Julie Resnick and her daughters Mae and Chloe, and Joyce Shulman with daughter Maddie enjoy the Dreamlike Puppet Theatre’s “Three Bears and Three Pigs” at Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre last Saturday.

As a parent, Joyce Shulman experienced first-hand the necessity for parents of young children to find community.

“I think we were built to live with a larger sense of community,” Shulman said at “the Goat” on Monday. “Bringing a sense of community and giving parents the ability to connect with each other – Liz does this so well. I think it’s also good for our well-being.”

The “Liz,” Shulman refers to is puppeteer Liz Joyce, and “the Goat” is Joyce’s Sag Harbor-based Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre, located on the lower level of the Christ Episcopal Church’s parish hall.

Joyce’s puppet theatre, one of only 50 established theatres in the United States, performs puppet shows every Saturday featuring Joyce’s own talent as well as performances by puppeteers from across the country. Joyce also hosts puppet playgroups on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings for parents and children three and under, and Tot Art, an hour of crafts on Fridays for children two to four years old, in addition to special events like the celebration of the National Day of Puppetry on April 24, and this Saturday’s Bambini Ball, a fundraiser for the not-for-profit theatre.

Shulman has regularly attended Goat on a Boat with her two children, Mason and Maddie, for the last seven years.

“It’s a community place as well as a theatre and a lot of that is because of Liz’s personality and what she has to offer,” said Shulman, co-founder of Macaroni Kid, an online newsletter detailing regional, family-friendly activities.

Goat on a Boat draws throngs of families with children of all ages to Sag Harbor each Saturday, and Joyce’s Puppet Playgroups allow a younger audience to begin to appreciate theatre, music and the arts, while also giving parents an opportunity to connect with their children, and each other.

Developed in 2001 at the urging of several Goat on a Boat devotees, Joyce said she started out using free play with toys, playing music with her banjo, and developing a puppet series around Minky the Monkey – a puppet now so familiar with regulars that shrieks of joy can be heard when he appears on stage. Joyce has also developed a series of original songs built around stimulating activities designed to keep her young audience as engaged and focused as is possible, given their age range.

“With theatre, they hear sound, they think about what the sound is – their minds are filling in a lot of the gaps,” said Joyce. “The thing I love about it is afterwards, they go home and they talk about Minky. They start making up their own stories, and their own characters.”

The playgroup teaches children not only to appreciate art and theatre, but also the ability to sit and enjoy theatre.

“The nice thing is they do these playgroups and come back to weekend shows with the ability to enjoy them,” said Joyce.

Joyce takes pride in bringing shows to Goat on a Boat that local families might not have access to without a trip to Manhattan or beyond, like Gustafer Yellowgold and puppeteer Tom Knight. Joyce said that fundraisers like this Saturday’s Bambini Ball make all of it possible.

“It has this really creative, light hearted energy,” said Shulman of the ball. “Last time, my kids danced and played for the entire evening while I enjoyed a glass of wine and caught up with old friends.”

The family friendly Bambini Ball will feature a red carpet for parents and children alike to strut their stuff, adorned in their favorite costume or gown, as well as food, drinks, a live auction, dancing under a disco ball and maybe even a fire juggler.

“You have the ability as a parent to be in a party atmosphere where your children are having a ball, no pun intended, and you can hang out and participate in Liz’s goofy activities,” said Shulman. “It’s just got a great vibe.”

The Goat on the Boat’s puppet shows are every Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. It’s Puppet Playgroup is held Monday, Thursday and Friday at 9:30 a.m. and Tot Art Fridays are at 10:30 a.m. The Bambini Ball will be held Saturday, March 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Christ Episcopal Church parish hall on East Union Street, Sag Harbor. The cost is $10 for children, $30 for adults. For more information on the ball, or activities at Goat on a Boat, visit http://goatonaboat.org.

At one point on Sunday evening, Bay Street Theatre managing director Gary Hygom found himself surrounded in the booth by would-be Oscar viewers, desperately trying to help Hygom find a live feed able to broadcast the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards.

“Everyone had said, you can get it on ABC, you can get it on Hulu,” said Hygom. “But once the event started everything shut down.”

Hygom and the crowd of roughly 100 East End residents gathered at Bay Street for its annual Oscar night broadcast were not alone. An estimated 3.1 million Cablevision subscribers were without WABC/7 at the start of the Oscar telecast after the channel pulled its signal at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning in the midst of a contract dispute with Cablevision.

