Community News for December 24, 2020

Monday, December 28

Southampton Village Architectural Review Board, 7 p.m., held via video conference. 631-283-0247 | southamptonvillage.org

The region’s generosity, especially during an unprecedented holiday season when so many families are in dire need, has been remarkable. This year, the Express News Group set up a charity fundraiser, “The Holiday Express,” via GoFundMe to provide support to four local charities, one from each edition’s coverage area, that offer direct help to local families and businesses in need: the Springs Food Pantry, Help for Local Families (Westhampton Beach), Heart of the Hamptons (Southampton), and Sag Harbor Helpers.

The Holiday Express was set to wrap up today, Christmas Eve, and the inaugural effort collected more than $11,000 for the four charities, to be divided equally among them. They will provide food, necessities and gifts to families that might otherwise go without this holiday season.

We thank our readers for demonstrating that neighbors will step up to help their neighbors in a time of need — the kind of thing that makes this such a wonderful community to live in.

Citizens 4 Humanity, a nonprofit, is asking all locals to donate to C4H, which prepares gourmet holiday food trays for COVID-19 patients, single moms/families and senior citizens on the East End. C4H is a grassroots volunteer group that has provided hundreds of meals to families in crisis in 2020, working directly with the hospital, schools from each village and the senior center to deliver prepared meals to those who need it the most throughout the East End. Help give a holiday experience and hunger relief during this difficult and unprecedented time of need by visiting citizens4humanity.org.

Stony Brook Southampton Hospital recognizes that the prevention of COVID-19 has imposed significant social consequences on many East End families and individuals. Starting in December, the hospital is offering a monthly series of various winter virtual support groups to help address emotional hardships that many may be experiencing because of the pandemic. The groups provide East End residents with free online access to experienced, professional medical social workers.

“We want to reach those in our community who may have difficulty coping with the emotional toll of COVID-19,” Chief Administrative Officer Robert Chaloner said. “Some may have experienced the loss of a loved one or a job, others may be trying to juggle the demands of working from home while overseeing their children’s remote learning, any of which can lead to feeling helpless, frustrated, and/or alone.”

All Stony Brook Southampton Hospital support groups will be facilitated by community outreach manager Dorothy Raniolo and/or Phillips Family Cancer Center social worker Lauren Richard-Holt.

“Our social obligation to acknowledge these needs have never been so urgent,” Ms. Raniolo said. “We believe that alleviating isolation in our community through an online venue will have a positive impact in allowing our community to connect with others in similar situations and to explore the range of feelings, share insights, and look for inspiration and techniques to use in the coming days and months.”

In December, the one-hour virtual support groups will focus on bereavement, caregiving, and pandemic isolation and worries for seniors. In January, additional virtual support groups will be added, including a parent group on coping with home schooling and social isolation and a group dedicated to teens and adolescents. In February, the hospital will offer a virtual support group for parents of preschoolers coping with the little ones 24/7. All groups are limited to 25 participants.

Support groups for March and April will be developed based upon ongoing or emerging needs.

In addition to the support groups, the hospital invites the East End to virtually participate in Worldwide Candle Lighting Day on Sunday, December 13, from 7 to 7:30 p.m., via Zoom. The online Candlelight Ceremony is free, but registration is required at bit.ly/candlelightceremony.

For a full list of available support services, visit southampton.stonybrookmedicine.edu.

Montauk Library has announced its Tween Reading Club, challenging ’tweens to see how many books they can read between now and December 31. Students can sign in and log their reading through the library’s READsquared program. Visit montauklibrary.org for more information.

Beginning December 21, through the winter months until April 17, 2021, LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, will remain open for visitors, by appointment only. Guests are welcome to book a self-guided walk through the 16-acre reserve and sculpture garden, Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Regular admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors, and complimentary admission for members and children.

To book appointments, visit: www.longhouse.org, email info@longhouse.org, or call LongHouse’s office at 631-329-3568.

Throughout the winter season, there will also be a series of Winter Walks led by head Horticulturist Holger Winenga. These guided tours focus on the colors and textures of the winter garden while highlighting blooming species like the fragrant Asian Witch Hazel.

For more information, visit longhouse.org.

