From a neutral spectator’s point of view, the Long Island Class D boys lacrosse final wasn’t much to look at. From Mattituck/Southold’s standpoint, though, it was a thing of beauty.

Mattituck certainly held up its end of things and couldn’t be faulted for the one-sided nature of Saturday’s game. All that counted to the Tuckers was that they had claimed a second straight Long Island championship with their 16-6 hammering of Oyster Bay at Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium.

“It was awesome,” said Mattituck senior midfielder Max Kruszeski, the game’s MVP who rang up four goals, three assists and four ground balls. “It was just like the county championship. Everything came together, everything clicked. We got off to a good start and we kept that good start rolling throughout the entire game.”

Mattituck returns to the state semifinals (the stage at which it was eliminated last year) and will play Briarcliff Wednesday at Adelphi University.

How expected was it that Mattituck (10-8) would repeat as a Long Island champion after achieving that for the first time last year?

“I knew we could do it,” Kruszeski said. “It was just a matter if we would.”

And the Tuckers did, thanks in part to Kruszeski’s considerable efforts as well as those of others like Parker Sheppard (19 of 26 faceoffs, one goal, 13 ground balls), Ethan Schmidt (three goals) and Dane Reda (three goals).

Oyster Bay (4-12) entered the game as the heavy underdog. Was there a danger of the Tuckers taking the Baymen lightly?

“There was definitely a danger, and our coach [John Amato] made sure that we weren’t going to take it lightly,” said Ryan Seifert, who scored twice for Mattituck. “Throughout the week we worked hard.”

Kruszeski said: “We got to do what we got to do to win the game. We can’t worry about them. We can’t worry about who they played, who they lost to, who they beat.”

Oyster Bay may have given the Tuckers something to think about when John Tiberia — who had two goals along with teammate Griffin Cook — scored the game’s opening goal.

From that point on, though, it was Mattituck’s game. The Tuckers produced five goals in each of the first three quarters. They outshot Oyster Bay, 39-29.

“I think it was one of our better games today,” Ryan Seifert said. “We played quick. We played together and our plays worked.”

Mattituck closed out the second quarter with four straight goals by Schmidt, Kruszeski, Greg Hauser and Cole DiGregorio for a 10-3 halftime lead. “We started off fast, which we wanted to do,” said Sheppard.

Mattituck players and coaches pose for a photo with the winning plaque after defeating Oyster Bay. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)

Then a 6-0 Mattituck burst bridging the third and fourth quarters expanded that lead to 16-4.

“Everything was clicking,” Kruszeski said. “We were moving the ball. Everyone was finding each other.”

“The same thing happened with us in the county championship game,” he continued. “We got off to a hot start, and it’s so much easier for us to keep that ball rolling when we get some confidence in us. We get a couple of goals under our belt, we’re up two or three and then everyone’s confident, everyone’s relaxed. The tension isn’t as high, and that allows people to just play the game and do their best.”

But blowouts can be tough to watch. In this one, the teams combined for 71 ground balls, 40 by Mattituck.

Matthew Seifert brought Mattituck a goal and two assists. Mattituck goalies Luke Wojtas (six) and Tyler Shuford combined for nine saves.

Kruszeski’s influence on the game couldn’t be overlooked.

“Max is just a great player,” Sheppard said. “He’s always been there for everybody on the team. He’s one of those guys that’s just going to pick you up when you’re down and I appreciate him for that, and I think the whole team does.”

Kruszeski said: “I come out every day and I tell myself, ‘I have to do whatever I can to help this team win.’ I said, ‘If I got to score, I’ll score. If I got to scoop ground balls, I’ll scoop ground balls. If I got to play defense the entire game, I’ll play defense the entire game.’ I’ll do whatever we got to do.”

On Saturday he did a lot, along with his teammates.

Photo caption: Game MVP Max Kruszeski celebrates one of his four goals for Mattituck/Southold in the Long Island Class D final against Oyster Bay. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)

bliepa@timesreview.com

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A turbulent summer of Greenport Village pumpout boat breakdowns in 2017 prompted village and Southold Town officials to reach an agreement that would continue to prevent boat waste from being discharged into local waterways.

Last Thursday, the Village renewed an agreement between the municipalities that allows Greenport to use the town’s new pumpout boat during special events, in emergencies and when the village boat isn’t functional.

Pumpout boats protect local waters from pollution by collecting toilet holding tanks from recreational boats. The town’s new vessel, purchased in March, cost $99,211. All but $19,500 of that was paid for with grants from Suffolk County and New York State. ,

In an email, Supervisor Scott Russell said Peconic Bay is a public resource that everyone enjoys, and that should know no village or town boundaries.

“Working with the village helps us ensure that continuous service of this important program be maintained,” he said last week. “It is also a way to make sure that both the village and the town not only maintain efficient service but do so in the most economically efficient way, as well.”

Greenport Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said the new agreement took effect May 24 and runs through Oct. 31.

knalepinski@timesreview.com

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The history of Oysterponds lives on in Janis Rose’s newest book, “Augustus and Me: An Oysterponds Adventure,” with colorful motifs, hidden messages and detailed watercolor illustrations lining each page.