According to a statement broadcast to Cablevision subscribers days leading up to Sunday’s blackout, Walt Disney Co. was demanding $40 million more in annual fees, over the $200 million Cablevision already pays Disney. Disney released its own statement on the company’s website, arguing that Cablevision charges $18 a month to its customers for basic broadcast signals like ABC, but does not share any of that revenue with the broadcast networks.

After the signal was pulled Sunday morning, Cablevision sent subscribers e-mails detailing where the telecast could be watched via the Internet, and offered free movie rentals from the company’s on-demand movie system. However, several subscribers reported trying to access the free movies, only to find the system was overloaded and the films not available.

At Bay Street, where residents munched on popcorn and sipped wine while watching Hollywood parade down Oscar’s red carpet, several people expressed disdain with the cable provider – some saying the stalemate with ABC may be the last straw for them as Cablevision subscribers.

“It seems like this is all about money and yet we are paying our bills,” said Cynthia Battaglia, the owner of a Sag Harbor-based catering company.

Battaglia said she was at Bay Street specifically because she was without the Oscar telecast, but also bemoaned the possible loss of programs like Lost, and Oprah, as well as Good Morning America and World News Tonight – her two favorite news programs.

Battaglia said this is not the first time she has taken issue with Cablevision and how it handles contract disputes. In January, in the midst of a battle with the Scripps Network, which airs The Food Network and HGTV, those channels were also pulled for three weeks.

“Of course there are two sides to every story,” she said. “But I also think both parties should remember they are in the service industry. If I did this to my clients, I would be out of a job.”

As Battaglia settled in for the Oscar telecast following the red carpet, the screen went dark.

“The funniest thing was the parade of people coming to the booth to give me suggestions,” said Hygom. Finally, two men hailing from Las Vegas, who are able to view their cable television on their iPhone, worked with Hygom to connect the phone to the theatre’s system.

While a third of the theatre’s patrons had already left Bay Street, some finding Oscar solace at The American Hotel, which has Direct TV, Hygom was able to get the telecast up and running, although the image was badly digitized. Wiping his brow, and walking into Bay Street’s lobby, Hygom noticed they were broadcasting a clean telecast of the Academy Awards.

At 8:43 p.m., just before Christoph Waltz took the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in “Inglorious Basterds,” a deal was inked and ABC was back on-air for Cablevision subscribers. Details about the deal have yet to be released and calls to Cablevision were not returned as of press time.

“Probably around 60 to 70 people stayed all the way through,” said Hygom. “The number of people who came really surprised all of us, especially with everything so up in the air. But we all had a great time. Everyone had fun and was accepting that we might not see it here. It was like we were all working as one big team.”

As part of the Bridgehampton National Bank’s 100th Birthday celebration, Kevin O’Connor, president and CEO of the bank along with members of the board of directors and staff rang the NASDAQ closing bell on Friday, March 5, at the NASDAQ Studios in Times Square. Bridge Bancorp became a NASDAQ listed stock, last year (BDGE).

Ross School

Green Grant
Last week The Ross School in East Hampton received a grant for over $200,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for solar panels on the Lower School campus. The panels will be installed on the Barn Building. It costs roughly $12,000 per year to power this structure. These expenses will be reduced by 90 percent by using the panels.
Sag Harbor Whaling Museum ?

Orphans in the Attic ??

The Sag Harbor Whaling Museum announced their summer exhibition, “Orphans in the Attic,” this week. According to a press release penned by museum director Zach Studenroth, the exhibition will satisfy the curiosity of many visitors who inquire about the objects left in storage, while providing an opportunity to showcase the conservation challenges the museum faces. Visitors will be asked to “adopt” an “orphan” by pledging contributions that will be matched by the museum, thus making it possible to complete conservation work. Funding for the exhibit has been secured by the Town of Southampton. ?

The majority of the Whaling Museum’s collection was assembled over many decades from local sources, testifying to the community support that the museum has enjoyed since its founding in 1936. Many objects were acquired in “as found” condition. Some are still in need of major repair. After a preliminary search conducted by museum staff, guest curator Judy Estes will select the objects for exhibition and personalize their display by creating individual “biographies” that explain their origins, history of ownership and use, and suggested techniques for repair or treatment.?

Estes is a part-time curator for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (Cold Spring Harbor) and has consulted for numerous museums across Long Island. She is familiar with the museum’s collection, having initiated a collections management program for us with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (2006). ?For more information please visit the website at www.sagharborwhalingmuseum.org.

Suffolk County ?

Plum Island Help ??

The Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad Cold Case detective are asking for the public’s help in identifying a body that wash up on the shores of Plum Island on January 14. The deceased is described as a “black male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing between 160 to 190 pounds, [and] between 50 to 70 years old.” The man was found wearing a light green three-button shirt with dark green horizontal stripes, green cargo pants with buttons inscribed with “God Body Collection,” brown loafers in size 10, blue plaid boxer shorts and a belt buckle inscribed “Stacy Adams.”

?During a post-mortem examination, it was discovered that the man had a well-healed head injury and indications of prior neurosurgery. He was also taking medications Dilantin and Phenobarbital, both of which are anti-epileptic drugs commonly used to control seizures.

Detectives are looking into the possibility that the man may be from Connecticut, Rhode Island or Massachusetts. ?Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Homicide Squad at (631) 852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 220-TIPS. ??

Peconic Land Trust

Close Pike Farm Stand ?

?On March 2, The Peconic Land Trust, Suffolk County and Southampton Town closed on the purchase of the Hopping family’s 7.8 acres of farmland on Sagg Main Street in Sagaponack. The farmland is home to the Pike Farm Stand, operated by Jim and Jennifer Pike for more than 20 years. Under the terms of the contract, the Trust purchased the property for $6 million; and then sold the development rights on the property to Suffolk County and Southampton Town for around $4.3 million, under a 70/30 percent split of the cost. The Trust, with donations from over 300 contributors and the Pew Charitable Trust’s Northeast Land Trust Consortium, brought an additional $1 million to the closing.

The Hopping family agreed to a second and final installment payment post-closing from the Trust of $700,000 by March 5, 2011. In the meantime the Pikes will lease the land from the Trust. ?When the final installment is paid to the Hoppings, the Trust intends to sell the restricted farmland to the Pikes with additional safeguards to ensure that this land will always remain available to farmers for agricultural production. To this end, the Trust will sell the land subject to an overlay conservation easement with preemptive right. These additional restrictions will enable the Trust to sell the restricted farmland to the Pikes at a price that they can afford. ??

Southampton Village ?

Hike for Haiti ??

The Grace Presbyterian Church of the Hamptons, based in Water Mill, recently hosted a “Hike for Haiti” event in Southampton Village. Almost 75 people, plus a few dogs, walked in the event. The walk raised around $3,500 for victims of the earthquake which hit Haiti in January. The proceeds will be distributed through the American Red Cross Mission to the World and World Vision.
New York City

Concert Series

Classical musicians connected with the Hamptons-based Vladimir Nielsen Piano Festival recently performed at Carnegie Hall and Juilliard, and will be appearing at the festival in Sag Harbor this summer. Teenage piano prodigy David Aladashvili was the main attraction at a concert at Carnegie Hall on February 19, featuring musical pieces composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin. A group of students with the Julliard Pre-College program performed at the school on Saturday, February 20. The youngest performer Evan Lee, 10, played five pieces by Beethoven. Some of these students will in the Vladimir Nielsen Piano Festival Concert series from the last week of July through the end of August. For more information call (631) 899-4074.

Southampton Hospital

Spanish Lessons

Southampton Hospital received a Suffolk County Community College Workforce Development Training Hospital Consortium Award to provide Spanish language training for its clinical staff in order to more effectively communicate with Spanish-speaking patients.

“While the hospital has a language line service and a number of its employees are bilingual, we felt that an employee with the ability to communicate directly with a patient provides for greater patient satisfaction,” said Patricia A. Darcey, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient Care Services at the hospital.

A main element of the course is sensitivity training to heighten the awareness of health practitioners to potential language and cultural barriers. Adds Darcey, “Southampton Hospital is supportive of continuing education and training and encourages our staff to take advantage of programs that enhance patient care.”

Temperatures soared this week and as residents of the East End became wistful of spring’s near arrival, trickles of second homeowners came out to enjoy the Hamptons’ natural beauty, and of course, its main streets.

For many business owners, this was the beginning of the end of a harsh winter marked by blizzards and quiet streets.

While Sag Harbor has not been subject to the same shuttered store syndrome as neighboring East Hampton, business owners like BikeHampton’s David Krum and Flying Point Surf and Sport manager Steve German said this week that savvy, creativity and initiative was crucial to keeping their stores open year-round.

Krum’s love of bicycles rode him from a career as a professional bike racer into the business of selling bicycles, racing gear and accessories at Main Street, Sag Harbor’s BikeHampton, which he has owned for 10 years.

The Montauk native said generating business in-season is not an issue; but during the winter, when people are not generally thinking about outdoor activities, it can be a struggle.

