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Saboteurs Coming Ashore

Saboteurs Coming Ashore

By
Christopher Walsh

The third annual re-enactment of the 1942 Nazi saboteur landing on Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett will take place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The action will begin and end at the former Life Saving Station, the 1902 structure on Atlantic Avenue that is undergoing extensive renovation as a museum and community center. Admission is free.

Like last year’s re-enactment, this year’s event will include costumed actors and props in telling the story of how a plot to destroy New York City’s transportation system and terrorize Americans at home as World War II raged overseas was thwarted. Hugh King, the director of Home, Sweet Home Museum and East Hampton Village historian, who leads tours as the “town crier,” will direct Sonny Sireci, Carl Irace, Evan Thomas, Ted Hults, and Samantha Ruddock as local residents, American coast guardsmen, and saboteurs.

Tomorrow’s re-enactment is exactly 72 years from the day that four Germans came ashore on the beach at Amagansett from a submarine. A 21-year-old coast guardsman stationed at the Amagansett Life Saving Station, John Cullen, was patrolling the beaches when he encountered the four men on the beach to the east of the station. The saboteurs offered him $400 to keep quiet. Mr. Cullen took the money, but ran back to the station and reported what had happened. The four made their way to the Amagansett railroad station and, from there, to New York City, where they were captured.

Three of the saboteurs were executed following a trial by a military tribunal; the fourth, who tipped off the F.B.I., received a 30-year prison term. Their story and that of four other would-be saboteurs, who came ashore near Jacksonville, Fla., at the same time, have been the subject of two books. 

In a letter to The Star in 2011, the late Capt. Milton Miller, who was in both the Coast Guard and the Navy before and during World War II, wrote that, “If John Cullen had been killed and his body buried behind a sand dune, or at sea, no one would have ever known what happened to him. New York City would have been destroyed, and it would have affected the whole nation.”

 

Citizens Bemoan the Corps Beach Plan

Citizens Bemoan the Corps Beach Plan

By
Janis Hewitt

Members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee let it be known on Monday that they are not too happy with the fix the Army Corps of Engineers announced April 23 to curb erosion on downtown beaches. 

The Corps offered only one option: a $6 million project to place 14,000 sand-filled geotexile bags along 3,100 feet of downtown shoreline, including the vulnerable stretch near the Royal Atlantic Motel, and to cover them with 45,000 cubic yards of sand. The plan had been downsized from more expensive ones described earlier in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

“We’re very disappointed. It all falls short. They were very promising in the beginning and now it’s an interim fix, East Hampton Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said, adding that the 15-year life span of the latest proposal doesn’t offer a lot of protection. “But it doesn’t make sense for us to turn down free sand,” he said.

At an earlier meeting with Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Legislator Jay Schneiderman, Steve Kalimnios, the owner of the Royal Atlantic, who said he has spent $2 million dumping sand on the beach there, had called the Corps plan “minuscule.”

The councilman noted that the East Hampton Town Board is to create a coastal erosion committee to study poststorm conditions and long-term planning. “Geologically. if you see what’s happening and we’re under water, we need to think this through. Building on higher ground is not realistic. We should be looking at larger stabilization.” Mr. Van Scoyoc said it was time for the town to put more money aside for storm remediation. “Taxpayers have to understand that money is needed for sand. It’s part of our economy,” he said.

Chris Poli, a surfer who often attends the committee’s meetings, said that while no one wants higher taxes it might be the only way to preserve the beach. “We’re going to need a lot of cooperation,” he said.

Moving on, Mr. Van Scoyoc gave the committee an update on plans for the Kirk Park parking lot. He said the vegetated islands that have been used to delineate parking spaces will soon be removed to create more. A new entrance will be added on South Eagle Street to the west of the lot for easier access. Vehicles exiting will use the existing access on the south side of the lot, across the street from the ocean beach.

• RELATED READING: Dose of Reality from Army Corps

Gets an Eagle Scout Badge

Gets an Eagle Scout Badge

With the help of his fellow Boy Scouts in Troop 136, Richard Malik Atkinson completed the last stage of his Eagle Scout qualifications by building 20 bat houses like the one held by his mother, Dorothy Malik Atkinson.
With the help of his fellow Boy Scouts in Troop 136, Richard Malik Atkinson completed the last stage of his Eagle Scout qualifications by building 20 bat houses like the one held by his mother, Dorothy Malik Atkinson.
Janis Hewitt
By
Janis Hewitt

Richard Malik Atkinson, 20, became an Eagle Scout, the highest award in scouting, at a ceremony on Sunday at the Montauk Firehouse.

Boy Scouts who reach that level must create a project that will benefit the community. Mr. Atkinson built and erected 20 bat houses, which could mean fewer bothersome insects in Montauk this summer. Bats catch mosquitos, spiders, flies, and other insects.

The houses were placed throughout the hamlet, mostly near wetlands, including Stanley’s Pond in Culloden Shores, Montauk County Park at Third House, and Deep Hollow Ranch, where mosquitos thrive.

Although it was Mr. Atkinson’s project, his entire Troop 136 helped to put the bat houses together. Local businesses donated funding to buy the needed supplies, and Jim Grimes of Fort Pond Native Plants supplied the posts, some of which are 20 feet high.

The houses were installed with the help of parent volunteers and Shawn Tyrell, the assistant scout leader.

The new Eagle Scout has been in scouting since he was 6 years old, when he became a tiger cub, as the younger ones are called.

On Sunday, he received a badge and a medal, signifying his new status.

 

Village Budget Would Pierce Cap, But Rise Only 2.75 Percent

Village Budget Would Pierce Cap, But Rise Only 2.75 Percent

By
Christopher Walsh

East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. presented a tentative  budgetof almost $20.3 million for the fiscal year, which begins on Aug. 1, at a village board meeting last Thursday, which would pierce the state-imposed 2-percent increase in property taxes. If the budget is approved by the board after a public hearing on June 20, spending would increase by 2.75 percent, or $542,870.

The proposed spending increase is almost .5 percent less than in the prior two fiscal years, the mayor said. He said a paid emergency medical services professional and a deer sterilization program had contributed to the increase. “As it relates to the potential for the E.M.S. paid program to mesh with our wonderful volunteer ambulance cadre, if that was not included, and the deer program . . . we would fall below the tax cap,” he said, pointing out that $30,000 had been allocated for deer management. “We feel as a responsible body that we have to put these into the budget.”

The village tax rate, which has increased at an average annual rate of 2.1 percent over the last seven years, is proposed to go up 2.28 percent next year, the mayor said. “The Village of East Hampton has been fortunate to maintain a healthy financial outlook while seeking to provide the level of services expected by its residents and while keeping spending at an appropriate level,” the mayor said, reading from prepared remarks.

Other increases in spending were for snow removal — a consequence of the recent harsh winter — and Workers Compensation insurance premiums. Needed equipment for the Public Works Department, roadwork, roof repairs to the village-owned Sea Spray cottages, and drainage work at the Emergency Services Building also accounted for additional spending.

The village’s debt service and contributions to the state retirement system, which covers employees, will decrease in the coming year, however, and refinancing of two outstanding bonds will yield more savings in the future, the mayor said. A $142,861 increase in mortgage recording tax revenue, more money from sales of beach parking permits, increased building permits, and rentals of village property were also in the budget.

The board heard from Olivia Brooks and Ann Roberts of the Ladies Village Improvement Society at the meeting, who said that some business owners and landlords were not doing their part to clean up litter. “I think we need a short, bold letter to the owners of the building: clean up your act,” Ms. Roberts said. Ms. Brooks named shops on Main Street and Newtown Lane that she said were not doing their part. Windblown magazines and pamphlets, she said, are also a problem.

Mayor Rickenbach suggested sending a letter to all businesses. “Part of that would be a paragraph where we salute those that are taking responsibility, but at the same time we need to just relate to those where it’s lacking,” he said. The letter is to be shown to the L.V.I.S. for approval, he said.

