As traffic concerns continue to escalate on the North Fork, Lavender by the Bay is hoping a second location in Calverton can help mitigate the crowds that travel east to visit their popular farm in East Marion.

There, 17 acres of lavender fields draw hundreds, if not thousands, to witness the purple blooms that crop up in mid-June and last through the fall. In recent years, local business owners as well as Orient and East Marion residents have complained that Lavender by the Bay is the source of road congestion in the tiny hamlet each summer weekend.

The farm owners said the community outcry has not fallen on deaf ears and are in contract to purchase a 30-acre agricultural parcel closer to the Long Island Expressway in an effort to reduce traffic to the East Marion location.

“We have a need and desire to plant more lavender and we have been looking for another piece of property for a couple of years now,” said Lavender by the Bay vice president Chanan Rozenbaum. “I think that the people who are coming to the North Fork will still want to come to our East Marion property, but people looking to just come to our farm could save themselves a half-hour to 45 minutes by coming to Calverton.”

Lavender by the Bay was established on Main Road in East Marion in 2002 and has been increasingly popular with visitors — particularly Asian-Americans — since a Hong Kong romance called “Lavender” was released in 2001, helping to explain why the fragrant flower has become all the rage.

The owners of the family-run farm first became interested in the Calverton property, opposite Splish Splash on Route 25 and Manor Road, last fall and have already started planting on 15 acres there, Mr. Rozenbaum said. The blooms are expected to take at least two seasons to mature and there are no current plans for a farm stand at the property, he added.

The East Marion farm grows more than 15 varieties of lavender and the Calverton location will likely do the same.

“The goal is to get everything planted so that we can hopefully have some resemblance of a bloom in the next two years,” Mr. Rozenbaum said. “Our priority right now is to plant and then, of course, we will go through all the proper channels if we want to build a store.”

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said the second location is a positive step in addressing the North Fork’s increasingly frustrating traffic problems, adding that the lavender fields in Calverton “can’t grow fast enough.”

“This is potentially great news,” Mr. Russell said. “If the new location attracts many of the visitors that currently travel to East Marion, it has the potential to reduce the traffic there to a manageable level.”

Concern about traffic at East Marion farm peaked in the summer of 2016, when Anne Murray, president of the East Marion Community Association, called the situation “life-and-death” during a Southold Town Boardmeeting. By last summer, the farm’s owner had removed an acre of plants to add 100 parking spots. Southold Town also added a traffic patrol in the area during the busy season.

“Last year was better but a lot of people still couldn’t get in and out of their houses,” said Ms. Murray. “It is a volume problem. I think [the Calverton location] is a win-win for everybody. There are more roads and parking in Calverton. Here, we are just trapped.”

Mr. Rozenbaum said he has not yet spoken to Riverhead Town officials about the property, but is optimistic the lavender farm will be well received.

A representative from Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith’s office said Tuesday that the supervisor is pleased that the property will remain agricultural in nature. Ms. Jens-Smith could not be reached for further comment before deadline.

cmurray@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Lavender By the Bay in East Marion. (File photo) 

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The former OfficeMax space at Tanger Outlets is slated to be occupied by a Brooklyn-based furniture store.

West Elm, a company that sells furniture, bedding, lighting and other items, plans to open in that space.

A architect representing the company went before the Riverhead Town Architectural Review Board last Wednesday with changes to the sign.

West Elm was founded in Brooklyn in 2002, and is a subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma. It has stores in more than 85 U.S. cities as well as in Canada, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, according to its website.

The proposed Riverhead site is adjacent to an existing Williams-Sonoma store, with a Pottery Barn, another subsidiary of that company, next to that.

West Elm already has a store in Tanger I. That is expected to be replaced by the new location, which a store employee is planned to open around October.

OfficeMax had occupied its former space for more than 17 years until it closed last November. The company had merged with rival Office Depot in 2013 and the Riverhead store was one of about 300 OfficeMax or Office Depot stores nationwide that were closed in order to “optimize its footprint,” a company spokesperson said last year.

The Riverhead Pottery Barn site was actually approved by the town for a multiplex movie theater in 2001, but Tanger didn’t have a movie theater tenant at the time, and ended up going with Pottery Barn instead.

tgannon@timesreview.com

Photo caption: The former OfficeMax space has been taken over by West Elm. (Tim Gannon photo) 

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Students in construction classes at Greenport High School will have a new outdoor space to hone their skills in plumbing, electrical work and more thanks in part to a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant.

“We have the space to mock-up a house,” technology teacher Mike Davies said. “Students can do electrical, plumbing, framing — it gives them a real experience. It’s like a BOCES feel in-house.”

Mr. Davies, who teaches multiple technology classes at the high school, said students in his 3-D printing class will be making 3-D renderings of what the outdoor space could be. He added that this will be a multiyear project, and hopes to begin working on it with students next school year.

Called the How-To: Construction project, it will give students the opportunity to learn skills that are in demand for local jobs.

Mr. Davies said he hopes to team up with local businesses and community members for donations of materials and instructional support to help create the project. Outdoor tool boxes have already been purchased and a location has been chosen for the work area.

“I always get people wandering in asking if I have any kids that want to do so and so,” Mr. Davies said. “It’s nice to tie in the local businesses. They can stop by and give a lesson and if some kid’s got a knack for it or shows interest they could get hired. It’s a good in for some kids who want to do this and to get them involved.”