“The way I stay in business is I sell on eBay,” said Krum, adding that other stores have picked up on the same off-season tactic.

Krum said in addition to selling bikes and gear from BikeHampton’s stock, he also helps customers sell their outdated products on eBay, with Krum taking a percentage of the profit.

“It’s always summer somewhere,” he said. “I needed a way to make it through. Not many people are thinking about bikes out here in the winter.”

Krum also hosts regular sales during the off-season. With spring and peak cycling season just around the corner, BikeHampton customers can enjoy 10 percent off tune-ups and anywhere from 10 to 50 percent off merchandise.

On his way towards being a master in bicycle fitting, Krum also boasts professional bike fitting services and is able to build a custom bike based on height and weight, and also any health issues like knee or back problems, which can make each bike a perfect fit for his clients.

Krum said he also tries to ensure every price point can be hit at BikeHampton.

“We sell everything, from the least expensive to the most expensive road bikes,” he said. “And you will get the same kind of custom fit from us, whether you are spending $800 or $10,000.”

Next door, at Flying Point in The Harbor, the Sag Harbor branch of the Southampton-based Flying Point Surf & Sport, manager Steve German said providing shoppers with a variety of products, at a variety of price points, is the key to the business’s year-round success.

“We cater to everyone,” said German. “From mothers to fathers to kids. A lot of our store is geared towards the teens, but we also have merchandise from Tommy Bahama and Quicksilver that are for the more mature customer.”

Founded in Southampton in 1996 at a County Road 39 storefront, which still operates seasonally, Flying Point Surf & Sport quickly grew to open a year-round Main Street, Southampton location. Three years ago, it absorbed Sag Harbor’s Island Surf at 34 Main Street. In addition, the business boasts Flying Point Surf Boutique, also on Main Street, Southampton and the Flying Point Outlet in Water Mill.

Last year, German said the company expanded the Sag Harbor store to include the Flying Point Sunglass Boutique, selling everything from Christian Dior and Tom Ford sunglasses to Ray Bans and sports eyewear.

“The location has been very key,” said German of Flying Point’s success in Sag Harbor. “Here we see the marina traffic and day trippers in season and there is also a year round clientele.”

In addition to apparel for men, women, teens and children – from bathing suits to graphic tees, fleece outerwear, jackets and sweatshirts, hats and board shorts – Flying Point also carries an array of accessories. Shoppers can find jewelry, toys, wallets, watches and more, while searching for the perfect surfboard, skimboard, wetsuit or skateboard – the mainstays of the business.

German started out working in corporate for Body Glove, and opened the first Quicksilver store on Prince Street in Manhattan. Having a family, though, brought him to the East End. Before coming to Flying Point, he ran Main Beach Surf & Sport.

German said the company has branched out into the Internet, hosting a blog and keeping clients updated on social networks like Facebook, and he attributes the year-round success of Flying Point to its diverse stock.

“We try to cover all the price points,” said German.

by Marianna Levine

James Dwoskin, a commercial real estate developer and Sag Harbor resident, has just come back from another eight-day trip to Nicaragua. This voyage, like the ones before, weren’t motivated by sea and sun, but rather by a desire to make a difference in the Western Hemisphere’s second poorest country. Of the nation’s 5.6 million people, approximately four million live in poverty, according to Dwoskin, with a per capita GDP of only $1,123 annually in 2008 (NY State’s was $48,076 that year or over 42 times higher).

This time Dwoskin went specifically to find a village in great need that Sag Harbor might be able to adopt and support as a community. He is calling this project SHINE, short for Sag Harbor in Nicaragua Enterprise, and is hoping to get local residents and already established groups such as churches, synagogues, and schools interested in assisting this village. How Dwoskin came to be interested in Nicaragua is an interesting story.

“My college roommate and business partner Mark Sullivan comes from a philanthropic family, and he really studies these types of organizations, looking for the most bang for the buck. We didn’t want to just give money, we also wanted to make sure things got done,” Dwoskin explains.

Through this process Sullivan discovered an NGO called El Porvenir, that assists villages in Nicaragua to get practical things taken for granted in the U.S. such as clean water and working latrines. It works together with the local people to build wells, efficient wood burning stoves, latrines, and wash stations. A few years ago, Dwoskin and Sullivan started to travel down to select impoverished villages with El Porvenir, off-setting the organization’s travel costs by paying for the trips themselves.

Dwoskin explains, “El Porvenir only goes to towns that have actively solicited them. All the labor comes from the town, and they even get people to participate in re-forestation, something they also do.”

