Villages

Shoppers who came to Bridgehampton from near and far on Sunday to mark the closing of the retail giant’s last full-size store celebrated and mourned, recalling affordable clothing, first jobs, and a different era.

The namesake for this recipe was likely Mary Hedges Carll (1831-1900), the aunt of the East Hampton Library’s first librarian, Ettie Hedges Pennypacker.

This week, as Kmart shutters in Bridgehampton, you can read about its grand opening 25 years ago. And much more of interest and semi-interest from our past pages.

On the East End, we hear a lot about invasive species in the plant world, but the house sparrow was one of the original invasive species. House sparrows are bullies. They fight over dirt baths. They are nonmigratory, colonize habitat, and then profusely breed. When native migratory birds return to nest in the spring, these pugnacious birds force them away. 

Margot Pena and Douglas Steigerwald’s recent wedding is proof that true love comes when you least expect it. Married last month at Clearwater Beach in Springs overlooking Gardiner’s Bay, the soulmates found each other late in life.

To promote Montauk as a summer resort, Carl Fisher published this booklet with the Montauk Beach Development Corporation, detailing the amenities of the Montauk Manor hotel and the charms of the surroundings.

This month the Montauk Library has three giant boxes at its front entrance to collect donations for the Montauk Food Pantry, the Retreat, and ARF.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. will moderate a ChangeHampton discussion Sunday on “between property owners and landscape designers, contractors and entrepreneurs” who are using “restorative landscaping, rewilding, and pursuing nature-based solutions to counteract the climate and biodiversity crises.” 

The Rev. Benjamin Shambaugh will be back in the pulpit at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church this week after returning from a 10-day stint as chaplain aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous as it traveled from Panama to Virginia, part of an effort by the Coast Guard to help personnel reintegrate smoothly at home.

As Loretta Davis prepares to leave the Retreat, the domestic violence shelter has announced Cate Carbonaro as her replacement.

Tom Piacentine was walking to the beach in Amagansett 40 years ago when he stumbled upon what looked like a ball buried in the sand. Though he didn’t yet know it, what he had found was a seemingly authentic World War II-era German steel helmet.

The news. It just never stops. Herewith, a peek at what was happening as far back as 1899, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood weekly.

If weather forecasts are to be trusted, the next few nights will be clear, making the brightest comet of the year visible due west, shortly after sunset. The comet is in an Oort cloud on an 80,000-year orbit of the sun. 

People across the South Fork, and indeed much of the northern part of the United States, were treated to a vivid display of the aurora borealis on Thursday night, prompting many to look out their windows, pull over their cars, post pictures on Instagram, and wonder: Why? Next question: Will they be visible again Friday night?

On Sept. 26, 1797, David Mulford (1754-1799) and Rachel Gardiner Mulford (1750-1811) sold 24 acres of land “in Appequoag” to his brother Jonathan Mulford (1770-1840).

The national trend of shell companies owning real estate is not a new phenomenon, but it's one that is solidly in play here on the South Fork — presenting benefits for the actual owners and problems of perception in some communities.

The case of the removal of two trees on Meadowlark Lane in Sag Harbor Village was back in Justice Court Tuesday morning. Alex Kriegsman, an attorney appearing virtually in representing the defendant, Augusta Ramsay Folks, made a motion for dismissal based on comments made by Bob Plumb of the village board at a meeting in August.

Time was a breeze on land likely meant the three windmills in East Hampton Village were churning grain. They’re still there, reminders of a time when we were more positively connected to the environment. All three will be open to the public on Saturday, for what Hugh King, the village historian, is calling Windmill Day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest day oft he Jewish calendar, begins at sundown tomorrow, and there will be services in East Hampton at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons and Chabad of the Hamptons and in Sag Harbor at Temple Adas Israel and Bay Street Theater, which Gesher | the Bridge Shul will make its temporary home.

Way back when, “two aged ladies of Bridgehampton” nearly died by gas. A hundred years later, Brookhaven Lab addressed plutonium in the Peconic River. And much more of consequence from The Star of Yore.

House fires, bombing zones in Block Island Sound, and virus-killed birds. Here is a trip into the pungent past.

Due to bridge and track maintenance on the Montauk branch of the Long Island Rail Road, trains will not run to or from the South Fork from very early Saturday morning, at 12:30 a.m., to Monday morning at 4.

Leland E. Winslow and Chelsea C. Walker were married on Sept. 22, the anniversary of their first date, at East Wind in Wading River.

In 1834, 14-year-old Martha Thompson (1821-1854) made this sampler in Center Moriches. Detailed with the alphabet, her name, year of her birth, and a short poem, it was completed as a way for Martha to practice her needlework, writing, and reading skills.

While the overstuffed bookstore is no longer, whatever comes next at 290 Main Street in Sag Harbor, locals will always know it as Canio’s.

Emilie Erica Stoll and Jean Carlo Barrientos, who were married on Friday at Navy Beach in Montauk, still remember the exact date they met: July 23, 2014. They had both finished their freshman years at college. They were at the beach. “He was surfing the hurricane swell at Napeague that evening while she was going for a sunset dip,” they wrote. “He came up to her as she was walking back towards the parking lot and asked her name, and the rest is history.”

With the power line now fixed at East Hampton Village Mobile Home Community following a four-day summer outage, residents heard last week of a new issue stemming from the power failure: a 6-percent rent increase due to either “capital improvements” or increased “operating costs.” Now, residents wonder: Is that legal?

Sunday’s Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons Stroll to the Sea fund-raiser will bring together pet lovers in support of other animals in need of help.

"Because of the weather, the only day we could go out clamming was Friday. We were out there for five hours," said Michael Fromm of Amagansett, whose efforts paid off when he emerged the overall winner of the East Hampton Town Trustees' 33rd Largest Clam Contest on Sunday.

Voters in Sag Harbor, North Haven, and Noyac turned out last Thursday to approve, by a wide margin, the John Jermain Memorial Library's 2025 budget as well as tax-levy propositions for the Eastville Community Historical Society and the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum.