First time homebuyers looking to purchase a house in Southold Town will receive a break on their closing costs under a new state law.

On Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed new legislation designed to assist moderate-income residents purchase of their first home by eliminating one of the costs associated with closing: namely the 2 percent real estate transfer tax that funds the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund.

The CPF is a conservation program designed to preserve open space and farmland in the five East End townships. The tax is levied on the cost of the mortgage taken out to buy homes.

In June, the New York State Assembly and Senate both approved the tax relief bill. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) in the upper house, and Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) in the lower house.

Mr. Palumbo said Wednesday he hopes the law curbs the trend of younger residents leaving Southold Town due to its high cost of living.

“This is a big step for moderate income families,” Mr. Palumbo said. “The elimination of this tax will allow for families with moderate incomes to pursue home ownership. Offering families with the incentives to stay on the Island will help mitigate the exodus of residents looking for lower living costs off the island and out of state.”

“This new law will enable our young residents more opportunities to purchase a first home on Long Island, near their families,” Mr. LaValle said in a statement.  “Additionally, it will help our local businesses retain good employees.  These are key elements necessary to keep Long Island a great place to live, work and raise a family.”

The maximum household income to take part in the exemption is approximately $126,000, with the maximum home purchase price presently estimated at $399,000, according to the law.

Southold Town is the latest East End municipality to benefit from the tax exemption. Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island also currently offer the tax break.

Riverhead is the only East End town without the first-time homebuyers’ exemption.

Southold Town residents are invited to Town Hall Tuesday to join a community activist group aiming to help combat helicopter noise in Southold Town and across the East End.

The town is hosting an organizational meeting Tuesday, Sept. 30. The goal is to form a Southold-based civic group that would join forces with other community groups on the East End already working to combat helicopter noise.

Those groups would include the Wainscott-based Quiet Skies Coalition, which boasts more than 5,000 members fighting to stop helicopters from flying over East End homes.

The Southold organizational meeting comes about one month after residents of both forks packed an East Hampton Town Board meeting to protest members’ handling of the East Hampton Airport, the final destination for much of the helicopter traffic.

The organizational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall meeting room.

cmurray@timesreview.com

Aaron Virgin, VP of Group for the East End; Jim Dreeben, owner of Peconic Paddler; and Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter down by the Peconic River on Friday morning. (Credit: Carrie Miller)

All week long, North Fork natives have been raising a glass to the coastlines they call dear, joining water lovers across the nation for the 26^th Annual National Estuaries Week — using social media to spread water quality awareness.

Pictures of people raising a glass of water near local water bodies have been filling Twitter and Facebook feeds across the nation this past week, an effort that ends Saturday.

The Peconic Estuary Program organized photo opportunities from Greenport to Riverhead, bringing public officials, environmentalists, business owners, and residents together.

To get involved, share a photo of your tribute with the hash tag to the Peconic Estuary Program facebook page or twitter.

Here are just a few of those who took the time to #ToastTheCoast — from the North Fork, Riverhead and beyond.

Advertisement

The weeks after Labor Day heralded the blues; my “beach bum” days were coming to an end. Although I walk the beach daily in all seasons, this summer I took advantage of “paradise found” and spent almost every weekend at the beach. It was truly a memorable summer. Spending quality time with old friends and meeting new friends was just the boost my spirits had needed.  

One Sunday in early summer, I was sitting alone. (Not one of my better days.) A young boy and his aunt walked by my beach chair. The boy saw that I was tearful and offered me a “heart rock.” I learned from his aunt that a heart-shaped rock that’s found in the sand is sent to us from our loved ones who have gone on to their spiritual homes. That simple act of kindness was the beginning of my spiritual healing. I’ve since started my own heart rock collection and, bonus, the aunt and her nephew are among my new friends.

But alas, all good (and bad) things come to an end. With that in mind and in an attempt to shake off my melancholy, I took a bike ride. In the distance I noticed little dots of orange in a field. As I got closer the blues were replaced by an old delight. “Pumpkins,” I thought. My pumpkin sighting catapulted me back to another time when memories were made.

In late August, Mom took us to Sears for school shoes and ordered our new school uniforms. For a confessed clothes horse, I detested the green (a pukey green, at that) skirt and white blouse. I tried to jazz it up by adding an angel pin.

Mother Superior’s perpetual frown grew deeper when she spotted it. She emphatically said, “Celia! Not regulation.”

“But Mother,” I said, “it’s an angel pin.”

“Off!”

Lordy, lordy! That’s the worst thing to tell a gal like me. It’s no wonder that I’ve grown to be a tad rebellious. Ah, but we did get over on Mother Superior: We hiked up our uniform skirts, slathered on lipstick and stashed cigarettes in our pencil cases.

Can you blame us? We attended an all-girls school and rode the bus with guys from an all-boys school. (Surging hormones fueled that bus!) In the nick of time, we wiped off our lipstick, unrolled the skirt waistband and sallied forth under Mother Superior’s watchful eyes.

Hallelujah! My uniform days were over. My sister Nancy and I still call sparkling crisp autumn days “black turtleneck and gold locket days.” We wore our turtlenecks and lockets with short skirts, tights and boots. No regulations here! We loved that look then and still do!

While my kids were growing up, the farms on Staten Island that once housed pumpkin and corn fields were replaced by “file cabinet houses.” (A warning, folks!) My kids were ignorant of this fact; therefore it didn’t affect their quest for the perfect supermarket pumpkin.

