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Port Jefferson

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Jenna Kavaler and Brett Chizever share a light-hearted moment in ‘Beau Jest.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.

By Michael Tessler

Ever leave a theater feeling lighter than air? Theatre Three’s production of “Beau Jest” left me with this happy sensation I haven’t yet been able to shake.

Mary Powers masterfully directs an all-star cast in a perfectly paced stage comedy. Originally written by James Sherman, this show can best be described as a love child between “Fiddler on the Roof” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”  And let me tell you, it makes for a beautiful combination.

Sarah Goldman, the show’s protagonist (and arguably antagonist) is the kind of girl my grandmother would have loved for me to date. Pretty, smart, successful, and most importantly … Jewish. Like so many children she’s torn between pleasing her parents while being true to herself. Played by the hard-not-to-love Jenna Kavaler, you can’t help but sympathize with this love-struck young woman whose biggest fear is hurting the ones she loves most.

From left, Bob Kaplan, Scott Joseph Butler, Ginger Dalton, Brett Chizever and Jenna Kavaler in a scene from ‘Beau Jest.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
From left, Bob Kaplan, Scott Joseph Butler, Ginger Dalton, Brett Chizever and Jenna Kavaler in a scene from ‘Beau Jest.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.

Sarah is romantically involved with a man opposite of the “nice Jewish boy” stereotype. Chris Kringle is a marketing executive and Sarah’s secret boyfriend whom she hides from her overly traditional and protective family. Played with immense talent by Steven Uihlein, Chris just can’t seem to catch a break. As if being named after the North Pole’s most popular resident wasn’t bad enough, he finds himself in love with someone who cannot love him back — openly that is. 

To make matters worse, Sarah finds herself hounded by her parents to the point where she invents a fake boyfriend. What started as a tiny lie quickly snowballs into an impossible to contain catastrophe. Her pretend boyfriend isn’t just Jewish, but he’s also a doctor, and a surgeon at that! Desperate to maintain the facade, Sarah hires Bob, a struggling actor turned male escort who is given the impossible task of pretending to be Sarah’s Jewish surgeon boyfriend. Brett Chizever is brilliant in his portrayal of Bob. Chizever can best be described as a master of comedic timing and expressions. He’ll have you in stitches before the show’s end.

Sarah’s mother, Miriam Goldman, is played to perfection by the hysterical and enormously talented Ginger Dalton, who was for me the highlight of the show. To say she is dramatic would be an understatement and a disservice to the beautifully accurate portrayal of an overly concerned Jewish mother. Who knew a person could sigh with such fervor? Dalton offers a magnificent performance and is complimented perfectly by her equally talented partner Bob Kaplan who portrays her husband Abe, a Tevye-like patriarch stuck in the wrong century but nonetheless endearing.

From left, Bob Kaplan, Ginger Dalton and Brett Chizever in a scene from ‘Beau Jest.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
From left, Bob Kaplan, Ginger Dalton and Brett Chizever in a scene from ‘Beau Jest.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.

Last, but certainly not least, is Sarah’s brother Joel, a divorced psychiatrist played by Scott Joseph Butler whose dry humor blends perfectly with this already well-rounded show. Butler’s subtle comedy is so effective and peaks in the second act during one particularly hysterical tirade.

“Beau Jest” succeeds beautifully as it establishes itself as a living sitcom, complete with a live studio audience, some great inside jokes, and a cast you can’t help but fall in love with. Each knock on the door welcomes a new whirlwind of comedy, drama and beautifully scripted madness; the perfect way to spend an evening with someone you love.

Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson, will present “Beau Jest” through May 7. Tickets range from $15 to $30. For more information, call 631-928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.

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Middle Country's Solyman Hatami connects with the ball. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Despite wind-whipped conditions, the Middle Country boys’ tennis team managed to pull out its second win of the season over Port Jefferson, 5-2, to earn the No. 3 spot in League VI behind undefeated Longwood and Mount Sinai.

The Mad Dogs, at 2-1, fell 7-0 to Longwood last week, and the Royals, at 1-5, had their hands full again with Middle County, as Port Jefferson fell to its opponent, 4-3, in the season opener.

Port Jefferson head coach Dennis Christofor said the weather made a win difficult, but added that his team has played in worse conditions before, just last week against Comsewogue.

