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Great fun and games amid Culper Spy Day history

by Leah Dunaief - July 21, 2016

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This might sound peculiar since I am in the news business, but for over the past weekend I disconnected myself from all news reports. I was unplugged, you might say. Now this is a confession from an ultra news junkie. I’m normally so addicted that if I wake up in the middle of the night, I’ll switch on the bedside radio to catch up on what has happened since I went to sleep. But the past week, with the excruciating racist events and senseless killings, here and abroad, were more than I could process.

So I just turned off, or rather I didn’t turn anything on — not my radio, not the television, not the news apps on my cellphone. I didn’t even talk about the news with friends and neighbors.

What a luxury to be able to withdraw from global events for a couple of days.

I have a further antidote for all that has been happening in the world, and it’s even great fun to pursue. This Saturday is Culper Spy Day in Setauket, and it is the work of a number of local organizations committed to bringing history to life. The Culper spies, as you may know, were a small band of close friends who provided George Washington and the colonists with critically important information throughout the Revolutionary War at great risk to their lives. So engaging were their exploits, and so valuable to the eventual outcome of the war, that AMC has a cable TV drama, “Turn,” which has been drawing large audiences for three seasons to date. The series is what we call historical fiction, with the emphasis on fiction loosely — very loosely — based on real events. Those events belong to us because they are part of our local history and are a source of community pride.

This Saturday, July 23, you will be able to walk or bike or drive a designated route that offers views of key locations in the Culper story. There will be “colonists” in costume and signs along the way, helping the stories come alive. And we at Times Beacon Record have produced a multimedia map to enhance your experience. I refer to the newly released Three Village Map, complete with local roads and information from our business community. On this map is a QR code and also a link that, if you click on it with your mobile phone, will open up onto our website to seven different dramatizations of Culper stories — that we promise are historically accurate. In fact, the truth, we think, is more riveting than fiction, as we watch the dangerous exploits of these American heroes and heroines.

The actors in these episodes may be recognizable to you, and they do a fine job of conveying the gist of the story. We have used the services of a professional film crew, who shot the local scenes over the past several months. Community leaders introduce each film segment to set the scene. And in between episodes, if you are walking the route with your family, there are fun arcade-like games to play on your smartphone or laptop. The games, like the scenes, are our original creations and lots of fun. I predict your children — and you — will return to them many times to improve your score. I have.

Special thanks go to the participating organizations and their members for the vision to mount such an ambitious event and the enormous amount of time and effort that went into making history come alive. These include the Three Village Historical Society, The Ward Melville Heritage Organization and The Long Island Museum.

The Times Beacon Record has put together a special pullout within this week’s Arts & Lifestyles section with additional information about Culper Spy Day. Copies will be distributed for free in the historical society parking lot; our multimedia map is $3. Tickets for the more-than 16 attractions, including battle reenactments and colonial cooking demonstrations, are $25, with children under 12 free, from the historical society, WMHO Educational & Cultural Center in Stony Brook village and The Long Island Museum.

Have yourselves a worry free and wonderful day!

Veterans to receive vital info at Emma Clark library

by TBR Staff - July 15, 2016

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Emma-Sw — The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library. File photo by Elyse Sutton

By Rita J. Egan

A North Shore library is working hand-in-hand with its veterans to help them gain access to their necessary benefits.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in Setauket invites veterans across the community to attend an outreach program hosted by the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center at the library, which is scheduled for Thursday, July 14. Nancy McCaffrey, adult programs librarian at Emma Clark, said she sees many veterans visiting the library on a regular basis wearing their various armed forces hats and shirts. With the library’s help, she said she hoped those veterans could discover the various benefits available to them at the library’s outreach event.

“We assist veterans with enrollment, in getting health care through the VA system, we update their information, and sit with them one-on-one to discuss their personal benefits.”
—Wendy Robertson

She said the goal of the program — the first of its kind held at Emma Clark Library — would help to disseminate information to the veterans as well as help update their statuses.

“There are a lot of good programs out there for them that they may not be aware of,” McCaffrey said.

