By Claire Walla

After Long Island University earlier this week gave Peconic Public Broadcasting a three-day reprieve to come up with the funding to complete the purchase of station 88.3 fm, the university on Saturday announced it would give the fledgling radio company further time to raise more than half-a-million dollars.

“Long Island University and Peconic Public Broadcasting, Inc. (PPB), have reached an agreement to extend the timeframe for PPB’s purchase of 88.3 (license) until September 28, 2010,” both groups said in a joint statement Saturday morning. “While PPB has not raised all of the funds required to complete the purchase, it has indicated that significant progress is being made, and Long Island University has agreed to the extension based upon their assurances that it will soon have the funding needed to purchase the station.”

It’s the stuff heart-warming movies are made of: grassroots company forms in an effort to save community radio station from private interests, while struggling to raise nearly a million dollars in less than a year. 

Only this tale is true, and we’re still not sure about the Hollywood ending.

On Tuesday, August 31, Long Island University extended the deadline for Peconic Public Broadcasting, Inc. (PPB) to come up with the money it still owes the university for the purchase of its radio license, a deal that would give PPB full control and ownership of local radio station 88.3fm WLIU (which would then become WPPB).  The company needs to come up with an additional $637,000, according to Long Island University Treasurer Robert Altholz.

Long-time WLIU station manager Wally Smith — who co-founded PPB last year when he caught wind that the station was up for bid — could not speak on the matter, only responding via e-mail: “We are at a very delicate phase of negotiations and are making no comments to the press.” 

However, he confirmed, fundraising efforts continue. 

Just Tuesday, PPB received a $50,00 donation from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation.  And last week PPB took part in “Locals Live,” a concert put-on in conjunction with Old Whalers’ Church in Sag Harbor and organized by Bulldog studios.  Tickets were sold for $30 a pop and proceeds went to both to the broadcast company and the church.

Though PPB’s funds are still well under the targeted amount, the company has a plan for keeping negotiations open with LIU.  In a statement released to the press August 31, PPB’s Board of Directors confirmed : “PPB signed a Term Sheet with an area bank which has agreed, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, to fund a loan sufficient to complete the purchase in the coming weeks. The Board and staff are optimistic that PPB now has the momentum to successfully complete the purchase [in September].”

PPB is still hopeful that community members will pull-through, ultimately donating substantial sums to help save the station as we now know it from going dark.

The only NPR affiliate in Eastern Long Island, WLIU has a reputation for broadcasting healthy doses of jazz and for churning out highly regarded regular programming from hosts Brian Cosgrove and Bonnie Grice. Prior to Saturday’s announcement, it was unclear whether they would remain on air in September.

On Tuesday, Treasurer Altholz said that the university would proceed by re-opening negotiations with last year’s top two bidders if PPB was unable to pay what’s due by the end of the business day on Friday, although that has chaged. (He also said that other entities have recently expressed interest in purchasing the station, as well; though he couldn’t mention any names.)

Altholz insisted that the station would continue to function until a deal is ultimately made, streaming broadcasts from NPR, PRI and Jazz Works. 

“We have people at the university that can operate the station until a successful new bidder can buy it,” he said. 

Though Altholz said he couldn’t divulge any information on any of the other bidders vying for the rights to LIU’s radio license—Dan’s Papers reported back in March that one such bidder was a religious order.

Back in September, when PPB won the bid to purchase WLIU, Long Island University President David Steinberg expressed in a press release his enthusiasm that the station would continue to run on a local level, with all programs and current operations kept in tact. He wrote:  “We are pleased that Peconic Public Broadcasting was able to move ahead with the purchase of the station. This allows the transformative power of public radio to continue to thrive on Long Island’s East End, providing a critical public service and enlightening listening audiences through innovative news and cultural programming.”

However, if LIU doesn’t accept the terms of PPB’s efforts to keep the station alive, 88.3fm will then go to the highest bidder.  

The Sag HarborFest is only a week away, and with it comes many of the contests that stir the competitive spirit.

The whaleboat races for the coveted Whalers Cup take place off Windmill Beach, alongside Long Wharf with teams in both men’s and women’s divisions competing. Elimination races begin at noon on Saturday, September 11, with semi finals and the championship races taking place on Sunday afternoon, September 12.

Each team consists of two rowers, a tiller person and a bow person. The race takes the teams off the beach and around marks set in the harbor. In recent years, the bow person has had little to do but call the stroke. This year, however, organizers are planning a task for the bow person to complete, which will require additional strategy from the teams before the boats make their final sprint back to the beach.

Among the contestants this year will be Team Whalers, the defending champions in the men’s division, and Sag Harbor Liquors, the defending champions in the women’s division. Registration is $50 per team, and boats will be available for practice on the beach in front of the Windmill beginning Monday, September 6. Those interested in competing can contact Bryan Boyhan at The Sag Harbor Express, 725-1700.

Also this year will be the third annual Firefighters Cup Whaleboat Races on Sunday afternoon, with defending champs Gazelle Hose expected back to defend.

Runners are invited to participate in the HarborFest 5K, a benefit for the Pierson High School cross country team. The race starts near the intersection of Long Island Avenue and Howard Street and takes runners on a loop through parts of downtown Sag Harbor and Redwood. Stepping off at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, the first 200 registrants will get T-shirts, with awards given to the top three male and female runners in a variety of age categories.

Early registration — before Wednesday, September 8 — is $20 ($10 for ages 17 and under). Registration on race day is from 6:30 a.m. to 7:50 a.m. and is $25 ($15 for ages 17 and under). Send registration and check payable to: Hamptons Track Club. Mail to: HTC, PO Box 1065 Sag Harbor, NY 11963.