For Dwoskin, actually going down there and seeing the people and their living conditions has been a life changing experience. “The people really pulled at my heart strings. I made up my mind to make a difference.”

It was his personal interaction with the people and their communities, which really got Dwoskin interested in having other people from Sag Harbor not only donate money, but also donate their time, to go down and help the villagers of Monteverde, the village he selected to adopt. He feels a personal connection between the two communities would give a lot to both places.

As for the choice of Monteverde, it was an obvious one for Dwoskin who had visited other villages in the area.

“We were looking for a village of about the same size who had needs but ones that wouldn’t be too daunting for our community,” he said. “We got to Monteverde toward the end of our trip and realized the need was great there.”

Dwoskin explains, “For approximately six months of the year there is a total absence of water in Monteverde. The village has no functioning well. During the dry season, which lasts roughly six months, the residents must travel approximately 2-3 kilometers down and up the mountain to fetch water from a well or a tainted creek in one of the neighboring villages. The round trip journey for water takes about two hours.”

Dwoskin hopes that Sag Harbor may come together to raise money for a well and perhaps latrines for the village’s school which serves about 100 children. These seem like humble requests but ones that Dwoskin confirms will mean a lot to the village.

“Growing up in New York City, I had Hispanic friends, and felt a natural affinity for Latin America,” said Dwoskin. “I also thought the issues down there affect us here in Sag Harbor. People come here because of the poverty there. I thought through partnering up with Monteverde we could show some solidarity with our community’s silent (Hispanic) minority.”

For now, Dwoskin is putting together a presentation he’d like to show to various community organizations. He is hoping that the Sag Harbor school district may want to make Monteverde a service learning opportunity for high school students in the future, or that local organizations both religious and secular may want to join in and help Monteverde in some way. He has also come up with a few fun fundraising ideas such as T-shirts, a salsa night, or a Latin meets local jam session.

In the end Dwoskin states “when we give, be it time or money, without expectation of getting anything in return, we receive ten times the benefit. The community will be enhanced in ways we cannot predict.”

Having already been cited by the Village of Sag Harbor, in a court case yet to be determined, on Monday night attorney Edward Burke, Jr. and his wife Patricia approached the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board to change the use of a historic building they recently converted into office spaces, in an effort to legalize the use of five separate businesses already operating at the Division Street building.

According to attorney Timothy S. McCulley, representing the Burke family, the building’s current certificate of occupancy is for a residence, and has yet to be changed to allow for office uses. The building currently houses Morrissey Advisory Services, Dr. Stephen Petruccelli’s East End Sports Chiropractic, G & L Building Corporation and the law offices of Rayano & Garabedian.

The five office spaces, said McCulley range in size from 206 square feet to 414 square feet, whereas the new code requires a minimum of 800 square-feet for each office in the district, meaning the Burkes may need at least one variance from the village zoning board of appeals (ZBA) to make the change.

The Burkes may also need a variance to address parking, according to a memo drafted by village planning consultant Rich Warren of Inter- Science Research Associates. Under the new code, office spaces require one space per 200 square feet of gross floor area, which would translate into 11 parking spaces, with the Burkes entitled to four parking space credits. McCulley said they have come up with plans for five or seven additional spaces, although village attorney Anthony Tohill will review the parking issue before next month’s meeting to determine whether the Burkes’ credits stand or if they need relief from the ZBA.

Warren also noted that adjacent property owners specifically sought to not be included in the village’s office district when it was drafted last year and while the code would require the Burkes to erect a 15-foot landscape buffer between their building and a neighboring home, their current plan only shows a plan within three to six feet of the adjacent property. He suggested the Burkes reach out to the neighbor and noted they may need another variance to allow the smaller buffer.

“They would be the first ones to come to me and say, I don’t have a spot or I need more parking,” said Patricia Burke of her tenants. “And I haven’t gotten any of that.”

“As far as the neighbors, when we were redoing it everyone said, thank

God you bought this, and it is an eyesore,” she continued, noting not one neighbor has yet to complain about the addition of offices in the neighborhood.

The application will be heard again at the board’s March 23 meeting.

After two years of business in Amagansett Square, BoBookHampton may have closed its Amagansett location, but its Sag Harbor store, pictured here with manager Sarah Doherty and Barry Lisee, is still going strong.okHampton owner Charline Spektor this week announced the independent bookstore would close the location, citing economics and “the surprising lack of foot-traffic in Amagansett.”

“East Hampton is a thriving store and they were too close together,” Spektor said on Tuesday. She added in addition to the East Hampton branch of BookHampton, both the Sag Harbor and Southampton locations continue to operate successfully.