Once found, our pumpkin sat on the porch without expression until my husband said to our kids, “Ready to give it a face?” Laying down paper on the kitchen table, their dad got out a carving knife and, with the skill of a plastic surgeon, gave the pumpkin a happy face. We placed a candle in the center of the pumpkin and sat around the table telling ghost stories.

I’ve always thought of life as a flowing river; we never step into the same spot twice. That’s why I relish the change of seasons. As sure as I’m writing this, when it’s time to trade my gold locket and turtleneck for jeans and my red jacket, I’ll be madly in love with winter.

My sister Nancy and I will meet in Manhattan soon. By design, we’ll show up in our fall uniform: black turtlenecks, gold lockets, short skirts (not too short) and boots. We’ll laugh, link arms and create golden memories that live on in our hearts.

Ms. Iannelli is a resident of Jamesport.

Those of us who work in offices tend to become one with our (sometimes cushy) executive chairs.

And while it doesn’t take a genius to understand that this relationship probably isn’t the best one for our health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reminds us that office workers spend about 65 to 75 percent of their workday sitting. This lack of motion can contribute to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Dr. Richard Hall, a chiropractor in Southold, warns that sitting for long periods of time can also create tension in the musculoskeletal system, affecting the natural curves of the bones in the neck and the lower back, contributing to pain. 

“I tell people at least every half-hour to move, do a little stretch or a spinal twist,” he said. “You’ve got to move. People get so into their work that they forget.”

Paul Furbeck, director of rehabilitation for Peconic Bay Medical Center, explained that when sitting for extended periods of time, the body starts to shut down at the metabolic level, whereas getting up and standing throughout the day increases that metabolic rate, causing calories to burn and increasing blood flow.

According to the nonprofit organization JustStand.org, which is combating excessive sitting — at work, and at home — an increase in metabolic rate also stimulates focus, energy and productivity.

A September study released by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Australia explored the idea, finding that incorporating 30-minute stints of standing at work can help to relieve backaches and fatigue without harming productivity.

The workers used height-adjustable desks that support keyboards, allowing users to be productive while standing, switching between seated to standing positions, according to the study.

Mr. Furbeck said the standing desks are a staple around the Riverhead hospital, adding that he would “absolutely” recommend them, stating that patients should “modify the activity to a standing time they can tolerate.”

Though Dr. Hall said he has not yet worked with the adjustable desks, he said the notion “Sit less, live longer — to me that is common sense.”

He explained that movement can help keep the spine and pelvis healthy, and “the healthier the spine and pelvis, the easier it will be for you to sit or stand for longer periods of time.”

Dr. Hall recommends visiting one’s chiropractor if sitting for long periods of time results in discomfort.

Got a health question or column idea? Email Carrie Miller at cmiller@timesreview.com. Follow her on twitter @carriemiller01. 

The current crop of kindergarten students in the district joined the high school seniors in assisting school board president Jerry Diffley as he cut the ribbon Friday. (Credit: Grant Parpan photos)

As she walked from her car to the Mattituck High School athletic fields, Laurie Reilly held back tears.

She was headed to a once familiar track at the school, where her three grown daughters had run. But this time was different.

Ms. Reilly was one of more than 500 local residents who attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday evening at the school’s brand new track — an all-weather, polyflex running surface that has replaced the former cinder track that long stood at the school. 

“I’m just so glad for the kids,” said Ms. Reilly, who attended the event with her daughter Diana, a 1998 graduate and former state champion in the 400 meter hurdles for the Tuckers.

Diana Reilly and her former teammate Lynette Wigington, who won a state title all four years of high school and still holds New York State Public High School Athletic Association records in the long jump and triple jump, say the track will make a huge difference in the training of future Mattituck athletes.

“It’s wonderful,” said Ms. Wigington, a former junior Olympian who graduated in 1997 and whose son now runs for the school. “The kids today will be inspired by this track.”

Diana Reilly said the “odds were against” the school’s runners over the years, but that will change. In recent years the school had been stripped of its right to host home meets because its track didn’t meet standards.

Jim Underwood, who coached track at the school for 30 years beginning in 1984, said the new running surface will also benefit the greater Mattituck-Cutchogue community. He called it one of the “first recreational resources the [whole] community can use.”

“It’s a long time coming,” he said.

Lynette Wigington and Dana Reilly, former state track champions from Mattituck High School attended Friday night’s ribbon cutting.

District residents voted 777-386 in favor of the $925,000 track bond proposal during a special vote in the high school gym last October. About $675,000 was estimated to go toward construction of the track at the time. The bond also included funding toward the purchase of portable bleachers and irrigation upgrades, perimeter sport netting, sidewalks and asbestos remediation work inside the school.

“In this economy, to pass a bond of this magnitude, it shows just how much support this project had,” said Mattituck Board of Education president Jerry Diffley.

Members of the community arrived in droves to be among the first to use the updated facility Friday evening. The event also included a pep rally for all the school’s fall sports teams, a community bonfire and the “Tucker Bowl,” an athletic challenge between the different grades at the school.

The NJROTC presented the nation’s colors and the school’s Select Chorus sang the National Anthem at the event.

“This feels like Americana,” said Superintendent Anne Smith. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

The school’s soccer teams will play homecoming on the field inside the oval Saturday, with the boys hosting Center Moriches at noon and the girls squaring off against Southold at 2 p.m.

Click the page links to see more photos from the event. 

A 64-year-man was arrested on felony charges in Southold Friday afternoon after he was caught trying to fill two fake prescriptions at a local pharmacy, police said. 