Also for the athletes among us — young and old — there will be a tug-o-war on Windmill Beach Sunday morning at 11:30 before the whaleboat races. Those interested in competing can show up early on the beach or visit the Windmill to register.

For the kids, the HarborFest brings back the popular corn shucking contest on Saturday morning at 11 on Long Wharf. Here’s an opportunity for kids to really tear into those delicious ears of East End corn. (We’ll have a recipe for corn salad in the HarborFest Journal next week). Visit the Windmill to register.

Speaking of shucking, no HarborFest would be complete without the annual clam shucking contest to determine Shucker of the Year. Last year Denise O’Malley took home top honors. Shuckers, who may bring their own knives or use one provided, each start with 18 chilled clams. This year organizers are introducing a new judging system. Clams must be opened “restaurant style,” that is the top shell must be completely removed, the clam completely loosened from the bottom shell without the bellies being sliced, and clams should be able to cleanly drop from the shell.

As contestants call “Done,” a numbered card in the order of finish is placed in front of the shucker and when everyone is finished, the clams will be checked. For each clam that is properly shucked according to the rules, the contestant receives one point. The contestant with the most points wins.

Registration forms, with a copy of the rules, will be available at the Windmill on the morning of the contest. Shuckers get to eat their own clams, but are prohibited from sharing them.

Guests at HarborFest are also asked to help decide on who makes the best clam chowder in the area. Organizers have signed-up 11 local restaurants and caterers who will bring pots of the briny brew down to Long Wharf on Sunday at noon. For an $8 donation to the Sag Harbor Food Pantry, you get a mug and the chance to sample all 11 chowders, then vote for your favorite. Last year’s winners were the New Paradise Café and Claws on Wheels.

And finally, come down by the L/Cpl. Jordan Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge at 1 on Sunday afternoon for the first annual Great Sag Harbor Rubber Ducky Race. This benefit for Jordan’s Initiative — honoring the life of L/Cpl Jordan Haerter, a Marine from Sag Harbor who was killed in Iraq — features 1500 rubber duckys which will be tossed into the incoming tide just outside the bridge, racing to a blazing finish on the other side. Contestants are asked to “adopt” a duck — each of which has a different number on the bottom — for $5. The top 20 “quickest quackers” will receive prizes donated by community businesses. To register call 725-2489.

By Vee Benard

Paddlers for Humanity, a not-for-profit organization based in East Hampton that seeks to raise funds and awareness for charities and other non-profit organizations that focus on either education, community or health issues, is holding its final paddle event of the 2010 summer season this coming Sunday, September 5.  

Founded in 2008 by Fred Doss and Ed Cashen, who initially collaborated in 2005 to organize Paddlers for Humanity’s first event, a paddle from Montauk to Block Island, Paddlers for Humanity has since grown and expanded to welcome increasing numbers of participants in their events and to offer funds to a wider range of charities.

“Ed [Cashen],” said Doss, “used to be the executive director of Miracle House, a non-profit organization in New York City. He is also a local in the Hamptons area and has a business called Weekend Warriors — he is very sports centered and involved in water activities.”

Doss explained that when, in 2005, Cashen wanted to organize some sort of event to raise money for Miracle House, he had the idea to do an organized group paddle, and so Paddlers For Humanity was born. According to Doss, that first paddle in 2005 was an 18 mile, open-ocean paddle from Montauk to Block Island, and in that one event Paddlers for Humanity successfully raise close to $90,000 for Miracle House.

“Soon,” continued Doss, ”we kind of wanted to take this ‘paddling’ concept to a different level.”

So, in the summer of 2007, Doss and Cashen opened the doors to some additional board members, Scott Bradley and Lars Sdanberg, and in early 2008 they attained their 501c3 status as an official not-for-profit entity.

“What we are now,” said Doss, “is really best described as a ‘pass-through’ organization. We pick a charity, we organize the events that will raise the money, and then we just pass it on.”

Since its official creation in 2008, Paddlers for Humanity has refined its selection of ‘worthy’ charities, now focusing only on those whose mission it is to better health, education, or community. These charities are typically located on the East End, staying true to Paddlers for Humanity’s Long Island roots.

In addition to its regular fundraising paddles, Paddlers for Humanity has recently established the “P4H Catastrophic Fund,” which seeks to raise money for families on the East End who have found themselves in a state of economic emergency. The money raised for the Catastrophic Fund, according to Doss, will go towards anything from home bills to hospital bills.

Paddlers for Humanity has also recently established its Scholarship Fund, which awards two scholarships per year to one male and one female student graduating the East Hampton High School.

“We have really evolved over the years,” remarked Doss.

This year, Paddlers for Humanity is hosting three paddles. The first paddle, held on July 11, was the All-Women’s “Wahine” (Hawaiian for “woman,” according to Doss) paddle, which raised somewhere in the area of $15,000 for the Retreat, which is a domestic violence safe haven and support center located in East Hampton.

The second fundraiser of the summer season, the Standup Paddle Team Relay, was held last Sunday, August 29 (though originally intended to take place the week before…Paddlers for Humanity had to reschedule on account of stormy weather). The Standup Paddle took place on the beach at Navy Road and saw close to 100 participants.