Scott Fithian, the superintendent of public works, who had been tasked with suggesting improvements to parking in the village lots, also addressed the board. He proposed a 30-minute limit for five spaces adjacent to the Waldbaum’s supermarket in the Reutershan lot and for five spaces in the Barns Schenck lot. With the exception of designated 15-minute parking along the sidewalk in the Reutershan lot, a two-hour limit has been in effect in both lots from May 1 through Dec. 31, and the board recently voted to extend that limit to Fridays, Saturdays, and federal holidays between Jan. 1 and April 30.

Linda Riley, the village attorney, said signs would have to be put up and the village code amended. “We’ll codify and bring it for a public hearing,” the mayor said.

 

Saluting a Reverend’s 80th

Saluting a Reverend’s 80th

By
Christopher Walsh

The Rev. Robert Stuart, pastor emeritus of the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, will be honored on the occasion of his 80th birthday on Sunday following the 11 a.m. worship service. The Rev. Steven Howarth, the church’s present pastor, has invited Mr. Stuart to preach in the pulpit.

Mr. Stuart served as pastor in Amagansett for 17 years, retiring in 1998. Born in Minneapolis and raised in suburban St. Louis, he earned a master’s degree in American history at the University of Wisconsin before graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1962.

Prior to attending seminary, he was drafted; as a conscientious objector, he served for two years in the psychiatric ward of a Kansas City, Kan., hospital. The experience was a turning point, he told The Star in a 2012 interview coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his ordination. “As a result of that, I decided to change career direction and go into the ministry,” he said.

Mr. Stuart served as pastor in Wheeling, W.Va., Ringwood, N.J., and, as an interim pastor, Bellingham, Wash., before arriving in Amagansett. “It was just the perfect move, it was just wonderful,” he said in 2012.

Always a proponent of a church that is active in the community, Mr. Stuart had been involved in President Lyndon Johnson’s antipoverty programs in the 1960s and ’70s. In 1989 in Amagansett, he began a healing service for people with H.I.V./AIDS and their families and caregivers, which he continued until his retirement. He also served as chaplain for the Long Island Association for AIDS Care.

“That’s been pervasive throughout my ministry,” he said in 2012, “this strong sense of calling by God to be involved in the world in some kind of redemptive way, through a pastoral ministry.”

At present, Mr. Stuart serves on the Cuba Work Group of the Presbytery of Long Island, and has made 12 mission visits to the Guines Presbyterian Church there. He has served with the Town of East Hampton Clericus and the town board of ethics. He is also a longtime member of the Ashawagh Hall Writers Workshop in Springs. “Similar to Fire,” a book of his poems, was published by Canio’s Editions.

 

 

Z.B.A. Gives AT&T Its Okay

Z.B.A. Gives AT&T Its Okay

By
Christopher Walsh

As expected, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals voted on Friday to grant variances and a special permit for AT&T to install 12 antennas on a 44-foot-tall oil storage tank at the P.C. Schenck and Sons facility on Newtown Lane. The hearing had stretched over several months during which neighbors had voiced concern about noise and potential health impacts of radio frequency emissions. 

The board granted its approvals based on modifications the applicant agreed to make. Noise being the primary concern, the applicant agreed to both move the site of a concrete pad on which equipment cabinets are to be placed and include a 12-foot-high sound barrier around them.

Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said the board had concluded that the AT&T equipment and antennas would not have a significant environmental impact, which meant the applicant did not have to submit an analysis under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. He urged those interested to read a full summary of the proceedings prepared by Linda Riley, the village attorney, which is on file at Village Hall.

The variances and special permit also have been granted on two conditions. One is site plan approval from the design review board. The other is a demonstration, to the satisfaction of the village’s consulting engineer, Drew Bennett, that the actual noise levels after installation of the sound barrier are consistent with those predicted in a report from the applicant’s consultant Tectonic Engineering.

Benjamin Roberts, AT&T’s director of public affairs, said on Monday that he expected a building permit to be issued next month. Construction would begin in July and last four to five months.

The board also held several hearings on Friday, including one for Elizabeth and Julien Eisenstein of 10 Georgica Road seeking partial replacement of the foundation of a 1,018-square-foot, two-story garage that contains an apartment. The garage, which is sinking on one side, is considered nonconforming, said Elizabeth Schmid, an attorney representing the applicants, because it serves as a second residence on a single lot, which is now prohibited by the village code, although nonconforming structures are legal if they predate the code.