Every year, Wendy Robertson, community relations coordinator with the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center, reaches out to as many locations as possible on Long Island. She said the venues include American Legion halls, fire departments and public libraries on the island. The coordinator said the organization averages around 70 to 80 outreach programs a year in Suffolk and Nassau counties.

Robertson said libraries are a great location for such a program because while some veterans may not belong to a local post of The American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars, many tend to frequent libraries.

The coordinator said it’s important for veterans to regularly update their information with the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as educate themselves about new programs available to them. She said many have received information a long time ago, and a lot of it has changed.

“The outreach program is to offer information, and update veterans on what their benefits are, and what their entitlements are with the VA,” she said. “What we do is assist the veterans with enrollment, in getting health care through the VA system, we update their information, and we also sit with them one-on-one at the events to discuss their personal benefits.”

Robertson said that veterans’ needs change as they grow older, and the VA can assist them with things such as hearing aids or health attendants. The program will also allow veterans to learn about new health care options as well as find out about six locations on Long Island now offering VA care.

The coordinator said attendance to the events varies depending on the time of year and location. She said anywhere from a few hundred to a handful of veterans can attend.

“A lot of the veterans feel that they are taking away from somebody else, and that’s really the opposite, so that’s what our mission is to give them what they are entitled to,” Robertson said.

The Veterans Outreach Program will be held on Thursday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and there’s no need to register. However, veterans are asked to bring a copy of their DD214 or separation papers. The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library is located at 120 Main St. in Setauket. For more information, call 631-941-4080, ext. 107, or visit emmaclark.org or northport.va.gov.

A treasure among us: Frank Melville Memorial Park

by TBR Staff - July 8, 2016

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By Katelyn Winter

Peaceful. The word most commonly used to describe Setauket’s Frank Melville Memorial Park captures the tranquil nature scene you find around every bend in the trail.

With turtles sunning themselves on logs in the daytime and deer rustling in the brush just before dusk, the park is a sanctuary for wildlife. According to the park’s newsletter, the Four Harbors Audubon Society, which holds a bird walk at the park on the second Saturday of every month, recorded 76 bird species over the past year. One of the main reasons so many creatures can be seen is simply the atmosphere. On the sign at the entryway to the park, the informative bullet points end in a gentle reminder: Quiet please.

Frank Melville Memorial Park’s gates have been open to the public for 79 years. In 1937, the park was formally dedicated after years of work by Jennie MacConnell Melville and local philanthropist Ward Melville, the wife and son of Frank Melville. The park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 19, 2010.

The Melville family loved to spend their summers in the Stony Brook area and even had an estate, named Sunwood, built in Old Field in 1919. It is fitting that the place they designed and built to memorialize a loving father and husband would turn into such a picturesque and beloved park by Three Village residents and visitors alike.

“I’ve been coming here for almost ten years. It’s only her second year, though,” said Kaleigh Gorman, motioning to her dog, Dakota, when they were out walking one warm Wednesday evening. “I love how peaceful and scenic the park is and all the memories that are made here.”

There is definitely a lot of room to make memories. With 24 stunning acres to explore, the park is made up of a looping path around the pond and trails that wind through the bamboo forest and the meadows behind the Bates Barn, known locally as “the red barn.” Constructed in the 1920s, the wood for the barn came from buildings at Camp Upton near Yaphank, which was torn down after WWI. A community garden with its own apiary and the Bates House, which can be rented for private events, are just some of the park’s other charming features.

Frank Melville Memorial Park

Hours:

Open all year round from dawn to dusk

Address:

1 Old Field Road, Setauket

Phone number:

Park Office: 631-689-6146

Bates House: 631-689-7054

Website:

www.frankmelvillepark.org

Rules:

No professional photography without park pass

Dogs allowed on leash

Visitors can go for a jog around the pond, stopping to stretch out on the stone bridge with a view of both the pond and the marshlands, or sit on one of several benches that line the edge of the pond under large shade trees. Just to the side of that bridge is the Setauket Mill, a simulated mill with a working water wheel. Built in 1937, it was designed by architect Richard Haviland Smythe, who also designed the Stony Brook Village Center, to represent the long line of mills that had existed on the pond as early as 1660. The building now serves as the park’s headquarters.