This coming Sunday, September 5, will be a reprise of Paddlers for Humanity’s original paddle, the 18-mile trek from Montauk to Block Island. Funds raised by this paddle, unlike those raised by previous ones, will be allocated to several charities: The East Hampton Daycare Learning Center, The Montauk Playhouse Community Center, The Acumens Fund (a global organization that seeks to mitigate problems of world poverty) and PRASAD (a children’s dental health program that ventures to distribute mobile dental units for children in rural Dutchess County). As in all of Paddlers for Humanity’s other events, the Montauk to Block Island paddle will count on its participants to raise money for these selected charities — each paddler is asked to either personally contribute or ask friends and family to sponsor their paddle.

This is not a paddle for the inexperienced, however, warns Doss.

“Yes, this is hard for the amateur paddler,” he said. “You don’t have to be an expert, you don’t have to be in the water for years, but you do need to have the physical strength and some knowledge of the water.”

Doss stressed that this paddle is “absolutely not” a race.

“It is a leisurely paddle,” he said. “You are never in any danger, we are all totally surrounded by support boats and if somebody can’t do it, it is never a problem. You should be somewhat experienced, though.”

Weather permitting, the paddle is expected to take between five to six hours. Last year, however, the waters were a bit rough and the paddle consequently lasted between eight and nine hours.

Despite the admittedly daunting distance and substantial time commitment, Doss maintains a cheery attitude and plans on participating himself this weekend.

“It is fun and lively,” he quipped, “and there’s nothing I have ever experienced quite like it. You’re in the ocean, on the water … it’s just you and the elements, and yet there is this great spirit of camaraderie. And in the end, it’s just so satisfying knowing you’re raising money and doing this for a good cause.”

Paddlers for Humanity will hold its Montauk to Block Island Paddle this Sunday, September 5, and will meet at 6:30 a.m. Participants over the age of 18 must raise a minimum of $1,500 to participate, participants under the age of 18 must raise a minimum of $750 to participate. For more information visit p4h.org or call (917)834-3888.

Driving down Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton there is a property nestled between The Pizza Place and Sleepy’s that one might not even realize exists.

The long, narrow lot, with less than 90-feet of street frontage, was once home to a telephone substation. Now it is proposed to become a mixed-use development, with a retail space and an affordable, two-bedroom apartment in a one story building, designed by Bridgehampton-based architect Blaze Makoid, who is known for his modern, contemporary designs.

During an August 23 meeting of the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee, member and architect Peter Wilson praised the project, calling it “cleverly organized” and “not controversial.” Wilson, who reviewed the application for the CAC said he would draft a memo of support for the Southampton Town Planning Board on behalf of the committee. The project will be before the planning board for a public hearing on September 9 at 7 p.m.

The property is located at the edge of the commercial district with little visibility from Montauk Highway. According to a project description drafted by Makoid, when approaching how to design the project three planning goals emerged – to maximize the property’s street presence for the 1,400 square-foot retail space, minimize the view of proposed parking of the street, and use the diverse topography of the parcel in the building’s design.

According to Makoid, both the retail unit and the 1,001 square-foot apartment are at grade, with the retail unit fronting Montauk Highway and the affordable “upside-down,” duplex apartment in the rear of the building, making use of a sublevel below grade for the bedroom units.

The owner, Susan’s Idea LLC., said Makoid, is committed to pursuing a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum rating for the project.

“The site was originally selected for its immediate access to public transportation with a bus stop less than 100 yards away,” states the project description. “It includes bicycle storage, shower facilities and preferred parking for fuel efficient vehicles. Storm water management, including the use of a bioswale system and water collection will produce a 100 percent permeable site.”

Makoid said the building’s envelope will be a prefabricated structural system consisting of a recycled steel skeleton and insulated sandwich panels. It has been modeled, he said, to achieve a 46 percent reduction in energy usage, with lower and upper openable windows strategically located to maximize natural ventilation. A cool roof and reclaimed cypress rainscreen complete the exterior.

The building will also use low flow fixtures and the reuse of collected storm water will result in a 42 percent reduction in water usage, said Makoid. Green Power certificates will be purchased in lieu of on-site renewable energy, which would be restricted by the town.

According to environmental planner Brant Reiner, of Inter-Science Research Associates in Southampton, the project has already received preliminary approvals from the town’s planning board.

He added that creating an affordable unit, which will be managed through the Town of Southampton’s affordable housing program, was an important community benefit the project sponsor wanted to include.

Reiner said the project has already received a variance from the town’s zoning board of appeals to allow a residential apartment on the first floor and sublevel, when town code requires accessory apartments on the second floor.

They will also ask the town planning board for a parking waiver to accommodate the two-bedroom apartment, said Reiner. The parking proposed for the site covers the retail component of the proposal, but is shy just two spaces for the apartment, he said.

“The project itself is a good use for the site,” said Reiner. “Blaze and the project sponsor have designed it so the retail use is towards the commercially prevalent street, with the residential use directed towards a quieter, residential-like area.”

Sag Harbor resident Robert Hooke is a sculptor, gallery owner and former Navy captain, who has single handedly sailed across the Atlantic Ocean several times and participated in an around-the world trans-ocean sailing event in 1991.

But what many people may not know about “Captain” Hooke is that he is also a treasure hunter.

The John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor will now benefit from the bounty Hooke has accumulated over the last 30 years, in his quest to complete a collection of seafaring fiction that details not only the experience of being on the open water, but the history of literary art, writing and binding over the last two centuries. Hooke has donated his collection, in its entirety, to the library.

Hooke, whose family has had a home in Sag Harbor for the last 100 years, has owned his own residence here for 30 years, with brothers and sisters who call the region home. In 2009, Hooke and his brother David opened The Hooke Sculpture Gallery on Washington Street in Sag Harbor.