Employees noticed the false documents and called the cops when Fulton Johnson of Cambria Heights, N.Y. tried filling the forged scripts around 12:25 p.m., police said.

He was charged with felony possession of a forge instrument and held overnight at police headquarters awaiting morning arraignment, police said.

Howard Meinke (Credit: Meinke family courtesy)

The voice on the other end of the phone spoke in a deliberate manner, demanding to be heard.

“My understaaaanding is that you are the person I now need to speeeaaaak to regarding letters to the editor,” he said slowly.

It took just that one introductory sentence for me to realize that Howard Meinke would be writing me frequently, as he had my predecessors at Times/Review, and that he would command my attention. 

The first time we met in person, he sat on the couch in my office for the better part of two hours on a Sunday afternoon, sharing his concerns about development in Southold Town and the impact any future building would have on the environment; in particular, how it might affect the water that surrounds us. He was also a staunch advocate for the need to address climate change at all levels of government.

What immediately struck me about Mr. Meinke that day was that he didn’t just want to share his thoughts on the environment with others, but he welcomed feedback. He wanted to know that other people agreed with him and, if they didn’t, he hoped to understand why. In my handful of meetings with him over the past year, I would watch as he stared deeply, seeming to process every single word of my response. Then he’d pause for a moment and offer his reply.

Commentary, particularly in this world of 24-hour cable and Internet news, is too often centered on one particular viewpoint. There’s very little give and take. People aren’t really listening. So it’s nice when, like Mr. Meinke, they actually do.

While I knew him only as a contributor to our opinion pages and occasional attendee at Southold Town meetings, I’m certain this ability to collaborate served Mr. Meinke well in his professional life and in his past role as president of the North Fork Environmental Council.

His letter and op/ed submissions weren’t hastily emailed. They included personal touches and notes that added context and perspective. He’d often follow emails up with a phone call or personal visit.

It was clear from our correspondences that much of Mr. Meinke’s concern for the North Fork’s environment came from firsthand observations he made while out on his boat. He wasn’t just conjuring opinions from the idea that Southold Town was changing; he was seeing the effects of change.

“Out in my boat I see the rust tide all over the place,” he wrote in an email that included an attached letter about water pollution. “It is not a human health problem, but it sure is ugly.”

“I do appreciate that you see my pollution issue as important as I do,” read another note. “We do need to wake up and smell the coffee ASAP … I hope I am not all by myself here.”

His musings on pollution and the environment were also based on his memories of how things once were here. His letters sometimes made reference to his days as a kid, paddling in the creeks of Cutchogue.

Mr. Meinke’s emails weren’t always letters to the editor. Sometimes he wanted to weigh in privately on an issue, or just say hello.

On Dec. 20, I received an email wishing me a Merry Christmas and explaining that he wouldn’t be writing for four months as he visited Florida to work on his terrible golf game. “The only downside is no oceanfront,” he said of the place where he stayed down there.

Of course, he still sent a letter three weeks later. And another one the week after that.

I was out of town visiting my family’s home in Asheville, N.C., this week when I received word that Mr. Meinke had been killed. Coincidentally, it was a trip that included lots of nature. We visited the French Broad River, one of the oldest rivers in the world, and the North Carolina Arboretum, with its fascinating collection of bonsai trees. I thought of Mr. Meinke a lot.

I did a double take Monday when, days after his death, I received, along with everyone else on his mailing list, a correspondence from his email account.

“Dear Friends, it is with deep regret that we must inform you of Howard’s untimely passing …” the email began.

If Heaven has a water pollution problem, God had better be prepared to hear about it.

The author is the executive editor of Times/Review Newsgroup. He can be reached at gparpan@timesreview.com or 631-354-8046.

Superintendent David Gamberg during a Greenport school board meeting earlier this month. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)

An African proverb speaks about the importance of embracing the wisdom of someone who is new to a place, who can see and bring fresh ideas, along with someone who may have the wisdom born out of experience, having lived through the challenges of figuring out how best to do something.

I start this school year as school superintendent for both the Southold and Greenport school systems. I welcome this opportunity to serve two wonderful school communities with the hope that our collective wisdom will lead to an enriching experience for the students, families, and taxpayers I serve.

It is no secret that as we begin this year, various challenges are evident in our daily lives. Each school year can be marked by events that allow a learning community to step outside the walls of a school in an effort to learn the authentic lessons of the day that will benefit students at any given time. The “good old days” had their share of challenges, where students, teachers and families faced unique circumstances -— both locally and globally. World War I, The Great Depression and World War II were all times when children and families witnessed and/or experienced tumultuous events.

The 2014-15 school year is no exception. Beyond events overseas in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, people everywhere seek to overcome any number of personal challenges. Certainly, the experience of school can and should be a safe haven for students of all ages.

Here, too, challenges exist.

Local school communities are challenged with navigating the ongoing assault against public education. News media accounts of failing schools and failing students and teachers blur the discussion of how we can and must work together to understand what is best for our students, our teachers and our schools. Ranking and sorting people and systems, while possibly appealing in many aspects of daily life, is not the best way to prepare our students or our schools for the future. We must welcome a “new eyes wisdom” on how to change, but also protect our “old eyes wisdom” about what works best.

Over-testing and the accompanying culture of fear is not a wise way to shape the direction for improved outcomes. These are not your grandmother’s exams, not in the scope or the volume of testing, starting as early as kindergarten. Undermining the ability of a school community to build a healthy culture for embracing a wide assortment of quality experiences in the arts, civics, history, science, math, language and physical well-being (not to mention emotional well-being) is an ill-conceived agenda for progress. Such is the current state of “reform” of education throughout New York and the nation today.

