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Sag Harbor Express / Editorials / 2021643

Disrespectful Act

Editorial Board on Sep 13, 2022

HarborFest kicked off in Sag Harbor last weekend, drawing scores to the village to enjoy a summer festival rooted in tradition — from whaleboat races to chowder contests and Scouts selling hot dogs next to nonprofits and food vendors.

HarborFest has always been about community. And it takes a village to make that event a success — from the leadership at the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, to volunteers that help make the weekend go smoothly. Village government also plays a big role, including the Sag Harbor Village Police Department, Sag Harbor Fire Department and Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps, who ensure the public’s safety during one of the village’s busiest weekends of the year.

Like most events of this nature, so much is accomplished behind the scenes, and by what is often a very small group of people working around the clock for several months to ensure that HarborFest continues. It’s a financial investment and a tremendous investment of time.

But for most, it’s an investment in a community event that has been a Sag Harbor tradition for almost six decades.

For those reasons, to find the HarborFest whale — a whale that year-in and year-out is floated into the harbor thanks to the efforts of people like Rick and Adrian Pickering at Ship Ashore Marina, Dirk Early, Kenny Von Der Heyden, Eric Bramoff, and the late Joe Early, and is the centerpiece of the whaleboat races — defaced on Monday morning was an upsetting blow to both the organizers and those tasked with keeping the white whale coming back each September.

The vandalism of the whale — no matter your political affiliation — is disrespectful to everyone who spent the last six months planning this event, and those who work tirelessly to see a tradition like the whaleboat races continue.

HarborFest is meant to be a weekend where we come together and celebrate the end of the summer season and the beginning of glorious fall. It is not something that should be tarnished by a thoughtless prank.

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