“It’s a matter of who gets more first serves in the box — and they don’t even have to be hard,” he said. “The faster you can get the ball to the other guy’s backhand the faster you’re going to win the point, because at this level, they tend to have weaker backhands than forehands.”

Nick Kafeiti sends the ball over the net in his doubles match. Photo by Bill Landon
Nick Kafeiti sends the ball over the net in his doubles match. Photo by Bill Landon

Port Jefferson sophomore Eli Doyle had his hands full as he battled Middle Country sophomore Brandon Kittle. He won the first set 4-6, but dropped sets two and three, 6-2.

“In conditions like these consistency is the key,” Doyle said. “[You need to be] placing the ball away from your opponent.”

Middle Country senior and four year varsity player Solyman Hatami won his match, defeating his opponent 2-1.

“You need to take into consideration the elements — the wind direction and the chill factor,” Hatami said. “In addition to the athletic aspect, tennis is a very skill-based sport and part of that skill is thinking.”

Port Jefferson junior Nick Kafeiti said each end of the court presented difficult conditions.

“You have to adapt to it — knowing the wind direction makes you play the ball differently,” he said. “We did OK today.”

Middle Country head coach Mike Steinberg was most impressed by seventh-grader Alejandro Perez, whose presence on the court, he said, is well beyond his years.

“It’s one of those sports that when you start young, it’s such an advantage over someone who just picks up the racket for the first time,” he said.

But Christofor said two of his juniors, who have picked up the racket for the very first time this season, have been instrumental in bringing team strategy to an otherwise individual sport.

Alejandro Perez serves the ball. Photo by Bill Landon
Alejandro Perez serves the ball. Photo by Bill Landon

“Nick Kafeiti and Dan Strehle play football and soccer,” he said. “They already have that team mentality and are able to infuse that here. They’ve taught some of the other players that are one-sport athletes how to communicate and to identify their opponents’ weakness, and more importantly, how to exploit that. And that’s a big thing with our team being so young.”

Port Jefferson’s roster is made up of two seventh-graders, two eight-graders, two ninth-graders and five tenth-graders. The team has just five upperclassmen, and Kafeiti and Strehle are two of them.

Middle Country sophomore Zachary Ferrari, who plays football for Newfield, agreed that the conditions were the biggest challenge.

“When you play in this wind it’s very hard to keep the ball inbounds, so it is frustrating at times,” he said. “And we worked on it.”

Struggling to keep the ball in play, Middle Country junior Tyler Berns said he needed to overestimate his shots to compensate for the wind, and put more topspin on the ball. He and his doubles partner, sophomore Joe Cunningham, won both sets, but Berns said he knows he needs to keep a level head.

“Coach is always telling us that tennis is such a mental game,” he said. “You can’t get too confident with today’s win because you never know who you’re going to face next.”

Middle Country hits the road to take on Mount Sinai today, at 4 p.m., while Port Jefferson hosts Mount Sinai tomorrow at 4 p.m.

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An old map of the Suassa Park neighborhood shows some streets slated to be repaved this season, including an erroneously named Longfellow Lane. File image

Streets in the Suassa Park section of Port Jefferson Village will get a fresh coat of asphalt this paving season.

During a meeting on Monday night, the village board of trustees approved work on Owasco Drive, Emerson Street, Michigan Avenue, Lowell Place, Whittier Place, Hawthorne Street and Longfellow Lane, as well as the half of California Avenue within village boundaries. Medford-based contractor Suffolk Asphalt Corp. will pave those roads on the western side of the village, south of West Broadway, for a cost not to exceed $180,000.

Trustee Larry LaPointe said the streets in that section of the village are “badly in need of repaving.”

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The Port Jefferson power plant sits along the edge of Port Jefferson Harbor. Photo by Elana Glowatz

A provision in the new state budget sets aside $30 million that could support communities where a power plant has closed and stopped paying property taxes.

According to the budget bill that state lawmakers agreed upon last week, that sum would be available for a local government, school district or special district — such as a library or fire district — where an electric generating facility has stopped operating, causing a reduction of at least 20 percent of the money it owed through property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes, commonly known as PILOTs.

There are limits to the provision, however: The bill says the New York State Urban Development Corporation will distribute the relief funds on a first-come, first-served basis and will not offer the support to a specific group for more than five years. Additionally, in the first of the five years, the corporation will not award funding equal to more than 80 percent of the local entity’s lost revenue.