I am not suggesting that change is not the order of the day. The tools for interacting and engaging in the larger life lessons our students need when they graduate from high school have certainly changed from yesteryear. Today, we learn of events instantly instead of waiting for the morning paper. We live in an age where technology and commerce leverage the use of data to provide choices never before seen.

Think of Angie’s List, Amazon and any number of consumer products and services that we interface with each week. Regardless of how one views these changes relative to how we used to do things, establishing learning communities based on trust and respect is not incompatible with advancing the agenda for our schools. It is an overly simplistic, and false, notion to believe that schools must become “new and improved” by getting rid of “old and outmoded.”

This is an incorrect view of how we should establish policies that govern one of the most important democratic institutions of our country — the local school as a centerpiece of the community.

David Gamberg is superintendent of the Southold and Greenport school districts. 

Bill Plock’s grandfather, John Plock Sr., founded the Shelter Island Oyster Company. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)

What do oysters have to do with history? Everything. At least, when you’re talking about the East End of Long Island. 

And from the late 1800s to the 1950s, the Shelter Island Oyster Factory was a major player in the region’s oyster industry. In the face of incessant complaints about noise and odors that typically accompany such operations, it remained for decades as a thriving business run off the shores of Dering Harbor.

But its been forgotten by many. That’s why the Shelter Island Historical Society and The Nature Conservancy are joining forces on an exhibit that debuts Oct. 18 at the Historical Society’s Havens House Barn.

The exhibit will commemorate that time in history when oysters were thriving industries.

Bill Plock remembers because it was his grandfather, John Plock Sr., who founded the company where Bill worked after school and on Saturdays from the age of 12. And while his interests have taken him in other directions, he still surrounds himself with a lot of the memorabilia from the days when Oscar the Oyster reigned as a symbol of the best oysters grown on the East End of Long Island.

Among them is a plaque employees presented to his grandfather in 1928 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s founding.

“It was fun,” Mr. Plock said of working side by side with other employees, putting together and then packing corrugated boxes of oysters for shipping, and — as is true in many prominent family businesses — doing everything from sweeping the floors and organizing inventory to learning to shuck oysters.

He helped load boxes with canned oysters that were shipped to Boston markets weekly.

He remembers the noise and the odors, but if those weren’t embraced by factory neighbors, for him they represented a part of the excitement of the business.

Back in those days, everyone in the business of fishing, clamming and oyster farming worked together and helped one another thrive, Mr. Plock said.

When Bill was only 16, his father, John Jr., died in an accident, bringing the young man even closer to his grandfather, he said.

Even though he was the grandson of the owner, he was “just one of the guys” among the other workers who took him under their wings and helped him learn the various jobs.

That might have been Bill Plock’s future, but by the 1950s, the oyster business was dying out and it wouldn’t have been profitable to keep the factory going, he said.

Still, the sea was in his blood, so it was a natural transition to pursue work that would keep him close to the water. For 27 years, he worked at Brewer’s Yacht Yard, initially as a mechanic and rigging boats and later, as computers came on the scene, working as parts manager in the company’s stock room. He later started his own knife-sharpening business.

Besides the Shelter Island factory, the family owned a shellfish farming facility in Southold, where seeding was done and clam shells were cleaned and ground and sold for use in paving driveways. In 1992, the family created a development plan to protect 14 of the 22 acres of land in Souhtold and in 1996, donated those 14 acres and facilities to the Peconic Land Trust.

For the family members, the oyster business may be a thing of the past, but they still surround themselves with memorabilia from its heyday and daughter Rebecca Plock, who has interned at the Shelter Island Historical Society, was thrilled when she visited Universal Studios in Florida and saw a Shelter Island Oyster sign on a wall there.

Clearly, her family legacy in the business lives on in the memories of others, she said.

While Nanette Breiner-Lawrenson and her staff at the Shelter Island Historical Society gather memorabilia from  the Shelter Island Oyster Factory, Mike Laspia, through The Nature Preserve, is working to bring the science of oystering to the forefront.

“It seemed like a perfect marriage of the two organizations,” Ms. Lawrenson said about the cooperative exhibit being planned by the Historical Society and Nature Preserve.

Besides pictures, the Plocks will be lending items including Shelter Island Oyster Factory cuff links, tie clips, posters, cans and, of course, images of Oscar the Oyster for the exhibit. There will also be recipes for all things oyster and Ms. Lawrenson is hoping anyone with any memorabilia from that era might lend it for the exhibit.

“It was pretty neat that they really wanted to exhibit this,” Mr. Plock said. The family business “will be remembered forever now,” he said.

 jlane@timesreview.com

Attendees on the beach during Saturday’s memorial for Howard Meinke at Mattituck Yacht Club. (Credit: Michael White)

Howard Meinke was a lot of things to a lot of people.

To his grandkids, he was Captain Evil.

That was due to his penchant for tossing children off tubes when the family was out motoring in Peconic Bay.

“He took his grandkids tubing behind the boat and he gave them a ride,” said his daughter Nancy Morrell. “He did whatever it took to throw them off, 14 years old or 4 years old … That’s where the name [Captain Evil] came from.”

Daughter Janice Dunbar later added, “He did find joy in driving in such a way as to catapult the kids off the tube. And that was Captain Evil’s mission. The higher the kids flew, the more he smiled.

“But those kids kept coming back for more.”

