Slam Dunk On Budget Vote: A Landslide Oyster Bay-East Norwich Voters Say ‘Yes’

Budget passes with 63 percent ‘yes’ votes to 37 percent ‘no’

The Oyster Bay-East Norwich school budget vote on May 15 passed by a wide margin, with 1,158 Yes votes to 680 No votes; the capital expenditure referendum passed 1,106 to 581; the OB-EN Library budget passed 1,185 to 448. Running for the school board, Robin Dando, received 1,222 votes. Scott Tepper garnered 1,249 votes for a seat on the library board. The numbers include about 20 absentee ballots.

Before a vote was counted, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Phyllis Harrington said, “We are going to do fabulously.” Resident Bob Santos commented, “You know I’m very positive. The vote is going to pass easily.”

Lions Club Of Oyster Bay Supports America’s VetDogs And Guide Dogs

Members and guests show their compassion for those challenged

The purpose of the Lions Club of Oyster Bay’s spring benefit is always to raise funds for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (GDF) and their America’s VetDogs (AVD) as well as other worthy causes. This year’s benefit event, held at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (SCYC) on April 29, allowed people to get a better idea of the GDF and the people they serve.

In 2003, the GDF recognized the need for an overall assistance dog program for veterans that would incorporate guide dogs, service dogs and state-of-the-art mobility devices – especially as our nation’s veterans age and as our country’s wounded warriors return home from active conflicts abroad.

Empowering Youth To Stand Against Teen-Dating Violence Through Music

Oyster Bay teen Charlie Dane is promoting healthy relationships and empowering youth through pop music

Oyster Bay High School (OBHS) seventh-grade student Charlie Dane, 13, is using her talent to talk to fellow teens about dating violence. She is part of a campaign using seven youth artist finalists, aged 13 to 20, from across the country who have contributed original songs to the nonprofit Pave the Way Project (PWP) which raises awareness of dating violence among their peers. The winning artist will perform in a recording of a new song written by Grammy Award winner Salvador Santana, collaborating alongside his father, 10-time Grammy Award winner Carlos Santana. The famed music pair is showing support for this initiative through the power of music to connect with youth around dating violence issues.    

Moody’s Upgrades OB-EN Bond Rating To Aa1; Utility Will Lower Tax Burden

Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District making the effort for greater efficiency

When Mr. Van Cott assumed the position of assistant superintendent for finance and operations for the Oyster Bay-East Norwich School District, the 2007-08 bond had already been approved and the money had been borrowed from the bank. It came on the heels of the adoption of the Energy Performance Contract.

In looking over the paperwork, Mr. Van Cott noticed that the district’s bond rating at the time was “Aa3.” Mr. Van Cott requested a conference call with OB-EN assistant business official, Elisa Pellati and Moody’s.  Moody’s is a company that employs a bond rating scale developed more than 100 years ago by John Moody and is the industry standard for rating the viability of financial systems based on risk.

Muttontown Preserve Annual Equestrian Open House

Muttontown Horsemen’s Association and Nassau Suffolk Horsemen’s Association host event  

The Muttontown Horsemen’s Association (MHA) and the Nassau Suffolk Horsemen’s Association (NSHA) held their annual open house at the Muttontown Preserve on April 29. It was a perfect day for the event, sunny with a bit of breeze.

Through their care of the equestrian area, they have shown that they are the lead agency involved in the care of the Muttontown Preserve. Recently Nassau County hired Saratoga Associates to come up with a blueprint for caring for all its parks and preserves. There was a need for looking at the future of the parks and preserves because of the daunting economic climate that caused cutbacks in staffing of workers who maintained those open space areas. At the Muttontown Preserve a staff of 10 was reduced to one fulltime and one half-time employees. The recommendation of Saratoga Associates was that Nassau County residents should form “friends of the parks and preserves” groups to support their local open space venues.

John Loring Shares Tiffany & Co. Stories Of Louis Comfort Tiffany

Louis Comfort Tiffany’s designs shown at historical society’s event  

John Loring made Louis Comfort Tiffany (LCT) truly Oyster Bay’s own in his lecture April 22 at the Oyster Bay Community Center, hosted by the Oyster Bay Historical Society (OBHS).  Mr. Loring, design director emeritus of Tiffany & Co. spoke about his recently published book Louis Comfort Tiffany at Tiffany & Co. in a slide presentation. The photographs on the screen followed their order in the book and remembering his talk, will enrich the reading experience for those who bought the book. Signed copies of the $60 volume sold for $40 to benefit the OBHS, which most of the audience opted to do. Copies, unsigned, are still available at the historical society’s Earle-Wightman House shop at 20 Summit Street.

View Tall Ships In NY Harbor, Reservations Needed

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 on May 23

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a parade of ships will be sailing into New York Harbor on May 23, beginning at 8 a.m. The Oyster Bay Historical Society and the Post Library Association are sponsoring a trip to the Brooklyn waterfront to view these spectacular sailing vessels.

Interestingly, President Theodore Roosevelt published his first book, The Naval War of 1812, written partly while he was at Harvard. It set the standard for studies in naval strategy and was required reading at Annapolis for many years.

Oyster Bay Impersonates The Hamptons For The Popular TV Series Royal Pains

Too bad the public doesn’t know when it’s Oyster Bay or the Hamptons

“Wow,” said Harlan Friedman, Oyster Festival co-promoter, as he was walking to his office in the B.H. Powers building on Audrey Avenue. “With my face buried in my morning Starbucks and my ear glued to my Blackberry, I saw something miraculous. It was a new store, right across the street from my office. It was filled with golf bags and clubs! Nike, Callaway, Taylor Made, you name it, they were all there!

“I dropped everything. I ran up to the guy putting the sign up and as I was about to ask when they were opening... Well, actually, I asked, instead, if this was a real golf store, but it turned out it was a Royal Pains store. Looks like we still have to leave town for our golf needs to be filled.”

There Was No Prohibition On Cocktail Culture’s Sold-Out Preview

Exhibit at Planting Fields on Cocktail Culture running now through September 30

It was a sold-out affair as Coe Hall Mansion, at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, held a preview party for the opening of their new exhibition “Cocktail Culture: the Gold Coast Years From Prohibition To 1960,” on March 30. The exhibit is running now through Sept. 30. 

Henry Joyce, Planting Fields Foundation (PFF) executive director, has once again created a well-designed exhibit space in Coe Hall Mansion’s Great Hall. He summed up the new show saying he would like visitors to come to Planting Fields and see the Cocktail Culture exhibit. “It’s about clothes that would have been worn in the house in the period of the house’s heyday, 1920 through 1960.” There are great  flapper clothes from the ‘20s and wonderful clothes from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. And included are marvelous accessories, shoes, bags and great cocktail hats, including one of Mr. Joyce’s favorites, a small green cocktail hat by Elsa Schiaparelli.

Gillibrand, Israel Host LI Sound Roundtable

Legislators seek regular funding schedule to preserve Sounds economic engine

Oyster Bay, known for its pristine water quality as a result of years of good stewardship – a great place to grow oysters and clams – was chosen as the location for a roundtable discussion on funding for the Long Island Sound. On April 13, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Steve Israel hosted a Protect the Long Island Sound roundtable with local stakeholders held at the Sagamore Yacht Club. Federal funding for restoration and stewardship programs to protect Long Island Sound expired at the end of 2011. Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Representative Israel, a co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, introduced legislation last month to support the restoration of Long Island Sound through 2016. The LI Sound borders New York and Connecticut, with 8 million people living on the coast and 20 million people living within 50 miles.