Designed for children and adults, it tells the story of Augustus Griffin and other historical North Fork characters. Former Orient resident Alan Bull created the illustrations. Told through the eyes of a modern-day young boy, who is never named, the story takes readers on a journey into the hamlet’s rich history.

The boy’s family brings him along to stay with an uncle on Village Lane — in a house that exists to this day, just across from Oysterponds Historical Society. But he is confused: Why would they think he’d have any interest in this place? He is, after all, a ball-playing, bike-riding kid, accustomed to a faster way of life. As the pages turn, however, the community’s days of yore start to reveal themselves and locals from its past begin to appear — transforming the boy’s perception of the town, and demonstrating the value of chronicling life’s events.

“This is about exploring history and Augustus is history — real history,” Ms. Rose said. “There hasn’t been a book in a long time with real North Fork characters, current or old.”

A King Street resident, Ms. Rose grew up in McKeesport, Pa., a steel mill town where smog and fire emanated from a sea of smokestacks. When she was 20, her then-boyfriend, Don, brought her out to the North Fork, where, she said, the skies and the seas looked much different.

In 1979, the two rented a small summer cottage sans foundation or heat from Don’s family, just across the street from the William Steeple Davis House. They summered in Orient for years and in 2012 decided to move in full time. Before that, though, they bought a boat called the Vintage Rosé in 1974 and spent five years living at the dock with their firstborn son.

“We walked out on the dock, and the sky is so blue, the water is so blue — the light. I just go, ‘What is this?’ … My brother always said to me, ‘It’s a long way from McKeesport.’ ”

As people began moving out of the steel-manufacturing hub, few mills were left. Ms. Rose, whose father died when she was young, said that her Canadian mother kept their life moving despite that loss. Ms. Rose’s early appreciation for Orient and East Marion — formerly Oysterponds — sparked the idea that everyday life is, indeed, history, and that taking note of said history is both essential and fruitful.

Ms. Rose wrote two children’s books in graduate school and met quite a few young authors during her career as an educator and media specialist in Rutherford, N.J. She redesigned the library of the middle school where she worked, and is heavily involved in her community today, as both a William Steeple Davis trustee and chairman of the education team at Oysterponds Historical Society.

The idea for the book came to her in January 2017, a decade after Augustus Griffin’s journal was republished. Mr. Griffin lived 99 years and documented most of his days in a diary, telling tales of his wife, Lucretia Tuthill; their six children; an inn he built — now called Village House; a garden he planted in 1844; and guests he encountered. He detailed both the quotidian and thrilling aspects of daily life that he experienced and observed.

“It’s sort of a crazy kaleidoscope of history-hopping [and] real-life characters, from history and present day,” Mr. Bull said.

The duo said they tried to keep the book — researched over two and a half years — as authentic as possible, borrowing from historical archives and photographs. Mr. Hughes, a local Orient cat that can often be found perusing the Country Store, makes multiple appearances in honor of Mr. Griffin’s cat of 20 years, which is mentioned in the journals. And the young protagonist sports former Chicago Cubs pitcher and Orient resident Bill Hands’ No. 49 jersey. Orient farmer and businessman Lucius Hallock and teacher Amanda Brown also appear in the book, representing buildings that still stand — the little yellow school, the Red Barn, Webb House, Old Point School House. Even George Washington is featured, chatting with friends over warm bread and cider at the Constant Booth Inn. Mr. Griffin voted for both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime and wrote about those experiences.

Karen Braziller joined the team, editing and providing publishing advice. Rita Lascaro served as book designer — having also designed the reissued Griffin diaries. As the pieces started to come together, Ms. Rose said, what was just an idea quickly became a reality.

“I hope that it encourages kids to start keeping a journal and that the everyday things can somehow be important to record,” Mr. Bull said. “It’s not up to us to know what is going to be important or interesting from our childhood, someday when we grow older.”

“Augustus and Me: An Oysterponds Adventure” can be purchased at Burton’s Bookstore and Preston’s Chandlery in Greenport; Orient Beach State Park, Old Orchard Farm Store, Orient Country Store and Oysterponds Historical Society in Orient; and Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead. Steve and Jean Scott gifted multiple copies to libraries and schools across Suffolk County, in collaboration with Greenport’s Floyd Memorial Library.

Ms. Rose and Mr. Bull will be on hand for book signings at Orient’s Poquatuck Hall Sunday, June 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. and at Floyd Memorial Library Saturday, June 29, at 3 p.m.

Photo caption: Author Janis Rose of Orient teamed up with artist Alan Bull to create ‘Augustus and Me: An Oysterponds Adventure,’ a children’s book that can appeal to all ages. The book depicts East Marion and Orient when they were still one village. (Credit: Mahreen Khan)

mkhan@timesreview.com

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Last week, a far-reaching discovery was made in a muddy river bottom in Alabama. It is a discovery that speaks to our history, and to the past we as a nation still struggle to understand and, in some ways, come to terms with. This American journey, this grand experiment in “we the people,” is dependent on knowing where we’ve been. It is dependent on facts.