That same bay — the one on which he bonded with his grandchildren and fought so hard to protect through his environmental advocacy work — was a fitting backdrop for Saturday’s touching memorial service at Mattituck Yacht Club, which drew over a hundred people to the beach.

Howard Meinke’s three children (L-R) Nancy Morrell, Jeffrey Meinke and Janice Dunbar all spoke. (Credit: Michael White)

Under a clear sky, about a dozen people spoke of their memories of Mr. Meinke, a home builder who was also an accomplished sailor and avid skier.

He had served as a vice commodore and commodore of the yacht club, where he and his children all taught sailing — and learned to sail themselves.

“We spent our fabulous childhood summers sailing at the Mattituck Yacht Club,” Ms. Dunbar told the crowd.

Mr. Meinke of Laurel died from injuries suffered in a car accident Sept. 18 in Greenport. He was crossing Route 48 near the Soundview Restaurant, where he was attending an Eastern Long Island Hospital fundraiser, when he was struck by a passing motorist. He was 86.

The speakers at Saturday’s memorial event spoke often of Mr. Meinke’s dedication to his community and the environment.

Bill Toedter, president of the North Fork Environmental Council, a volunteer group of which Mr. Meinke had also served as president, told of how Mr. Meinke would recall his youthful days spent on the North Fork, when the water was clearer and fish could be seen swimming all about.

“He recounted how 50 years later the water was much murkier, he couldn’t see his toes,” Mr. Toedter said.

“His story was my story, and I bet it’s the story of many here,” he continued. ”We remember cleaner water and better times and we see there are problems and we want it fixed for our children and grandchildren. Howard led the way. He dedicated his time, his life to making a North Fork a better place.”

Mr. Meinke’s son, Jeffrey, was the first speaker introduced.

Like the others, he spoke from the yacht club’s shaded porch with the crowd assembled on a sun-splashed beach below.

He spoke fondly of his time working with his dad at Meinke Associates, and sprinkled in tearful stories from their time spent together and with the family out on the water.

“As an adult, as I continue my sailing adventures, I’ve come to realize that I was taught by a master,” Jeff Meinke said. ”Thank you, Dad, for teaching me life’s lessons both on and off the seas.

“As Dad’s physical stature was diminishing, his intellectual presence and outspoken concern for our fragile North Fork grew,” he continued. “Howard was the magnificent estuary that has ebbed from my life. His taking his sudden and unfair, but in many respects a blessing in disguise.

“I will miss him. We will all miss him. God bless you, Dad.”

mwhite@timesreview.com

Attendees were all encouraged to leave their name in a memorial book. (Credit: Michael White

Dr. Erin McGintee of ENT and Allergy Associates in Aquebogue will give a talk, ‘The Scoop on Seasonal Allergies,’ at Cutchogue New Suffolk Library Tuesday, Oct. 7, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. She will discuss symptoms and management of allergies to common triggers like ragweed and grass pollen, as well as a meat allergy that can be caused by the bite of the Lone Star tick. For information and registration, call 734-6360.

• San Simeon by the Sound’s final Brown Bag Lunch Lecture of the season is set for Wednesday, Oct. 1, from 1-2 p.m. with guest speaker chef John Ross, who will discuss “The Evolution of the North Fork as a Culinary Region.” The cost, including lunch provided by Erik’s, is $25. For tickets, call San Simeon at 477-2110, ext. 252.

• Fall yoga classes with Rosemary are now forming at North Fork Women’s Resource Center, above Capital One Bank in Cutchogue. Gentle yoga meets Tuesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m.; EasyStretch men’s yoga, Thursdays at 9:15 a.m.; and easy chair yoga, Fridays at 10:45 a.m. Call 631-604-0107.

To send Health Beat news, email dfates@timesreview.com, fax to 298-3287, or mail to Times/Review Newspapers, P.O. Box 1500, Mattituck, NY 11952. Copy deadline: Friday at 5 p.m. to appear the following week.

The East End Arts gallery on East Main Street in Riverhead. (Credit: File)

Six artists judged best in show during East End Arts’ 2013 exhibits will be featured in the annual Winners’ Show at the Riverhead gallery.

The artists are Central Islip poet Dolores Cinquemani, East Hampton poet Toby Haynes, Riverhead photographer Katherine Liepe-Levinson, East Quogue mixed media artist Jonathan Pearlman, New York photographer Nancy Scherl and painter Win Zibeon of Blauvelt, N.Y.

The show opens Thursday, Oct. 2, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m., and continues through Nov. 1.

• “New Beginnings,” paintings, prints and mixed media works by Lee Harned, will be on view during October at Mattituck-Laurel Library. Ms. Harned recently retired from Mattituck High School, where she taught art for 27 years.

An artist’s reception will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10.

• Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill will show the documentary ‘Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here’ at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. The film, directed by Mattituck resident Amei Wallach, traces the North Fork artists’ 2008 trip to Moscow. It was the first time the Russian-born couple had returned to the former Soviet Union since leaving there in the 1980s. During the visit, they installed a multi-venue retrospective of their work.

Ms. Wallach and Ms. Kabakov will participate in a question-and-answer session following the screening.

Admission is $10. Call 283-2118.

• Call for singers: Join the East End Arts’ Harvest Gospel Choir, which will perform three concerts in November at North and South fork churches. The 28th annual nondenominational Harvest Gospel Concerts will again be directed by Maryanne McElroy.

To participate, singers are required to attend rehearsals from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturdays, Oct. 11, 18 and 25, Nov. 1 and 8, at Friendship Baptist Church in Flanders. Singers can register at the first rehearsal; there are no auditions.