You should feel free to bring in snacks for a picnic, but keep in mind to carry out what you carry in, and never feed the wildlife. And watch out! That wildlife also includes a snapping turtle who will snap at anything that moves too close to his algae-covered face. He’s been around for ages. When I was just five years old, I thought I was looking at an otter emerging from the pond, until my mother realized it was the snapping turtle reaching out his long neck for a snack. The snapping turtle is by no means dangerous, though: just one more fun local “resident” to encounter. In fact, local resident Janet Morseman says that one of the reasons she loves coming to the Setauket park is because of how “safe and peaceful” it is.

Whether you are out for a brisk walk, a jog or a leisurely stroll, the ground beneath your feet is always clean, and the park, which is located next to the post office and just a short walk from Patriot’s Rock and Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, is small and well-enough trafficked to feel very safe.

The rules and regulations of Frank Melville Memorial Park, a “Private Park for Public Enjoyment,” are fairly lax and rely on common courtesy. If you’d like to ride your bike there, for example, it’s requested you stay on the paved pathway. Fishing in the pond requires you to join the Mill Pond Fishing Club, with a catch-and-release only policy.

And as far as photography in the park goes, anything more than snapping a picture of your kids with a cell phone (say, having a friend take your family holiday card photo at the park) means signing up to become a Friend of the Park and getting a photography pass. It will cost you $100 annually to be able to shoot photos in the park.

Those aren’t the only ways to take advantage of Frank Melville Memorial Park, though — it has so much to offer. Classes on Tuesday mornings at the Bates Barn — usually at 11 a.m. — are free ways to learn new skills, such as watercolor painting or have fun with a craft or scavenger hunt. One new opportunity is Walk-Yoga-Meditate-Chocolate, which is exactly what it sounds like. At 7 p.m. on Tuesday evenings through August 30, pre-registered participants will meet up in the Bates House parking lot to take a walk, practice yoga, mediate, and indulge in some chocolate. The class, by suggested donation, benefits the Community Growth Center. To learn more or register you can visit www.CommunityGrowthCenter.org or call 631-240-3471.

For those who are looking for a different way to relax, check out Wind Down Sundays, the park’s summer concert series held at the Bates Barn on Sunday evenings at 5:15 p.m. through Aug. 28. A variety of musicians will play classical, rock, jazz, reggae, R&B, and pop, which means there’s at least one Sunday you won’t want to miss, depending on your taste! These events are family-friendly ways to get outside and experience something new in a beautiful location.

So pack up the kids, or the dog, or just a water bottle, and see what Frank Melville Memorial Park has in store for you. You may discover a favorite jogging trail, the perfect bench for reading, or the cutest baby turtle you’ve ever seen. There’s so much to do and see, no matter the time of day. And that’s why Frank Melville Memorial Park is a treasure among us.

Author Katelyn Winter is a rising junior at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., majoring in English and creative writing. She is from Stony Brook and hopes to one day work in the publishing industry.

Rocky Point residents arrested for string of burglaries

by Desirée Keegan - June 30, 2016

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Jack-Johnw — John Anastasiou and Jacklyn Lynch mug shots. Photos from SCPD

John Anastasiou and Jacklyn Lynch, of Rocky Point, were arrested for a string of home invasions that occurred from May 15 to June 21, in the 4th and 6th Precincts.

Following an investigation by Fourth Squad detectives who were following the burglary pattern during the past two months, Anastasiou, 33, was charged with nine counts of second-degree burglary, for breaking into homes in Saint James, Smithtown, Nesconset and Setauket, while Lynch, 32, was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property for pawning items stolen during the burglaries.

During the burglaries, money and jewelry were stolen.

The Poseidon Road residents were scheduled to be arraigned today at First District Court in Central Islip.

Setauket task force readies for second annual Harbor Day

by TBR Staff - June 17, 2016

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setauket5_risoliw — Setauket Harbor Day is an annual event on the North Shore. Photo by Susan Risoli

By Susan Risoli

The Setauket Harbor Task Force will host its second annual Harbor Day for the community, on Saturday, June 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free event will take place on Shore Road, at the Setauket Harbor dock and beach. This year’s theme is “celebrate the magic of the natural harbor.”