To that end, Ms. Schmid provided the board with an affidavit from Frank Tillinghast, a lifelong East Hampton resident, stating that he had visited the apartment as far back as 1947. “It was . . . constructed similarly to the house and I would guess that it was there for decades before I played there,” Mr. Tillinghast attested.

Tom Rosko, a contractor, told the board that the locust posts holding up the structure had rotted, causing one side to sink. The garage is to be lifted and made level, and a new foundation constructed. “It’s just a matter of correcting the existing situation so it doesn’t become hazardous to anyone to stay in there,” Mr. Rosko said. “It was like a funhouse,” Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman, said of a site visit.

 “We appreciated your affidavit,” Mr. Newbold told Ms. Schmid, calling it “a glimpse into old East Hampton.” The hearing was closed and a determination is expected at the board’s next meeting, on May 23.

 

Car Show Kicks It Off

Car Show Kicks It Off

On Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
By
Christopher Walsh

    The Amagansett Fire Department’s annual Classic Car Show will have a special purpose this year. Proceeds from the event, which happens on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will benefit a July 12 parade that will mark the department’s 100th anniversary. The rain date is Sunday.

    Twelve trophies, including one for a people’s choice award, will be conferred upon the winning vehicles in various categories, said Steve Graboski, a member of the fire department and chairman of the car show. Nat Raynor III, also of the department, will head the panel of judges.

    The popular event will also feature live music by the East End All Stars, a bouncy castle and other activities for children, and food for purchase including hamburgers, hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream, and soft drinks. There will also be a 50-50 raffle.

    Admission is $5 per person. Children under 12 will be admitted free. For those wishing to enter the friendly competition, the entry fee for a show car with driver and one passenger is $20; each additional passenger costs $5.

    The department’s July 12 parade will begin at 11 a.m. and proceed down Main Street. At noon, an anniversary celebration at the firehouse will include presentations, proclamations, and the awarding of parade participation trophies. Refreshments, rides, music, and games will also be on hand.

    An antique fire vehicle display and antique pumping and bucket brigade competitions will happen at 1 p.m. Trophies for the competitions will be awarded at 4 p.m.

    The department welcomes community participation. Those interested in contributing a marching band or float to the parade have been asked to contact the department via its website, AmagansettFD.org, and complete the registration forms by May 31.   

 

Marti Zimmerman Engaged to Stephen Lynch Jr.

Marti Zimmerman Engaged to Stephen Lynch Jr.

Engagement
By
Star Staff

    Larry Zimmerman of Springy Banks Road and Ellen Zimmerman of Sherrill Road, both in East Hampton, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Marti Laran Zimmerman, to Stephen Kenneth Lynch Jr. He is a son of Stephen K. and Regina Lynch of East Hampton.

    Ms. Zimmerman graduated from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and is a manager at the Gap in Bridgehampton. Mr. Lynch, a 2001 East Hampton High School graduate, became a partner in the family contracting business after high school. His father is now head of the East Hampton Town Highway Department. 

    A fall 2015 wedding is planned.

 

Dog Walk, Fund-Raiser to Save Second House

Dog Walk, Fund-Raiser to Save Second House

Honora Herlihy, Lawrence Cooke, Nora Franzetti and Kathryn Nadeau are the members of the newly formed Save Second House Committee.
Honora Herlihy, Lawrence Cooke, Nora Franzetti and Kathryn Nadeau are the members of the newly formed Save Second House Committee.
Janis Hewitt
By
Janis Hewitt

The Save Second House committee, a brand-new arm of the Montauk Historical Society, has four members and some big ideas for restoring the run-down building, which houses a museum.

The committee includes Honora Herlihy as its chairwoman, Nora Franzetti as secretary and treasurer, Lawrence Cooke, who has been working to establish an Indian Museum on the north side of the property, and Kathryn Nadeau, who replaced Elizabeth White last month as president of the historical society.

