125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, December 16
The auction sale conducted by the Village Improvement society in Clinton Hall last night was well patronized and everything collected for the sale was disposed of. The proceeds were $54 gross, $46 net.
—
Hereafter, until further notice, the library will be open only on Saturday of each week, from 2:30 until 4:30 o’clock, beginning on the 24th. Mrs. J.H. Mulford and Mrs. S.A. Gregory have recently renewed their subscription to the library.
—
The young people will give a Christmas dance in Clinton Hall on Monday evening, Dec. 26, for which invitations will be issued to-day. Prof. Koerner will furnish the music, and the affair promises to be quite tony.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, December 14
Over one hundred taxpayers and residents of Union Free School District No. 1 attended the special school meeting at the high school building last Saturday night, which was called by the Board of Education for the purpose of voting on the proposition to raise $40,000 for completing work on the new school building, now nearing completion, and grading the school grounds.
The proposition was carried by a vote of 89 to 15. One blank ballot was cast.
—
One of the most important business transactions in Greenport in some time was the sale of the J.S. Gaffka & Sons Marine Motor Plant, which took place last week. The plant, which is located at the foot of First Street, on the bay, is one of the finest equipped factories and machine shops on the east end of the Island. The business was established twenty years ago by J.S. Gaffka, who is president of the company.
—
This is the season when farmers and others interested in country life are making their plans for another year. This is also the season when new resolutions are made, new pages are turned and people in general are planning to make the coming year better than any that has gone before.
The State Institute of Applied Agriculture at Farmingdale is taking steps to do its part in making some of these dreams come true. It has arranged a number of short winter courses for those interested in farming and rural life who wish to know more about such matters, and who can spend only a limited time away from home or business.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, December 16
The Toy Workshop is concluding its second Christmas season with an appeal for gifts of used clothing, gloves, mittens, puzzles, costume pins, lockets, necklaces, wallets, purses, books, loose powder compacts, ties, socks, scarves, or any other items which are suitable for gift giving to boys and girls from eleven to seventeen. There are over forty children in this age group on the Community Committee list. Gifts for them are desperately needed.
—
At the regular monthly meeting of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce held at the Village Building on December 13th, the following schedule of holidays was recommended and approved for the year of 1949. New Year’s Day, one half day each on Washington’s Birthday and Lincoln’s Birthday unless one of these shall fall on a Saturday, in which case the other shall be a full day of closing. Good Friday from noon until 3 p.m., Decoration Day, July Fourth, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas.
—
Kenneth G. Stowell will conduct an informal Christmas “sing” on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 19, at 4 o’clock, when the Guild Hall Winter Committee will be “At Home” to members and their guests. Mrs. William A. Taylor is in charge of arrangements and will play the piano accompaniment.
The choirs of the various village churches have been invited to attend. A feature of the informal program will be a group of selections played by a string trio composed of Mrs. Samuel Davis, Mrs. Leigh Clifford, and Mrs. George Schulte.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, December 13
The East Hampton Ladies’ Village Improvement Society met on Monday afternoon at Guild Hall, Mrs. Thomas A. Kelly presiding.
Mrs. I.B. Tiedeman read Mrs. William Abel’s report for the tree committee. Fifty-one new trees have been planted recently in the Village or are about to be planted, to replace elms lost by Dutch elm disease, which has been unusually heavy here this past year — although that loss is still less than the national average.
—
The East Hampton Town Board proposed Friday morning to implement some of the “open density” recommendations which had been expressed in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan five years ago, and was promptly scolded for not implementing them all at once and for not having done so five years ago.
—
Two lawsuits were settled out of court last month by the developer of 12 acres on the shore of Fort Pond Bay, Montauk. The developer, the Argyle Land Company, planned to build a 250-foot pier, was granted a permit to do so, lost the permit, and sued the State to get it back.
Planning also to build tennis courts, bath houses, and other structures, the Company had no permits to build them, built them anyway, and was sued by East Hampton Town. By one settlement, it will get the State permit; by the other, it is obliged to apply for the Town permits.
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, December 17
United States Representative Michael P. Forbes announced Tuesday that after careful thought he had decided to vote to impeach President Bill Clinton.
“Over 4,000 people from my . . . district have contacted me to express their opinions and I have labored long and hard over this very difficult decision. When it’s all said and done, I want to do what is right for America,” said Mr. Forbes.
In a press release, he added that he saw “convincing evidence” that the President had committed perjury that met the constitutional definition of a high crime.
—
It was unclear at press time whether a rally in Washington to support President Clinton would go on in light of yesterday’s decision to postpone the impeachment hearing scheduled for today.
A busload of East End residents who had hoped to join others seeking to reverse the position of their Representative, Michael P. Forbes, and of other members of the House, was to have left from East Hampton at 3 a.m. today, make a stop at Southampton College, and be in Washington in time for the 10 a.m. rally, which the Rev. Jesse Jackson was to lead.
—
Eight hundred East Hampton High School students got an early jump on Christmas vacation Monday, when they were dismissed at about 1:30 p.m. under what the District Superintendent dubbed “emergency go-home procedures.”
Why?
Serious trouble in the septic system.
The culprit?
No one is sure yet, but the Amagansett plumbing contractor Harold McMahon did pull some men’s underwear — specifically, one pair of boxer shorts — from the main sewer line this week. Also retrieved, said Dr. Theresa Trouve, the high school principal, were “a lot of school-related” objects — pens, pencils, remnants of paper.