Free testing for COVID-19 will be available to adults in Springs through OLA and Suffolk County. The testing will be held on Monday, December 28, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Springs. Those looking to make an appointment should text 844-795-0043.

The Artists Alliance of East Hampton will host a Holiday Virtual Show, featuring more than 100 pieces of artwork for sale by East End artists, available through January 1 at aaeh-virtual.org. Patrons can select a work they are interested in purchasing and deal directly with the artist.

For more information, email genesamuelson@optonline.net.

The East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection has unveiled two new exhibits in the four display cases in the library’s front lobby.

“Guild Hall at 90” features materials such as photographs of notable past events and celebrities at Guild Hall; images and promotional materials from performances and events, including the annual Clothesline Art Sale (c. 1950s –1960s); Guild Hall newsletters from the 1970s; original event invitations, including to the 1931 opening ceremony; programs, flyers and more.

Highlighting its standing as East Hampton’s cultural cornerstone, this exhibition was created in honor of Guild Hall’s upcoming 90th anniversary.

“Follow the Money: Currency in the Colonial and Early American Era” includes materials from the Long Island Collection and a wide variety of replica coins and paper currency from the collection of Frank Sorrentino, a Long Island Collection volunteer who helped prepare the exhibition. Featured artifacts also include pages from the account book kept by David Gardiner of East Hampton, from 1770 to 1799, a 1785 booklet featuring a table of coins detailing the values in British pounds sterling for various international coins, pages from the account book of a Southampton weaver, kept from 1767 to 1787, that illustrates the bartering of goods — and more.

The new exhibits will be on display through January and are viewable while the library is open to the public, Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit easthamptonlibrary.org.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, 977 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton, will host a Kwanzaa First Night Celebration on Saturday, December 26, from 5 to 7 p.m., with virtual celebrations happening nightly throughout the holiday through January 1, from 5 to 5:30 p.m. The celebration of culture and community will kick-off with the lighting of the kinara candle and will continue nightly with a reflection on that night’s theme.

For more information, call 631-537-0132 or visit uucsf.org.

The Sag Harbor Historical Society would like to congratulate all those who participated in the first annual “Light Up the Harbor” holiday event. Though the in-person celebration was canceled due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and icy conditions, all those who participated are celebrated through an online video and recognition awards. The video can be viewed by visiting sagharborhistorical.org. There you will also find information about the historical society, additional historical videos, and historic books for sale.

Four recognition award winners were given to Robert Gibbs and family at 287 Main Street, Liz McGuire and Maggie Reilly at 291 Main Street, Jeff Peters and Mary Ann Miller, 365 Main Street, and Susan Fick Pluchino and family at 6 James Place.

Honorable Mention honors go to Marla Alper and Chris Coffee, Shawn Beyer-Mitchell and family, Farrin Cary and family, Yadira Castiblanco and family, Mare Dianora and family, Lisa DiGirolamo and family, Bonnie Jackson and Bill Porter, Joe and Karen Lauro, Marie-Christine McNally and the Popadick family, Richard Pantina and family and Frieda and James Renner. The Sag Harbor streets that are recognized as the most festive were Joels Lane and Howard Street.

The historical society would like to thank all those who helped with this event — businesses that invited the nonprofit to hang our posters, The Sag Harbor Express for their coverage of the event, WLNG for welcoming a PR announcement, Goldberg’s Bagels in Sag Harbor for their willingness to provide hot chocolate, Bonnie Grice and the Dickens Carolers for their willingness to provide live music, members of the historical society for their dedication to the village and to all those who took the time to “Light Up the Harbor.”

The Old Whalers’ Church, 44 Union Street in Sag Harbor, has brought its Christmas Concert to families virtually this year, through the church’s Facebook page. Directed by Walter Klauss, the organist and music director of the church, the performers include sopranos Emily Donato and Nonie Donato, clarinetist David Cummings, and the members of the Old Whalers’ Bell Choir. Mr. Klauss will also play the harpsichord in a duet with the organ, with Thom Bohlert as guest organist on the historic 1844 Erben instrument.

The program includes two soprano solos from Handel’s “Messiah,” three carols for clarinet and organ, various organ selections and a number of familiar seasonal pieces played by the Bell Choir. It is available for viewing now, on the church Facebook page.