This isn’t the first time students in Mr. Davies’ classes have partnered with the community on projects. In addition to building fences and planters for the school garden, they built the little free libraries that are scattered throughout the village, helped out with Eagle Scout projects and created planters for Mitchell Park. 

“The Lowe’s grant enables our faculty to expand on the amazing construction projects our students develop,” principal Gary Kalish said in a statement. “From our garden projects to the planters placed throughout the village, we are all so proud of the work of Greenport students. We wish to thank our friends at Lowe’s for generously supporting this important project.”

The district received a similar Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant last year that went toward materials, supplies and equipment needed to continue creating a garden in the front of the building. 

Mr. Davies said hands-on programs like these benefit both the students and community and allow students to get involved in trades early on, which he feels is important. 

“The community benefits from it and it keeps the kids doing good things,” he said. “They’re putting in the work, building value in a hard day’s work and building up skills along the way.”

nsmith@timesreview.com

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A temporary tent adjacent to PORT Waterfront Bar & Grill in Greenport may become a permanent fixture.

Keith Bavaro, the owner of the Third Street restaurant, went before the Village Planning Board Thursday with the request.

“The awning itself will actually come down and be stored at (Wm. J. Mills & Company Awnings, Custom Canvas & Cushions),” he said. “They come and take it every six months. But the actual framework will be connected to the deck and the building.”

The plan is for the awning to connect to the entrance of the building to make it easier for the restaurant to operate in poor weather.

“Right now, we have the tent set up and we want to attach it to the reverse gable, which takes you in and out of the building,” Mr. Bavaro told the Planning Board. “We won’t be able to do it this season, but for next season, we want to have coverage so that the staff and patrons can come in and out of the building without weather being an issue, as well as for food protection too.”

The restaurant is adjacent to the North Ferry dock and has waterfront views of Greenport Harbor. Proprietors Keith and Ali Bavaro also own SALT Waterfront Bar & Grill on Shelter Island since 2012, and opened the Greenport venue in 2017, in a location that had housed the Chowder Pot Pub for many years.

Keith Bavaro addresses the Planning Board Thursday. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

But the tent might not be the only issue.

Village administrator Paul Pallas said there also may be some building coverage and zoning issues with the property.

“We’re still researching it,” he said, adding that the application before the Planning Board was strictly about the tent awning.

Mr. Pallas told the board that the village had already approved the tent as a temporary structure, so it’s available there now to be examined. The tent is not attached to the building now and can’t be until the approval process is completed. The temporary status allows the tent awning to stand for 180 days before it has to be taken down, including the frame.

“They’ve now decided that they want to leave the frame up, and that’s why we’re here before you. That’s the heart of the issue,” he said.

Mr. Pallas said the other possible zoning issues, which he wasn’t specific about, could require Zoning Board of Appeals approval.

As a result, he advised the Planning Board not to vote to set a public hearing on the tent approval Thursday, as was originally planned.

Thursday’s meeting was what’s known as a “pre-submission conference,” and is usually held prior to a formal public hearing on an application.

Top photo: PORT Waterfront Bar & Grill is hoping to have a permanent connection between this tent and the restaurant. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

tgannon@timesreview.com

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An iconic image from the mid-1980s came from a group of New York City artists, who had “gathered over several months to provide support for one another in the face of AIDS,” as the Village Voice noted, and decided to make a poster “to address the epidemic then decimating their world.” It featured a pink triangle — a symbol of gay pride reclaimed from the Nazis — and a simple, powerful message: “Silence = Death.”

It was born from the frustration so many felt, in the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, that so little information was available about the disease sweeping through the gay community. But it also took aim at the stigma surrounding those with the disease, because staying in the shadows was dangerous and kept the world from understanding the magnitude of the crisis. Only by talking about it, acknowledging the toll it was taking and lifting the stigma to treat it like any other disease did it finally win the resources and commitment to finding effective countermeasures.

In the midst of a chilly, persistent rain, and an atmosphere heavy with emotion, people gathered on a recent Saturday in Hampton Bays to remember those who have succumbed to opioid abuse — a new epidemic — with a message that echoes “Silence = Death” in a new generation.

“Tell everybody you know,” said Drew Scott, well-known for his many years as an anchor for News 12 Long Island. He is now also recognizable as a member of another group: families who have lost loved ones to opioid overdoses. He continued: “Fight this epidemic. Talk about it. Don’t sweep it under the rug.”

Other speakers at the vigil said the same thing: “Hearing everyone’s stories, it’s nothing to be ashamed of — it’s a disease,” said Mr. Scott’s 17-year-old granddaughter, Mackenzie Jenkins. She was there with her grandfather to mourn her cousin Hallie Rae Ulrich, who died last year at 22.

More pointedly, Danielle Alberti of Hampton Bays spoke the name of her older sister, Melanie Lynne, who died in October 2014 at 21. “Don’t stop saying your loved ones’ names,” she said, quoting an old adage that a person dies a second time the last time his or her name is spoken.

But there’s more to speaking the names than simple tribute. It’s also about owning the tragedy and its cause. It is, as Ms. Jenkins said, “nothing to be ashamed of — it’s a disease.” Until that stigma is lifted, the opioid crisis is in danger of being something that too many people believe happens to other people, even as most everyone has a story to tell about a family member, friend or themselves.

The stigma remains. Even at the vigil, many people declined to speak about their personal connections to the epidemic, or even to give their names. There’s a nagging perception that acknowledging addiction is shameful, or, worse, can bring harmful results. It makes it clear that there is plenty of work to do, not just encouraging more openness but making sure everyone, including employers, recognizes addiction as a disease that needs to be treated, not a secret to be hidden.

Another parallel: In the early years of the AIDS epidemic, the cause of death was often dropped from obituaries, or even listed simply as “cancer” or some other “respectable” ailment. In retrospect, that seems cruel and misinformed. Yet today, obituaries regularly appear for young people, victims of opioid overdoses, with no cause of death listed. It helps draw a curtain around the problem, instead of shining light on it. There should be no shame; in celebrating a person’s life, there is honor in naming the reason it was snuffed out far too soon.

Today, with the opioid crisis, victims and their families are not alone, and they should strive, every day, not to be faceless either. “Fight this epidemic. Talk about it. Don’t sweep it under the rug.”

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On Saturday, Dec. 1, 1979, Allan Glover was working in a potato barn in Mattituck when his former wife, Nancy, came to find him. He could see something was very wrong.

Their 13-year-old son, Allan Wayne Glover, and Nancy’s husband, Stanley Victoria, 37, were missing. They had left early that morning from a dock in New Suffolk in a 16-foot boat to hunt ducks off Robins Island.

“It was a cold and windy day; it was blowing hard,” recalled Mr. Glover, now 73. “Nancy came to get me. I remember her saying, ‘They didn’t come back.’ ”

At the time, Mr. Glover was an assistant chief with the Cutchogue Fire Department. He and dozens of fellow firefighters went to the New Suffolk waterfront and found as many boats as they could to transport them to Robins Island. A photograph that appeared in the Dec. 6 edition of The Suffolk Times shows a crowd of volunteers combing a meadow on Robins Island.

“The thought was maybe they were stranded somewhere on the island,” Mr. Glover said. “We walked all along the shoreline and into the woods thinking they were in there somewhere to get away from the cold. We walked and walked.

“It was dark and still blowing, but we kept looking,” he said. “We searched two or three days. I had a friend who had a plane and we flew over the bay trying to find them.”

Over that long winter, neither Mr. Victoria, nor Allan and Nancy’s handsome, blond-haired boy were found. On April 15, 1980, four and a half months after the pair disappeared, Walter Ryba, a caretaker working at an estate at the end of Vanston Road on Nassau Point, saw a body on the beach below the estate, on the west side of the point. It was the boy. Several hours later, Mr. Victoria’s body was spotted on the beach on the southwest corner of Robins Island.

“It was a relief to at least know,” Mr. Glover said as he sat in the firehouse waiting room on a warm Tuesday afternoon.

This Sunday, June 3, from 8 a.m. to noon, the Cutchogue Fire Department will host its annual scholarship breakfast honoring Mr. Victoria, who was second assistant chief at the time of his death, and Allan Wayne Glover.

The fundraiser for local students heading to college started in 1981, the year after the bodies were discovered. The breakfast has changed lives; some 150 students have received more than $100,000 in scholarships since it began.

As usual Mr. Glover will man the stove Sunday, making pancakes and French toast.

“That’s where I will be,” he said. “I really like doing that. You know, when something horrible happens, people can give up. I wanted to keep going, and to do something good for the community. We thought helping kids get an education, that something good could come out of this.”

Members of the Cutchogue Fire Department comb Robins Island in December 1979. (Suffolk Times archives)

For 50 or so years, Mr. Glover has run a trucking business, hauling produce and nursery stock up and down the East Coast. He isn’t giving that up, either.

Nancy will be at the breakfast, too, with her husband, William Dermody. Both are fire department members and helpers at the annual chicken barbecue in August, which attracts crowds of more than 2,000.

In recent years, the scholarship breakfast has drawn upwards of 250 guests; last year it dropped to about 180. Fire department members are hoping more people will come this year to enjoy the food and support the cause. Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for children.

This year, five students will receive scholarships of $1,500 each. One is an ROTC scholarship in honor of the Cooper family. Four other recipients from either Southold or Mattituck high schools were chosen from a large pool based on a point system that considers grades, community service and other factors, according to Chief Larry Behr.

“The breakfast is our biggest fundraiser for the scholarship fund,” the chief said. “We also do a 5K run in December, too. With the point system, it allows us to reward kids who do community services and school activities.”

William Brewer, an ex-chief of the department who chairs the scholarship committee, was helping with planning Tuesday afternoon.

“We want to help these kids get on with their dreams,” he said.

The department’s 109 members are devoted to their community. They have responded to house fires and horrific car wrecks, even to accidents and tragedies involving their own family members, including Chief Behr, who once responded to a serious accident in Aquebogue only to learn it had claimed the life of his niece, an ambulance driver.

For Nancy Dermody and Allan Glover, their thoughts will be with their lost son — and the daughter they lost just a few years later in another horrific tragedy. Each has lived with seemingly insurmountable sadness, yet each has found ways to continue to serve Cutchogue and to go on with their lives. Their courage to face life has inspired everyone who knows them.

Nothing has deterred them — or any of their fellow CFD members — from serving, or from their love of the department and the community. A small community without a great fire department would be a poor place to live, raise a family and retire. These men and women have made it a better, safer place to live.

On Sunday, 37 years after the fundraiser began, members will cook pancakes for anyone who can come by to help the cause.