Ben Raines, a documentarian and former journalist, found what historians and archaeologists say is the hull of the Clotilda in the Mobile River. This ship has the ignominious distinction of being the very last slave ship to bring kidnapped Africans to America. One hundred and ten of them, to be exact — fewer than were loaded when the ship departed in 1860 from what is now the West African country of Benin. The sick, the dying and the dead — the unprofitable — were thrown overboard.

In 1808, barely a generation after the adoption of our Constitution, the Atlantic slave trade was officially banned. There were to be no more slave ships picking up kidnapped Africans, chaining them in the holds and bringing them to the newly created United States for sale on the auction block.

Historians say the ban was violated after 1808 by a number of ships, as African slaves were worth a great deal of money in the American South’s highly lucrative cotton and rice economy. Many wealthy southern slave owners and traders were demanding the Atlantic trade be reopened. The exact number of pirate slave ships operating during the period following the ban is not known.

But two such ships are certainly known: the Clotilda and the Wanderer.

A magnificent ocean-sailing yacht built in the Rowland shipyard in Setauket, the Wanderer was associated with the white-glove New York Yacht Club before it was refitted with large water tanks in Port Jefferson. Accounts at the time say those oversized tanks were a tipoff as to the Wanderer’s intended, and illegal, purpose. The ship was the talk of Long Island and New York City. It then sailed to Georgia under the yacht club pennant, a grand disguise for what really lay ahead.

In 1858, the Wanderer picked up approximately 500 Africans in what today is Angola, many of them children in chains. Some 408 survived to land back in Georgia in the dead of night and were quickly sold as property. The others were thrown overboard into the ocean, what historians call slavery’s Middle Passage.

African slavery in America began in Virginia in 1619. To some, this 400th anniversary of the first slave ship to America is worth more than a few tweets and Facebook posts. While the cross-Atlantic trade theoretically ended in 1808, the domestic slave trade thrived until 1865, when the South’s effort to preserve it by creating a separate nation finally came to an end.

Between 1619 and 1808, the Middle Passage was a vast, watery graveyard. The Clotilda and the Wanderer made it worse. There were some four million slaves in the South when the Wanderer and the Clotilda off-loaded their human cargo in 1858 and 1860. One year before the first shots were fired in the Civil War there were approximately 400,000 slaves in Alabama alone.

The Wanderer was lost off Cuba in 1871. But we now have, buried in the mud of the Mobile River, the hull of the Clotilda. The ship’s passengers had hoped to be returned to Africa at the end of the Civil War. That never happened. Some of their descendants live today in Africatown, a historic African-American community five miles north of Mobile.

Many of the residents have said they hope the hull can be recovered, rebuilt and put on display, the way history is displayed so prominently in Jamestown, Va., which celebrates its distinction as the first English settlement in America. It draws thousands of tourists every year.

We also celebrate the English arrival in Plymouth, Mass. And we celebrate their arrival right here on the North Fork. We know the names of those who came ashore. We know where they landed and where they built their church. Many of their descendants are still here.

What should become of the last slave ship?

Discussions during this political season, at least among some Democrats, include the idea of financial reparations for slavery, which in its day was a vast economic system. I can’t get my arms around that idea. I wouldn’t know how to do it. How do we compensate the descendants of those that built the cotton and rice plantations, did countless other hard-labor jobs and even built the Capitol and the White House?

What I do know is that history matters, remembering matters and honoring the past — the facts of the past — matters. The State of Georgia built a monument to the Africans aboard the Wanderer on Jekyll Island, where they disembarked before being sold off. The proprietors of the extraordinary Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island have done more than any other organization or historical society on Long Island to study and acknowledge the role slaves played on that lovely ground. No one else, locally or regionally, has even scratched the surface of this story.

The residents of Africatown and Alabama state officials will decide in the coming months whether to try and salvage the Clotilda’s hull and what to do with it if that effort succeeds.

But consider the twists and turns of history in our country and how the lines cross and recross: In November 2008, Newsday columnist Joye Brown wrote about a Nassau County man, Michael Higgins, on the day he cast his vote at an elementary school. He took three photographs with him into the voting booth.

Two were of a beloved grandmother, Elease Lee Key, a former Hempstead resident, and Ms. Key’s grandmother, Rosa Lee of South Carolina.

Who was in the third photograph?

As a boy, the man in that photograph was named Cilucangy. He was a child when he was kidnapped and brought aboard the Wanderer for the six-week sail to Georgia. He survived the Middle Passage. In America, he was called Ward Lee. He married and had four children.

In 1908 he had a notice printed in Georgia, which he circulated. It read, in part: “Please help me … I was brought to this country when I was a child … One year ago it was revealed to me to go back to Africa … Now I am trying to get ready, if God be with me, to go back to Africa … I beg anyone who will help … I am an old African.”

