Sag Harbor Express

A selection of family readings and discussion to celebrate the life and work of the late author Peter Matthiessen will be held at the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 22, which would have been his 95th birthday. Featuring Matthiessen’s widow, Maria, and children, Luke, Rue and Alex, the program will be a unique opportunity to learn about one of the great writers of our time, with stories told from those who knew him best and about plans for the creation of the Peter Matthiessen Center as well.

The Goat On A Boat Puppet Truck and Mobile Stage will be officially launched on Saturday, May 28, at a fundraising event at Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor. The event is not only to christen the vehicle, but also celebrate Goat on a Boat’s 21st Birthday Bash. In honor of that coming of age, number, this fundraiser, which runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., is adults-only and will include a saucy puppet show performed by Joyce and puppets, as well as a show by a visiting puppeteer. In addition, Jake Lear Trio will perform blues and roots music on the new stage.

We hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend! Photo by @yachthampton #JoeIalacci #sagharbor #community #localsince1859 #hometownpaper #expressnewsgroup #rainbow

A crowd of people waiting to get into the Grindstone coffee and donut shop looked on from the sidewalk as members of the Sag Harbor Fire Department’s heavy rescue crew, the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and village police tried to figure out a way to free the woman’s hand without causing too much damage to her vehicle.

My family always would joke that there’s no pictures of me after I’m about 11 without a guitar on, Smith said. I’ve got pictures of me in front of the Christmas tree with my grandmother, and I’ve got my guitar. Thanksgiving dinner, I got my guitar. I was kind of insane about playing it there for a long, long time.

Mr. Shaka and his husband Matthew O’Grady recently returned to Sag Harbor after living in London for two years. Prior to their departure, Mr. Shaka had served as chairman of both the village Harbor Committee and Planning Board.

Sue Denis, who is retiring this year after teaching Pierson High School students CPR for the past 28 years, remembers vividly the day when she first realized how important the skill was. It was September 17, 1979, the first day of scallop season, she recalled. Ms. Denis, who was recuperating from back surgery at her parents’ home in North Haven at the time, thought it odd that the boat belonging to her father, Joseph Remkus, was still in the driveway, because he had been expected to be out on the water. When she went out to investigate, she found him lying unconscious behind the boat. I tried to resuscitate him but I couldn’t save him, said Ms. Denis, who, although she was a Registered Nurse, had not been trained in CPR.

"To decrease the risk of spread due to holiday travel and gatherings, the Sag Harbor Schools will move to remote instruction from Monday, January 4 through Friday, January 8," said Sag Harbor Schools Superintendent Jeff Nichols in a message to the school community on Saturday

In this week’s edition of 27Speaks, the editors are joined by reporters Stephen J. Kotz and Michelle Trauring, as well as Sag Harbor Express Publisher Emeritus Bryan Boyhan, and the group discusses The Express News Group’s Persons of the Year selections for 2020.

Sag Harbor Partnership Honors Food Pantry: The Sag Harbor Partnership voted unanimously to honor Evie and all the volunteers that she so cutely has nicknamed ‘The Corona Crew,’ and we think it is so incredible that each week you have put your own selves at risk to care for this in our community, Partnership Executive Director Molly Bishop said during the Tuesday morning gathering. We are so honored to honor you.

There are seven vaccines in the late stages of clinical trials or already being considered for approval in the U.S. One is expected to be approved this week. All appear to achieve an extremely high level of efficacy as much as 95 percent and have shown few side effects. All will be free.

It’s hard enough to be a head nurse in a busy emergency room while holding down what basically amounts to another full-time job as the president of the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Now try doing it during a pandemic. That’s what Deborah O’Brien, one of two honorees as Sag Harbor’s Person of the Year, has been up to throughout 2020.

Cindy Ward Capalbo and other volunteers with Sag Harbor Helpers have, since the beginning of the pandemic, delivered dozens of meals per week to people throughout the Sag Harbor community. Ms. Capalbo, along with Deborah O'Brien of the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps, are this year's Sag Harbor Express People of the Year.

The Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce will have new leaders for the coming year. On Monday, Gavin Menu, the co-publisher of the Express News Group, which publishes the Sag Harbor Express, as well as the Southampton and East Hampton Press newspapers, was elected president, while Kelly Dodds, the director of the Sag Harbor American Music Festival, was picked to become vice president.

