volunteers to help cleanup.
The Chamber of Commerce was joined by members of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, elected officials, community members and local Girl Scouts joined in picking up trash and brush to prepare the spot for its upcoming summer concert series.
“I’m really excited to be here today,” said Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook). “This is a really important project for Port Jeff Station, and I’m really excited to see it start to take shape.”
Kornreich said there are “big plans for the area.”
“It’s exciting for the next few years to see it come to fruition,” he added.
Last year, the Great Brookhaven Cleanup was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, approximately 1,600 Brookhaven residents helped tidy up their communities. This localized event is part of a greater cause, the Great American Cleanup — the nation’s largest organized cleanup, beautification and community improvement program.
“The Brookhaven cleanup gives us townwide exposure, which helps our local community,” said Craig den Hartog, PJST chamber member and owner of Emerald Magic Lawn Care. “The more help the better, and it just starts with one person.”
On the Long Island Sound, town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) joined volunteers from Suffolk County Girl Scout troops 1522 and 2755 to clean Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai.
“Thank you to all of the volunteers who participated in this year’s Great Brookhaven Cleanup,” Romaine said. “The pandemic canceled last year’s event, but people came back enthusiastically and in large numbers. It was a success because of the community members who have dedicated themselves to keeping Brookhaven clean every day of the year.”
Smith’s Hotel was established in 1870 and located in Port Jefferson on the east side of Main Street, a short distance from the waterfront.
William R. Thompson began leasing the venerable hotel in 1908 from its longtime proprietor Lizzie Smith before actually buying the establishment in 1910.
Besides renaming the hotel the Ardencraig Inn, Thompson made other changes at the premises, adding guest rooms, enlarging the dining room, installing Blau-Gas lighting and introducing sanitary plumbing.
More important, Thompson recognized how automobiles were revolutionizing travel, giving people the freedom to explore the open road, and creating a new class of tourists no longer dependent on ships and trains.
To tap into this burgeoning market and popularize the Ardencraig, Thompson geared his publicity toward motorists.
The inn was featured in travel guides favored by car aficionados such as The American Motorist and The Automobile Blue Book.
With the ferry Park City running between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson, the Ardencraig was described in the Connecticut press as being ideally located to host “automobile parties” from New England.
A car enthusiast himself, Thompson was a member of the Automobile Club of Port Jefferson, which sponsored both the 1910 and 1911 Hill Climbs on the village’s East Broadway.
As a service for the motorists who were registered at the Ardencraig, Thompson had a garage constructed behind the inn. Besides providing accommodations for chauffeurs, the garage was manned day and night.
While welcoming motorists to his hotel, Thompson did not neglect tourists who had arrived in Port Jefferson by rail or yacht. Events such as Old Home Week in 1911 brought thousands to the village, numbers of whom stayed at the Ardencraig.
Advertised in Port Jefferson’s newspapers as a “popular place for particular people,” the inn was also known among villagers for family gatherings, wedding receptions, card parties and balls.
After years of success, the Ardencraig’s run of good luck ended on March 2, 1920, when the inn was destroyed by a fire that purportedly originated with a defective flue. The hotel’s staff and guests, as well as Thompson and his wife, all escaped the burning building.
Following the blaze, Thompson presented plans to replace the Ardencraig with a 75-room hotel and an adjoining 1,300-seat theater, but without a sufficient number of investors, the project died.
Undaunted, Thompson built a new business on the site of his former hotel. Opening in 1920, the Ardencraig Bowling Alleys and Billiard Parlor was located on the north side of Arden Place. Known as the “Annex,” the structure featured three Brunswick alleys and four billiard tables on the first floor and a rooming house on the second.
The Ardencraig Alleys flouted the prohibition laws, leading to Thompson’s arrest in both 1922 and 1923 for illegally selling alcoholic beverages. After more violations of the Volstead Act, a judge granted a padlock injunction closing the business for one year.