“I was raised on the water, spent my summers on the water,” said Hooke in an interview this week at the John Jermain Memorial Library. “So I am a person of the sea, and probably 30 years ago I started collecting books about the sea.”

Hooke chose to focus his collection on sea fiction, mostly because books like Joseph Conrad’s “Lord Jim” and Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” stayed with him long after he had finished combing through their pages.

“The books were about not just the experience of being at sea, but the emotional impact and experiences that result from being out at sea on a boat – what happens to you mentally,” he said. “I mention this because you can see it in the evolution of sea fiction.”

The collection, 201 books, spans writing from the late 1700s to present day, starting with “The Adventure of Roderick Random,” in one volume, by Tobias George Smollett from 1781 to contemporary works by Patrick O’Brien, including “The Nutmeg of Consolation,” and Yves Bonavero’s 2006 book, “Something in the Sea.”

“What I wanted to do was put together a collection that ranges from the classics to the really obscure – books that are out of print, difficult to find, and there are some that no one has heard of,” said Hooke.

“There are some real gems here,” said Creedon.

“Finding these books has been a huge enjoyment for me,” said Hooke, who collected in London where he owned a gallery for a number of years, as well as in his travels around the world. “Most of these were collected prior to the internet, when I traveled a lot. If I had a couple hours during my travels I would look for a second hand bookstore and see what I could find. California was where I bought the books by Jack London.”

Hooke would stumbled upon works he was actively looking for, as well as literature found by surprise, while leafing through old books in musty secondhand stores, sometimes paying just $5 or $10 apiece when Hooke knew they would fetch far more if the seller knew their true value. First editions, and books in good condition were a top priority.

“What is special about this collection is it is a living thing,” said JJML Director Catherine Creedon. “We anticipate we will add to this collection throughout the years.”

“What you see in a spectrum of books that span over 200 years is the evolution of written prose, the general type of prose used and the way in which things were described, and also how storylines changed,” said Hooke, who noted much of the earliest works in the collection could be looked at as juvenile, “basically just a yarn.”

“A lot of the classics were remarketed as children’s books,” agreed Creedon. ““Lord Jim,” Treasure Island,” even “The Old Man and The Sea” is read by middle school students nowadays.”

The evolution of the marketing and commercialization of literature, the binding and the use of art, both on the cover and inside, is also apparent when taking in the collection as a whole, said Hooke.

A Rockwell Kent illustrated copy of “Moby Dick,” a pristine and lavishly bound and illustrated first edition from 1930s New York is one of Creedon’s favorites from the collection. Other favorites include John Steinbeck’s “Cup of Gold” from 1929, a paperback complete with a bodice-ripping pirate clutching a damsel, with its description, “a lusty buccaneer novel.” That paperback will do double duty at JJML, serving the seafaring collection, as well as the library’s Steinbeck collection.

For Hooke, a major passion was the study and collection of the Mutiny on the Bounty, a mutiny on the British Royal Navy ship the HMS Bounty in 1789 that has launched a series of books, songs and films. Hooke’s collection contains numerous volumes on the topic, and he plans as well to donate the three films made on the subject.

“The collection has real value over and above its amazing content in terms of what it tells us both about book history and our own history,” said Creedon.

The impetus to donate the collection to JJML came when Hooke said he realized he was all but done collecting.

“I am proud of it and I want other people to have the chance to experience it and use it as a resource,” he said.

Creedon, who was able to start archiving the collection with the aid of Sag Harbor native Andrea Meyer, sees this as the ideal first collection to have received since voters gave the library approval to construct an addition, which will include a temperature controlled history and archive room.

“I think as a village, our history is twined to the sea, so this is a wonderful collection for our archive,” she said, adding the library plans to host a number of exhibits around the collection.

“I am a Sag Harbor person,” said Hooke. “I thought it would be more important to this library than another, in the city, and besides, I plan to come and read some of the books here myself.”

Last year, Sag Harbor’s Bay Burger restaurant debuted its lobster roll to the delight of both regular customers and tourists alike, although year round patrons bemoaned the loss of the popular summer sandwich from the eatery’s menu once fall arrived.

This year, for a select handful, patrons will say adieu to another summer and the East End’s famous food staple in a major way, competing in Bay Burger’s First Annual Lobster Roll Eating Contest, held on Labor Day from 4 to 5 p.m.

“We have been talking about this for a long time,” said Bay Burger owner Joe Tremblay, who operates the mom-and-pop burger joint with his wife Liza.

Inspired by the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, Tremblay said they originally thought of bringing a similar hot dog-themed event to the Hamptons, noting nothing like it has found a home here, despite the region being ripe for such a contest. After realizing how popular their lobster roll had become, Tremblay said a plan was hatched to host the contest Labor Day weekend, with a regionally significant dish at its heart.

Bay Burger’s lobster roll, in part, has found such popularity because of its relatively affordable price – $14 for a homemade hot dog bun stuffed with an ample portion of lobster salad. It’s a drop in the bucket, said Tremblay, when compared to the cost of a pound of lobster salad at Bridgehampton’s Loaves and Fishes, which has topped out at $100 per pound.

Tremblay’s recipe also avoids a major lobster roll faux pas, overpowering the delicate meat with too much mayonnaise.

Bay Burger’s lobster salad is made from claw and knuckle meat alone, with just a little mayonnaise, lemon, shallots and celery served in a warm, homemade top slice hot dog bun.