“I am glad we are doing it,” said Mr. Glover.

Photo caption: Allan Glover, a longtime member of Cutchogue Fire Department, will cook pancakes for Sunday’s scholarship breakfast at the firehouse. (Credit: Steve Wick)

swick@timesreview.com

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The Coast Guard was searching for two people in Long Island Sound Monday after a 14-foot white-and-blue sailboat with no mast was found near Truman Beach in East Marion, according to a Coast Guard press release.

Spencer Mugford, 21, and Sophia McKenna, 20, were last seen on a white tandem kayak around 2 a.m. on Sunday via social media, the press release said. When Mr. Mugford did not show up to an event Sunday morning, his parents called the City of Groton Police Department in Connecticut, the release said.

The Coast Guard suspended its search Monday at 10:30 p.m. after looking for the pair for 71 hours and covering a 2,025-square-mile area. The Coast Guard searched with local and state agencies, including assistance from Southold Town police, to identify the boat once it washed ashore, according to Southold police.

“Suspending a search for missing or overdue boaters is never an easy decision to make after an extensive search,” said Cmdr. Andrew Ely, chief of response, Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. “We search for every person as if we are searching for one of our own. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Spencer Mugford and Sophia McKenna.”

• Eswin Perez, 34, of Greenport was arrested for driving while intoxicated and driving without a license last Thursday around 2:25 p.m. on Main Road in Greenport after being observed driving on the shoulder of the road, according to Southold police.

• Jose Medrano, 39, of Greenport was arrested on Saturday for DWI around 2:30 a.m., police said.

• A Calverton woman was arrested Saturday near Route 48 and Hortons Lane in Southold after police responded to a report of a vehicle driving erratically around 7:21 a.m., police said. Kimberly Fleischman, 38, was arrested for driving while ability impaired by drugs and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a felony, according to police.

• Benjamin Weir, 20, of Riverhead was arrested for DWI Sunday around 4:45 a.m. on Route 48 near Peconic Lane in Peconic after he was found speeding in the area, police said.

Those who are named in police reports have not been convicted of any crime or violation. The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.

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A Greenport man was arrested Saturday morning on a weapons charge after he was stopped by police on Main Road in Southold.

Anthony Toy, 52, was stopped in the vicinity of St. Patrick’s Church shortly after 10:30 a.m. for driving with a suspended license, according to a town police press release.

Upon stopping, police found him to be in possession of an illegal electronic stun gun.

Mr. Toy was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree aggravation unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was processed and released on cash bail for a later court date, according to police.

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In the tradition of championship lacrosse teams, the Mattituck Tuckers raced onto the Hofstra Stadium field to mob, hug and congratulate their goalie, Shaun Howell, after securing the Long Island Class D boys title Saturday morning.

That postgame celebration might have extra meaning after Howell’s outstanding performance. The senior goalie made 12 saves, some of them vital stops, to kill off any momentum Oyster Bay attempted to build in the Tuckers’ 10-4 victory.

The Tuckers received a plaque for their historic achievement and trophy case — their first LI boys lacrosse crown. Though officials did not hand out an MVP award, Howell might have won hands down because his kept his hands up behind some head’s-up play.

“Shaun was killing their momentum, but he’s done that all season,” said sophomore attack Dane Reda, who, along with sophomore attack Ethan Schmidt, registered a hat trick. “Today wasn’t anything special for him, except it was just a big day, a big game.”

It certainly turned into a special day for Mattituck (12-6), which secured another first only four days after winning its first Suffolk County championship.

“I’m pretty ecstatic right now,” Reda said. “That’s a big win. We haven’t ever done that in program history and coming off winning the county championship. That’s a big momentum swing, too.”

Indeed, it was.

“It’s unreal,” said coach John Amato, who was ceremoniously dumped with water by his players for the second time this week. “I’m so proud of these guys. All the work throughout the year, starting in January and to see it pay off, it’s rewarding. You see it in the kids’ eyes. It’s special.”

Howell, a senior, produced some of the most special moments for Mattituck. It seemed that every time the Baymen (4-12), the Nassau County champion, tried to make a run to get back in the game, Howell produced a key save.

With the Tuckers enjoying a 5-2 advantage, Howell denied Luke Puccio with seven minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Only 20 seconds later, Schmidt, off a Ryan Hermann (two goals, two assists) feed, gave Mattituck a four-goal lead. After Puccio’s goal with 5:45 left in the period closed the gap to 6-3, Howell stopped Patrick Wygand with 1:54 remaining before halftime.

“He’s been great all season,” Amato said. “In the big moments, he just steps up that much more. He never shies down from the big moments.”

Howell? He just followed the basics.

“I was just seeing the ball,” he said. “I just remember what I was taught earlier, just keep my eye on the head of the stick. That’s where the ball comes out and it has helped me out a lot.”

The turning point came in the opening period. With Mattituck leading 2-0 on goals by Schmidt and Reda, the Tuckers found themselves in a man-down situation for three minutes after Max Kruszeski was ruled to have an illegal stick with 8:30 remaining. The penalty was non-releasable so the Baymen enjoyed a three-minute power play.

Some 28 seconds in, Bradley Beck sliced the lead in half at 2-1.

Mattituck managed got possession and took valuable time off the clock.