The Ardencraig Alleys reopened in 1924, but without Thompson as the proprietor. He had leased the establishment to managers who had pledged to respect the dry laws.
Thompson left Port Jefferson in 1926 and became the treasurer of the Long Island Association. His move triggered more talks about building a hotel on the Ardencraig site, but again nothing materialized.
Meanwhile, the renamed Ardencraig Bowling and Billiard Academy operated under a succession of managers but closed because of lagging business. There was a call to purchase the property and use the building as a community center, but the proposal fell on deaf ears.
Although there was little interest in developing a hotel or community center on the Ardencraig site, the land was valued for other purposes.
The Port Jefferson Fire Department often used the empty Ardencraig property to hold its annual summer carnivals.
Because of its prized location in downtown Port Jefferson, the vacant Ardencraig space was also seen as an ideal location for a public parking lot.
In 1937, the Port Jefferson Merchants Association leased the Ardencraig site from its owner, Mary Thompson, the widow of William R. Thompson.
A portion of the Ardencraig property was quickly transformed into a parking lot, which opened in 1937 to applause from shoppers and shopkeepers alike.
Following Mary Thompson’s death in 1942, the Ardencraig property was sold at auction with the winning bid going to Port Jefferson’s First National Bank.
Under the Bank’s direction, the dilapidated “Annex” was demolished. The east end of the Ardencraig property was then graded and opened for free parking in 1943.
In 1948, Robert F. Wells purchased the Ardencraig property, where he built an Oldsmobile showroom and service center. Opening in 1949, the dealership itself was located on the corner of Main Street and Arden Place. A parking area for customers and a used car lot was to its rear.
With the closing of the Oldsmobile agency, the space was home to a Gristede’s supermarket and later The GAP. As of this writing, the building is unoccupied. The balance of the former Ardencraig property is now the site of a Port Jefferson Village parking lot.
Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.
The Barnum Avenue parking lot is officially open and ready to be used.
As part of the village’s downtown revitalization project, the lot was upgraded to include 46 new parking spaces, an electric vehicle charging station and filtration system to mitigate flooding and stormwater runoff.
On Tuesday, May 11, village officials, along with the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and representatives from the county and state, celebrated its grand opening.
“We are very, very proud of this new parking lot,” said Mayor Margot Garant. “This is the first new parking lot in the Village of Port Jefferson in over 50 years. I think that’s amazing.”
And it started about six years ago when there was a vision to remove an eyesore and put in something new.
Located east of the Joe Erland baseball field, an old, vacant building was once located on the property.
The several-year-long process to remove the building, clean it up and turn it into a free municipal lot that is futuristic in its amenities finally came to fruition in March of this year.
The new 32,000-square-foot lot includes 46 new spaces oriented diagonally, including two handicap spots and two EV charging stations. The lot has a one-way entrance, to help alleviate traffic congestion.
Almost entirely technology-driven, the lot is free to everyone — all a visitor has to do is register with the barcode scan.
“We’re trying to encourage most of our merchants and their employees to park here for free to keep all the high proximity spots available for patrons,” she said. “That way, they can have a better turnover at your shop or your restaurant.”
Garant added that last week, the village had over 4,800 parking sessions with a revenue just under $12,000.
“That means we are back to a pre-pandemic number, folks,” she said.
The lot came to be thanks to a $200,000 jumpstart grant from Suffolk County back in 2019. The funding also helped make the lot eco-friendly, adding bioswales bordering the foot entrance on Barnum Avenue to aid in flood mitigation. Those bioswales help with stormwater runoff.
“Being conscious of stormwater runoff, and what it can do — the damage it can cause to the harbor — and making sure that when we add asphalt, we are collecting the water and it’s not bringing contaminants into our bays and waterways, that was critically important to this project,” said Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket).
Overnight parking not permitted and will be tracked.
It’s finally here.
Mather Hospital announced this week its new cardiac catheterization lab is completed and is ready to serve patients — as soon as it receives its final Department of Health inspection and approval in the upcoming weeks.