Task Force trustee George Hoffman said the all-volunteer, not-for-profit group works for cleaner water in the harbor. The organization grew out of shared concerns that the area was starting to degrade, Hoffman said, and because local people thought “it looked like the harbor was struggling.”

There will be free boat rides every half-hour as part of the event, Hoffman said. Visitors will be invited to experience touch tanks full of clams, hermit crabs and snails.

There will be kayak exhibits, talks about shoreline vegetation and marine animals and lessons on how to render the local environment with watercolors. Live music and food will be on hand.

The past year has been a busy one for the Setauket Harbor Task Force, Hoffman said, and now “we’ve become the go-to group for information about the water quality and marine environment in Setauket.” Members speak at meetings of local civic organizations, “telling people things they can do to keep the harbor clean.” The Task Force has been working with Brookhaven Town to reduce stormwater runoff from surrounding roads into the harbor, he said.

Hoffman said the Task Force applied in May, together with the town, for a $35,000 federal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue the harbor cleanup. The funds would also be used to make the water and its shoreline more accessible for recreational use. Hoffman said word will come in August as to whether or not the grant application is approved. “We know the town is strapped for resources,” Hoffman said. “So we try to come up with some resources, by partnering with them on grants.” The Task Force works closely with Brookhaven Town, Hoffman said, and “[Town] Supervisor Ed Romaine and Councilwoman Valerie Cartwright are partners with us.”

The Task Force plans to work with the town, Hoffman said, to unclog Setauket Pond, the body of water next to the Se-Port Deli on Route 25A, so that the pond can do a better job of straining pollutants out of stormwater runoff. “That drainage basin is so important to the health of the harbor,” he said. “The town of Brookhaven will dredge the pond and clean it, so that it can catch heavy metals and prevent them from going into the harbor.” And when invasive vegetation and dead brush is cleared from the pond, it will help make the harbor more visible to passers-by, Hoffman said.

In the past year, the Setauket Harbor Task Force was registered as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and was appointed to the Long Island Sound Study, an environmental research and restoration collaboration between the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the states of New York and Connecticut and concerned citizens.

Setauket Fire Department celebrates building overhaul

by TBR Staff - June 8, 2016

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SetauketFireDepartment_GroundBreaking_20160604KevinRedding03w — The Setauket Fire District breaks ground on Saturday. Photo by Kevin Redding

By Kevin Redding

Sound the alarms. On Saturday, June 4, Setauket Fire District officials broke ground on the community-approved New Era construction project, which aims to renovate and expand the current firehouse to provide safer, more efficient and “greener” emergency services. For more than a decade, the $14.9 million project had been through its fair share of planning and proposals, and after a long community effort to get it approved, a bond vote in June 2014 finally sealed the deal.

With construction finally starting, District Manager David Sterne, along with members of the Setauket Fire District and elected representatives, commemorated the slow but worthwhile journey toward the refurbished firehouse.

According to Sterne, the primary issue with the firehouse that’s being replaced is that it was built in 1935 and doesn’t meet the needs for today’s fire services, both in size and safety.

For example, today’s modern fire trucks are bigger due to safety necessities, like closed cabs and seat belts and so the project will provide properly sized apparatus bays for new trucks, as opposed to custom ordering the trucks to fit the smaller firehouse. Along with equipment upgrades and storage space, the firehouse also plans to install a partial green roof, a high-efficiency heating system, and solar methods for energy capture.

Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright and Supervisor Ed Romaine deliver their remarks at the Setauket Fire Department groundbreaking. Photo by Kevin Redding

“We have turned this into what we feel is a responsible and efficient project that will help us meet the needs for today and the next 50 to 75 years,” Sterne said. “Knowing the dedication of the men and women who volunteer their time to serve the community, to have the community come out and support this project was a reaffirmation of all the hard work that we do. We felt good in continuing to serve.”

With the sun beating down on a small gathering behind the firehouse, backhoes parked and surrounded by dirt hills, the ceremony was brief and to the point.

