Villages

    Joe Lenahan, who will be sworn in as the next chief of the Montauk Fire Department on Jan. 1, has written and illustrated a book called simply “Fire House.” The book, though entertaining, was written to show children what happens at a firehouse and what types of tools are used to fight fires.

    Since he was a little boy, Mr. Lenahan always knew he would someday be a fireman, and 27 years ago he accomplished that dream, following in the footsteps of his father, Robert Lenahan Sr., to whom the book is dedicated.

    Even if you’ve never seen Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” you’ve probably had its most iconic song, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” stuck in your head at some point this holiday season. Two local companies will present their versions of the Christmas classic this weekend.

“November is often our wettest m1onth of the year,” but this November, we had less than two inches of rain, Richard G. Hendrickson wrote in his monthly weather report from Bridgehampton. “There are many years when a November month has given us our four inches, and sometimes over six inches of rain and some snow.”

Mr. Hendrickson, a United States Cooperative weather observer for eight-plus decades, reported rain on six days last month, for a grand total of only 1.79 inches.

       East End Cares, which was formed on the heels of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and Gurney’s Inn in Montauk are joining forces to host a fund-raiser on Friday, Dec. 13, to benefit victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which caused massive destruction in the Philippines last month.

       The event, East End Cares for Leyte, will run from 7 to 11 p.m. and feature music by local bands, Filipino-inspired hors d’oeuvres prepared by local chefs, wines donated by Osprey Dominion, and raffles. Tickets are $25.

    Lori and Bob Reich of Montauk have announced the engagement of their son Robert Reich Jr. to Amy McMahon, the daughter of Laura and Norman McMahon of Philadelphia.

    The couple met through mutual friends in Montauk. A September wedding in Stone Harbor, N.J., is being planned.

For just the second time in 38 years, Vinnie’s Barber Shop in Amagansett is moving.

Representative Tim Bishop has joined a bipartisan group of 38 House and Senate lawmakers urging Congressional leadership to include fishing disaster relief in the final budget to fund government operations in 2014.

In a release dated Nov. 14, Mr. Bishop said that the group, which includes Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, represents fishing communities in 10 states and is asking that $150 million in funding for collapsed fisheries be made available quickly.

The Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor is hosting Typhoon Relief for the Philippines, a night of music by East End musicians, on Sunday beginning at 7. Among the participants are Lola, the Vandettas, Nancy Atlas, Inda Eaton, the Hoodoo Loungers, Rick Davies, Joe Delia and Thieves, and Gene Casey, with more performers expected.

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman and Bonnie Grice of WPPB 88.3 FM will co-host the event. The suggested donation is $25, though any amount would be appreciated. A raffle will raise additional money.

With the holidays fast approaching, the food pantries that serve East Hampton Town residents see the number of people they serve increase and their need for money to help keep their shelves stocked increase as well.

Those who would like to donate to a local pantry can send checks, money orders, or gift cards from local grocery stores to the following addresses:

East Hampton and Amagansett

East Hampton Food Pantry

219-50 Accabonac Road

East Hampton 11937

       Bengt Hokanson and Trefny Dix, glass artists who recently moved back to East Hampton after several years in Durango, Colo., have launched a Kickstarter project to raise the money they need to move their glass studio from Colorado to East Hampton.

       Cynthia Wilder and Giovanni de Moura of Springs and New York City were married on Sept. 3 at the Bronx Courthouse, with his brother, Lou de Moura, and their friend Marirene Heisler as witnesses.

       They will celebrate their nuptials on Saturday at the Abigail Adams Smith House in New York with friends and family, including each of their five children, who are coming from as far away as Australia. This is the second marriage for both of them.

       Nicole Marie Nessel and Gregory Austin Martin were married on Sept. 21 at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk. The Rev. Michael Rieder officiated, and a reception followed at East by Northeast restaurant.

       The bride is the daughter of Janice and Richard Nessel of Montauk. Mr. Martin’s parents are Diane and Thomas Martin of East Hampton.

       She is an accounting service representative at Cook Maran and Associates. He is an East Hampton Town police officer.

       Fishermen who pack out their catch from a commercial fishing dock on West Lake Drive in Montauk learned last week that a $120,000 Empire State Development agency grant was approved for the restoration of a packing and distribution building that a fire gutted in May 2012.

“October was so beautiful in many respects it is hard to realize just how fortunate we have been,” Richard G. Hendrickson wrote in his monthly weather report from Bridgehampton. “First, there were no heavy rains, therefore no flooded cellars, no washouts, or deep gullies in our large potato fields, no gullies that eroded severely for public transportation. Our roads, walkways, and cellars were all spared a flood, yet during our next month it could happen.”

An attorney for the East Hampton Town Trustees continued an urgent legal effort to stop construction of a rock revetment. Construction commenced on Monday, Veterans Day, when courts were closed

       The beaches in East Hampton Village were largely a success story in 2013, the village board was told at its work session last Thursday, but its trees are suffering and in urgent need of protection.