According to Nursing Director for Cardiac Cath Services Nicole Hoefler, Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson is joining the few places on Long Island in hosting a cardiac catheterization lab to provide less invasive heart-related services to patients who need it.
“We’re here to basically help prevent serious heart attacks,” Hoefler said. “And prevent heart attacks that might be evolving.”
The labs specialize in using X-ray guided catheters to help open blockages in coronary arteries or repair the heart in minimally invasive procedures. These range from stenting to angioplasty and bypass surgery — that are less traumatic to the body and speed recovery.
“Sometimes, if a patient had a positive stress test, they’ll come in here so we can see what’s causing that pain they might have been having,” she noted. “Sometimes they need to have it for surgery clearance, like if they saw something on their EKG.”
The two new state-of-the-art rooms were approved by Northwell Health last year, alongside three other Northwell facilities. Construction began on the new spaces in August 2020, completing and turning over to the clinical staff on April 19.
By adding the two labs into Mather, Hoefler said they can help save a life.
“Every minute that passes when you’re having a heart attack slows your heart muscle,” she said. “So not having to transfer the patient out, and just bring them in from upstairs will be life changing.”
Both rooms will be able to accommodate approximately 20 patients per day with the 12 hours the labs are open.
The addition of the more than 3,000 square foot space is just another space that Mather can now provide patients better.
“I think the community just loves Mather,” Hoefler said. “Having this service
is just another reason to come here.”
The vacant concession stand at East Beach will be the new home to a taco shack this summer.Prohibition East Beach is planned to opened on Memorial Day or shortly after, weather permitting.
Lisa Harris, owner of Prohibition in the village, said she found out she won the bid last week after she submitted a thorough plan, complete with renderings and a menu.
With the recent upgrades that included a sand dredging and a new retaining wall to the resident-only beach — located by the Port Jefferson Country Club — Harris thinks a food stand will be the icing on the cake in revitalizing the local beach.
“The beach was always popular, but I think because people were staying home for the past year, the beaches have become so important,” she said. “I love seeing the village investing energy and resources into a space like this.”
Back in April, the village put out a call to food and beverage providers encouraging them to submit proposals for a snack concession stand. Mayor Margot Garant said the spot has been vacant for close to 25 years.
Over the years, the village tried to encourage residents to utilize the beach, including family fun nights that never stuck.
“I’m looking forward to bringing back some of the traditions that bring our families together down at the beach,” Garant said. “Now, we’re open and we want to see people come in, come back and enjoy the beach in the summertime.”
Garant added this year is a “trial year.”
While other business owners inquired about the stand, during the bid process, Harris seemed like the best fit thanks to her involvement in the village and owning of several businesses in Upper Port. Along with Prohibition, she owns Torte Jeff, the pie shop, which recently combined with her donut store, East Main & Main.
That’s why she’s calling the stand Prohibition East Beach.
“Prohibition has a good reputation [on Main Street],” she said. “And I worked really hard at maintaining that.”
So, making this small shack an extension of her popular bar and restaurant was a no-brainer — and the Main Street spot will act as the commissary to the new space. All the food will be cooked there and then sold out of the East Beach location.
Her concept is a casual taco spot with a beachy vibe. The concession stand will be cleaned up, with benches and bistro tables next to it.
Harris plans on stringing lights, giving it a cool, laid back atmosphere. She wants to set up speakers and maybe have some steel drum music down the line.
“I love this beach,” she said. “Every time I come down here, I always wondered why there wasn’t a beach concession down here. So, I’m really excited about it.”
The candidates are offically on the ballot.
Last month, local resident and nonprofit owner Melissa Paulson announced she would be running against incumbent Margot Garant.
Village clerk Barbara Sakovich confirmed that as of Wednesday, May 12, Paulson officially dropped out of the race.
However, Barbara Ransome, director of operations with the Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, announced this week she would be running on the mayor ticket, with fellow chamber president, Suzanne Velazquez.