Performances will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at Mattituck Presbyterian Church; Friday, Nov. 21, at Hamptons United Methodist Church in Southampton; and Saturday, Nov. 22, at Friendship Baptist Church in Flanders.

For details, go to eastendarts.org under Events.

• Landscape painter Gia Schifano of New Hyde Park and Sag Harbor painter/illustrator Scott Hewett will be the featured artists at Gallery Crossing in Peconic from Sept. 25 to Oct. 6.

Ms. Schifano, who had been painting landscapes on the South Fork, has recently been doing so on this fork. “Wherever nature, sunlight, blue skies reflected on water, salt air and honeysuckle can be found she’ll put brush to canvas,” according to a press release.

Mr. Hewett “pursues an ordinary, everyday “pop realism” approach to art … in representational and formal, high-key compositions.”

• Entries for Riverhead Free Library’s 49th annual Photography Contest and exhibition will be accepted between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at the library. A reception and awards presentation will be held Friday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. The exhibit is sponsored by Friends of the Library.

Call 727-3228 or visit riverheadlibrary.org.

• Deadline extended: The submission deadline for North Fork Community Theatre’s first juried art show has been extended to Nov. 1. Entries must be two-dimensional work depicting the historic Mattituck building. Artists may enter up to three pieces; each must measure no more than 24 inches square.

Architectural renderings will also be eligible for an award and will be considered for use as a logo.

Emailed jpgs to artshow@nfct.com with an entry form, résumé and artist’s bio. Original work only. Up to 25 pieces will be chosen to be displayed at the theater from December through April 2015.

For a prospectus, go to nfct.com.

• Peconic Public Broadcasting’s first-ever Mixed Media Art Show will open at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, at Dodds & Eder in Sag Harbor. The event is billed as a celebration of East End artists and their communities. The show will be on view through Oct. 13.

Entries were judged by regular members of the Media Mavens show on WPPB, including Suffolk Times and Riverhead News-Review editor Michael White. Art sales proceeds will be split between the artists and WPPB.

To send arts news, email lsisson@timesreview.com, fax to 298-3287, or mail to Times/Review Newspapers, P.O. Box 1500, Mattituck, NY 11952. Copy deadline: Wednesday at 5 p.m. to appear the following week.

Greenport/Southold/Mattituck quarterback Matt Drinkwater looking for an open receiver. (Credit: Garret Meade)

PHANTOMS 32, PORTERS 0

The sun beat down on the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck Porters on Saturday afternoon. The Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms didn’t do a bad job of that, either.

Using a mix of physicality and a flowing passing game, fourth-seeded Bayport bulldozed the Porters, 32-0, in a rare afternoon game at Greenport High School’s Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field. Both the warm weather and Bayport’s balanced offense took its toll on the Porters, who saw quarterback Brendan Bateman throw for three first-half touchdowns and run for another.

In a statistical oddity, the eighth-seeded Porters (1-2 in Suffolk County Division IV) curiously had only one yard less than Bayport (2-1) at halftime, yet trailed by 26-0.

Bateman, a senior in his third year as a starter, was a big reason why. Before Rob Johnson replaced him in the fourth quarter, Bateman went 7 of 12 passing for 143 yards.

Bayport, which amassed 333 yards in offense to Greenport’s 125, showed its ability to move the ball on the game’s first offensive series. The Phantoms’ six-play scoring drive started with a pass completion and ended with another, a 23-yarder to Vincent Lombardi, who broke a tackle and dashed to the end zone.

On its next series, Bayport needed only four plays for another touchdown. Bateman, pressured, scrambled a bit before finding Chris Gallo wide open on the right side for a 50-yard scoring connection.

What would have been a 53-yard touchdown pass to Martin Naro was nullified by a chop block penalty, but the Phantoms got their third touchdown a little bit later, with Edgar Somerville spinning away from the defense for a 13-yard score.

With the ball on their own 27-yard line, the Porters opted to try for a first down on fourth-and-two late in the second quarter, but an incompletion gave Bayport the ball with excellent field position. Three plays later, Bateman extended the score to 26-0 with 34.6 seconds left in the second quarter. After taking the snap in the shotgun position, he darted forward up the middle 22 yards for a touchdown.

Greenport’s Timmy Stevens took a helmet to his right shin on the play and had to be helped off the field while putting no pressure on the leg. After the game, Porters coach Jack Martilotta said he thinks Stevens will be able to play in the team’s next game Wednesday evening against Southampton/Ross.

A 1-yard touchdown run by Robert Romano with 8:25 left in the fourth quarter accounted for the game’s final points.

Martilotta said the heat took a toll on his players, several of whom had to leave the game with muscle cramps, including Chris Dwyer, who made a career-high four catches for 54 yards in the first half.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Credit: Joseph Pinciaro

Since my wife and I moved to Long Island five years ago, we’ve been saying to one another that we would make a trip upstate. The open space, the mountain views, the slow pace — it has almost a majestic draw. At least from what we’d seen online.

But year after year, that trip never happened, despite promises to ourselves that this would be the year. Life just always seemed to get in the way, as they say.

This year, we’d finally had enough. It’s not like we had any spare cash lying around compared to previous years, but we were determined to stop life from getting in the way this time. And we did.

It took us five years to do it, but last week’s trip to the Catskills was a breath of fresh air — literally and figuratively.