“You have to stop the runs in championship lacrosse,” Amato said. “Our kill in the beginning was phenomenal. It really showed that the defense was dialed in. We put ourselves in that situation and we got ourselves out.”

And then some.

As an added bonus, junior midfield Greg Hauser scored a short-handed goal with 6:06 for a 3-1 margin, helping the Tuckers break even during the three-minute penalty.

“Ryan Hermann did great … outran them and dumped it to me right in the crease,” Hauser said.

“It’s a huge momentum boost for us,” Howell said.

The Tuckers will play Pleasantville (19-1) in the state semifinals at the University at Albany Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Panthers registered a 21-5 win over Schuylerville Saturday.

“Pleasantville’s a very good team,” Amato said. “They’re having a great season. If we just play our best ball, I think we have an opportunity.”

Just another opportunity to make some more Mattituck history.

Photo caption: The Long Island champion Tuckers. (Credit: Bill Landon)

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The accomplishments of student-athletes grace the sports pages of this newspaper every week. Players unite for a common cause, at times leading to championships that inspire the community and reinforce a sense of pride in Mattituck, Southold or Greenport. The fire departments sound their horns as they escort winning teams back into town after big victories.

It’s easy to get swept up in their accomplishments on the field and court. After all, it’s exciting and fun. Everyone loves to see their local teams win.

Still, we sometimes fail to appreciate just how much work these student-athletes put into their academics on top of all the extra hours that go into a sport. This week was a reminder that those academic accomplishments deserve our cheers as well.

Consider Greenport High School, where the athletic department just learned it will earn a School of Distinction honor from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for 2017-18. To earn this honor, every varsity team during the year must qualify for a scholar-athlete team award. To earn that award, at least 75 percent of an individual team’s members must achieve a collective average GPA of 90 or better.

Every varsity team at Greenport this year was a scholar-athlete team, according to athletic department secretary Joan Dinizio. And considering how many Greenport teams also include students from Mattituck and Southold, it’s truly an accomplishment for the entire North Fork.

It’ll be the first time a North Fork school receives this distinction. Applications are due by the end of June and NYSPHSAA announces the winning schools across the state in July. Shelter Island has earned the honor in the past, most recently last year, as has Bishop McGann-Mercy High School in Riverhead, which earned the honor in 2010-11. In a given year, only a handful of Suffolk County schools earn the distinction.

In Greenport, a total of 16 varsity teams qualified, with average GPAs ranging from 90.05 to 94.88. That’s a lot of studying on top of a lot of practicing.

Well done, students.

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Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman announced Tuesday that he will seek the Democratic nod to run for Suffolk County comptroller, a position currently held by Republican John Kennedy, who, like Mr. Schneiderman, is a former Suffolk County legislator. 

The comptroller seat is up for re-election this fall. Mr. Schneiderman’s position as supervisor isn’t up for re-election until November 2019, so he would not have to give up his current job to run for comptroller.

He said Tuesday that he would not step down as supervisor if he runs for comptroller but that, if elected, he will resign with a year remaining on his term. In that event, deputy supervisor Frank Zappone will succeed him until an election is held. Mr. Schneiderman added that he considers winning the election against Mr. Kennedy “a long shot.”

“This is an unprecedented time in the history of Suffolk County,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a press release. “Our finances are in critical condition and Suffolk County residents need a comptroller who will help get the county back to fiscal health.”

A Southampton resident who previously lived in Montauk, Mr. Schneiderman said he would bring a “unique perspective” to the comptroller’s office, having served as Southampton Town supervisor since 2016, East Hampton Town supervisor from 2000 to 2003 and on the Suffolk County Legislature from 2004 to 2013. During his last year there, he also served as the legislature’s deputy presiding officer.

Mr. Kennedy, a Republican from Nesconset, was elected comptroller in 2014, replacing longtime Republican comptroller Joe Sawicki of Southold. Before that, he served in the county Legislature for 10 years, representing the 12th district. Mr. Kennedy’s wife, Leslie, has held that position since.

The comptroller is in charge of auditing county departments and nonprofit agencies that are funded by the county. The comptroller is also the county’s chief borrowing authority, among other things.

Mr. Schneiderman graduated from Hauppauge High School, earned a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from Ithaca College and then obtained a Master of Arts degree in education from SUNY/Cortland.

He has taught science and mathematics in East End schools, managed his family’s hotel business in Montauk and formed a resort management company.

Mr. Kennedy was the Official Examiner of the Title for the county clerk’s office for eight years before becoming a legislator and has over 38 years’ experience with county and state government.

He has a master’s from Adelphi University and a law degree from St. John’s University School of Law.

County Democrats plan to collect petitions for candidates but won’t have a convention, according to Democratic chairman Richard Schaefer, who said Mr. Schneiderman is the only person seeking to run for comptroller thus far.  

tgannon@timesreview.com

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A Southold Town police officer suffered minor injuries and a woman was arrested Saturday night after police received a call for a woman “acting irrationally and possibly having a psychotic problem” on Smith Drive in Southold, according to a press release. 

Upon police arrival, the woman, Cynthia Warshawsky of Albertson, NY, fled the scene in a motor vehicle. In the interest of safety, the pursuit was terminated by the patrol supervisor as it headed west on Route 25 toward Mattituck, police said. A short time after pursuit was ended, the vehicle was discovered to be involved in an accident on Main Road in Laurel, where it struck a tree and came to rest in a farm field.