For the village’s election on June 15, the candidates are now as follows:
Margot Garant and Barbara Ransome for mayor; incumbents Kathianne Snaden, Stanley Loucks and newcomer Suzanne Velazquez are running for two trustee positions.
Cedarwold Farm was a dairy that operated in Port Jefferson Station from 1892-1908.
The farm was located about one third of a mile west of today’s Port Jefferson Railroad Station, south of Sheep Pasture Road, in what was then called Echo.
The dairy included about 100 acres of pasture and 25 acres of woodland, fruit trees, a natural pond, an icehouse, a farmhouse, barns and outbuildings.
The property was comprised of two tracts: the Emmet B. Darling plot, purchased by Ebenezer Reeve in September 1892, and the Walter Jones parcel, bought by Reeve in April 1899.
Reeve was born in Laurel, New York, on May 8, 1851, and began farming at an early age. He married Sarah W. Torrey of nearby Mattituck in 1878; their daughter, Emma, was born the following year.
Reeve came to Port Jefferson Station in 1886 and quickly became well known among its community members. Besides working as the overseer at Darling’s farm, Reeve also ran the dairy’s milk route, which put him in almost daily contact with local residents.
Following Darling’s death in 1887, Reeve leased the farm from the Darling estate, later purchasing the property from the guardian of Darling’s daughter. Now the owner of a dairy that he had managed for years, Reeve gave his property a distinctive name, Cedarwold Farm, the “wold” an English term for an open, hilly area.
Not limiting himself to dairying, Reeve grew potatoes and turnips at Cedarwold, harvested ice from its pond and took in boarders. He also rented portions of the farm to groups that held outdoor events on the property. The location was especially popular among officials of the Long Island Rail Road who traveled to Port Jefferson by train, capping their outings with clambakes at Cedarwold.
Active in local affairs, Reeve was a member of Port Jefferson Lodge No. 627, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Port Jefferson Presbyterian Church, the Echo Progressive Society and the Port Jefferson Gun Club. He had also served as a deputy sheriff in Echo and as a trustee of the Echo Public School.
Reeve died on June 7, 1908, and was buried in Port Jefferson’s Cedar Hill Cemetery. His widow later moved to Connecticut to live with her daughter, Mrs. John Bossen.
Cedarwold Farm was sold in 1910, changed hands several times over the years and had various uses. Portions of the property were once occupied by a sand mine, an asphalt plant, a turkey farm and a landscaping business, but more recently by now idle Lawrence Aviation Industries, a manufacturer of titanium sheeting for the aeronautics industry.
Reeves Road, which connects Port Jefferson’s Main Street with Sheep Pasture Road, is a reminder of Ebenezer Reeve, his idyllic farm and Long Island of yesteryear.
Kenneth Brady has served as the Port Jefferson Village Historian and president of the Port Jefferson Conservancy, as well as on the boards of the Suffolk County Historical Society, Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council and Port Jefferson Historical Society. He is a longtime resident of Port Jefferson.
The Comsewogue Warriors struck first in a home game against Bayport Blue Point when Shannon Harrington’s shot found its mark in the opening minutes but the Phantom’s stood on the gas scoring several unanswered goals to top the Warriors 12-5, May 8.
It was Mackenzie Beck’s penalty shot that stretched the net to halt three straight goals by the Phantoms 12-minutes in, to trail 3-2. Bayport Blue Point rattled off three more before Comsewogue’s Danielle McGuire scored to trail 6-3.
Bayport Blue Point outscored the Warriors in the second half to secure the win in the Div II contest.
The win lifts BBP to 3-0 as the loss drops Comsewogue to 1-2 in the early going.
The Warriors are back in action when they travel to West Babylon May 13. Game time is 4 p.m.
Photos by Bill Landon
On May 18, the Comsewogue Board of Education will elect three members to the board for a three-year term — commencing July 1 of this year.