       Olivia Brooks, chairwoman of the Ladies Village Improvement Society’s tree committee, and Michael Gaines of C.W. Arborists in Sagaponack told Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and members of the board that construction and other vehicles that park over trees’ roots while at job sites are damaging them to the point that they may not be able to survive.

       The scene: Tuesday, Nov. 4, Stuart’s Seafood Market, Amagansett, one day after the start of the 2013 scallop season. A man stands before the store’s display case. A woman, a longtime friend, enters, greets her friend and stands beside him looking into the case.

       As the counter clerk approaches, the man begins to ask: “Have you come for . . . ?”

People looking to get rid of clothing, bedding, accessories and toys will have an opportunity to do so this weekend and benefit the East Hampton Synchro Swans synchronized swimming team at the same time. The Swans are a competitive synchronized-swimming team that trains at the East Hampton Y.M.C.A.-RECenter.

Collection will be at the Springs Presbyterian Church on Old Stone Highway on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Swans have asked that all donations be packed in tied trash bags.

Items that will be accepted include:

       Nicole Lomitola, the daughter of Phyllis and John Lomitola of Montauk, was married to Ryan Hiller on July 25 at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk. The bridegroom’s uncle, the Rev. Dave Bollinger, performed the ceremony.

       Mr. Hiller’s parents are Kathryn Adair of Park City, Utah, and John Hiller of Salt Lake City.

       The bride’s cousin Candace Hiddlestone of San Diego was her maid of honor. She was also attended by her cousins Genna Pallan, Danielle Defina, and Taylor Monte of New York and by Karen Loftus of San Diego and Julie Towers of New York.

       On election eve an unusually small group of 18 members attended the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee’s monthly meeting. They learned from East Hampton Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione, the committee’s town board liaison, that a taxi task force has been formed to come up with ideas for limiting the number of out-of-town cabs that infiltrate the hamlet each summer to cash in on the influx of seasonal visitors.

    A cocktail party for the Darlene Lycke scholarship fund will be held at Sammy’s restaurant on West Lake Drive in Montauk on Friday, Nov. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m.

    The party is a new fund-raiser that replaces Joan Lycke’s yard sale, which was held on her lawn annually for many years to benefit the fund, established in her late daughter’s name. The scholarship goes to Montauk students who graduate from East Hampton High School.

    Helene Tallo of Montauk knits about 120 baby blankets a year, at least 12 per month. They are given to every newborn infant patient at her son’s pediatric medical practice at the Children’s Health Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Most of the tiny patients leave their first visit already swaddled in the blue, mint green, purple, or pink coverings.

    The Rev. Mark Phillips, pastor of the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor, the church’s historical committee, and members of the church’s Session have announced that the historic trompe l’oeil mural in the building’s sanctuary will be restored. The public has been invited to a talk about the project on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the church.

    The mural, part of the architect Minard Lafever’s original design of the church, which was completed in 1844, creates the illusion of a curved apse with classical columns framed in an Egyptian-style border.

    The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals had a lengthy back-and-forth with the former chairman of the board about the definition of garages in the village code and how they can be used.

    With Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and members of the East Hampton Village Board wearing pink in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Friday’s meeting was brief. Two public hearings on proposed amendments to the village code were held, and they were quickly adopted unanimously after no one commented.

   The board of trustees of the Amagansett Library will conduct a study to determine how the library can continue to meet the community’s needs, and has asked the public to attend focus groups, held by an outside facilitator, on Saturday and Wednesday.

    The board seeks input as to whether it is providing the community with good value, adequate staffing, resources, services, and space, and if it is meeting expectations, among other questions.

    In a Sept. 21 wedding at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, Meghan Anne Ryan and Nicolas Michael Finazzo were married. The Rev. Michael Rieder of St. Therese officiated.

    Mr. Finazzo is a son of Rori Butterfield of Montauk and Michael Finazzo of Boca Raton, Fla. He is a math teacher at the East Hampton Middle School. He received an undergraduate degree from St. Joseph’s College in 2009 and is in the master’s program in special and elementary education at Touro College on Long Island.

    September was “an ideal late-summer month,” Richard G. Hendrickson wrote in his monthly weather report from Bridgehampton.       

     Mr. Hendrickson, a United States Cooperative weather observer, recorded daytime highs in the 70s during the first half of the month and mainly in the 60s in the second half. Nights began mainly in the 60s, then dropped mostly into the 40s by month’s end.

    The hottest day last month was Sept. 11, when it was 85 degrees. The coldest temperature of the month was 38 degrees on the 18th.

     The Montauk Chamber of Commerce will host its annual fall festival this weekend in the downtown area, with music, food, a 30-horse carousel, inflatable rides, crab races, pony rides, face painting, pumpkin decorating, raffles, and more, much more.

    The top brass of the East Hampton Town Police Department visited a meeting of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday to address speeding and other concerns on Second House Road in the hamlet.

    Chief Edward V. Ecker Jr., Capt. Mike Sarlo, who will take over as chief in late December, and Lt. Chris Hatch, the Montauk precinct commander, told the group that enforcement of existing speed limits would be the key to solving the problems that residents are having.