The Chelberg-Battle Post of the American Legion in Sag Harbor celebrated its building’s 60th birthday on Monday night with a party, which included the dedication of a bench to a former member who helped the legion secure a home.

“Sag Harbor has a very unique military history dating all the way back to the Civil War, where 46 individuals from Sag Harbor died,” David Pharaoh, the current commander, who has been a member for 24 years, told an attentive crowd. During World War I, 11 men from the village were killed. The first to die were Corp. James Frederick Chelberg and Pvt. George F. Battle, both of whom served with the Army’s 77th Division in France.

In August 1919, a group of World War I veterans formed the legion. Fourteen of those charter members decided to name it for the two fallen men, and Chelberg-Battle Post #388 of the American Legion was born. Dr. J.H. McCourt, the first commander, held meetings where the village police station now stands.

By the late 1940s, the members wanted to find a home of their own. Fund-raising efforts included Bingo games and a Buy-a-Brick campaign, where legionnaires sold strips of papers in the shape of a brick for 25 cents. A car raffle, organized by Frank Santacroce, a car salesman and the post commander in 1949 and ’50, helped put the campaign over the top, and a drawing took place at the annual Main Street block party over Labor Day weekend. (Mr. Santacroce served during World War II in the Army’s 36th Infantry Division of the 111th Engineering Company.)

Using the money raised and with assistance from the Sag Harbor Savings Bank — “the only bank in town that would give the legion a loan,” Mr. Pharaoh said — the legion’s new headquarters at 26 Bay Street was built for $36,000. Despite not being a veteran, Charlie Labrozzi, a local mason, donated his time for its construction. “It was his way of saying thank you to the many veterans of Sag Harbor,” said Mr. Pharaoh.

On Sept. 22, 1954, Everett Diederiks, then post commander, presided over a dedication ceremony. The building quickly became a center for the community. “All village affairs large and small, from birthday parties, weddings, fire department dinner dances, Cub Scout Blue and Gold dinners, to baseball, basketball, and soccer sign-ups, have all been hosted at the legion,” Mr. Pharaoh said.

While many legion posts around the country are shutting their doors, the Chelberg-Battle post is thriving. Since 2003, $13,500 in scholarships has been given out annually and $1,000 donated to the Sag Harbor Food Pantry. The legion sponsors the Cub Scouts, the Pierson High School robotics team, and several other organizations, to the tune of a little over $18,000 this year alone. Members also send Girl Scout cookies to U.S. soldiers.

Mr. Pharaoh said that while times have changed, the legion still operates under the same principals established in 1919, long before mission statements and board goals. Quoting the legion preamble, it’s “Inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state, and nation,” he said. “The legion today stands as a testament to the commitment from the veterans of Sag Harbor to their country, and especially the Village of Sag Harbor. Built by the people for the people.”

Family members of deceased past commanders, together with past presidents of the legion’s Ladies Auxiliary, joined in the celebration. Robert Diederiks, a deacon at St. Andrew’s Church in Sag Harbor whose father was in charge when the post opened in 1954, gave the opening prayer. The oldest living past commander on hand was Jack Reidy, 88, who served from 1966 to 1967.

A bench in front of the legion building was dedicated to Mr. Santacroce and his wife, Anne Santacroce, who served as a member of the Army Nurse Corps on the front lines in Europe during World War II. Their son Michael Santacroce donated the bench.

Proclamations were presented by Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.

The 2015 budget for the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor was passed overwhelmingly on Monday.

In a 198-to-32 vote, residents of the Sag Harbor School District said yes to the approximately $2.4 million budget, which includes a 5.8-percent increase from the current budget, or a $128,723 increase over all. Taxpayers can expect about a $12 rise in their tax bills.

Also, the two incumbents running for the library board were re-elected, and one newcomer will join them on Jan. 1. Ann Lieber was re-elected with 154 votes, Jackie Brody, who now serves as board secretary, received 129 votes, and Anne Sutphen was elected with 144 votes. Susan Sabin took in 127 votes, Robert Hooke received 84, and Caleb Kercheval got 71. Tony Spitz, an incumbent, did not seek re-election.

Peconic Baykeeper, the not-for-profit advocate for protection of the Peconic and South Shore estuaries, has named Brady J. Wilkins as the organization’s baykeeper. Mr. Wilkins succeeds Kevin McAllister, who had served in that position for 16 years, until March.

A Suffolk County native, Mr. Wilkins is a New York State licensed educator with a master’s degree in childhood education and has taught general education, special education, and science in several school districts. He is also a Coast Guard Merchant Marine officer, master of inland waters, and has served as captain and crew on vessels on the Great South Bay and Washington State’s Puget Sound.