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell worked in the Comsewogue School District for 47 years as a secretary before retiring.
“I just feel that I can give back to the district now, and I’m hoping to make a difference,” she said.
Mitchell retired last August, and she said she would still be working if it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 73-year-old said she was concerned about the virus impacting her or her family so she decided it would be in her best interest to retire.
“I didn’t want to retire,” she said. “I enjoyed working in this district. I know so many people, teachers, administrators, students. I developed a bond with a lot of people in the district and I just feel I want to give back.”
Mitchell’s late husband was on the board for 27 years, and all three of her children attended district schools from kindergarten through senior year.
“Our whole life was centered around the district,” she said. “I miss it, I really miss it.”
As a first-time candidate, she said that between raising a family and working at Comsewogue, she has been in the district for 50 years.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” she said. “I’ve seen the good, I’ve seen the bad, and I think on the upswing, we’re at a good place right now. And I want to help to continue it.”
Mitchell said her main concern right now is the COVID-19 situation.
“Our seniors missed out on so much last year,” she said. “I felt so sorry for those kids. And I think our administration has handled it beautifully. I think if we spoke to many of the parents in the community, they would agree. They’ve gone above and beyond to make sure that our students get what they need.”
She said she also wants to make sure all Comsewogue graduates have the best support possible to make sure they’re prepared for the real world upon graduation.
“I really think that our district is one of the best around and I want to continue that,” she said.
Margaret Mitchell did not provide a photo.
Corey Prinz
Although Corey Prinz grew up in Wantagh, he has been a resident of the Comsewogue community for over 15 years now.
“I am still a new person around here,” he said. “Which is a great sign of the community, overall.”
Up for reelection, Prinz said most of his term has been emergency based.
“My whole focus has been, ‘Let’s protect the kids, let’s find a way to get them learning and move forward,’” he said. “This district has done a lot in the last 10 or 15 years, and I think we’ve gotten a little complacent.”
Prinz feels the district can continue to strive for greatness.
“I’d like to see us continue to remember that we can do better, not because we’re doing badly, but because we can do better,” he said. “My caveat has always been we’re trying to create good humans here. Right? So, let’s make more of them.”
A commercial banker by day and father of two, Prinz has a wife who is a teacher in the district. His main goal is to get kids back to school safely and full time again, as well as providing more social and emotional support for students and staff.
“COVID has affected a lot of people in different ways,” he said. “We have to help the kids through this, the kids who have lost their college opportunities because of this.”
But that all stems from his No. 1 goal of teaching students at Comsewogue to be of good character.
“I think the most important thing is I want people to be good people,” he said. “And it starts with our kids. We need to be reminded to focus on our children to be better-rounded people. There’s opportunity here, we just have to decide to use it.”
Richard Rennard
Rick Rennard is seeking reelection for the Comsewogue Board of Education, after finishing his second full term as a trustee.
After being on the board for seven years, he said he wants to continue all the projects he and the board have worked on.
“I think it’s important to continue the work that we’ve started, that I’ve been involved in over the last seven years,” he said. “From the commitment to our Middle States accreditation, to the creation of our project-based learning programs that are really starting to take off now, I think that everything we’ve been doing has been really great.”
Rennard has been a resident in Comsewogue for 16 years, and is a married father of three children who all attend schools within the district. He is a social studies teacher in the Middle Country school district by day.
He said that facing the continuous challenges of the coronavirus and the shutdown last year, he wants to make sure the district’s buildings continue to stay safe.
“I want to continue to serve our community and get us back to a hopefully full reopening this fall,” he said. “I plan on continuing my policy of making decisions that seem rooted in what’s best for the kids in our district, and just to continue to use that as my guideline for when we have to make decisions — what’s best for them and go forward with it.”
Rennard said his favorite thing about being a board member is seeing how much students within the district progress.
“That’s really the most rewarding part about it,” he said. “It’s to see that our kids turn around and give back to the community.”
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