BookHampton at Amagansett Square was originally conceived as a store to focus on children, keeping in character with Amagansett’s family-centric community, although the location maintained a collection of other genres of literature as well as DVDs, merchandise and CDs. Spektor said on Tuesday all three remaining BookHampton locations, in particular Sag Harbor, continue to operate with full children’s sections.

While Spektor dismissed the current impact of electronic publishing on independent bookstores, she acknowledged online retailers like Amazon have affected the industry. Big-box, bargain book retailers like Barnes and Noble have yet to find a home on the East End, despite attempts to open a Bridgehampton location in recent years.

But rather than focus on those challenges, Spektor chooses to shine a light on the benefits of independent bookstores, which are often tailored specifically to serve the communities and Main Streets they inhabit.

“The value of an independent bookstore is that you can see in our stores that we are making literary choices based on the community,” she said. BookHampton is able to reach beyond the standard chain-store inventory, with a collection that boasts literary classics, popular fiction and non-fiction titles as well as lesser known authors.

Having a dedicated staff of booksellers who “are really well read, well rounded and all live in the community,” makes carrying out such a high level of knowledge and service possible, and also helps prop up the local economy, Spektor added.

“An important part of this is that independent book stores that are neighborhood bookstores, on the commerce side, the dollars earned stay in the community,” she said. “It doesn’t leave town.”

Spektor, who owns BookHampton with her husband Jeremy Nussbaum, said the store has also developed programming aimed at engaging the community in literary and intellectual pursuits. Its four-month, free winter lecture series, which kicked off in January at the East Hampton branch, brings an array of educators into the community to discuss topics ranging from “The Rise and Fall of the Aztec Empire,” to climate change, poetry and the economics of education – a lecture given last week by Dr. Pedro Noguera. This Saturday, at 5 p.m., the store will host Stony Brook University Professor Stephanie Wade, who will take a look at writers who have explored the human condition in a lecture titled “True Stories: Finding Freedom at the Crossroads of Cultural and Persona Myths.”

BookHampton also hosts book and reading groups at all locations, including an ongoing Rowdy Readers Book Group, held at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton on Tuesday afternoons through March 16 and a reading group at the Southampton store on Wednesday afternoons through May 12. In Sag Harbor, manager Sarah Doherty hosts a Saturday reading group, which will discuss John Banville’s “The Infinities” on March 14 and Robert Goolrick’s “The Reliable Wife” on March 21. For the younger set, the Sag Harbor branch also holds story time for children ages two to five years old on Monday and Friday mornings at 10:30 a.m.

“And then, of course, we have our annual Mystery and Mayhem weekend in May,” said Spektor. “We bring in 30 terrific mystery writers, both established and some emerging, who fill our communities with mysteries and enigma.”

That event will take place May 14 through May 16.

“We are a very active part of all three neighborhoods,” said Spektor.

As for future BookHampton locations in the wake of the Amagansett store’s closing, Spektor said she remains optimistic.

“You have to be permanently optimistic, intrepidly optimistic as an independent bookstore,” she said. “We are committed to the communities we live in and committed to making great recommendations for our customers. Reading is the future for all of our children and when people see that, they appreciate the value of keeping independent book stores in our communities.”

BookHampton is located at 41 Main Street in East Hampton (324-4939); 91 Main Street in Southampton (283-0270) and at 20 Main Street in Sag Harbor (725-8425).

Dorothy Field, Peter Iwanyckyj, Tara Hagerman celebrate Bridgehampton National Bank’s Centennial on Friday, February 19 at the Sag Harbor branch of the bank.

Bridgehampton National Bank was founded when farmers and small business owners alike banded together to create a community-based financial institution in Bridgehampton that could address the needs of a growing agricultural economy.

Henry Chatfield, G. Clarence Topping and Elmer Thomson opened the bank on the east side of the E.C. Loper store on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton on February 19, 1910. Their focus was to serve local businesses in the area, loaning farmers the money to purchase seeds during difficult times and aiding local merchants in expansion.

And according to Bridgehampton National Bank (BNB) CEO Kevin O’Connor, very little has changed over the last 100 years when it comes to BNB’s core philosophy – it is a community bank where personal relationships are forged, whether between lenders and small business owners, or tellers and the working mom who deposits her check each Friday.

“Last night, Southampton Town presented us with a proclamation, and it was very personal, not just some standard proclamation,” said O’Connor on Wednesday morning. “It was very special to our organization to accept that kind of honor, in Southampton, where we began, where so many of our shareholders live. I looked around, and I felt like I knew everyone in the room. It was a very personal experience.”