The church will also continue to host regular worship services on Sunday, December 27, at 11 a.m. Masks are required and social distancing is enforced. Oldwhalerschurch.org

The Sag Harbor Cinema, 90 Main Street in Sag Harbor, will host a Live Chat with Santa Claus on Thursday, December 24, from 2 to 5 p.m., bringing the big guy to the Cinema for a virtual meeting with children in front of the Cinema’s new Grab and Go Cafe.

For more information, visit sagharborcinema.org

From marching toys in Walt Disney’s “Silly Symphonies” to Three (very unusual) Kings in a Japanese anime; from Ernest Lubitsch to Will Ferrell; from “It’s a Wonderful Life’s” Bedford Falls to “Gremlins’” Kingston Falls; from “The Polar Express” to “Batman Returns,” the Sag Harbor Cinema salutes the holidays with a special selection of Christmas movie scenes, curated and introduced by Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.

These holiday-themed “Cinema Minutes” will be viewable both online, and in the outdoor and indoor digital poster vitrines of the SHC Café. Viewers are encouraged to stop by and check them out in person during our newly-opened café hours, Thursday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Christmas has such a great cinematic tradition and we were hoping to be open by now … Given that we cannot yet welcome the public in our three theaters, this little selection of scenes is as close as I can think of to programming a mini-retrospective. I mixed classics with less obvious titles, old and new, sweet and naughty, the uplifting and the ridiculous. They are all movies I love. I hope our audience will cherish the idea of us bringing attention to a scene as an opportunity to revisit the entire film,” says SHC Artistic Director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.

The Cinema Minutes are directed and edited by Sam Hamilton. Julian Alvarez is the director of photography. They will be posted through the holidays.

The Shinnecock Nation has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for food from their members continues to grow as the pandemic enters its second phase. The food distribution location at the Reservation’s Community Center had only household size appliances with very little storage space and needed larger capacity freezers and refrigerators to store food from deliveries and to qualify as an official food pantry in order to benefit from bulk buying cost benefits as members of Island Harvest and Long Island Cares. All For the East End, a nonprofit supporting organizations across the Twin Forks, provided a grant of nearly $7,000 to purchase refrigeration and freezers and board members with industry contacts assisted in both purchasing these commercial grade appliances and supervised the installation.

“We were pleased to support the Shinnecock Nation,” said AFTEE Board President Claudia Pilato. “AFTEE’s ongoing outreach and dialogue with food pantries across the East End allows us to uncover urgent issues that we can help address.”

This is the second time AFTEE uncovered a challenge local food pantries were facing. Over the summer, AFTEE board members installed several refrigeration and freezer units at the Town of Southampton Bridgehampton Community Center. It was a collaborative effort, with generous financial support from the Bridgehampton Lion’s Club. Those units are being used by three local pantries.

To date, AFTEE has raised over $1.3 million and provided more than 60 grants to East End food pantries and other organizations addressing food instability and other social needs. AFTEE interacts with the community through its Community Advisory Committee which includes both community and business leaders along with leadership from local pantries.

“We believe in working together to address common issues,” said Ms. Pilato. “That is the way we can have the most impact. Fundraising is still critical and our primary focus is on refilling the AFTEE fund so that we can meet the needs of our local organizations who are working so hard every day to make a difference to our friends and neighbors who are so vulnerable.”

For more information or to make a donation, visit aftee.org.

The Southampton Town Police Explorer Shoe drive was a success, collecting over 1,200 pairs of shoes. The drive surpassed a goal of 1,000 pairs of shoes.

The drive began on October 1 and was scheduled to last until October 31, but due to the overwhelming response, the decision was made to collect shoes up until December 4. The Explorers packaged all 1,200 pairs of shoes for delivery to a Soles4Souls representative in Farmingdale.

The Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Tick Resource Center is seeking donations to support its mission of offering the East End valuable information and resources related to tick-borne illnesses. The Island Outreach Foundation has offered to match all funds raised up to $25,000 between now and December 31. To donate, visit EastEndTickResource.org.

Thanks to the generosity of SureData Corporation of Hampton Bays, the Express News Group was able to award cash prizes in its first-ever Hampton Bays Christmas Decorating Contest.

