Villages

Concerned Citizens of Montauk has started a petition in support of a project the group pitched to the East Hampton Town Board that would see goats used to remove invasive vegetation in a portion of the roughly 40-acre Arthur Benson Preserve. As of Wednesday morning, it had 210 signatures.

Behold, the Edison Projectoscope! And much more from the Star of yore.

The grounds of Mulford Farm on James Lane will be host to Revolutionary War re-enactors, costumed interpreters, games, music, historical craft demonstrations, and more on Sunday when the East Hampton Historical Society has a free family history festival celebrating the town’s 375th anniversary.

On Sept. 24, 1815, Abraham M. Smith of East Hampton wrote Henry Packer Dering (1762-1822), Sag Harbor’s customs collector, with news of a shipwreck the day before at Montauk, a brig from Russia carrying hemp and iron.

UPDATE: Those wishing to put their rakes to the test for the East Hampton Town Trustees’ Largest Clam Contest will have to wait a bit longer to dig for the winners in Lake Montauk, Napeague Harbor, Accabonac Harbor, Hog Creek, and Three Mile Harbor, as heavy rains have closed many areas to shellfishing and forced a second rescheduling of the annual event.

Flu season doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving, right? Wrong. Dr. George Dempsey, the medical director of East Hampton Family Medicine on Pantigo Road, wrote last week to say he’s already had a handful of patients test positive in the office. “Never before last year did we see so many this early,” said Dr. Nadia Persheff, a pediatrician in Southampton.

Mike and Liz McCarron of Montauk have announced the engagement of their son Benjamin Knute McCarron to Colleen Elizabeth Sherlock, whose parents are Kevin and Debbie Sherlock of Montauk and Delray Beach, Fla.

On Tuesday, it was decided to postpone the East Hampton Town Trustees’ 33rd annual Largest Clam Contest until Oct. 8 because of a forecast of inclement weather on Sunday. Until then, clams beware! The contest is both a celebration of the town’s maritime heritage and a means for the trustees, who have jurisdiction over many of the town’s beaches, waterways, and bottomlands, to inform the public as to their role in the town’s governing.

When it arrives at the Bridgehampton Museum on Sunday for display, one particular car, a Lola T70 Eagle, will have come full circle, as race cars tend to do. Fifty-seven years ago, the legendary driver Dan Gurney drove it to win the 1966 Can Am race in Bridgehampton. On Sunday, the historically significant car will be on view for the public for two hours only — 9 to 11 a.m. — during the museum’s annual Cars and Coffee event.

Smoke from distant fires, meditation with a yogi, celebs in Montauk, and giant, ugly houses in the dunes — some things never change.

Other than the occasional loud talker in the quiet area, the John Jermain Memorial Library is a pretty chill place. Next Thursday, however, from 2 to 8 p.m., registered voters in the Sag Harbor School District can show up to vote in a contested library board race, in which three candidates are vying for two spots, and weigh in on the budget proposal.

How busy was the summer of 2023 on the South Fork? There are some interesting metrics out there. Wastewater is one: The amount treated in Sag Harbor during June, July, and August was up roughly six percent over 2022 levels. On East Hampton Village beaches, lifeguards recorded 376 saves. But summer rentals were down on the real estate market, and certain restaurants experienced less traffic than they'd hoped.