Among the speakers were Chairman Paul Paglia, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D- Port Jefferson Station).

Speaking first, Paglia said that this building not only symbolizes a renewed commitment to the community, but also underlines the community’s decision to invest in the future of the fire department. It’s a major endeavor, he said, but one that will give the town a sense of pride for what will come of it.

Romaine expressed his immense pride for the men and women who serve the department, and men and women who guide the district.

Englebright brought his attention to the design plans.

“Your planning has just been exemplary,” he said, facing the fire district officials. “The result is a design that is compatible with the historic neighborhood. We are in the core area of the town of Brookhaven historic district in Setauket and there was every chance on a project of this scale that we could lose our sense of place. But that is not being lost. It is being preserved. I think that the community will be very grateful when they see this rise out of the sand and still look familiar, while serving their needs to protect life and property as never before.”

At the end of the ceremony, the officials and representatives posed in hard hats and dug shovels into the dirt. Even though this will be an 18 to 24 month project, the completion of over a decade’s worth of work is in sight.

“A couple of years from now,” said Sterne, “we’ll be holding those giant scissors and having a big ribbon cutting [ceremony].”

Gallery North’s Still Life captures fleeting beauty

by Ellen Barcel - May 12, 2016

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Ziggy-Flame-Crestw — ‘Ziggy Flame Crest,’ oil on board, by Laura Westlake

By Ellen Barcel

Gallery North in Setauket will open Still Life on May 13, an exhibit by nearly two dozen artists both local and farther afield, many from New York City. While some feel that still lifes are static, they’re really not. There’s always the question, “What’s going to happen next?” said Judith Levy, executive director of Gallery North, with “the implied action to follow.”

Artist Bruce Lieberman, a member of the Artists Advisory Council of the gallery, said the idea for the show came about when he met Lennart Anderson, an old mentor and friend at an opening.

“He is a great painter and I thought it would be wonderful to show him and the circle of artists, ex-students and friends, those associated with him,” said Lieberman. “Sadly, Lennart passed away and his work became unavailable to us, but the idea remained, morphed and drifted away from Lennart as the driving force. But not really. He still lingers and lingered in the back of my mind throughout the process.”

Added Lieberman, “The director’s vision is to return to the idea of exhibiting the best, most interesting work she can … Judith had a major role in curating the show but the painters I picked are artists I know or whose work I have known and/or been impressed by.”

Some of Lieberman’s works will be shown, including “Blue Eggs and Ham,” “Green Pineapple Shell and Blueberry” and “Cat on an Ocean Table.” He said, “My work is … based on perception but in no way is meant as a mere depiction of reality … I’m interested in how paint lays down and how paintings are constructed — the abstraction inside the work. They usually begin with or contain some symbolism, a story, an idea. Embedded into the still life, this personal symbolism, or narrative falls away as I work.”

'Blue Eggs and Ham’ by Bruce Lieberman — ‘Blue Eggs and Ham’ by Bruce Lieberman

Pieces in the show range in size from tiny to quite large. Liz Kolligs of Old Field, known especially for her paintings of horses, has some tiny still lifes just “six to seven inches. They’re of desserts — you want to eat every one of them,” said Levy.

Looking at contemporary artist Robert Franca’s “Bananas,” one a half-eaten banana and a skin, the other a whole piece of fruit, asks the question: ‘Who’s going to eat the second one?’

But there are interesting backstories as well. Franca, who also has two other paintings in the show, “Cantaloupe” and “Apples,” said, “I began the series of fruits/vegetables/food simply enough around 10 years ago. Looking down at the breakfast table one morning, I was suddenly struck by the way the half eaten banana was left on the plate, and the quality of the light, and the fact that I couldn’t have ‘arranged’ it better. When I brought it up to the studio to paint, it looked even better.”

Franca noted the challenge of time imposed by a “perishable subject emphasized the need for economy and expediency in my approach.” He added that at the time of year he was painting, the days were long. “I found I could start painting by 8 a.m. and finish a painting by 5 or 6 p.m. ‘Perception’ is my touchstone. The visual pleasure, the experience of seeing beauty and why it is often fleeting is a mystery worth exploring to me.”