He never returned, and died a decade later.

On that Election Day, Mr. Higgins cast his vote proudly, holding on to the photographs. To Mr. Higgins, history — and family — are about honoring the facts of the past.

Ward Lee was Michael Higgins’ great-great-grandfather.

Photo caption: This early 20th-century photograph shows three survivors of the 1858 slave ship the Wanderer. From left: Ward Lee, Tucker Henderson and Romeo. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Steve Wick can be reached at swick@timesreview.com

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Seven years before the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster — which has been chronicled in a new HBO miniseries that concludes tonight — protestors filled Shoreham beach to rally against a nuclear power plant.

The events that day in 1979 ultimately helped stop the power plant from ever becoming fully operational, giving residents peace of mind that they would never be subject to the type of catastrophe that would occur seven years later in the Soviet Ukraine.

The story below was originally published in June 2009 on the 30-year anniversary of the protest.

Despite the heavy rain on a June Sunday, they came by the thousands.

They filled the Shoreham beach with their umbrellas and signs, their buses and cars parked along the roads, their message clear: No nuclear power plant in Shoreham.

Now, 30 years later, the empty power plant sits silent, casting steep shadows from its teal concrete shell. It’s a structure that has had a long-lasting impact on both the Shoreham and greater Long Island community, a building that tells the story of both failure and success.

The protest of June 3, 1979, was a turning point for the fate of the power plant, many say.

“The rally helped to fortify people and helped them to believe that this fight was worth taking on,” said Nora Bredes, who attended the demonstration and went on to lead the Shoreham Opponents Coalition for 10 years and would go on to serve in the Suffolk County Legislature for six years.

It was a catalyst for future events that ultimately led to stopping the power plant from becoming fully operational, she said.

More than 15,000 people turned out for the rally on the nearby Brookhaven Town beach despite the pouring rain, said Ms. Bredes. She marks her involvement against the plant from that day.

A Huntington native and graduate student at Columbia University, Ms. Bredes helped to organize a bus full of people from Huntington to attend the protest.

“There were all kinds of people there,” she said. “As we drove out on the Long Island Expressway from Huntington, we passed bus after bus after bus. We knew it was going to be much bigger than anyone had anticipated, and it was incredibly exciting to know that that could happen on Long Island, that so many people could be engaged and activated.”

In spite of the rain, Ms. Bredes said, people from all different walks of life turned out for the demonstration, including college students, families with little children, older people, homeowners and religious leaders.

“It was uplifting, and very wet,” she said, “But people weren’t discouraged by [the rain].” Greenport resident Jill Ward also attended the rally and remembers the excitement of the crowd.

“There was a certain euphoria about the success of that demonstration,” she said. Ms. Ward, who at the time was a resident of the West Village in New York renting a summer cottage near Orient Point, was one of the more than 600 protesters to scale the fence of the Long Island Lighting Company property and be arrested.

She remembers trudging through the rain, the mud and the underbrush to scale the fence and being peacefully arrested, lying down on the ground and having her hands tied behind her back with plastic cuffs, then being loaded onto the bus to be booked by the police.

“When we were driving away on the bus we were loaded on, we were driving past car after car coming away from the demonstration, and it was exhilarating,” she said. “There was a sense of camaraderie; we were all in this together.”

Both women remember the sense of fear they felt after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania in March of that year. It was that accident, Ms. Bredes said, that brought the risks of nuclear power to the forefront for many people and helped to fuel momentum for the demonstration.

After the protest, there were a number of meetings held in the community as people looked for the next step in the fight to make sure the plant didn’t operate, she said.

The rally marked a turning point in the attitude toward the plant within the local community that made that effort possible.

“This event was a kind of catalyst,” said longtime Wading River Civic Association president Sid Bail. “It divided this community.” In both Shoreham and Wading River, he said, a bulk of the people supported opening the plant, not only because of the tax benefit, but also because many of the residents were employed at Brookhaven National Lab and Northrop Grumman and were “comfortable” with the concept of nuclear energy. The plant also provided a lot of jobs, Ms. Bredes said, and the influence of the labor unions whose members worked on the plant was strong. Local politicians were also on board.

“Up until then, elected officials were hell-bent on supporting the tax revenues Shoreham was destined to provide to the school district, town and county,” said Greg Blass, who was a young lawyer at the time, newly settled in Jamesport, where a second power plant was being considered. They, along with champions of nuclear energy in Washington, D.C., he added, were so focused on the project, they took the community reaction for granted.

Opposition to the plant had existed within the community prior to the protest, Mr. Blass said, but hadn’t found the right outlet.

“When given the chance, the public opposition was profound,” he said. That year, he ran a protest candidacy against the nuclear plants for the first district in the Suffolk County Legislature and won. He said he was surprised. At the same time in Riverhead, residents voted the Jamesport plant down and ousted the town supervisor, who was in favor of the plant. “The sentiment had few opportunities of expression, unless it was the demonstration or a ballot proposition.

The power plant pictured in 2011.

“It was the first time that the rumblings and unease about nuclear power plants came out,” he said. “But it was there, and for a good reason.”

Gradually, Ms. Bredes recalled, the political attitude on nuclear power began to change.

In his first meeting with the County Legislature, Mr. Blass said he sponsored a bill to get the legislature on the record in opposition to the Shoreham plant. It was the beginning, he said, because up until then they hadn’t taken a public position and had been very “kind and accommodating” with LILCO lobbyists.

But once the opposition had been voiced, local politicians began to change their positions, he said, starting down a path that ultimately led to the disapproval of the evacuation plan by the County Legislature in 1983 and, in 1989, the decommissioning of the plant and the formation of the Long Island Power Authority.

But not everyone was on board. Bill Carney, who had served as a county legislator and was elected congressman in 1978, was fully supportive of the Shoreham plant — and still is to this day. “I was for the plant opening, if it was safe,” he said. And though opponents argued the plant wasn’t safe or the evacuation plan wasn’t realistic, Mr. Carney said they were.

“I thought it was a bogus argument,” he said. “It was part of the technique of frightening people.”

The plant’s closure had nothing to do with its safety or the evacuation plans, Mr. Carney said, but a political agenda. Because Suffolk County and New York State had put additional safety requirements on the plant as it was being built — which also led to increased costs — the plant was the safest in the entire United States, he said.

Mr. Carney was congressman for eight years, and now owns a consulting firm that lobbies for the nuclear energy industry.

He left office, he said, because he wanted the plant to open, and people didn’t. “I guess I didn’t reflect their views,” he said.

“The Shoreham plant should have been opened and it hasn’t been,” he said. “We lost a lot of money and we lost a good, clean production of energy sorely needed for eastern Long Island.” Instead, he said, Long Islanders have been paying the bill for the state’s purchase of the plant and creation of LIPA, which he called a “terrible mistake.”

Mr. Carney wasn’t impressed by the June 3 protest, he said.

“I thought it was a waste, and I think it still is,” he said.

Top photo caption: Protestors demonstrating against the Shoreham nuclear power plant on June 3, 1979. It was the largest demonstration in Long Island history, and more than 500 people were arrested by the time it was over. (Credit: Courtesy/Peter Parpan)

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In a span of a few hours Saturday at nearby stadiums, the Mattituck/Southold boys and girls lacrosse teams both won Class D Long Island championships.

The girls started the day with a 9-8 win against Carle Place at Adelphi University. The girls then headed 12 minutes west to Hofstra University to watch their classmates defeat Oyster Bay in a blowout.

As the boys game ended, the girls joined them on the field for a joint photo as the two programs celebrated a unique double Long Island title.

The boys will play a state semifinal Wednesday at Adelphi while the girls head to Cortland for a semifinal Friday morning. The state championship games for both would be played Saturday.

See more photos below from the boys and girls games.

Photos by Robert O'Rourk

Photos by Daniel De Mato

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The daily update, a podcast briefing on what’s happening across the North Fork, is brought to you by your local dealerships, Riverhead Ford Lincoln and Riverhead Buick GMC: not just a better deal, a better dealership.

Get the daily update delivered straight to your inbox each weekday morning by subscribing to our newsletter. Or listen through Apple Podcasts by subscribing to Closer Look.

Here are the headlines across the North Fork for Monday, June 3:

NEWS

New sexual misconduct allegations leveled against Charles Regan in former district

Jamesport garden center and gift shop returns after two-year hiatus

A look back at the Shoreham nuclear plant protest, 40 years later

NORTHFORKER

Lavender by the Bay opening second Calverton location this weekend

Off the beaten path North Fork farm stands and garden centers

SPORTS

Boys Lacrosse: Tuckers retain LI Class D title

Girls Lacrosse: Tuckers headed back to Cortland as Long Island champs

Boys Lacrosse: Gregorek’s MVP play leads SWR to LI title

Girls Track and Field: Vaccarella doesn’t miss her chance in 3,000

Track and Field: Carrick misses school mark in 3,200 by 0.55

WEATHER

Expect sunny skies today with a high near 72 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. It will be mostly clear tonight with a low around 54.

The post Daily Update: Second victim files claim against principal, new Lavender farm opens, a lacrosse trifecta appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Brinkmann Hardware Corp. has taken legal action against the Town of Southold in response to the moratorium now in place along Main Road in Mattituck, which they argue is “designed solely to frustrate and delay” their proposed project.

Their plans to construct a 20,000-square-foot hardware store at the corner of Main Road and New Suffolk Avenue on a 1.78-acre parcel were halted in February when the Town Board approved a six-month moratorium on the issuance of approvals and permits for properties between Bay Avenue and Pike Street.

Town officials said the moratorium will help the board review new projects in the context of the results of a pending traffic study and the final comprehensive plan, which is completed but pending adoption by the board. It could be renewed for an additional six months when it expires in July.

It does not affect residential permits or public institutions.