“We’ve had a really strong response,” said Tremblay. “We only serve them in season because we don’t want to keep lobster salad sitting around – it can be a big waste, so we only do it when we know we are going to have a lot of business. Last fall, people got really bummed when they were gone and this spring, started asking us when it was coming back on the menu.”

This spring, Tremblay settled on the idea of an annual lobster roll eating contest, which he hopes will gather a crowd of spectators to cheer on the eight to 10 contestants, who Tremblay said will have fighting names, like Bobby “the Lobsta Monsta” Garcia.

In April, he handcrafted the trophy, which the winner will take home along with $500 in cash. Made from a real lobster claw, painted in gold leaf, Tremblay is proud of his creation, and vowed to make an original lobster claw trophy each year for the contest.

“It came to me in a dream,” he laughed. “I see a golden lobster claw. It will be the most coveted trophy in the Hamptons.”

The response to the contest has been good, he said, with eight contestants signed up as of press time. Tremblay said he hopes for an even 10 by the time next Monday rolls around. The entry fee is $100 per person, and Tremblay said he would like to see the contest remain an amateur event. He doesn’t want professionals from the eating contest circuit, like Joey Chestnut or Takeru Kobayashiz, literally eat him out of house and home.

Participants will have five minutes to eat all the lobster roll they can handle, with the traditional cup of water to help wash the dish down.

“I am expecting the winner will do about a dozen, or maybe even just ten,” said Tremblay. “They do go down pretty fast. There is a video of Kobayaski on YouTube eating like 41 in 10 minutes. So I figured we could afford a five minute contest.”

The company, Sotheby’s International Real Estate, however, sees the screens — which would display houses and properties for sale — as no more offensive than the displays of glossy photographs real estate offices already commonly use.

During its monthly meeting on Monday, August 23, the Bridgehampton CAC unanimously agreed to send a letter of protest to the Southampton Town Board and the town’s zoning board of appeals agreeing with the town’s building inspector that the application should be denied.

According to a letter to Grabowski from Mark Viseckas, senior building inspector, he denied Sotheby’s application for an “illuminated window sign,” deeming it a sign prohibited under the town code. Since his determination, Sotheby’s has made an application to the town’s zoning board of appeals to overrule his decision.

Viseckas’s letter states that Sotheby’s hoped to erect two liquid crystal display (LCD), 48-inch televisions in their windows facing the sidewalk along Montauk Highway.

“Since there are a number of high end real estate services along Main Street that may desire to install similar devices should the variance be granted, one might imagine strolling, or driving, through a Bridgehampton ‘Vegas’ strip in a worse case scenario,” write Viseckas.

Sotheby’s disagrees.

“This offers a discreet way to present properties rather than simply have copies of photographs in our windows, which is presently done by Sotheby’s and other real estate brokerages in the Hamptons,” said Debra Reece, an attorney who is also the vice president and brokerage manager for Sotheby’s Bridgehampton office. “This will take us forward.”

Reece acknowledged an application has recently been made to the zoning board of appeals, and said she believed that the Southampton Village offices of Sotheby’s International Realty already feature television screens in their storefront.

Bridgehampton CAC Chairman Fred Cammann said his committee was firmly behind the building inspector’s position.

“The problem with signs is it can be a permanent problem and we agree with the town that we are trying to preserve what Main Street looks like now, and our feeling is, you get into the more elaborate signs and televisions sets and it gets out of control,” said Cammann. “We really do resist anything that is not in the code already. That kind of signage was pretty heavily discussed in our hamlet when the comprehensive plan was made. It just doesn’t seem like there is any reason to change.”

“Obviously, if one guy is allowed to put a horse in the middle of the street, everyone else is,” said Cammann of the precedent a decision like this could make. “We are constantly fighting to prevent people from changing the appearance of the center of our hamlet. It doesn’t help business for everyone – either we have the charm or we don’t have the charm. We are constantly trying to keep the nature of what makes this place appealing alive.”

“This really becomes advertising,” said Graboski on Tuesday. “It is intrusive to the landscape, intrusive to the quiet, rural farming hamlet of Bridgehampton.”

“I would hope Sotheby’s will give this another thought and come to the conclusion that they can market properties as effectively without such an intrusive form of advertising that affects the community character we have all struggled so hard to protect,” she said.

“The first sentence out of his mouth was, ‘We won,’” said Osiecki, who found herself teary at the notion that a handful of students had prevailed over a university system they felt had failed to consult them about large cuts which would change the path of their high education.

“I literally, within 10 minutes, called every Southampton kid I know,” she said. “My phone was going crazy with text messages.”

On Monday, August 30 New York State Supreme Court Judge Paul Baisley sided with six students and the organization Save the College at Southampton, Inc., in a suit brought in May against Samuel Stanley, Jr., the president of Stony Brook University, as well as the university itself, its board of trustees and council. The suit was over the university’s decision to cut programs and close dormitories at the Southampton campus beginning this week.

Justice Baisley ruled that the university’s decision earlier this spring was illegal. In the suit, Osiecki, along with students Nicole Altimari, Tara Linton, Dean Tarulli, Kathleen Furey and Martha Weller accused the university of violating state education law, specifically the requirement that the 10-member Stony Brook University Council review and make recommendations on “major plans” that affect SUNY Stony Brook.

“The Court finds that because the decision to close the Southampton campus constitutes a ‘major plan’ for the more effective operation of the institution, and because it is predicated on assertions regarding the university’s budget, and because it implicates the care, custody and management of the university’s lands, grounds and buildings, all of which are areas of concern statutorily ascribed to the Stony Brook Council, the Council should have been involved in the determination regarding the future of the Southampton campus,” states Baisley’s decision. “The failure of the respondents to ensure its participation mandates that the petition be annulled.”