Ms. Warshawsky, 54, then attempted to flee police by foot and a struggled ensued. She was charged with second-degree assault, unlawful fleeing and resisting arrest.

Ms. Warshawsky was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

The injured officer was treated at Eastern Long Island Hospital and released.

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The Mattituck/Southold Tuckers are back where they want to be.

Since Mattituck’s six-goal loss to Bronxville in last year’s New York State Class D girls lacrosse semifinals, the Tuckers have been itching to return to that stage. “Ever since that loss I think it’s been our motivation,” said senior midfielder Jane DiGregorio.

On Sunday they got their wish.

Following the exact same path they took last year to their first state final four, Mattituck followed up a victory over Babylon in the Suffolk County final with a 16-5 defeat of Carle Place in the Long Island final Sunday at Islip High School.

“We’re getting another opportunity and we’re not going to let it end how it ended last season,” said DiGregorio, who registered four goals and one assist. “We’re going to prove ourselves up there.”

The joyful Tuckers (13-5) lifted their second Long Island championship plaque, beaming about the opportunity that lays before them. They advance to a state semifinal Friday morning against South Jefferson (18-3) at SUNY/Cortland, the site of their 13-7 loss to Bronxville last year.

South Jefferson is ranked No. 1 in Class C by the New York State Sportswriters Association. It will be the first time the Spartans have played in a state semifinal. Mattituck is ranked second.

Mattituck coach Matt Maloney said his team has been looking forward to this opportunity.

“Literally, when last year ended, they couldn’t wait to get on the field,” he told reporters. “We do a lot of offseason stuff, but actually playing these games that matter the most, they couldn’t wait. A year felt like two and a half years. They really kind of waited it out. They played a tough regular-season schedule and I think it’s paying off. I hope it continues to pay off one more week for us.”

As the unquestioned favorite, Mattituck felt the pressure of coming away with a win Sunday.

How about that favorite status?

DiGregorio said, “I think my whole high school career I’ve always been the underdog and this year I finally was the favorite so it’s definitely a weird feeling, but I don’t know, it’s a different kind of pressure.”

Junior attack/midfielder Riley Hoeg said: “We couldn’t get too cocky about it. There have been a lot of upsets this year and we didn’t want to be one of those teams, so we just wanted to stay focused and play our game.”

It was goals galore for Mattituck, with an offense led by Riley Hoeg (three goals, three assists), her sister Mackenzie Hoeg (three goals, two assists), Francesca Vasile-Cozzo (one goal, four assists) and DiGregorio. They kept Carle Place goalie Jen Tumino (nine saves) busy. Julie Seifert tallied a pair of goals while Chelsea Marlborough and Kaitlin Tobin added a goal and an assist. Ashley Burns also scored for Mattituck. Marlborough controlled 12 of 18 draws.

Mattituck goalies Claudia Hoeg (one save) and Alex Talbot (four) split the game.

Carle Place (7-7) was led by Julia Winer (two goals, one assist) and Abby Selhorn (two goals).

After falling behind, 2-1, Mattituck ran off the next five straight goals, including two by DiGregorio.

A free-position goal by Winer pulled Carle Place to within 6-3, but that was as close as the Frogs got. A 6-0 run by Mattituck erased any doubt about the result.

“We executed on all parts of the field,” said Riley Hoeg, who has 37 goals and 38 assists this year. “Our ride was really good today. Our defense did a great job.”

Even with that, DiGregorio saw room for improvement, though. “I think overall we played sloppy,” she said. “I mean, you can’t complain because you just won a Long Island championship, but I think Monday we need to get to practice, ready to work and just sharpen up our game because I know we’re better than how we played.”

On Sunday, though, Mission Possible became Mission Accomplished. Mattituck is going back to the state semis.

“The great thing about these guys is it’s not the coaches or me wanting to get back or that it’s a goal of mine,” Maloney said. “It’s their goal. These guys have bought into what it takes to get there and they’ve bought into putting everything into getting back there and being better this year. I’m excited to see what happens.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: From left, Jane DiGregorio, Chelsea Marlborough, Alexandra Beebe and Ashley Burns raise Mattituck/Southold’s second Long Island Class D championship plaque in as many years. (Credit: Garret Meade)

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Four Southold High School students walked home winners at the 16th Annual East End Arts Teeny Awards Sunday, an event that recognizes the best in local high school theater.

Students from the school won best male and female performer in both the play and musical categories.

The play winners were Jake Okula and Ashley Hilary, who each won for their performances in the Southold/Greenport production of Sabrina Fair. In the musical category, the Teeny Awards went to Patrick Connelly and Juliet Rand (in a tie with Shoreham-Wading River’s Alexandra Meli, “Kiss Me, Kate”) for “Phantom of the Opera.” Hilary added a second Teeny for her supporting role in “Phantom.”

Southold also claimed the Judges Award, presented to the full cast of “Phantom of the Opera.” The school won the most awards of any represented in Sunday’s awards.

“The judges felt that the ensemble put on an outstanding performance of an incredibly difficult show,” they wrote.

Also winning Sunday was Caleb Foley of Mattituck High School for supporting male in a musical in “Beauty and the Beast.”

Students from Southold, Greenport, Shelter Island and Riverhead all performed scenes during the awards ceremony, which was hosted at Longwood High School this year.

“Having the opportunity to see so many wonderful productions brought to life and to be able to honor these students for the work they put in is truly an honor,” said first-time Teeny Awards coordinator Kristen Curcie.