Providing a personal experience for business owners and clients, said O’Connor, is the secret to BNB’s success and one of the reasons he said the bank has flourished, particularly in the last two decades where 16 branches and counting were founded by BNB from Montauk to Mattituck and now as far west as Shirley.

“We like to think our employees, in a sense, become business advisors for these local companies,” said O’Connor. “We hope to be able to work with customers on a one-on-one basis, and will make introductions to accountants if they are looking to take their business to the next level, or attorneys if a business is considering purchasing a property. It really is a partnership. You want to be a trusted advisor.”

That extends, said O’Connor, to BNB’s branches, all which celebrated the centennial with their customers this past Friday with cake and balloons.

“I value tremendously the branch employees and network,” said O’Connor. “For a long time, I think people perceived the lenders as the superstars, but what the branch managers and tellers do is so important. They are the people our clients generally have the most contact with.”

Bridgehampton National Bank was federally chartered in 1910, joining the Federal Reserve System in 1914. The 1920s began the first period of expansion for BNB, with its board of directors purchasing the Loper Building in Bridgehampton in 1920 for $8,000, agreeing to lease the west side of the building to the post office.

Coming through the Depression intact, by 1935, BNB managed 2,000 accounts. By the 1960s, the company had formed a partnership with AInterBank, which would become VISA, and through this alliance were able to offer small business owners the ability to accept credit card purchases. BNB’s growth continued in the 1970s when it opened its first branch office in the Bridgehampton Plaza on Snake Hollow Road, but it was in the 1990s that the company truly branched out, developing its website and opening a number of branches across the North and South forks. BNB currently serves clients in Bridgehampton, Mattituck, East Hampton, Southampton, Southold, Montauk, Greenport, Sag Harbor, Hampton Bays, Westhampton Beach, Wading River, Cutchogue and Shirley.

According to O’Connor, with a number of small businesses flourishing in Patchogue, BNB is looking to open a branch there next.

“We will never put a branch next to Wal-Mart, because that is frankly not our marketplace,” said O’Connor. “We went to Shirley because there were a lot of people with small businesses and we will go to Patchogue for the same reason.”

O’Connor sees BNB continuing to expand, using this now 100-year-old model of conservative, community-based banking.

“A company has to have a culture and I think we have a very strong culture,” said O’Connor. “We have all the products, all the technology the big banks have, but we can also deliver and serve our customers at locally based branches where many of our customers are our shareholders and we look them in the eye, every day.”

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by Marissa Maier

On the corner of New Light Lane and West Pond Drive in Bridgehampton lies almost 18 acres of open space, owned by Southampton resident Robert Campbell. According to town planning documents, Campbell hopes to turn this site into a private horse farm called “Campbell Ranch.”

The project, noted town planner David Wilcox, entails an 18-stall stable, a 15,000 square foot indoor riding area with an observation room, a two-story storage building with a second floor apartment, an equipment barn, a two-story office building, access driveways and parking lots, while still retaining a portion of open farmland. Although the total property encompasses 17.77 acres, or around 774,000 square feet, the proposed buildings will take take up only 30,600 square feet.

Instead of using the facility for a commercial equine venture, Campbell plans to house and maintain his collection of 18 horses at the site, said local liaison on the project and East Hampton-based architect Eva Growney. With exteriors of weathered brown-shingles, the structures will be aesthetically congruent with the local architecture of the South Fork, added Growney.

“The client and the design architect [John Winberry of D.H. Murray Architects] wanted to do a project the community would like,” remarked Growney. “The owner has lived in the area for over 10 years. He has a feeling for the area and he wants these buildings to fit in. He doesn’t want them to stick out like a sore thumb.”

Campbell is chairman and CEO of BBC International, LLC., a firm that designs and markets footwear for many well known companies including Guess, Ralph Lauren and Quicksilver. According to the BBC International website, one of Campbell’s crowning achievements was introducing lights to children’s footwear, which later became a phenomena in the industry. He founded the company nearly 33 years ago, but is planning to retire in the near future, noted Growney.

At the planning board meeting on Thursday, the board expressed some confusion over why the design called for four office spaces in one building if the ranch is for Campbell’s personal use. Growney explained these rooms were labeled as offices but fall under different categories. The ground floor will be divided into a horse salon and a trophy room, noted Growney. While the upstairs will house an office for the manager, an office for the veterinarian and their supplies, and a room designated for legal documentation on the horses.