“Stony Brook University made the decision behind closed doors to shut down the Southampton campus,” said Thiele. “Not only did they fail to consult with its University Council as required by law, they failed to consult with elected officials, community leaders, students and even administrators at the Southampton campus. The entire process lacked transparency and openness. The reason is obvious. The closure of the school cannot be defended in an open discussion.”

On Wednesday morning, Stony Brook University Director of Media Relations Lauren Sheprow said the ruling “speaks for itself” and that the “University has and will comply with the judge’s order.”

“In fact, although not yet a part of the legal record, the University has already complied with the court’s directive,” said Sheprow in a written statement. “On May 11, 2010, at a regularly convened meeting of the Stony Brook Council, President Stanley appraised the Council and members of the public then in attendance, about both the budgetary impacts of residential operations at Southampton, and his intention to relocate a number of academic programs from Southampton to the Stony Brook campus. The Council’s recommendation that a Blue Ribbon panel be convened to study alternative uses for the campus was implemented and continues under the auspices of Council member Diana Dominguez-Weir and University Provost Eric Kaler.”

In 2005 SUNY Stony Brook acquired the Southampton campus of Long Island University after that private educational institution announced plans to shut the doors of the East End’s only college. The State of New York spent over $76 million in an effort to upgrade infrastructure and solidify its marine biology science programming as well as the new environmental sustainability major.

Last spring, Stony Brook University officials announced it would reduce the size of its Southampton campus, no longer offering student housing or undergraduate admissions, only keeping alive Southampton’s long running marine biology masters programming and its master’s writing curriculum.

Cuts in state funding over the past two years, mounting to nearly $60 million — 20 percent of Stony Brook’s budget — was also a factor in the decision, added Sheprow.

According to figures provided by Sheprow, in 2010, 70 percent of undergraduate students enrolled at Southampton were School of Marine Sciences and Atmospheric Sciences students.

According to Sheprow, 137 students are currently attending Marine Science classes at Stony Brook Southampton. Three-hundred-and-thirty-seven of the 373 Southampton students are registered for classes at the main campus, and any students enrolled in an environmental or sustainability major will be able to graduate with that major.

Officials estimated it would save Stony Brook $6.7 million annually to relocate most of Southampton’s programming to their main campus, but the thriving student body, which has grown in numbers and academic achievement in recent years balked at the concept of such a great change to their higher education. The change, they maintain, was made without their input, nor that of local government leaders, including those who helped fund Stony Brook’s purchase of the Southampton campus in the first place.

“New York State has invested $78 million at the Southampton campus,” said Thiele. “That investment was beginning to bear fruit. This past year admission applications were up 54 percent and SAT scores of applicants were up 100 points. Because of the leadership of the new Dean, Mary Pearl, the school was well on its way to meeting the ultimate goal of 2,000 students. The school was succeeding.”

Osiecki said on Tuesday that as a proud student of Stony Brook Southampton, she felt vindicated.

“There were no signs that this was moving in a positive direction, and now it feels like no matter what, all that hard work paid off in some way or another,” she said. “We were heard, and that is a great thing, to be heard.”

Osiecki and Thiele both acknowledged the court’s decision does not mean the end of their battle, and in fact, both were unsure what the road ahead held for Stony Brook-Southampton.

“It’s a good question,” said Thiele on Tuesday. “Certainly from our perspective, we have the decision, and the order we will ask for will require Stony Brook to reopen the Southampton campus with deliberate speed. Tomorrow is September 1, so in all honesty, I don’t expect the campus to be fully operational this semester.”

Thiele said Stony Brook officials will have a few options available to them on their side of the court.

“They could file an appeal,” he said. “Or they could go to the university council and try and do it all over again, or, and this would be the smartest thing, they could sit down with all the stakeholders and try and find a compromise or resolution to this conflict.”

Thiele said he was joined by United States Congressman Tim Bishop and New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle in the commitment to the East End community to ensure the Southampton campus always remains a viable university. The three intend to send a letter to the Stony Brook University Council restating that very position, he said.

“We are at a crossroads,” said Thiele. “Stony Brook University has a choice. Stony Brook can continue down its current path of arrogantly attempting to steamroll a community with this reckless decision. If Stony Brook does so, it will continue to fritter away whatever goodwill it still has on the East End, expose the taxpayers of New York State to the inevitable class action lawsuit that students and families will bring for the damages caused by its illegal decision, and find itself in a continuing battle with community leaders over the future of the campus.”

“The alternative is to finally involve the public and all those with an interest in the future of the Southampton campus to enact a plan that fully realizes the potential of this campus,” he continued. “Such a plan cannot be one that utilizes the campus only for the convenience of Stony Brook, but a plan that meets the real needs of the residents of the East End and all of New York State.”

According to Osiecki, the next meeting of the Stony Brook University Council is on September 28, although she speculated that in light of the court decision it could be moved forward. She for one, plans on being there.

“Honestly, after all this, I think I want to go to law school,” she said.

On Thursday, the day before Hurricane Earl is predicted to pass off the coast of Montauk Point, official and individuals around Sag Harbor Village and the East End made preparations for the storm. Citing Earl, the Long Island Rail Road canceled service east of Speonk and Ronkonkoma on Friday. Even though the hurricane is expected to pass 100 to 150 miles away from Montauk, as of Thursday evening, the National Weather Service prepared residents for tropical storm conditions with gusts as fast as 50 miles per hour.