The event started with a 90-minute red carpet show broadcast live on MyLITV.

See more photos from the red carpet below.

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He was the master of the restarts.

John Fortin Jr. of Holtsville mastering numerous restarts Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway to win a 40-lap NASCAR Modified race.

Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown was a close runner-up. David Schneider of Northport took third. Kyle Soper of Manorville and Chris Young of Calverton both recovered from early-race misfortune to rally back for fourth and fifth, respectfully.

A rain delay slowed the program at the 68-year old track for about an hour, but all nine feature events were presented.

Chris Turbush of Wading River took advantage of his front-row position for his eighth career win in a 25-lap Late Model event. Soper was second, with Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead third.

The 30-lap Eagle Auto Mall Modified Crate race saw sophomore driver Michael Rutkoski of Mattituck lead all 30 laps for his third career win. The 2017 Rookie of the Year was immediately followed by Jack Orlando of Calverton and Justin Brown of Manorville.

It was quite by accident that Vinny Delaney came to drive a Figure Eight car midway through the 2017 season, but in just his 10th start, the 2016 INEX Legend Race Car champion became a winner in the daring division, taking a 15-lap main event. Ken Hyde Jr. of Mastic Beach was second and Tom Ferrara of Patchogue raced his way from seventh to third.

After spending the offseason repairing a wrecked race car, Blunderbust driver Jim Laird Jr. of Riverhead rewarded his hard-working team with a victory in a 20-lap feature event, his fifth career win. Jack Handley Jr. of Medford had to settle for second. Russ Jansen of Medford was third.

Mark Stewart of Riverhead scored his second Super Pro Truck win of the season, a 30-lapper. It was the 15th win of his young career. Dave Brigati of Calverton came in second. Mike Albasini of Flushing finished third.

Brandon Esposito of Farmingville showed the way in a 20-lap Mini Stock race, earning his first win of the year. Russ Jansen was second, with Paul Wojcik of Centereach third.

Coming from an 11th-place starting berth, Joe Warren Jr. of Rocky Point won a 40-lap Enduro. Christian Conklin of Riverhead and defending champion Kevin Augustine of Bay Shore completed the top three.

Paul Fox of Riverhead prevailed in a 15-lap School Bus Figure Eight race.

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Great Pond is a few steps closer to being largely free of phragmites, a tall invasive reed species that had encroached into the freshwater pond in Southold. 

The Kenney’s-McCabe’s Beach Civic Association and the Great Pond Restoration Committee in April received a wetlands permit for a project to remove phragmites in the pond, which has surrounded the pond in some spots well over several feet thick. Still required for the work is a permit from the DEC to give the go-ahead for the removal of  phragmites, said Group for the East End vice president Aaron Virgin. 

The civic association secured a $90,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation they applied for through Group for the East End, said civic president John Betsch. 

“This is a great civic association project,” Mr. Betsch said. 

Depending on the DEC go-ahead and when a contractor is available, the project could begin next spring, Mr. Betsch said. 

Phragmites, which steal nutrients and space from other plants and creatures, as well as block views and access to the pond, will be removed from the water and on land. 

In order to remove phragmites on land, property owners must sign a letter of agreement. Forty out of 42 homeowners have signed letters, Mr. Betsch. The property of those who don’t sign will be bypassed, he said. 

“We realized a year or two ago that the phragmites had just really taken over,” Ken Richter of the pond restoration committee said. 

When the project gets going, phragmites in the water will be removed by hydro-rake, Mr. Betsch said. The idea is to pull out the rhizomes, which are underground stems that can grow roots and shoots that allow the plants to spread. 

The reeds will be piled on Lake Court to dry and will be moved to a landfill in Yaphank through an agreement with Suffolk County, Mr. Betsch said. 

Native plants, which also still need to be identified, will be planted in place of the invasive reeds. 

The project comes about a decade after restoration efforts at Marion Lake in East Marion where phragmites were removed after residents collaborated with the DEC to rid of the invasive species.

kzegers@timesreview.com

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My name is Dawn Hedberg and this is my bookstore, Black Cat Books. We’re on Shelter Island. My husband, Mike, and I have run this bookstore on Shelter Island for 10 years.

We work together here pretty much everyday. We have a division of labor. He does most of the online packages and I do the pricing, and I do all the buying of the books. Every day we have at least 10 online orders and I’d say on average we have 15. Typically I do maybe two or three buys a day, going to people’s homes, looking at their libraries, maybe purchasing them, or advising what to do with them if I’m not interested. As a used bookstore, when we’re out of something, we can’t just reorder it, so I have to constantly be buying to keep the store inventory interesting and fresh.

Then, once I have bought a collection and brought it home, that’s when all the work begins here. That’s when I spend a lot of time here looking things up on the internet, checking auction records, pricing, deciding what’s going to go into the shop and what’s going to go online.

Dawn Hedberg of Black Cat Books. (Rachel Siford photo)

This shop has been here for 10 years, but I’ve had the shop since I was 26, so almost 22 years. It was in Sag Harbor for the first 10.

I started working in bookstores when I was 16 years old. It is essentially all I’ve done is work in bookstores. And I’ve worked in a lot of them, a lot of different kinds of bookstores. I just knew I loved it from a very young age. Not just that I loved reading, but I love book selling. Book selling is a real art. Book collecting is really interesting to me. I love the thrill of the hunt with used books. I love finding something very unusual.

