125 Years Ago 1898
From The East Hampton Star, July 29
Large hauls of bluefish were made along the coast on Wednesday. Chase Filer brought in over 200, nearly half of them averaging 10 pounds each.
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Mrs. Henry J. Gielow will give an entertainment in Clinton Hall, Friday evening, Aug. 5th, half the proceeds of which will be given to the Village Improvement society. The entertainment will consist of songs and dramatic scenes and impersonations of old plantation life in the south, lullabies and cornfield songs. Mrs. Gielow’s entertainments were so well liked last summer at Quogue and Southampton that she was invited to repeat them this summer.
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Austin Culver has raised by subscription sufficient funds to have a bicycle path built from Dr. Herrick’s place to the beach. This little enterprise will be greatly appreciated by the hundreds who wheel to the beach every pleasant day.
100 Years Ago 1923
From The East Hampton Star, July 27
In order that all contestants in the Star beauty contest have an equal chance of winning, it was decided to postpone the closing date to Wednesday, August 1. The last hour for sending in coupons will be 12 noon, next Wednesday. It was the intention of the contest manager to close the contest today, as was stated in last week’s Star, but as no definite hour of closing was stated, it was decided to postpone the day of closing.
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East Hampton was hostess to several distinguished actors and actresses over Sunday. Mr. and Mrs. Ziegfeld (Billie Burke), who have been on a yachting trip and were staying over Sunday aboard their yacht in Sag Harbor bay, motored over to East Hampton’s bathing beach.
Rudolph Valentino, a distinguished screen star, who was a week-end guest of Mr. and Mrs. Charles N. Bull, Jr., also visited the beach. When it became known that Mr. Valentino was on the beach, there was a general stir, and excitement reigned for a time.
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No beauty lover should have missed going to the Herter Art Exhibit last week. Not only for the pictures themselves (and that was a rare treat, for it is the first exhibit Mr. and Mrs. Herter have held in twenty years) but to see their gardens, which are living works of art. Orange lilies grow just as nature would have planted them, among the green of bayberry and oak, along the winding forest road on the Herter estate.
75 Years Ago 1948
From The East Hampton Star, July 29
The sub-leasing of approximately one third of the base area of the Suffolk County Airport at Westhampton by the Arabian American Oil Company was revealed today when work was begun on the conversion of 26 former Army barracks and other buildings into a large industrial camp. Negotiations have been carried on for several months between the Arabian American concern and the National Aircraft Maintenance Corporation, which has leased the airport.
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A crowd estimated at between three and four thousand witnessed the largest and most spectacular parade in Amagansett’s history last Saturday; watched the dedication of a memorial plaque marking the old Indian drinking well from which Amagansett derives its name; saw the Coast Guard demonstrate rescue equipment and methods; partook of pound cake and tea at the Presbyterian Church Manse; and finally, in the fading twilight, joined with the Saint Paul’s Choir in a community sing at Miankoma Studio — it was “Amagansett Day” in the town-wide Tercentenary celebration.
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The annual fair and supper of the Women’s Guild of the Montauk Community Church will be held on Wednesday, August 4, beginning at 2 p.m.
The fair will be held on the lawn in front of the Church, and will include the following booths: Food, Fancy Goods, Apron, Rugs, Children’s Wear, Toys and Grab Bag, Frankfurter, Lemonade, and Flowers.
The ham and lobster supper will be served from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., and will consist of the home cooked foods for which the Women’s Guild is famous.
50 Years Ago 1973
From The East Hampton Star, July 26
Suffolk County will own 865 acres of parkland at Indian Field, Montauk, by the end of this year, and perhaps 117 more a month or two later, County Executive John V.N. Klein predicted last week. The cost of the entire taking, he said, “should be a bit over $8,000,000” — roughly twice the price estimated in the mid ‘60s, when the County first decided to acquire the area.
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A report was made public this week recommending six sewer districts for the East End, and one for Fishers Island, with initial projects to be undertaken in Greenport, Riverhead, and Westhampton Beach. Other areas slated for “initial stage” “sewering,” according to the preparers of the report, Bowe, Walsh and Associates of Melville, are Mattituck, Sag Harbor, East Hampton Village, Montauk village, the Lake Montauk area, Southampton Village, and parts of Shelter Island.
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A 184-foot tuna fishing boat, the Day Island, returning to Montauk after a day of fishing on Monday, ran aground on Shagwong Reef, about two miles north of Shagwong Point, Montauk, and is probably there yet, west of the flashing buoy.
The Montauk Coast Guard Station sent three boats to the scene when the call came in at about 8 p.m. Monday. In addition, according to a spokesman for the Montauk Station, the New London, Conn., and Fishers Island Coast Guard stations sent a vessel each to the aid of the Day Island and its crew.
25 Years Ago 1998
From The East Hampton Star, July 30
Everyone wants in on the act.
From the Child Development Center of the Hamptons to the Stephen Talkhouse nightclub, residents are hoping to attract the attention of President Clinton and the first lady during their three-day visit this weekend.
Though few details of the Clintons’ fun and fund-raising trip could be confirmed by press time, it seems unlikely many locals will actually get to meet the President or his wife. That is, except for the 100 supporters who bought the priciest tickets, $5,000 each, to a gala cocktail party Saturday night at Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger’s house in Amagansett and about 120 invited to two exclusive receptions, who paid $25,000 a couple.
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The East Hampton Town Trustees are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the person or persons who opened Georgica Pond to the sea sometime Monday night, turning its chief public access off Route 27 into a sea of mud.
But what if the Secret Service did it?
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Frank Wexler called The Star yesterday to ask whether he would be able to get to his house in Amagansett tomorrow night from Manhattan.
“I wonder if they’re going to shut down the Expressway,” he said, deciding that he would probably take the train.
Joseph Scheerer Jr., who lives across West End Road from Steven Spielberg’s East Hampton estate, said he and his wife, Nancy, were planning to stock up on food and “hunker down” for the weekend.
Having Bill and Hillary Clinton spend three days just across the narrow, dead-end road was likely to “cause us a lot of inconvenience,” Mr. Scheerer said.