Ashley and I rented a small cabin at a lodge in a hamlet of about 300. It’s tough to find rentals anywhere that allow dogs, so we were very excited to find one that did — and didn’t have bedbugs when we arrived.

It’s kind of hard to recap what we did while we were up there, because we really didn’t do much for the two nights we were gone. And a lot of the things we did, we could actually do right at home in Wading River, which makes the trip actually sound kind of lame. I finished my book. We split in two games of Scrabble, sat by the fire outside for a little while, walked the dogs in the woods and by the water.

We drove around a couple of small downtowns in the area, popped into some small antique shops and had lunch at a diner.

Nothing too special, right?

One thing we can’t get in Wading River, though, are those mountain views driving along winding roads — which makes all those other things that much better. Luckily, we had some wonderful weather and the sight of a mountainside full of trees, with a little stretch of downtown Americana in the distance, on a sunny day is really a thing to behold.

To steal a phrase from perhaps one of the greatest movie characters of all time, Ferris Bueller — a phrase that’s been lifted in many a speech, and with good reason — “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.”

Life moves slowly when you’re surrounded by the outdoors, mostly because there isn’t much going on around you to speed it up, and there’s no cell phone service.

And that’s refreshing.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not packing up my belongings and moving into a van by the Esopus Creek anytime soon. I think life is pretty darn good down here.

Every once in a while, though, just a quick trip to recharge the batteries with a change of scenery can do wonders. Don’t let life get in the way. I wish I hadn’t.

jpinciaro@timesreview.com

John Costello waves the flag, signaling the start of the launch.

The last time brothers John and George Costello launched a barge they built together, the year was 1991. And they made a party out of it.

Hundreds gathered at Hanff’s Boat Yard on Sterling Street to watch as the barge Preston was set into action for the first time.

A lot has changed in the past 23 years, most noticeably the absence of George Costello. The co-owner of Costello Marine in Greenport and a treasured community leader, Mr. Costello died in 2012, just a few days after Christmas.

He was on a job in Southampton when the stress caught up with him, his brother said. He was 63.

In many ways, however, not much has changed from the last launch, John Costello said. Small town traditions live on, as does the memory of his brother.

That was evident Saturday, when more than 200 came out for the launching of the George David, named in honor of the business and civic leader.

For John Costello, the launching of George David brought back memories of working alongside his brother. The two had been business partners since they co-founded Costello Marine in August 1976. The Costello brothers had been working on the barge for nearly four years, even before George Costello died.

Nearly a year and a half later, Mr. Costello completed the work in memory of his brother.

“He was involved in 90 percent of the work and he is still involved, he is just looking from a different direction,” Mr. Costello.

The George David is 24 feet wide by 92 feet long, the largest barge built and launched from the Greenport waterfront since World War II, Mr. Costello said. The vessel will serve the family business, traveling the across Long Island to repair and build docks and slips.

The vessel is now on its way to Connecticut to be sandblasted and painted, Mr. Costello said.

Saturday’s launch party brought out a who’s who of Greenport residents. There was not an open spot left on the dock has Mr. Costello gave the go-ahead to release the barge into the harbor, to the cheers of all in attendance.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Company’s owner Rich Vandenburgh brought the free beer and even tapped the kegs himself for the celebration. Local artist Cindy Roe opened up her gallery at the boatyard for the crowd.

“We always have a party at Hanff’s,” Mr. Costello said.

Although the party, food and drinks were free, many took it upon themselves to donate money to one of George Costello’s favorite civic causes — the restoration of the historic roller rink at the Burton Potter American Legion Hall on Third Street.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT ON THE NEXT PAGE

Looking for work, or know someone who is?

Times/Review classifieds offers local companies a place to advertise their job openings each week, and this week close to 60 positions are available from a carpenter, to a horse handler, to a farm stand worker.

And for anyone interested in submitting a classified ad, email: classifieds@timesreview.com.

Check out the listings below:

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: F/T or P/T. Position for a fast-paced Real Estate office. R.E. licensed sales person with North Fork knowledge a plus for a salary position. Microsoft Office/MLS proficient. Knowledge of Top Producer a plus. Email resume, office1994@aol.com

ANIMAL HOSPITAL POSITIONS: Eastport Animal Hospital seeks charismatic animal lovers to fill roles as a licensed veterinary technician, veterinary assistant and front desk assistant. Contact us at 631-878-7387, fax/send resume, 631-874-2529 , animalhospit@optonline.net or stop in and fill out application.

APPLIED BEHAVIOR SPECIALIST: F/T, for Little Flower Children and Family Services in Wading River NY, at our residential treatment center. Experience in applied behavior analysis and master’s degree required. Experience with OPWDD adolescents preferred. Send resume to wadingriver-jobs@lfchild.org or fax 631-929- 6203. EOE

AUTO BODY REPAIR MAN: Immediate opening for auto body repair/combo man or will train right person. Call 631-765-5295.

AUTO SALESPERSON: Lexus of Southampton is looking for the right individual to help handle our busy showroom. Automotive experience preferred. For a confidential interview contact Matt, 631-259-0300. (S)

AUTOMOTIVE DETAILER: F/T, benefits. Clean driver’s license. Call Marilyn at Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac, 631-287-1000.

AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN: F/T, benefits. Clean driver’s license. Experience preferred. Call Bruce at Buzz Chew Chevrolet Cadillac, 631-287-7272.

BAKER: Early-morning hours. Will train. East End Bagel Cafe. 631-765- 1642, evening 631-722-7889.