“We are very excited to get Brady on board, and we believe he will be a great addition to the organization,” Daniel Gulizio, Peconic Baykeeper’s interim executive director, wrote in an email. Peconic Baykeeper, he wrote, “will continue its clean water advocacy mission with Brady. However, we also felt it was necessary to expand our efforts to include more community outreach and education in addition to our previous advocacy efforts.”

To that end, he said, the group has separated the positions of baykeeper and executive director. That reorganization, Mr. Gulizio wrote, “will allow us to reach more communities and a broader array of water quality issues than we have accomplished in the past. We look forward to expanding our presence in East Hampton waters.”

“My job will be going to local school districts,” Mr. Wilkins said, adding that Peconic Baykeeper is developing a curriculum focusing on wastewater treatment. “During the summer, my job will be working with scientists from Stony Brook and Suffolk County groups, taking them on board the vessel.”

A benefit will be held Saturday for the Donald T. Sharkey Memorial Community Fund, established in honor of the late East Hampton Town building inspector.

The day will begin with the community fund’s fourth annual motorcycle ride with the Red Knights Chapter 25. Registration will take place at 9:30 a.m. at the Bridgehampton Fire Department, with coffee and bagels provided by Goldberg’s. A ride to Montauk Point will begin at 11 a.m. A donation of $30 per rider has been requested.

At 12:30 p.m. at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, a memorial tree for Mr. Sharkey will be dedicated, and food and beverages served. A 50-50 raffle will raise more money for the organization’s community projects.

In case of rain, the events will postponed to Oct. 5.

Having seen an onslaught of development and redevelopment in recent months, the Sag Harbor Village Board passed a moratorium at its meeting Tuesday night temporarily halting construction on single-family house lots and wetlands permits for 180 days while existing laws are re-examined. The moratorium, which had been introduced last month, applies only to applications submitted after Aug. 1, and does not affect commercial properties.

The moratorium is intended to avoid “overburdening the present capacity of the staff and regulatory boards,” while they assist in reviewing existing laws. The harbor committee will work with Rich Warren of InterScience, a village consultant, and Denise Schoen, the harbor committee’s attorney, on ways to strengthen the code as it applies to wetlands. Later in the meeting, the board tabled a proposed amendment of the wetlands regulations that addressed the definition of “substantial restoration and reconstruction.”

An exemption procedure is in place. “The rest of the process is identical to the moratorium used when the village was updating the business district” code several years ago, said Fred W. Thiele Jr., the state assemblyman who also serves as the village attorney.

Although a public hearing on the moratorium was held Tuesday, no one spoke, and it was adopted with little discussion by the board.

The board also considered three other proposed amendments to the code at the meeting, adopting two, which Mr. Thiele said were “housekeeping” items that had been recommended by Tim Platt, the former village building inspector, and holding off on one related to construction. The approved amendments address drainage requirements for swimming pools and several clarifications of the zoning code.

The amendment that was put off would have required property surveys to be no more than a year old when building permits and certificates of occupancy are issued. Mr. Thiele said that was a policy of the building inspector’s office, but had not actually been in the code.

Pierce Hance, a former mayor, questioned the language of this proposal as it applied to additions to main structures. The proposed amendment addressed only new construction, the addition of 250 square feet or more to an accessory structure, and driveways. Mr. Thiele said he would clarify the language and bring it back to the board next month.

The Montauk Library’s annual book fair, traditionally held on the downtown green on the Saturday of the Fourth of July weekend, will no longer be held. Instead, smaller, more community-minded events will be held at the library four times a year. Also, starting in the spring, the library will host two to four yard-sale fund-raisers per year.

The organizers of the fair, the Friends of the Montauk Library, issued a statement saying that it had simply become too much all around: The heavy lifting and moving of the books, aging volunteers, and decreased income over the years all played a part in the decision, said Sally Krusch, the group’s spokeswoman.

The fair had also lost much of its community spirit, with too many tourists and overcrowding in the downtown area, which led many locals to avoid the area on the day of the fair, the statement said.

E-readers and other electronic devices have reduced the demand for books, and the revenue from the fair, which has been used to offset other costs at the library, has dropped steadily since 2008. The proceeds no longer justified the amount of work put into staging the fair, the organizers said. In the past few years, the proceeds have ranged from a high of $21,000 to $17,000.

Books sold at the fair were donated throughout the previous year and left at the library, leaving organizers with the task of sorting and cleaning them. Volunteers would then have to move hundreds of volumes from the library to the fair site early on a Saturday morning. Afterward, the unsold books had to be disposed of or transported back to the library.

Since the fair will no longer happen, donation requirements have been tightened. The library will no longer accept books that are not in good condition or that are dusty and mildewed. No textbooks, encyclopedias, or outdated nonfiction science, health, or computer books will be accepted. No more than three bags or boxes of books will be accepted at a time.

In an effort to rekindle community spirit, the statement said, library organizers will hold more events, albeit less labor-intensive ones, at the library, with the first scheduled for Nov. 29, Thanksgiving weekend.

Harborfest 2014, Sag Harbor’s annual celebration of its maritime history, will launch tomorrow at 5 p.m. with “A Whale of a Party” at the Whaling and Historical Museum and continue throughout the weekend with a jam-packed calendar of events for people of all ages.

New this year is the Beach Blast concert. Previously held on Shelter Island, the show, which will feature live performances by Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks, the Hoodoo Loungers, Hopefully Forgiven, and others, will start rocking Havens Beach on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

The Whaling Museum party will include Cromer’s Market fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, salads, and desserts, Driftwood Ale from Montauk Brewing Co., wine from Water Street Wines and Spirits, and music by D.J. Carlos Lama. Individual tickets are $50, $25 for children.

Both Saturday and Sunday will feature an arts and crafts fair in Marine Park; a sidewalk sale in the business district; children’s amusements on Long Wharf, including games, activities, a bouncy house, and, new for this year, a dunking tank; live music on Windmill Beach; a Taste of Sag Harbor, and whaleboat races.

The Sag Harbor farmers market will be open for business on Bay Street Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and tours of a Coast Guard cutter docked at Long Wharf will be offered from 10 to 2 that day. Bay Street Theater will present its All Star Comedy Show Saturday night at 8.

Other activities will include walking tours, food tastings, a corn shucking contest for kids, a clam chowder contest, a lobster roll eating contest, tug of war and sack races for children, dog and cat adoptions, Pilates on Windmill Beach, and roving clowns, musicians, face painting, and a stilt walker.

Havens Beach will be the site of free, unlimited parking and serve as home base for free shuttle service to points of interest throughout the village. A complete schedule of events is available at sagharborchamber.com.

There were hugs and tears at a Tumbleweed Tuesday celebration sponsored by the Montauk Chamber of Commerce on the downtown green. But the show of emotion was not a happy one celebrating the end of the season and the departure of the tourists — it was pure grief over the death on Monday of Carl Darenberg, a member of the Montauk chamber and all-around chronicler of Montauk life.

The close-knit community has been hit hard with the news of his death. Known for taking pictures at almost every event and weekend party, Mr. Darenberg was also a significant presence on Facebook. Weekend partyers anxiously visited his Facebook page on Mondays to see if their pictures had been posted. As of yesterday, his Facebook page had more than 1,000 pictures posted and was full of glowing testaments to him, with many thanking him for his help over the years.

In recent years as Montauk became more of a surfing mecca focused on the downtown area and ocean beaches, Mr. Darenberg made it his mission to get people back to the harbor area, as it had been all but forgotten by tourists. And he helped establish an annex of the chamber’s building on Main Street to honor the history of the fishing industry. His mission was accomplished, with barely a parking spot available near the docks on summer weekends.

The expression Tumbleweed Tuesday was born years ago when it was said that the day after Labor Day only tumbleweeds could be seen blowing through the near-empty town. At Tuesday’s celebration, which was dedicated to Mr. Darenberg, the Nancy Atlas Project played his favorite song, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” which has the lyric “?’Cause every little thing gonna be all right.” Ms. Atlas then raised a red Solo cup of cheer toward the sky and asked the crowd to join her, saying that he would be missed and is at peace.

As tears ran down her cheeks, Laraine Creegan, the chamber’s executive director, who worked closely on numerous projects with Mr. Darenberg, said there was never any thought given to canceling the event. “Carl loved a party,” she said. “He would never have wanted us to cancel it.”

A project to resurface nearly 15 miles of Montauk Highway between East Hampton Village and Montauk is set to begin on Sept. 29. Eileen W. Peters, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Transportation, said the project is separate from but similar to one completed before Memorial Day in which 8.2 miles of the highway were repaved between County Road 39 in Southampton and Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton.

Drivers may have noticed signs along the route or crews cleaning out drainage basins this week. No additional details were immediately available, Ms. Peters said.

Voters from the East Hampton, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts will be eligible to vote Saturday on the 2015 East Hampton Library budget. The polling will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library.

Next year’s spending plan of just over $2.2 million contains an $85,500 increase in expenses over 2014, a total increase in taxes of $104,000. The largest growth, about $76,486, is for salaries, benefits, insurance, and related staff costs. Facilities costs, including building and grounds keeping, rise by about $19,000.

The amount of tax collected from each of the three school districts varies depending on their population. East Hampton’s share of the increase would be about $80,000; Springs residents would pay an additional $17,489 in library taxes, and Wainscott would contribute $6,255.

Over all, the total to be raised by taxes in 2015 would be $1.6 million. The proposed budget anticipates fund-raising and donations to be about $472,000. In a statement, the library said that the cost of the tax increase to the average taxpayer would be $6.60.

Saturday’s vote is open to all registered voters in the three school districts.