At 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Hurricane Earl, a spinning top of clouds and precipitation, was churning up the mid-Atlantic coast with winds of 125 miles per hour. Tourists were fleeing North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands en masse as a state of emergency was called. Other areas received mandatory evacuation orders. And all across the country hundreds of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) meteorologists studied screens and tracked the possible trajectory of the powerful storm.

Above: Rich Simmons of the Ship Ashore Marina guides forklift driver Corey Freleng as they hurry to remove boats from the water from the impending storm Earl on Wednesday.

In Sag Harbor, the air at an emergency preparedness meeting for both Sag Harbor and North Haven village officials was decidedly calm, but no less serious. Outlining a plan 72, 48, 24 and 12 hours up to the hurricane possibly making landfall, the seemingly relaxed officials were exercising caution with these well detailed strategies. As of Wednesday evening, Hurricane Earl was a Category 4 storm and is expected to pass 100 miles southeast of Montauk Point sometime on Friday. NOAA’s Upton Long Island office estimated that by then, sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and gusts of 50 to 55 miles per hour winds will hit the East End. The effects of the storm are expected to peak on Friday night, when the ocean waves are anticipated to reach 13 feet locally and the area is projected to receive one-and-a-quarter inch of rain.

Boat and ship owners, noted Ship Ashore marina owner Rick Pickering, cannot afford to be lackadaisical in their response to this potential hurricane. In order to protect their water crafts from wind and waves, Pickering recommends hauling them out of the water at least before Friday. On Tuesday, Pickering was handling a long list of requests from clients asking for their boat to be put on land. By the afternoon, they had already hauled 17 vessels on shore.

“It is not the ‘if,’ but the ‘what if.’ If it is the ‘what if’ then we are screwed. You have to be prepared,” Pickering remarked. “I have been through a few hurricanes. I would say at minimum we are having a full gale storm. It is a very fine line … If it is two degrees west it means it will be a whole lot more. You can never predict what a storm will do. By Thursday we are going to be pretty tired. By Friday afternoon it could be fairly ugly. By Saturday morning we can no longer haul boats.”

Pickering noted that his crew could only handle around 30 to 50 boat removal requests a day in the days leading up to the storm. Of the roughly 250 boats at his marina, Pickering estimated 100 would be hauled in advance of the storm on a first come first serve basis.

Above: The eye of the storm.

At his business and at home, Pickering prepares for hurricanes. While living on Rysam Street during Hurricane Gloria, Pickering watched the water splash up to the American Legion on Bay Street. His electricity was out for eight days, and two schooners were washed up near the windmill by the Long Wharf.

“There was devastation because no one paid attention [to warnings],” Pickering recalled.

This week, Pickering found himself preparing once again for the unknown. His Prospect Street home was already “battened down.” The lawn furniture was stowed away and his four stand-by generators were well fueled and ready to run. New batteries were purchased and placed into flashlights. “I am not afraid,” Pickering said.

Southampton Town Police, however, believe many residents and visitors won’t heed warnings of potential calamity. Noting this fact, their agency has sent out advisories urging individuals to charge batteries, purchase supplies, have plenty of cash on hand, and, they added “be prepared to leave if necessary, don’t wait to the last minute.”

Police noted that although they weren’t expecting the hurricane to reach land, they pointed out, “If the track changed to the degree that the velocity of anticipated winds or impact of surge were considered a serious threat, a voluntary evacuation would be requested possibly followed by a mandatory evacuation wherein members of the local fire service would go door to door in affected areas and transportation coordinated for those who needed it.”

All levels of government, from federal, county, town and village, issued statements urging East Coast residents to prepare themselves. The Federal Emergency Management Agency advised families to create a community plan and put together a kit with 72 hours worth of food and water. Sag Harbor Village Harbormaster Bob Bori directed boat owners to check their anchor lines and make sure everything on deck was secure, if they opted to leave it in the water.

According to Sag Harbor Police Chief Tom Fabiano, 24 hours before a serious and dire weather event, the mayor would call a state of emergency. A mandatory evacuation is called 12 hours before a severe storm with only residents of certain low lying areas in Sag Harbor and North Haven brought to the Pierson gymnasium. The school’s gym — the official refuge in an emergency — holds up to 800 people but can hold more in the hallways, noted Fabiano. Town and village police pointed out that residents should keep themselves updated on the storm by tuning into WLNG Radio 92.1. Chief Fabiano gravely noted that a list would be made of all residents who refused to leave their homes in the event of a mandatory evacuation. At around the same time, the harbormaster’s boat would be pulled out of the water.

NOAA officials and the Coast Guard warned swimmers that in the days leading up to Hurricane Earl passing Long Island, the tempest will create rip currents and urged beachgoers to use extreme caution when swimming at East End swimming spots. NOAA’s Upton office added that waves are expected to range from seven to eight feet high today.

The sobering “what if” plans failed to dampen the mood during Wednesday morning’s meeting in Sag Harbor Village. North Haven Board member Jim Smyth, owner of The Corner Bar, joked that everyone could weather the storm at his establishment, with someone chiming in, “Just as long as the blender is still working.”

Filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker tend to let the subjects of their documentaries find them.

“They almost always come to us. It’s very Zen. Zen [Buddhism] says ‘never look, never refuse,’” Pennebaker remarked leaning back in a wooden chair at his kitchen table in Sag Harbor on a warm weekend morning.