In the end, the judges eliminated the three planned categories and instead awarded three first prizes, of $250 each, to the top three vote-getters on the Facebook group page created to gather the entries. They were Martin Orduna, Lou Messina and Debbi Gordon Joslin. All posted photos and videos of their festive outdoor displays!

Other cash winners for second and third places included Molly Tuzil, Daniel Schmidt, Kayla Buffolino, Allison Sauter and Jessica Talmage.

The best part: The contest was also a contributor to the Holiday Express, the seasonal charitable effort sponsored by the Express News Group, which has raised over $11,000 to split among four local charities that provide direct aid to local families in need this holiday season.

The Express News Group thanks everyone who participated — and all those who say they drove around to look at the lighting displays, a safe way to get into the holiday spirit this year!

Southampton Town Councilwoman Julie Lofstad announced last week the opening of an off leash area for dogs in the Pine Neck Marine Park located at 22 Josiah Foster Path in East Quogue. The dedicated off leash area features two separate fenced-in areas, one for small dogs under 25 pounds and one for larger dogs.

“Members of the community were looking for a place for their dogs to run safely and play with other dogs,” said Ms. Lofstad. “The pandemic slowed things down a bit, but I’m happy to see this project come to fruition. It’s a great way for residents to be outside with their pets and socialize with their neighbors, from a distance of course.”

The Hampton Bays Rotary held fundraisers and raised enough money to donate a water fountain with a dog bowl, which will be installed in the spring.

The off leash area will be open from 7 a.m. to dusk. All dogs must be licensed and vaccinated to enter the area, and owners must abide by all rules posted at the park. A ribbon cutting will be scheduled in the new year.

For more information, visit southamptontownny.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Pine-Neck-Marine-Preserve-7

Quogue

Quogue Library is set to celebrate the season with its second annual Quogue Library Snowman Stroll.

Earlier this month, Quogue Library patrons were invited to decorate a wooden snowman cutout. Quogue residents are responding with playful characters that library staff will mount along Jessup Avenue and around the pond at the corner of Midland Avenue and Jessup Avenue through January 23, 2021.

For more information, visit quoguelibrary.org.

The Westhampton Beach Historical Society will have a guided walking tour of Westhampton Beach historical sites on Saturday, December 26, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Meet your guide, Stephanie Davis, at the Westhampton Beach Historical Society’s Tuthill House Museum at 101 Mill Road by 9:45 a.m. The tour will stop halfway at Beach Bakery for coffee or another warm beverage. Tickets are a $20 donation. The tour will be a maximum of 12 people and the rain date is Sunday, December 27. COVID-19 protocols will be followed, masks must be worn and temperatures will be taken.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit whbhistorical.org.

Riverhead

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s office is offering free Operation Safe Child ID cards by appointment at the Sheriff’s office in Riverhead.

Operation Safe Child ID cards are offered by the Sheriff’s office free of charge at community events, libraries, and firehouses across Suffolk County. Due to COVID-19, these community events were all canceled, leaving parents looking for a new way to obtain these lifesaving ID cards.

Appointments are available Monday through Friday at the Sheriff’s office, 100 Center Drive in Riverhead. Appointments are 15 minutes long and can be made by calling the Community Relations Unit at 631-852-3763. Parents and children will be met curbside to take the child’s photo and fingerprint right in the car. The card will be created and delivered immediately.

Operation Safe Child was created in July 2005 to raise awareness about child safety. Statistics show that 34-percent of parents in the United States do not know their child’s exact height, weight, and eye color. When a child is reported missing, time can be the biggest factor in finding the child. Possessing up-to-date photographs with detailed information about the child can greatly assist law enforcement when responding to a disappearance. These cards contain the child’s full name, date of birth, gender, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and more. The card is made in less than 10 minutes and can be carried in the parent’s wallet or pocketbook. With the parents’ consent, the information gathered is also digitally recorded and stored in a database at the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) in Albany to be used when issuing a NYS AMBER Alert.

For more information on Operation Safe Child and other Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office community and school programs, visit suffolkcountysheriffsoffice.com and click on “Community & School Programs.

Northwell Health and Peconic Bay Medical Center will offer free COVID-19 testing, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 1 Heroes Way in Riverhead. Registration is required by calling 1-833-422-7369.