Local artist Eleanor Meier will have two of her watercolors in the show, “Dutch Plate and Tulips” and “Hydrangeas from the Garden.” They have an interesting backstory as well. “The two watercolors that Judith selected,” Meier said, “are of a blue glass water pitcher — a gift from my grandson. They are both about reflections and family memories, because of the objects included.”

Meier noted, “they are painted from life, using layers of glazes to deepen the color and yet to emphasize the transparency of the paint. My style revolves around doing the underlying drawing (my passion) carefully and accurately. Then the painting is sheer fun.”

Abstract expressionist Robert De Niro Sr. (1922-1993) will be represented in the show as well. The father of actor Robert De Niro, he married artist Virginia Admiral and moved to a loft in New York’s Greenwich Village, a mecca for artists and writers of the time. In addition to solo exhibits, De Niro’s work is in a number of museums and private collections.

Other artists in the exhibit include Amy Weiskopf, Angela Stratton, Christian White, Don Perlis, Fred Badalamenti, Jacqueline Lima, Joseph Podlesnik, Laura Westlake, Lois Dodd, Mel Pekarsky, Nancy Bueti Randall, Oscar Santiago, Paul Resiki, Randall Rosenthal, Robert Jessel, Robert Kogge, Stephen Brown and Susan Jane Walp.

“Local artists are happy to be in the exhibit … people from the city are happy to be showing in new areas. It’s an exchange. The whole idea is a group of artists from various places … new artists, new techniques,” said Levy, adding that in addition to paintings there will be work from a photographer as well as a three-dimensional sculptor. This is a sharing of “new ideas and new techniques.”

Still Life will run from May 13 through June 19. The opening reception, to which all are invited, will be held on Friday, May 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. An ArTalk will be held on Saturday, May 21, from 3 to 5 p.m. during which some of the artists will be on hand to discuss their work. Both events are free and open to the public, but donations are always welcome.

Gallery North is located at 90 North Country Road in Setauket. For further information, please call 631-751-2676 or go to www.gallerynorth.org.

This version adds the rescheduled date of the ArTalk at Gallery North.

Setauket ranked happiest spot on Long Island

by Phil Corso - April 8, 2016

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Hoffman-Waterfront-Setauket-Harbor-052914-2-Khalifaw — A Zippia.com survey ranked Setauket and East Setauket as the fourth happiest spot in New York State, beating out all other Long Island communities on the list. File photo

The pursuit of happiness is alive and well in Setauket.

Zippia.com gathered data for 341 different places in New York with more than 2,000 people and ranked them based on overall happiness, placing Setauket and East Setauket as the fourth happiest place in New York State, beating out all other Long Island communities in the top-10, including North Wantagh in fifth, North Merrick in ninth and Cold Spring Harbor, ranked 10th overall. The career research website considered various topics, like education, employment, commute times and home ownership in its search for the state’s biggest smiles, and Setauket natives stood in support of the findings.

“I like Setauket’s sense of place,” said George Hoffman, a Setauket mover and shaker who heads the region’s environmental watchdog, the Setauket Harbor Task Force. “[I enjoy] its authentic architecture and revolutionary war roots, the beauty of its coastal waters and its links to the shipbuilding and seafaring days.”

The North Shore native said he enjoyed interacting with Setauket’s “highly educated and close community of interesting and engaging residents” and compared it to the kind of small town found in areas like New England.

“Nothing is perfect, but living in Setauket is pretty darn close,” he said.

Beverly Tyler, the Three Village historian, said the Setauket area is one of beauty, variety and history that is backed up by its array of historic structures, schools, public buildings, parks, trails and green spaces.

“The residents here have, over the years, formed groups and organizations that have not only preserved our history and our culture, but have expanded our understanding and concern for each other,” Tyler said. “From the first English settlers who came here 361 years ago and accepted Quakers and other religious settlers looking for safety and community, to the European immigrants who came here in large numbers in the 19th century and initially faced uncertain and conditional acceptance, we have often led the way to an understanding that our differences make us stronger and help vitalize our community.”