BOOKKEEPER: P/T, Thursdays and Fridays. Responsible for A/R, A/ P, bank reconciliations, recording invoices/payments, making collection calls. Must have understanding of QuickBooks and have computer skills. Will interact with vendors and management team. Organizational skills are a must. Call 631-298-1420.

CAREGIVERS: F/T, P/T, 24-hour live-in. Flexible schedules. Kind, caring, companions needed for in-home senior care. No certification necessary. Home Instead Senior Care, 631-594-2180.

CERTIFIED MEDICAL ASSIST- ANT: Position available at Cutchogue medical office. Please fax resume to 631-734-8365.

CNA: per diem. All shifts. www.sansimeonbythesound.org

COUNTER HELP: Year round. Flexible day hours. Will train. Day, 631-765-1642. Night, 631-722-7889.

CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSOCIATE: P/T for fast-paced, growing business. Responsibilities will include communication with customers, presenting products and pro- cessing orders. Candidate must possess effective communication skills and telephone etiquette, must have knowledge of QuickBooks and Excel. Please email resume to info@saturfarms.com

CUSTOMER SERVICE REP.: P/T for well-known HVAC company in Eastern Suffolk. Monday-Friday schedule. Seasonal weekends according to the needs of the company. Must be flexible with work schedule, have excellent communication skills, above average math skills, ability to handle high call volume. Must be able to resolve problems while delivering the highest level of customer service and have geographic knowledge of Suffolk County. Bilingual a plus; experience with an HVAC company a big plus. Compensation based on experience. Please include salary requirements with response. Benefits include medical, dental, AFLAC and 401(k). Forward resume to dennis.barlow@generalutilities. com

DELI POSITIONS: Cook, prep, grill person. Experience necessary. In fast-paced Calverton deli. bnath@bollaoil.com or call 917-251-7779.

Bread and More co-president Bennett Brokaw talks to volunteers John DeFrancis (left) and Joe Desio before dinner service Monday afternoon. Mr. Desio has been volunteering for13 years. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

Volunteers from the Bread and More Inn soup kitchen say they’ve never turned away a hungry neighbor and they don’t want to start now. 

The organization, which operates three nights a week at First Congregational Church in Riverhead, said it’s concerned an increase in food costs means it might not raise enough money to feed the hungry come winter.  

“Once it gets cold and the frost is here, there are a lot of workers that come in,” said Judy Barth, one of the kitchen’s three co-presidents. “Volunteers often have to stop people at the door and act as a hostess because the church can only seat so many at a time.”

But the cost of providing those meals has increased by about 30 percent in the past year, Ms. Barth explained.

“We used to need about $38,000 a year to operate,” she said. “Now, we will need about $46,000 to $50,000 per year.”

Fellow co-president Bennett Brokaw said the soup kitchen serves about 15,000 meals per year and feeds about 150 people per night during the winter.

Deedee Newcomb, another co-president, said the organization has experienced cuts in federal and state grant funding, which used to provide it with between $6,000 and $8,000 per year.

For the past two years, the only grant funding Bread and More Inn received was Riverhead’s Community Block Grant, at a total of $5,000 each year, Ms. Newcomb said.

While Mr. Brokaw said they have come up with “various tricks for tightening [their] belts” over the years — such as seeking donations of day-old baked goods from area bakeries or excess produce from farms and supermarkets — the organization is still in need.

“We’re cutting back because we have to,” Ms. Barth said. “We are eliminating certain drinks, and unfortunately, we can no longer make sure [people] have seconds.”

In an effort to raise additional funding, the organization is hosting a community fundraiser at Hallockville Museum Farm’s Naugles Barn from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3.

Tickets cost $30 and include light fare, a complimentary glass of wine and dessert. The night will include a silent auction and raffles, pony rides and an opportunity to take family portraits.

To purchase tickets or for more information, call Judy Barth at 298-1623.

cmiller@timesreview.com

Members of the community, including these youngsters, took the first lap around the new Mattituck High School track together Friday evening. (Credit: Grant Parpan)

Here are 10 Suffolk Times stories you may have missed over the past week. To make sure you stay on top of breaking North Fork news, follow @thesuffolktimes on Twitter. 

Brand new Mattituck track was a ‘long time coming’ as the community comes out to cut the ribbon. Story and photos: http://t.co/FmlCFdGMkb

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 27, 2014

Confusion reigns in Town Hall over erosion studies: http://t.co/4SeVEyXUKs

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 24, 2014

Manorville man sentenced to five years for armed robbery spree, which included Mattituck GameStop: http://t.co/W3NWJ0phtL

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 24, 2014

Greenport school officials defend district following audit report http://t.co/6kecD9CZkw

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 24, 2014

New Baykeeper appointed with the task of protecting the Peconics #PeconicEstuary #LI http://t.co/YblCNau67G

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 25, 2014

More than 200 friends came out for the launching of the George David Saturday, named for the late George Costello: http://t.co/azBmy6wXGD

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 28, 2014

First time homebuyers looking to buy a house in Southold will receive a break on their closing costs under a new law http://t.co/g0tjx8A2pV

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 26, 2014

In this special report, learn about the “dark days” of the Cutchogue labor camp that once held hundreds of migrants — http://t.co/JJnlmhJiNU

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 26, 2014

Southold Town helicopter meeting scheduled for Tuesday: http://t.co/VW2ogFm8me

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 26, 2014

In Howard Meinke’s memory, a gathering at #Mattituck Yacht Club http://t.co/vsXvhaJgR4

— Suffolk Times (@thesuffolktimes) September 27, 2014