Members are planning a slew of fund-raisers, starting May 10 with a dog walk around Fort Pond and play time on the museum’s grounds from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Animal Rescue Fund’s mobile adoption van will be on site, as will professional dog trainers offering training tools. There will also be vendors, raffles, food and doggie treats, and a Manly Man Milk Bone-eating contest.

Although a museum, Second House is better known for the craft fairs it holds there each summer. It was one of the first three houses built in Montauk in the late 1700s, all of which were lost to fire. First House burned down in 1798 and was rebuilt, only to burn down again in 1909 and never be rebuilt. Third House, which is now part of a Suffolk County park, was rebuilt in 1806. Second House was rebuilt in 1797.

The three houses were used by the cattle keepers and shepherds who cared for the herds that were driven “on Montauk” to graze during the months of May through November. It took about six hours for their owners, residents of East Hampton, to herd the animals out east.

The keeper’s job at Second House was to keep cows out of the sheep pasture and make sure the sheep did not stray east into cattle lands, according to Peg Winski’s 1997 book, “Montauk, an Anecdotal History.” Ms. Winski, who has since died, was a member of the historical society and a teacher at the Montauk School for many years.

In October 1990, the staff of Victoria magazine (a now-defunct publication “dedicated to all things lacey, flowery, and beautiful”) spruced the place up for a photo shoot, which, while flowery and beautiful, had its historical character removed for cosmetic reasons that some historians were not too happy about.

Since then the museum has stayed low key. One winter it housed a raccoon that wreaked havoc on the interior.

Those who visit the craft fairs sometimes wander to the back of the building to see the heirloom garden in bloom with lavender, hollyhock, sage, and other flowers and herbs. In season, roses and ivy tumble over the shingled building and faded arbor that wears a crown of rose thorns. The museum is open in summer on weekends, though many visitors are unaware of it. Schoolchildren studying local history often visit the site.

Members of the new committee want to rejuvenate and restore Second House’s roof, windows, slashes, and toilets, and to repair its shingles, some of which are patched. It will take a lot of money, which means they are looking at a long-term commitment. But they are ready to bring life back to the place, and will hold outdoor movies and other fund-raising events there this summer.

They would very much like to have the museum added to the National Register of Historic Places, which could mean grant money might be available for its restoration. Ms. Nadeau is sorting through the requirements now.

It is not necessary to bring a dog to join the first fund-raiser on May 10, which will start and end at the museum and circle Fort Pond. There is a $20 donation fee requested. More information can be found at savesecondhouse@ gmail.com.

 

E.M.T.s Sought in Montauk

E.M.T.s Sought in Montauk

By
Janis Hewitt

The Montauk Fire Department is looking for people willing to train as volunteer emergency medical technicians for its ambulance squad. An informational meeting will be held at the firehouse on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to explain what the position requires and how much training is needed for certification.

The ambulance squad answers up to 700 calls each year, with at least one every day, and has only 20 E.M.T.s, not enough to cover the hamlet, especially in summer when the population swells with seasonal visitors, said Alan Burke, the captain of the department’s emergency service unit.

The fire department has paid paramedics, who are the first responders and usually respond within 10 minutes of a call to stabilize patients until an E.M.T. arrives on the scene to take over and accompany the patient to Southampton Hospital. Volunteer firemen or another E.M.T. can drive the ambulance.

Mr. Burke said that being a good neighbor means more than lending a helping hand or doing small favors now and then. Residents, he said, should take a moment to reflect on the people, especially family members, that might at some time have chest pains, difficulty breathing, or trip in the dark and fall down stairs and need the emergency service unit’s help. They are on duty 24 hours every day, and work without asking for pay or even a thank you, Mr. Burke said.

The basic requirements are simple: Volunteers must be 18 years or older, in good physical health, and of sound moral character. But there are also some givens, Mr. Burke said, such as being a caring, community-minded team player, one that enjoys a challenge, and loves to learn and acquire new skills.

“Nothing beats the fulfillment that comes from doing an important job while helping out in your own community,” Mr. Burke said.

After the informational meeting those who want to sign on could be riding on ambulance calls to observe throughout the summer, starting July 1. Schooling for the emergency service program begins in September.