Port Jefferson Village could possibly be on the receiving end of some of the $30 million in the pot, dubbed the “electric generation facility cessation mitigation fund.” That community’s power plant — which company National Grid owns and operates, and sells the power generated to utility PSEG Long Island for distribution — is old and runs on antiquated technology. For the past several years, village residents have waited to learn the fate of the plant, whether it will be reconstructed to keep serving Long Island or dismantled.

A lot hangs in the balance for the plant’s neighbors: Property taxes from the site fund more than 40 percent of the local school district’s budget and a significant portion of the Port Jefferson Village budget.

“We’d soak up a lot of it,” village Trustee Larry LaPointe said about the relief fund, noting that his government’s budget gets about $1 million in property taxes from the local power plant in addition to the school district’s hefty share. “But we certainly appreciate any efforts” to help mitigate the impact on the community.

The state budget provision specifies that local entities seeking assistance, once a power plant’s owner serves official notice it plans to retire the facility, will be helped in the order they apply for relief, but only after the facilities go offline. The urban development corporation will decide the amount of the annual assistance payments based upon how much revenue is lost.

Port Jefferson schools currently get more than $18 million from the plant, between taxes and PILOTs. Superintendent Ken Bossert said, “We are hoping that a resolution can be found that will not place an unfair burden on the home and business owners … in order to maintain the excellence of the school district.”

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Port Jefferson High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz

Port Jefferson students lost a young classmate on Wednesday night, according to a message from the school district superintendent.

In a letter to parents and community members on Thursday, Ken Bossert wrote that ninth-grader Dylan Berger had died, and asked people to respect the privacy of Dylan’s family as they grieved his loss.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time,” the superintendent wrote.

It was not immediately clear how the student died.

Dylan was on the Royals wrestling team, competing at the Suffolk County championship this year.

According to Bossert, the school district held a meeting for the students in Dylan’s grade on Thursday morning and is making counselors available to students to help them “cope with this tragedy.”

“Each student is a value member of our educational community and the death of a young person can have a profound effect on the entire school community,” Bossert wrote. “When such loss occurs, students and staff will react in different ways. Any reaction is normal in the grief process and can range from withdrawal to anger. I encourage you to speak with your children about how they are feeling and how to cope with the loss of a classmate. The most important thing we can do is to be supportive and encourage an open expression of feelings.”

The district also plans to provide resources to parents to help support grieving students, he said.

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Above, Chris McCrary is running for a spot on the Comsewogue library board. His opponent, Richard Evans, did not provide a photo to the library. File photo

Local voters approved their libraries’ budgets on Tuesday night and elected a new community member to serve on one district’s board of trustees.

Comsewogue Public Library residents elected Chris McCrary to their board with 116 votes, as compared to challenger Richard Evans’ 45 votes, Library Director Debbie Engelhardt said in an email. Both men had been vying for the seat of library board President Ali Gordon, who declined to run for re-election.

Gordon is also a member of the Comsewogue Board of Education.

With his win, McCrary, a 49-year-old high school biology teacher and neighborhood soccer and lacrosse coach, will join the board in July for a five-year term.

Related: Library budgets going down, trustee race heating up

Comsewogue voters also passed the library’s $5.4 million budget, 149-25. That 2016-17 budget will raise taxes almost $0.13 for every $100 of  a home’s assessed value.

Over in Port Jefferson, voters also passed their own budget, 110-10, according to a message posted on the Port Jefferson Free Library’s website.

That $4.2 million spending plan will roughly keep taxes flat for library district residents.

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Superintendent Ken Bossert. Photo by Eric Santiago

Superintendent Ken Bossert announced on Friday that the 2015-16 school year would be his last with Port Jefferson.

According to a letter distributed to the community, he was appointed the new superintendent in Elwood, and plans to submit his letter of resignation to the Port Jefferson school board at its April meeting.

Bossert, a Port Jefferson resident, took over the helm five years ago. Financially, it has been a time of uncertainty, as the school district waits, along with the rest of the community, to learn the fate of the aging local power plant, whose property taxes fund almost half of the school district’s budget.

In addition to receiving Bossert as a new arrival, during his tenure parents and teachers have also seen changes in leadership at each school building.