Ted Gutmann, director of Setauket’s own Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, said his front-row seat to the greater Setauket and East Setauket community has proven to him how unique the area is. After years at the helm of the community’s library, Gutmann said his patrons often share stories of visitors from afar loving Setauket’s character and pride.

“There are other nice towns on Long Island. There are other historic towns on Long Island. But I think what sets Setauket (and all of the Three Villages) apart is the true sense of community here,” he said. “Having worked at the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library in different positions for virtually my entire career, I have experienced firsthand the sense of pride and neighborliness that exists here.”

Lisa DeVerna, who works in the library’s community outreach and special projects department, echoed her director’s sentiments.

“I think Setauket has such a rich history, from the Spy Ring during the American Revolution to people like William Sidney Mount, who grew up here,” she said. “Combine this with the excellent Three Village school district and our proximity to major roads, which makes it easy for people to get to work and travel, it’s no wonder Setauket is such a great place to live.”

Also making the list were Niskayuna in first, Westvale in second, Harris Hill in third, North Hills in sixth, Tappan in seventh and West Hills in eighth.

Melodies of earthiness and elegance come to Setauket

by Ellen Barcel - April 7, 2016

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Steve-Salernow — Guitarist Steve Salerno will make a special guest appearance at the concert. Photo from Peter Winkler

By Ellen Barcel

Guitarist Steve Salerno will make a special guest appearance at the concert. Photo from Peter Winkler

Le Petit Salon de Musique will present a concert titled Silken Rags with husband and wife duo, pianist Peter Winkler and violinist Dorothea Cook, on Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m. Ed Mikell, of the salon, noted that Winkler, a Setauket resident, is “a well-known and respected music professor,” who recently retired from Stony Brook University.

Although Setauket residents now, both Winkler and his wife come from the West Coast. “I grew up in California,” he noted having attended UC Berkley for undergraduate work, Princeton for graduate school and Harvard as a postgraduate. “Then I came to Stony Brook and have been here ever since,” having joined the faculty in 1971.

“I taught at Stony Brook for 42 years. I was there when the music department was just getting going. Now it’s turned into a world class music department.”

Winkler and Cook met while teaching at a music camp, continuing a long-distance romance before marrying in the 1980s. “Dorothea was a native of Seattle, when there was a big bloom in music. Her father taught in high school. One of his students was Quincy Jones . . . she grew up around these famous musicians.” Winkler and Cook’s musical collaboration began in 1987 and continues to this day.

In demand as a professional violinist, Cook continues to teach violin — she maintains a private violin studio and conducts classes in Dalcroze Eurhythmics at Stony Brook.

Winkler is not only a performer but a music composer, having written a symphony in 1979. It was performed that year at the university and “just this past year the Stony Brook Symphony performed it again. I feel so lucky. I wrote for faculty and students … it’s a lovely situation for a composer to be in.” Winkler also wrote an opera, “Fox Fables,” which was also performed at Stony Brook. The piece was the 2011 Contemporary Americana Festival competition winner.

Peter Winkler and Dorothea Cook. Photo by Susan Dooley

Winkler and Cook perform together as Silken Rags. Where does the name come from? “I was always interested in ragtime,” Winkler noted. “I was classically trained and in the ‘70s [when there was a resurgence in ragtime, especially with the film “The Sting”] started composing my own ragtime. We wanted a name that combined the earthiness of ragtime with the elegance of classical or salon music.”

Winkler added, “This might be the last time we do a whole concert by ourselves,” noting the amount of work needed to put together such a performance. “We have performed at SBU a few times and (Cook) is active as a performer with the Stony Brook Baroque Ensemble. We’re members of the church [the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship] so we have also played for services there,” as well as special events such as the 1890s Fair.

The concert on Sunday will include “for the most part,” said Winkler, “my own compositions plus a few jazz standards.” How does Winkler describe his style? “Classical chamber music,” but, he added, “heavily influenced by folk and popular music. One reviewer called it ‘genre bending’ compositions.” Winker said, “Most of my music is inspired by my wife. In the jazz pieces [we perform] she does some improvisation, but the compositions are mostly mine.”

