Villages

On the heels of the controversial construction of electronic billboards on Sunrise Highway last summer, the Shinnecock Council of Trustees is in the early stages of planning a gas station and a medical marijuana dispensary, both part of a multifaceted approach to broaden the tribe’s income to support much-needed programs for its 1,600 members, according to Bryan Polite, the council’s chairman.     

Up for a challenge . . . for a good cause?

The bravest swimmers on the South Fork can answer the polar plunge call to raise money for charity by taking a winter dip on New Year's Day in Montauk, East Hampton, or Wainscott.

The first one of the day is on the beach at Gurney's Montauk Resort at 10:30 a.m. Donations collected during the Gurney's polar plunge will benefit the Retreat, a domestic violence shelter program based in East Hampton.

After nearly a full year of dismal real estate sales, the East End market has begun to heat up, according to several  brokers.

“Something happened in December, and buyers started snatching up homes that had been sitting on the market for months,” said Judi Desiderio, the president of Town and Country Real Estate. 

Todd Bourgard, a regional vice president at Dougas Elliman, agreed. “The fourth quarter has been a boom, it really has exploded,” he said. 

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, and other state and local officials attended the East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday to pay tribute to Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., who will be resigning on Tuesday, more than six months before his term is up. 

You may have seen Stuart Weiss riding his bicycle around town. At 85 years young, he favors orange polka-dot suspenders — a tan fedora when he’s on foot. “I’ve gone over 700 miles this year,” said Mr. Weiss earlier this month. “It’s good for me mentally and physically.” 

After a search, an architectural design firm has been selected for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s new location, 15 acres on the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University, on Tuckahoe Road in Shinnecock Hills. The $305 million project is targeted for completion by 2025.

Just west of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church on Main Street, where the checkered flags once went up for the Bridgehampton auto races at the turn of 20th century, now stands a new historical marker. 

Fifty-four athletes journeyed 18 miles from Montauk to Block Island on stand-up paddleboards and in kayaks last summer as a fund-raiser that raised about $180,000 for Paddlers for Humanity.

Christmas came early last week for dozens of underprivileged children at four schools and three baseball camps in the small city of San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.     

The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons wants to expand its medical facility and construct new holding and intake areas for dogs and cats at its 124 Daniel’s Hole Road property in Wainscott.     

Item of the Week From the East Hampton Library Long Island Collection

Seeking to add a fire pit, patios, walkways, and other accessory structures to the 25 Fithian Lane property where they are building a house, George E. Doty Jr. and his wife, Le-Ellen Spelman, requested variances from the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday.     

The timing was perfect. Last Thursday’s full moon, backed by a strong wind, finally brought in a great low tide. It had been at least nine months since I’d witnessed one of such magnitude. Its significance also prompted me to head over to one of my favorite sand flats to dig up some steamer clams.

The first Montauk Christmas Bird Count was in 1938, and though there were a couple of wartime years when it did not take place, it is one of the oldest annual bird counts still running, according to Brent Bomkamp, one of the coordinators of this year’s event on Saturday.  

The intersection of James Lane and Mill Road, where there have been three accidents since 2016, was the main topic of discussion at last Thursday’s meeting of the East Hampton Village Board.

The plan, which moves the tennis courts and softball field around to make room for a regulation-size football field, was also a hit with almost everyone who heard about it at a public meeting of the board in the East Hampton Middle School auditorium last Thursday.

Meeting at the Montauk Firehouse, the board and the consultant Lisa Liquori of Fine Arts and Sciences, a former town planning director, honed language in a draft plan, which was not accessible to those attending the meeting, prompting one to complain that it was difficult to follow the deliberations.

This year, the East Hampton Kiwanis Club’s toy drive is in memory of Renee Alversa, a longtime Montauk resident who died on Nov. 1 at the age of 61.

The Wainscott C.A.C. on Saturday announced that this year's business awards recognize Michael Del Piero Good Design and Wainscott Main Wines and Spirits for aesthetic and community-minded accomplishments.

Anthony Lombardo was in the Army in 1952, stationed in Germany and sitting in a restaurant with a friend, when they overheard the people at the next table discussing Verdi’s “Otello.”

Mr. Lombardo, who was 87 on Nov. 23, remembers it well. “I never felt stupid in my life,” he said, “but — opera? Shakespeare? And I said, ‘What are they talking about?’ And my friend said, ‘Aah, they’re just being pedantic.’ And I said, ‘What’s that mean?’ ”

Two brown pelicans that were likely borne from points south on a strong southeast gale in October were rescued in Montauk this week and taken to the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays.

Christmas festivities will abound in East Hampton Village on Saturday.

Item of the Week From the East Hampton Library Long Island Collection

The East Hampton Village Board will unveil a plan for a redesign of Herrick Park that features more formalized entrances, reconfigured ball fields, and new pathways and children's play areas next Thursday morning. Later that day, the public will get a chance to weigh in on the proposal at a special 5:30 p.m. hearing to be held at the East Hampton Middle School auditorium.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of East Hampton Village, there will be a series of events in 2020, beginning in January with the unveiling of a new village seal and culminating with a centennial parade and other festivities on Sept. 26.

There are rules of etiquette, experts say, when hosting or attending a holiday dinner party, or a dinner party for any occasion, really.

Bob and Liz Pucci of East Hampton have announced the engagement of their son Joseph Robert Pucci to Kathyrn Eileen Markey, a daughter of Jay and Kerry Markey of Chelmsford, Mass.

Item of the Week From the East Hampton Library Long Island Collection

For the last 150 years, the Wainscott Chapel has been the charge of the Wainscott Sewing Society to manage and care for the building — from the war memorial out front to the privy out back, and everything inside the walls in between.

Decades ago, the times were different — along with the cost of food, long-distance phone calls, rug cleaning, and table settings.