At the elementary school level, the district brought in Principal Tom Meehan. When former middle and high school principal Roseann Cirnigliaro retired, the district brought in Antonio Santana at the middle school and Matthew Murphy at the high school, both of whom have since moved on to other schools.

Students now have Principal Christine Austen in the high school and Principal Robert Neidig at the middle school.

Bossert said in his farewell letter to the community on Friday, “With the current leadership team in place, I know that the district is in very capable hands.”

He called working in Port Jefferson “an honor and a privilege” and thanked the students, parents and staff for their support over the years.

Bossert will make the jump to Elwood in July. The school board there has appointed him to a five-year term as their superintendent, according to a board agenda posted on the Elwood district website.

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Above, Chris McCrary is running for a spot on the Comsewogue library board. His opponent, Richard Evans, did not provide a photo to the library. File photo

Comsewogue and Port Jefferson readers will vote on their libraries’ budgets on April 5, as well as one board trustee.

Ali Gordon, the library board president in Comsewogue who also serves on the school board, is not running for another term and two candidates are vying for the library seat she will vacate at the end of June, following a seven-year stint on that board.

Richard Evans, 50, is running for the five-year seat because, “I would like to be of service to my community,” according to a candidate profile on the Comsewogue library website. He listed his occupation as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service, saying that role has given him experience interacting with the public.

In addition, he said, “My experience as a computer forensic examiner gives me insight and growth of electronic media and its uses.”

He has lived in the district since 2011, and is an assistant coach with the Terryville Soccer Club.

Chris McCrary, 49, on the other hand, is running because, “Comsewogue Public Library has been a huge part of my life since I joined the summer reading club in 1971.”

According to his own candidate profile, the longtime resident and high school biology teacher wants to share his passion for reading and show kids “the tremendous resource they have in our own backyard.”

McCrary’s name may be familiar to some voters — in addition to coaching soccer and lacrosse in the area over the years, he has run a couple of times for the Comsewogue school board, albeit unsuccessfully.

Comsewogue budget

As residents vote for a trustee, they will also be asked to cast ballots for a proposed $5.4 million budget.

While that number represents a decrease from last year’s budget total, taxes would go up slightly, mainly because the library would pull less money from its reserves to fund the budget. According to a library brochure, the district is asking to collect 1 percent more in taxes in 2016-17 — a number significantly less than its state-mandated levy cap of 1.48 percent would allow.

If the budget passes, residents would pay almost $0.13 more for every $100 of their homes’ assessed values.

The library plans to spend more on its materials and programs next year and less on staffing and mandated expenses.

According to library Director Debbie Engelhardt, both library visits and overall circulation of library materials has increased since last year.

Port Jefferson budget

Over in Port Jefferson, the library is proposing a nearly $4.2 million budget, which also represents a decrease from the current year’s spending plan. In this library’s case, however, taxes would remain about the same in 2016-17.

According to a library brochure, Port Jefferson has seen savings from retirements. In addition, “a reasonable conclusion of collective bargaining negotiations also helps keep costs in line.”

One budget line that would increase is in programs, which would go up almost $18,000, while costs for books, audio and visual materials and periodicals would all decrease. The brochure said further movement toward cheaper digital formats has contributed to that shift.

If the budget is approved, each resident would pay about $12.54 for every $100 of a home’s assessed value.

Voting at the Comsewogue library on Terryville Road in Port Jefferson Station will take place on Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Polls will be open at the Port Jefferson library on Thompson Street from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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Erika Swyler will be the featured author at the local author panel. Photo by BJ Enright

By Melissa Arnold

It’s pretty common to hear a creative soul say wistfully, “Someday, I’m going to write my book.” If this sounds familiar, an event this weekend might give you the motivation you’re looking for.

The Port Jefferson Free Library invites writers of all kinds to join them on Sunday, April 3, for a discussion and meet and­ greet featuring five local authors.

The panel, titled “Writing: The Process Within” will explore all aspects of writing, from brainstorming to publishing and everything in between.

This is the first time in several years the library has hosted a panel like this, and librarian Salvatore J. Filosa hopes it will have wide appeal to the area’s budding community of writers.

“We have a local author collection comprised of people who have visited over the years, and it’s definitely growing. There are so many aspiring writers and people who appreciate writing nearby, and even a number of writing groups throughout the county,” Filosa said.

