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Town Crier and historian Hugh King, with East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen and Village Administrator Marcos Baladron, was honored with the dedication of the alley between Newtown Lane and the Schenck parking lot in his name this week, ahead of the village's centennial celebrations.
East Hampton Village will celebrate its postponed centennial anniversary this weekend with three days of activities and celebrations, including a parade, fireworks, a music festival and classic car show.
The village kicked off the historic celebration a bit early, last week, by dedicating the alleyway that runs between Newtown Lane and the Schenck parking lot, alongside Odd Fellows Hall, in honor of longtime “Town Crier” and the village’s historic sites manager, Hugh King.
Hugh King Alley, as it is now known, was dedicated to the former Springs School teacher and bard of East Hampton’s long and storied history.
“With his levity, keen sense of humor and knowledge of history, Mr. King has engrossed all who have attended any of his talks, candlelit graveyard tours and walking historic tours,” Village Clerk June Lester said at Friday’s Village Board meeting, reading from the proclamation by Mayor Jerry Larsen that dedicated the alley in Mr. King’s honor — finishing with the saying that is Mr. King’s motto to encourage the study of local history: “If you don’t know where you have been, you may not know where you are going.”
The mayor credited Village Administrator Marcos Baladron with the idea of dedicating the alley by Odd Fellows Hall — a historic building where Mr. King said he thought the actual vote to incorporate the village may have taken place — for the historian.
Mr. King himself will lead many of the events during the centennial celebration weekend.
The festivities will kick off on Friday, September 24, at 11 a.m., when village officials and local clergy will bury a time capsule in the yard at Village Hall.
At 2 p.m. on Friday, Mr. King and other local historians will host a series of historical discussions in Herrick Park. At 7 p.m., the East Hampton Village Foundation will hold its first ever fundraiser gala at the Maidstone Club.
After dark on Friday, the East Hampton Fire Department will put on its annual fireworks show — which was conveniently postponed from Labor Day weekend by the threat of a tropical storm — at Main Beach. Expect the show to start sometime around 8 p.m.
On Saturday, there will be a children’s fair with a carousel, slides and other activities in Herrick Park starting at 9 a.m.
At 11 a.m., there will be a parade down Newtown Lane.
At 2 p.m., the music festival and the first of five live bands that will play throughout the rest of the day will get jamming.
On Sunday, Herrick Park will play host to a classic car show, starting at 11 a.m. At 4 p.m., the “Maidstone vs. Bonackers” will throw out the first pitch for the playing of a baseball game that historically was played every year.
The village was incorporated in 1920, at the behest of summer colony residents who were demanding more municipal services like better road maintenance and electrical infrastructure than the town was providing. According to Mr. King, the creation of a water supply district and the Maidstone Fire District in 1899, demonstrated how the ability to be able to levy taxes for desired infrastructure improvements could allow residents to have more influence on their surroundings, spurring the movement that ultimately led to the village’s breaking away from the town.
Michael Wright on Sep 21, 2021