The Brinkmann owners filed a legal challenge referred to as an Article 78 petition in Suffolk County Supreme Court May 23, claiming that the moratorium lacks a valid zoning purpose and is an “unlawful exercise of the town’s police powers.” The suit names the Southold Town Board and Planning Board as defendants along with the town.

It also claims that the moratorium was never referred to the Suffolk County Planning Commission for review.

In March, Planning Board chair David Wilcenski notified the applicants that due to the moratorium, the board would no longer process the application.

“This moratorium seems designed specifically to prevent my family from constructing our business,” Ben Brinkmann, CEO of Brinkmann Hardware, said in a sworn affidavit.

They also claim that their property is “the only significant, vacant parcel” in the area defined under the town moratorium.

The Brinkmann family operates a paint store in Jamesport in addition to hardware stores in Sayville, Holbrook, Blue Point and Miller Place.

They are proposing a 12,000-square-foot hardware store and 8,000-square-foot paint store in Mattituck, which will require special exception from the Planning Board due to the size of the buildings. Current zoning allows for 6,000 square feet of retail development in the Hamlet Business district.

Since first announced in 2015, the plan drew swift opposition from residents, who cited both environmental and traffic concerns for the pushback. Town officials had also partnered with Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue) in an effort to purchase and preserve the property as a park.

The Brinkmanns officially closed on the property for $700,000 in November, records show.

Court documents further allege that politics and an apparent soured deal with Rich Orlowski, who owns a hardware store on Love Lane, played into the opposition to the project.

The petition alleges that prior to proposing to develop the Main Road property, Mr. Brinkmann and his brother, Henry, made a “handshake deal” with Mr. Orlowski to buy out his business for $350,000 and make him the manager of the new store “in an effort to avoid hurting an existing local hardware retailer.”

Text messages allegedly exchanged between Mr. Brinkmann and Mr. Orlowski were included as an exhibit to the petition.

Mr. Brinkmann also claims that Mr. Orlowski then switched legal counsel, retaining former Southold Town attorney Martin Finnegan, and increased his demand to $700,000, which was described as “outrageous” in the court document.

According to the filing, Mr. Finnegan is alleged to have pressured the Brinkmanns into accepting the increased demand, suggesting that accepting would clear political “hurdles” faced by the applicants in obtaining the necessary approvals.

Mr. Finnegan responded to the allegations Friday, describing his prior role as Town Attorney as “irrelevant” to the matter.

Though he confirmed that Mr. Orlowski did engage in negotiations related to the potential sale of his business and possible employment, Mr. Finnegan said that “the sale of an established business is not accomplished by text message.”

According to Mr. Finnegan, the offer was to purchase inventory the Orlowski Hardware Store had on hand for an unspecified amount. “There was no offer for the good will of the business which is a significant asset,” he said, which is what drove the increase in purchase price. That estimated value, he said, is a “customary term” in any business sale.

The filing also alleges that while attending a political fundraiser at Founders Landing in August 2018, Supervisor Scott Russell “became agitated,” and told Mr. Brinkmann, “You don’t belong anywhere on Main Road. You don’t belong on the North Fork.” He then stormed off, according to the petition.

Mr. Russell denied the accusation Thursday.

“The comments attributed to me are completely false,” Mr. Russell wrote in an email, adding that he told them he could not comment on pending applications during their encounter at the fundraiser. “Trying to use political back channels to solicit approvals doesn’t work in Southold,” the supervisor continued, declining to comment further on the pending litigation.

According to the petition, the Brinkmanns are seeking the nullification of the moratorium as well as compelling the Planning Board to process their application for site plan approval in addition to an award of costs and legal fees associated with the action.

tsmith@timesreview.com

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Thomas P. Brady of Southold died  May 31. He was 87.

Visitors were received June 2 at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, June 3, at 10 a.m. at Saint Patrick’s R.C. Church in Southold, officiated by Father John Barrett.

Interment with U.S. Navy honors will take place at Long Island National Cemetery.

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Rosina Suglia of Morristown, N.J., formerly of Mattituck, died May 31. She was 92.

Rosina was a longtime clerk at the Southold Town tax receiver’s office.

Visitors will be received Tuesday, June 4, from 3 to 7 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday, June 5, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck, officiated by Monsignor Joseph W. Staudt. Interment will follow at Sacred Heart R.C. Cemetery in Cutchogue.

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Brought to you by:

My name is Nancy Greenseich. I work at Indian Island Park in Riverhead.

I’m part of the labor crew and a cashier up in the main check in station. 

I’ve been working at this park for three years. I started out at Smith Point before I transferred here.

When I come in in the morning, I open up the register. Then we get a site check map done for the campers that are here, update the board and we wait for customers to come in, check in, renew their green keys.

We have a nice size labor crew that does maintenance in the park.

The main responsibilities here are keeping the campground clean, keeping the bathrooms clean, picking up the beach, making sure there’s no litter and keeping the leaves off of the campsites and trails, mostly because of the ticks.

I only had been in this park once, a long time ago. I didn’t know this place honestly existed.

So when I was transferred here, I was pleasantly surprised how much I love it here.