Growney added that Campbell isn’t seeking variances for the project. Based on town set-back regulations, Winberry altered the original lay out for the structures and moved them further in the property to meet these requirements. Growney said there has been talk of adding green elements to the site including solar panels, wind turbines and a geothermal system. She tempered these comments by adding that the project is still in a preliminary stage. In addition to a manager and veterinarian, the ranch will employ several workers and groundskeepers to maintain the stables and property.

Growney plans to send out a letter to neighbors of the property in the near future with details on the project. “Campbell Ranch” will also be on the agenda at the March 11 planning board meeting for a pre-submission conference, in which members are the public are invited to weigh in on the plan.

Traffic and transportation were the themes once more at a sparsely attended Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee meeting last Monday night. Besides the CAC chair Fred Cammann’s disappointment with the turn out (which several members attributed to the Winter Olympics), the committee had a quick presentation on code enforcement by Southampton Ordinance Inspector Alfred Tumbarello, a longer discussion on the Volpe transportation study presented by CAC member Ian MacPherson, and a follow up by CMEE director Steve Long on a proposed toddler’s playground in the hamlet.

However, perhaps the evening’s most interesting information came from Cammann himself who enthused about Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Thorne-Holst’s new initiative to bring together area CAC chairs once a month for a meeting in order to follow up on their concerns and complaints.

 “I have to tell you, it’s remarkable,” Cammann commented. “It is great to be able to talk to the other CAC chairs. I get news and even emails now about our concerns and if progress has been made. This is a real endeavor to make communication better.”

Cammann also mentioned that Tumbarello’s visit came as a direct result of one of these communal CAC meetings. During the last meeting several chairs had asked for specifics concerning the town’s code enforcement.

Tumbarello started the conversation by informing CAC members “if you feel there is a pressing issue in your area give me a call.” He handed out his card, and then outlined his duties such as assessing whether a home is over crowded, if a person is illegally dumping garbage, or even things such as unattended lawns, too many vehicles per residence, and overnight street parking.

“For example, if you feel a neighbor in your area is renting a house out and there are 20 people living in it, we would come around, interview people, and see if we could get into the house and count how many beds there are,” he said.

CAC member Cathie Gandel asked if code enforcement deals with commercial as well as residential concerns, to which Tumbarello replied in the affirmative.

Tumbarello also explained how the enforcement process works.

 “It is state law to give notice of a violation first. The state likes to see us educate people before taking them to court.”

He said the CAC shouldn’t get discouraged by the length of time it may take for the violator to be prosecuted. Although “it can get caught up in court and planning,” eventually a case will go through.

Immediately after this, CAC member Ian MacPherson made a presentation on his thoughts concerning “The Volpe Study which is an outgrowth of the Sustainable East End Development Strategies (SEEDS) recommendation for a coordinated rail and bus network.”

MacPherson explained that the Volpe study recommended a bus service for the North Fork and a coordinated bus and rail system for the South Fork. The estimated cost for this system would be around $117.3 to $147.8 million, of which around $100 million would be spent on rail.

 “This recommendation has been accepted by the five towns of the East End according to Assemblyman Fred Thiele,” Mac Pherson added.

MacPherson ended by saying “I could not see the justification of the expenditure of this money which would basically do nothing to reduce congestion in the South Fork.” He pointed out the study said rail use would only reduce congestion by 2.2%.

MacPherson thought that money would be better spent on improving the South Fork’s bus system, which was not as costly, and by further improving the roads. He suggested “It would be helpful to our transportation situation if the town could do a further study on how the roads in the South Fork can be improved.” He also asked for the CAC’s thoughts on this subject.

Long wondered whether it was better to “stop paying into the MTA and put the money into a Peconic Transportation Service, as Assemblyman Thiele suggested, in order to off-set the costs.”

Some CAC members thought taking buses would be slower than the train and also the bus tended to cost more than the train. Several thought the Jitney could do a good job running a bus service out here.

In the end Cammann and CAC Secretary Dick Bruce suggested the CAC host a discussion, perhaps at the newly re-opened Hampton Library, concerning South Fork transportation.

“We should have the Jitney guy come to the discussion, and Tom Neely, as well as the McCoys, the school bus people. It would be instructive, and we need to know what we’re talking about here.”

Lastly, Long mentioned he had been talking with Councilwoman Nancy Graboski about the creation of a toddler’s park in Bridgehampton.

“I want the playground for all of Bridgehampton, but there are so many benefits for Bridgehampton if we have the playground at CMEE,” he said.

However several people noted they’d like to have a playground on Main Street or the beach instead.