There is a wide range of experience among the panel’s five authors — some work day jobs while others write full time; some are traditionally published while others pursued self­-publishing; and they all have their own unique regimens and writing style.

Included on the panel are Stony Brook University creative writing professor Kevin Clouther; award­-winning children’s book writer Thomas Whaley; journalist, playwright and author Joe Beck; non­fiction writer, novelist and history buff Ralph Brady; and novelist Erika Swyler.

Swyler, who now lives in Sound Beach, has earned national attention over the past year with the debut of her first novel, “The Book of Speculation.” Set in a fictional Long Island town, the book follows a young librarian who is sent a mysterious book that holds ominous, magical secrets about his troubled family’s past and future.

“The Book of Speculation” was featured as part of Barnes & Noble’s Discover program, and it was also named one of the best books of 2015 by both Amazon.com and Buzzfeed.

“It’s all very surreal,” Swyler said of the experience in a recent interview. “When you write a novel, you feel like it’s just going to sit in a drawer and only be read by your mom or your spouse. Knowing the book has gone so far is amazing.”

As a child, Swyler’s parents encouraged their children to explore both the arts and sciences equally. Growing up, Erika was an enthusiastic reader who frequented the Port Jefferson Free Library.

Her journey to becoming a novelist was a winding one. ­­Swyler attended theater school and spent several years acting and writing scripts. Eventually, she said, those ideas became too big for the stage, which led her to pursue short stories and novels. Later, she was contacted by an agent who discovered one of her short stories online. The novel was published nearly a decade after that.

“Read as much as you can and write as much as you can,” urges Swyler. “There’s never going to be a moment where you think, ‘Oh, this is perfect!’ The important thing is to get the idea down on paper.”

The author panel will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 3, at the Port Jefferson Free Library, 100 Thompson Street. Light refreshments will be provided. The event is free but registration is requested by calling 631-473-0022 or visit www.portjefflibrary.org.

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A map from the early 1960s includes proposed lots for a Port Jefferson parking district. Main Street runs down the middle. Photo from Port Jefferson Village historical archive

Woodard Square. Crystal Lake Square. If Port Jefferson residents hadn’t banded together to oppose their town, those would be the names of parking lots paved through the middle of a few downtown blocks.

In the early 1960s, Brookhaven Town officials had proposed a parking district in lower Port that would have called for several buildings to be demolished to make way for asphalt, according to the village historical archive. But Port Jefferson residents came together as a property owners association to defeat the idea.

A 1961 map depicting the proposed parking district shows a large lot called Loper-McNamara Square in the location where Port Jefferson’s biggest parking lot, referred to as the “Meadow lot,” is now; a Woodard Square lot on the south side of East Main Street, where it meets Main Street and where the post office and a few other businesses currently stand; a Davis Square lot at residential space between South and Spring streets, near High Street; a lot called Round the Block Square, where the village’s Traders Cove parking lot is now; and a Crystal Lake Square lot on the south side of Maple Place.

The plan was abandoned after homeowners, who were then living in an unincorporated village, reacted negatively to it and formed The Property Owners Association of Port Jefferson, according to the village archive.

A drawing depicts the proposed Woodard Square lot on East Main Street, with the old Baptist church pictured back center, as part of an idea for a Port Jefferson parking district. Photo from Port Jefferson Village historical archive
A drawing depicts the proposed Woodard Square lot on East Main Street, with the old Baptist church pictured back center, as part of an idea for a Port Jefferson parking district. Photo from Port Jefferson Village historical archive

The town, under the direction of former Supervisor August Stout Jr. and later Supervisor Charles R. Dominy, held public meetings at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, warranting the property owners to publish flyers that were a proverbial call to arms for neighbors.

“Port Jeff will be sold down the river unless you attend the official public hearing on the parking district,” read one flyer, in relation to a March 21, 1962, meeting. “This is it. Everyone concerned with this problem and the future of Port Jeff must be there.”

Another flyer said the homeowners supported improvement, but said about the parking district proposal, “No, no, no.”

The property owners association that helped derail the parking plan also championed the village’s incorporation.

Later in the same year as that meeting, on a snowy Dec. 7, 1962, residents voted 689-361 to incorporate Port Jefferson.

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