I love when people come in and they find something they’ve been looking for for a long time. It’s really fulfilling.

“The Work We Do” is a Suffolk Times multimedia project profiling workers on the North Fork. It is made possible by Peconic Landing in Greenport. See photos on Instagram @thesuffolktimes.

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If you went away for the holiday weekend and just returned to Boisseau Avenue in Southold, you might feel a little disoriented by the changed surroundings. 

That’s because a house that has sat on the west side of the road for the last five decades has now been moved to the east side. The 600-foot trip across the street took place last Thursday.

The moving of the house, which was purchased for $412,000 by the Southold Fire District last year, will give the fire department a second entrance onto Boisseau Avenue from its station on Main Road.

The district purchased the property after receiving word that the owner was looking to move out of state, according to fire commissioner Bill Witzke.

The house, which had occupied 315 Boisseau Avenue since 1964, was put out to bid for relocation or demolition. The party that purchased the home from the fire district also bought land on the opposite side of Boisseau Avenue, where the house now rests.

“You know the old saying, it’s now just a stone’s throw away,” Mr. Witzke said.

Rich O’Neill and Michael Byrne of Top Class Elevations in Huntington moved the structure. Mr. O’Neill said the company moves about two houses per year, and while 600 feet might not sound like a lot, its actually a longer-than-average move.

“Moving down the road is not very common,” he said, explaining that they mostly lift houses or move them back slightly on the same parcel. “There’s a lot involved in it and it’s very expensive.”

When you’re moving a house, you have to expect the unexpected, he added. In this case, the house was 29 feet, three inches high, so power lines needed to be taken down temporarily to slide the house onto its new property.

The move included two days of prep time and a full 13 hours last Thursday to go from point A to point B with a crew of nine men and utility companies on standby.

“There’s no turning back,” Mr. O’Neill said of this type of project. “It’s not like you can just leave a house in the street overnight.”

Top Caption: The house during the moving process last week. (Credit: Jeremy Garretson)

gparpan@timesreview.com

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John DiNoto, former New York State Supreme Court Justice, dies at 83.

After a battle with renal cancer and its complications, John DiNoto died May 9 at his home in Southold, N.Y., surrounded by his family.

A former justice of the New York State Supreme Court and Nassau County District Court, Judge DiNoto characterized his role as a jurist as a sacred trust. He was known for his integrity and rigor, and was frequently endorsed across party lines. His thorough and thoughtful decisions never eschewed human concerns.

Prior to his 14 years in the New York State Supreme Court, Judge DiNoto served as chief clerk of the Nassau County Court, chief clerk of the Surrogate Court and as a District Court judge. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College and New York Law School.

Judge DiNoto — known as “Jack” by friends and family — had a great love for the sea, and enjoyed countless excursions on his boat across the Sound and up and down the East Coast with his wife, Jeanmarie, as well as with friends and family. He had a deep love of nature, and expressed that had he not gone into law, he might have been a conservationist. He treasured hunting trips with his sons and time on his Harley. He was irrepressible as a motorcyclist and rode rebelliously into his 70s.

Jack was widely known for his sharp sense of humor, his wise and ready counsel, and his willingness to subordinate the dignity of the bench in deference to making his grandchildren laugh. Jack follows his parents, Dr. John and Ann DiNoto of Raffadali, Italy, and Brooklyn, respectively; his first wife, Patricia, who died in 1968; and his beloved grandchild Nicholas, who died in 2012.

Jack is survived by his wife of 49 years, Jeanmarie, and his children, Robert DiNoto, Eugene DiNoto, Anthony DiFalco, Cristina Bertrand, Ellen Colozzi, Gregory DiNoto, and by his sister, Andrea DiNoto. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren, and a single great-grandchild, Lorelai, who was born within hours of his passing. Judge DiNoto’s proudest legacy was this family, borne of two marriages, but now grown indivisible.

A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at St. Patrick R.C. Church in Southold.

Memorial donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy.

This is a paid notice. 

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Jane Ann Smith of Greenport, N.Y. died on May 22, at the age of 91.

Jane Ann Jones was born on the high seas on a ship bound for France on May 15, 1927, and lived for the majority of her childhood in Princeton, N.J. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1948 with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry, earned a Masters of Chemistry from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1953, and received a Doctorate in Educational Research from Hofstra University in 1978.

Mrs. Smith first worked as a chemist for Sharp and Dohme, and then as a lecturer in chemistry at Hofstra. While she raised her children in East Williston, N.Y., she was active in the League of Women Voters, served on the Board of Education for the East Williston School District from 1965 to 1982, with several terms as its president, and served on the board of Nassau Hospital (now NYU Winthrop Hospital). Professionally, she then worked as a consultant to schools and other organizations and then served as vice president of academic affairs of Friends World College until her retirement.

She was active in the Friends Meeting in Westbury, N.Y. for many years prior to moving to Greenport in 2002.

She was married to Donald Willits Smith, who she met at Swarthmore, in 1949. After 66 years of marriage, Don predeceased Jane Ann in 2016.

Mrs. Smith is survived by her youngest sister, Ellyn Jones, MD, of Victor, Mont.; her children, Scott Smith of Astoria, Doug Smith of Kensington, Md., and Martha Smith of Glen Cove; and six grandchildren.

This is a paid notice.

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