In truth, there is nothing to grapple with here: Regardless of where a voter falls on the political spectrum, a vote for Fred W. Thiele Jr. is the only sensible one.

Through Christmas Eve, the publishers of The Sag Harbor Express, The Southampton Press, The East Hampton Press, and 27east.com will mount a campaign to raise money for four local charities, chosen because they provide direct aid to families in need on the South Fork. To make donations of any kind, go to the GoFundMe page for The Holiday Express, located at: gf.me/u/za8zwz. Or go to GoFundMe.com and search for The Holiday Express.

North Haven resident Kathleen Russo helping reveal a different side of Hillary Clinton in weekly Podcast. You and Me Both offers listeners an opportunity to hear a side of Hillary Clinton they’ve likely never heard before. Because she’s playing host, Clinton is the one who gets to ask the questions here, which is definitely a different role for a woman who, as First Lady, legislator, cabinet member and, most recently, presidential candidate, is more accustomed to being the one in the hot seat."

There is every reason for us to believe that if things continue with the present trends and the spike, that we’ll be reduced down to 25 percent very quickly, Rev. Edwards said. I wouldn’t be surprised if we closed again before Christmas. And I’m actually telling myself to be prepared.

This is beyond exciting, said Bay Street’s executive editor, Tracy Mitchell, who added that the theater, which has rented space at the foot of Long Wharf from Malloy Enterprises since its founding in 1991, has been searching for a permanent home for years. This means Bay Street will be around forever.

Staffing concerns and positive COVID-19 test results among the student population were once again at the forefront of the conversation at Sag Harbor Board of Education meeting on Monday night.

New York State hospitals began screening samples from COVID-19 tests this week for signs that a new strain of the coronavirus that has been identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa and is believed to be vastly more contagious than earlier strains has already arrived here on international flights.

"A historic former manse to Sag Harbor’s iconic Old Whalers’ Church has hit the market. The home at 12 Suffolk Street on a 0.29-acre lot in the heart of the village dates back to 1765, when the walls were constructed from ship ballast."

"The possibility of a North Haven cell tower to improve local service; the problem of what to do with the former home of the late Lovelady Powell if her property were acquired as preserved open space; and a proposal to ban parking for the first 100 yards of Fresh Pond Road were among many topics that came up at the North Haven Village Board’s monthly meeting."

Village begins firehouse planning. "Fire Chief Steve Miller, First Assistant Chief Kevin O’Brien Jr., ambulance corps President Deborah O’Brien and Vice President Melissa Hesler described buildings that are suffering a death by 1,000 cuts rather than a single catastrophic failure, but they all agreed that bold steps need to be taken sooner rather than later to bring the facilities up to snuff."

Early voting lines are long but friendly - thousands jump at the chance to cast ballots.

"What started as a series of PowerPoint presentations to introduce students at the Sag Harbor Elementary School to the village’s rich history has morphed into a series of short videos that its creator hopes will help draw attention to the Sag Harbor Historical Society."

Hamptons Art Camp becomes Hamptons Community Outreach. I think people have to realize that if you have means, understand how incredibly important it is for you to share those means, because as a community, she said, if some people are not doing well, then as a community, we are going to suffer. If everyone’s doing well, we all thrive.

"Welcome to the John Drew Backyard Theater, an intimate little performance space tucked away in a garden just outside the now darkened theater. This weekend, the space will be transformed into a place of terror when Guild Hall presents Stage Fright,..."

As it did for last year’s inaugural event, the society is asking community members to bring their best carved pumpkin creation to the society’s headquarters for a pre-Halloween display along with a battery powered candle for illumination. But with a very real goblin in the air in the form of the coronavirus pandemic, the society is planning a largely virtual event. We are not asking people to gather and stay, said historical society board member Bethany Deyermond. But we do want the jack-o’-lanterns to gather and stay.

On the heels of a tumultuous political campaign that reshaped the Southampton Village Board, the village has a new majority and a list of issues to address: empty storefronts and a struggling downtown commercial district, the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its fiscal fallout, a plan to install sewers, a departing hospital that will leave a vacancy in the near future, and an ongoing debate about how zoning shapes the village's development. The Panel: Mayor Jesse... Warren, Village Trustees: Mark Parash Andrew Pilaro Gina Arresta Joe McLoughlin. See more

The Express Editorial Board marks its ballot: There are two questions on the November 3 ballot from Suffolk County. Our position is that no is the proper way to mark the ballot in both instances.