Another reviewer noted, “the music, for violin and piano, features the pair in rhythmically complex, harmonically rich music with influences extending from gospel and Caribbean to samba and tango — all performed here with remarkable flair and dash” (Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times).

Special guest performer at the upcoming concert will be guitarist Steve Salerno. “Steve is an amazingly versatile performer. He’s active in New York City and here [on Long Island] … He’s a world class performer, one of the top jazz performers, an extraordinary human being,” said Winkler adding, “I met him when he was a graduate student at Stony Brook University … a fine jazz guitarist, [he plays] classical, bluegrass, avant-garde — you name it and Steve will play it.”

Le Petit Salon de Musique, now in its sixth season bringing classical music to the community, is located at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 380 Nicolls Road, E. Setauket. The creator of Le Petit, Mikell, noted that “I enjoy bringing quality classical music to the area. People don’t have to travel to New York City.”

Tickets for Sunday’s performance are available at www.lepetitsalon.org for $15, online (adults). Adult tickets at the door are $20. Seniors 65 and over are $10 online and $15 at the door; students $5. In addition, Winkler and Cook will have copies of their album, “Silken Rags,” at the performance for purchase.

‘Chicken Hill’ examines Three Village past

by TBR Staff - April 1, 2016

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2016-School-on-the-hill-1w — Setauket Union Free School District No. 2, the “school on the hill.” Photo from Beverly Tyler

By Beverly C. Tyler

My previous article, on March 17, detailed the story of the Setauket Christian Avenue African-American and Native-American settlement and the oral histories collected by Stony Brook University professor Glenda Dickerson and her Theater Arts crew for the 1988 play and exhibit at the fine Art Center. At the time, the Three Village Historical Society produced a journal of the play and the oral histories collected which is now available as a PDF file. In 2014, the society developed and installed a new exhibit that detailed the Setauket/East Setauket area where Native-Americans, African-Americans, German-Americans, Irish-Americans and a new group of Eastern European immigrants lived and worked between 1861 and the first three decades of the 20th century.

This new exhibit, Chicken Hill, a Community Lost to Time, is an exploration of the life of the native and immigrant population in the half-mile surrounding the present 1870 Setauket Methodist Church. In 1861, the Nunns and Clark brick piano factory was erected southwest of the then 1843 Methodist Chapel. Nunns hired mostly German immigrants. It went out of business in 1857. The building became the Long Island Rubber Company in 1876 and soon hired a work force of mostly African- American and Irish workers. By 1888, the majority of workers were Eastern European Jewish workers with a flavoring of Eastern European Catholic workers as well as all the previous ethnic groups.

One of the dozen or more oral histories in the exhibit is by Helen Strelecki Bubka, who grew up on Chicken Hill. “One of my fondest memories was how the boys, Hubbell and his brother Beeb, came to help me. There was a boy living in town and he was pestering me. … I was just a young teenager and I was frightened of him. I found out later that Beeb and Hubbell went and told him to leave me alone. That’s how close the relationships were with our friends on Chicken Hill. … We all got along so well together, black, white, Jewish, Polish, Russian, Lithuanian, it didn’t make a difference what nationality or color we were. If you needed help, you could depend on all your neighbors; one way or another, somebody would come through and pitch in and help. If somebody was ill, they would take food to them, they would try to help in so many different ways, it was such a close knit community, and I think that’s my fondest memory.”

Helen Strelecki was one of several children of Samuel and Sophie Strelecki. She was born and raised in Setauket on the family farm on South Jersey Avenue. Her Polish mother and Russian father emigrated from Europe. Helen attended the Setauket School, on the hill, just east of the Setauket fire house and the VFW log cabin building. Helen said, “Lunch times, we all ran home to get our lunch and run back to school quick so that we could, you know, play ball or something during the time.”

The Setauket Union Free School District No. 2 opened in 1911 and brought together students from the three schoolhouses in West Setauket, East Setauket and South Setauket. There are many stories that came from the students who attended the school until it closed in 1951. Many of these stories are detailed in the Chicken Hill exhibit.

Beverly Tyler is the Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society.

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