I came from the beach, you know, and coming into the woods…it’s a much different atmosphere here.

Before that, I was a nurse’s assistant at Brookhaven Hospital. One day, I decided I couldn’t do it anymore. I never left the building; I was never outside.

Being a nurse’s assistant taught me to love customer service, and now I’ve found my purpose, being here.

My favorite part is probably down by the point. It’s beautiful down there.

I don’t mind going to the sites, meeting the people and making sure everything is OK. We get phone calls up here about situations like the lights out, or something’s wrong with the water spicket, or whatever. I like solving people’s problems.

We work for parks, and people who come into parks, it’s their recreational time. It’s the stuff that they love to do, hanging out with their family and friends. It’s downtime for them.

It’s nice getting to know them. It’s nice seeing the same faces, it’s nice seeing the kids growing up.

It’s relaxing for them. We try our best to make sure that that happens.

“The Work We Do” is made possible by Peconic Landing.</em

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Marie E. Lukert of Southold died at home June 1. She was 89.

The family has chosen to remember Marie’s life privately.

DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold is assisting the family.

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Joan E. Tuthill of Mattituck died June 2. She was 83.

Visitors will be received Wednesday, June 5, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck.

Funeral services will take place Thursday, June 6, at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, officiated by the Rev. Dr. John Carrick.

Interment will follow at Cutchogue Cemetery.

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10/28/1930-05/17/2019

Victor Grissino was an extraordinary carpenter and cabinetmaker who worked until the day he passed away.

He is survived by his daughter, Maria Golden; his son, Joseph Grissino; and his two grandsons, Alexander and David Golden, all of whom wish to extend their most sincere thanks to the friends, extended family, neighbors and medical staff whose kindness, patience and generosity of spirit added so much to his life.

Anyone wishing to is invited to make a donation in his name to Greenport Volunteer Fire Department, which was there with care and competence whenever needed: c/o Village of Greenport, 236 Third St., Greenport, NY 11944, Attn: Sylvia.

This is a paid notice.

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Barbara (Betty) R. Koehler Fairburn, age 94, formerly of Mattituck, N.Y. and Deland, Fla., passed away peacefully March 22, at her home in Rockledge, Fla.

Betty was born Sept. 1, 1924, in New York, N.Y. to John and Catherine (Haeger) Ripp.

She married Charles H. Koehler, Jr. Aug. 24, 1947, and their family grew with the addition of a son and daughter. After the passing of Charlie, Betty married Bernard M. Fairburn on Nov. 24, 1984, blending two families with the addition of his daughter and two stepsons.

Betty retired from the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District in 1979 as cafeteria manager. She made her retirement home in Deland to be near her brothers and worked with her sister-in-law in her ceramics shop for a few years.

Upon her marriage to Bernard “Red,” Betty relocated to Florida’s east coast where she volunteered with the Parrish Medical Center Auxiliary until her health no longer permitted. Together, they built a vacation home in the North Carolina mountains which the whole family enjoyed.

Everyone who met her loved her. Betty was a wonderful friend, mom, grandmother and Nana. She was a faithful servant of the Lord and shared her spiritual strength with all. She was a member of Advent Lutheran Church in Mattituck where she sang in the choir and served on the Council. As a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Titusville, Fla., Betty loved her Bible study group and was a faithful prayer warrior.

Everybody remembers Betty as the best cook, baker and gardener. She also loved to read, work crossword puzzles, quilt and observe nature. Road trips and cruises were some of her favorite vacations.

Betty is survived by her son Charles “Chuck” H. Koehler III (Valerie) of Greeneville, Tenn., daughter Carolyn Menard (Richard) of Wendell, N.C., stepdaughter Pamela S. Fairburn of Rockledge, Fla., brother Jack Cola of Ft. McCoy, Fla., sister Katherine Catapano of Tomball, Texas; grandchildren Justin Koehler, Chad Menard, Brianna Koehler Schwartz, Jesse Menard, Marcy Menard; step-grandchildren Jeffrey Schisler, Denise Schisler, Kimberly Schisler Hunter, Robin Schisler Rainey; great-grandchildren Lila Menard, Dov and Liev Schwartz, Kyle and Ryan Rainey, Clay and Brooke Schisler; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Betty was predeceased by her parents, both husbands, brothers Karl Ripp and Frank Cola, stepsons Donald and James Schisler, stepgrandson Monte Schisler, and great-granddaughter Olivia Mae Menard.

A memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 29, at Advent Lutheran Church in Mattituck immediately followed by the interment of ashes at New Bethany Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made in memory of Barbara Fairburn to: Advent Lutheran Church, PO Box 105, Mattituck, NY 11952 or Wuesthoff Brevard Hospice & Palliative Care, 661 Eyester Blvd., Rockledge, FL 32955.

This is a paid notice.

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John Christopher Ritter of Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., died May 26 at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. He was 55 years old.

John was born in Huntington, N.Y. and raised in Greenport. John graduated from Greenport High School in 1983.