Above: George Stephanopoulos and James Carville in a scene from “The War Room.”

Their process leaves much up to chance, but the qualities that draw this husband and wife duo to a character or story has been consistent throughout their professional partnership, which started in the 1970s.

“We make films about people who really know something, are passionate and taking an enormous risk,” Hegedus noted.

An eight-film retrospective this September on the Documentary Channel highlights the charismatic figures and their pivotal moments that color a Hegedus-Pennebaker production. The series begins with “The War Room,” this Saturday, September 4, at 8 p.m.

The film tracks the journey of a young George Stephanopoulos and a sparsely haired, sharp tongued James Carville as they work on then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s first presidential election in the early 1990s. Charting their triumphs and roadblocks, like the public outing of Clinton’s infidelities with Gennifer Flowers, on the way to the Oval Office, “The War Room” acts as both a portrait of these deeply committed characters, and the campaign and election itself.

One of the more enigmatic personalities Hegedus and Pennebaker trailed for a documentary was infamous engineer and automobile executive John DeLorean in the film “DeLorean,” which was released in 1981. The documentary captured DeLorean after he had left a cushy job at General Motors to build DeLorean Motor Company. Betting his personal fortune and reputation, the automobile man created the DeLorean Safety Vehicle, a two-seater sports car made famous from its appearance in the “Back to the Future” movie trilogy. Through a friend in DeLorean’s public relations department, the filmmakers gingerly gained access to the motor businessman.

Above: The filmmakers with John DeLorean, the subject of their film “DeLorean.”

“John was much more weary [of us]. I thought of him as a Disney villain. You like him but something is evil about him,” Hegedus remarked. “I thought what he was trying to do was incredible. He wanted to make more of a people’s car. [But] almost everything conspired against him.”

Due to the British government pulling out funds from DeLorean’s factory in Northern Ireland, a recession, oil crisis and involvement in a drug trafficking case — charges in which he was found not guilty by entrapment — DeLorean’s company went bust in the year after the film was released.

Like DeLorean, in “Al Franken: God spoke,” the one-time Saturday Night Live comedian, former Air America political radio show host and current U.S. senator from Minnesota is on a mission. Instead of car companies and governmental agencies, Franken’s nemeses are right-wing pundits like Bill O’Reilly. Franken asserts these figures spread not only misinformation, but lies, to their audiences. Through the course of the film, Franken is transformed from an entertainer and well-spoken Democratic Party cheerleader into a senatorial hopeful. By the close of the documentary, Franken formally announces his intention to run for public office.

“It is an extraordinary film because you watch a person really change their life,” Pennebaker observed.

Viewers won’t find Pennebaker’s first breakout films like “Don’t Look Back” or “Monterey Pop,” but the Documentary Channel has unearthed gems from Pennebaker’s catalog. The retrospective marks the television premier of “Opening in Moscow” and “Two American Audiences.”

“It was my first long film which was basically never seen before. There was no interest,” Pennebaker recalled of his documentary of the Russian city during the 1959 American exhibit. The film depicts color images of Moscow during Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev’s leadership.

“Two American Audiences” fascinatingly interspersed scenes from Goddard’s film “La Chinoise” and Pennebaker’s footage from a discussion on film and politics between the French director and New York University graduate students. The series will close with “Chiefs,” a short film on police officers, and “Daybreak Express,” Pennebaker’s first piece, which captured the movements of the now defunct Sixth Avenue El train in New York City to the music of Duke Ellington.

“Town Bloody Hall,” a film on the 1971 panel debate between writer Norman Mailer and prominent intellects in the Women’s Liberation movement like Germaine Greer, held personal significance for Hegedus.

“I was mesmerized because I grew up in the heart of the women’s movement. These women were my heroes. And a lot of the community sitting in the audience were New York writers and intelligentsia,” Hegedus remarked. Though filmed in 1971, she added, “It was a fascinating event to cap the 1960s.”

With their films, Hegedus and Pennebaker veer away from the likely ending to follow the story to a deeper conclusion. In their most recent work, “Kings of Pastry,” depicting 16 French pastry chefs vying for the Meilleur Ouvrier de France over a three-day competition, Hegedus pointed out that they could have wrapped up the film once a winner was named. The pair, however, opted to follow the lives of both the winner and the losers.

“We decided to wait and the waiting gave us much more,” Hegedus noted. “It turned out to give much more of an emotional impact.”

With the help of their producer and distributor Frazer Pennebaker, D.A.’s son and the man he affectionately calls his “boss,” Hegedus and her husband continue to pursue the unlikely subjects which attract their interest.

“We are equal to [our subjects]. We are also taking a risk,” Hegedus remarked. “For the most part our films aren’t funded before hand. It is hard to raise money without knowing what is going to happen.”

“It’s like getting a person to bet on just a Jack,” Pennebaker added, pantomiming a game of black jack on his wooden table.

For an investor the uncertainty might be high, but for the moviegoer a Hegedus-Pennebaker film is a journey worth the chance.

“The War Room” will play on September 4 at 8 p.m. On September 11, “Town Bloody Hall will show at 8 p.m. followed by “Two American Audiences at 10 p.m. On September 18, “DeLorean” will screen at 8 p.m. followed by “Opening in Moscow” at 9:30 p.m. On September 26, “Al Franken: God Spoke” will be shown at 8 p.m., “Chiefs” at 10 p.m. and “Daybreak Express” at 10:30 p.m. The Documentary Channel is primarily available through satellite television services DISH Network (Channel 197) and DIRECTV (Channel 267). ??