John’s dream of living in a warmer climate became a reality when, in 1990, he moved to Arizona. There he met Todd Metcalf. They were happily married for 15 years. John lived life to the fullest. He loved nature and traveling.

John was a very kind, loving and generous soul. His positive spirit touched more people than he knew. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Donald and Arlene. He is survived by his siblings Michael, Donald, Virginia, Jackie, Kristine, Beth, Matthew and James.

A memorial in Hidden Valley Lake is planned for Saturday, Aug. 17.

This is a paid notice.

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Mary E. “Miz” Thomson of Greenport passed away peacefully June 3, 2019, at the age of 81.

She was born in Brooklyn Nov. 24, 1937, to Eleanor (Ronnenberg) and Martin Heffernan.

She graduated from Marymount College and taught art in the New York City public school system for 19 years.

In 1970 she married her beloved husband, Jay, and they subsequently moved to Greenport, where they opened The Furniture Store antique shop on Front Street.

She will be missed by all who knew her and her ability to bring people together as a fun and gracious hostess. Miz had the ability to light up a room with her personality and fun-loving spirit and had a special place in her heart for animals of all kinds. She was a loyal member of St. Agnes R.C. Church in Greenport and frequently volunteered services to John’s Place.

Miz is survived by her husband, Jay; her brother, Paul Heffernan (Jana) of Greenport; and her niece, Heather McDermott (Matthew) of Naples, Fla.

Visitors will be received at Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport Thursday, June 6, from 3 to 7 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, June 7, at St. Agnes R.C. Church. A private cremation will follow.

The family has suggested that memorial donations may be made to North Fork Animal Welfare League, P.O. Box 297, Southold, NY 11971.

This is a paid notice.

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Mary Ann Baumgratz of Laurel died May 10. She was 73.

A memorial service will take place Saturday, June 8, at 1 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer in Mattituck, followed by interment at Cutchogue Cemetery.

Coster-Heppner Funeral Home in Cutchogue assisted the family.

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LeRoy A. Paul
A birthday gift

I picked a rose, was pale in hue
Wet green grass, I did walk through
I laid it down upon your stone
You could say … your very own

I spoke of times that you did miss
Some of which were very bliss
I spoke of times I was in need
And my thoughts … that you should heed

I looked around, the sky was grey
Rain again was on its way
Casting silence upon the scene
A tranquil space … was so serene

The wind was still and made me think
If only once, I could blink
And bring the past back into view
The memories then … would all be new

Then I asked you, “How was heaven?”
“It is a place I shall get in?”
“Are they nice and treat you well?”
I spoke out loud … time will tell

I knew your ears were listening to
All that I was telling you
I knew your eyes were there to see
The only visitor … which was me

I never sat, the ground was wet
Was rain or tears, they both had met
I left the rose, your very own
A birthday gift … then I went home.

Ann Paul

In memory of LeRoy A. Paul
June 3, 1923 to 2003

This is a paid notice.

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Roadside shellfish stands could soon crop up in Southold Town as officials begin drafting legislation to allow shellfish farmers to sell their product on land.

As is stands, shellfish farmers who seek to sell their oyster and clams must do so out on the water, where they are grown.

The proposed code change would level the playing field for aquaculturists and land-based farmers with regard to setting up farm stands.

“[The code] is going to allow these guys to sell ‘on the beach,’ as we like to say, rather than have to sell wholesale and lose 50 percent of their potential market value,” said Chris Baiz, who owns The Old Field Vineyards in Southold and chairs the town’s agricultural advisory committee.

Longtime shellfish farmer Karen Rivara, who owns the Aeros Cultured Oyster Company in Southold, said the option to sell directly to their consumers will ensure the industry’s viability.

Under the proposal, shellfish could be sold on properties less than two acres at roadside stands —similar to how many people sell eggs, Ms. Rivara pointed out.

Bona-fide shellfish growers would also be permitted to establish farm stands on two or more acres of land, though the draft proposal did not address where those two acres must be.

During Tuesday’s work session, Supervisor Scott Russell suggested the farm stands be limited to agriculturally zoned areas.

“I don’t want to be too restrictive but at the same time, I don’t want people to think that you can land a 3,000-square-foot farmstand anywhere you want in Southold Town,” he said.

Regardless of the type of stand, farmers would need to be subject to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County Health Department review and permitting.

Similar to land-based farm stands, 60% of the products would be grown by the farmer. The other 40% could complement the products, such as T-shirts, shucking knives and lemons.

Ms. Rivara estimated that there are approximately 20 local growers who could benefit from the code change.

On-site consumption was not included in the draft and would require further approval from the health department as well as be subject to site plan review. Ms. Rivara said she wanted the code to be reflective of what farmers are looking to do at the present.

“No one has expressed interest,” in establishing an on-site type of stand, she said.

The proposal will move through to the code committee, where members will likely focus on defining where farm stands will be allowed and other terms.

Mr. Baiz described the measure Tuesday as a “brilliant incentive” that will help the industry continue to grow.

tsmith@timesreview.com

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