Around the Island

This week in Shelter Island history

REPORTER FILE PHOTO The Chequit in a 1994 picture looking very much like it does today, was on the auction block back then and today’s owners, James and Linda Eklund, who had operated the inn and restaurant as leasees for two seasons were primed to buy it.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO
The Chequit in a 1994 picture looking very much like it does today, was on the auction block back then and today’s owners, James and Linda Eklund, who had operated the inn and restaurant as leasees for two seasons, were primed to buy it.

50 YEARS AGO

LILCO building new plant at Greenport

Why should Shelter Islanders care that in May 1964 the Long Island Lighting Company committed to building a new plant in Greenport? The Island has been dependent on cabling from Greenport to provide power to most of this area, with only minor help from a cable to the South Fork. The planned 15,000 kilowatt generator planned 50 years ago was designed to protect the North Fork and Shelter Island from outages during major storms.

POSTSCRIPT: While a single cable continues to connect Shelter Island to the North Fork, plans are afoot that could result in a separate substation here, ending the need to depend on the existing cable or attempts to connect back up cables running underwater between the two municipalities. The Town Board and PSEG representatives are slated to discuss the options at the end of this month.

30 YEARS AGO
First graders go to the head of writers’ class

In May 1984, first grade teacher Wendy Clark challenged her students to write stories, some alone, some corroboratively, about real or imagined experiences. As the children wrote and shared their writings, Ms. Clark began binding them into finished products that became the class library. Through her teachings, students gained skills as writers and polished their abilities at sentence structure, spelling and other elements necessary to the learning experience.

POSTSCRIPT: Today, there’s an even greater emphasis on writing throughout students’ school careers and there’s also a volunteer writing program, 2Rs4Fun writing program under the direction of Mary Dwyer at the Shelter Island Public Library that provides students between the ages of 8 and 11 an opportunity to work with adult mentors on writing skills.

20 YEARS AGO
Chequit Inn set for auction

In late May 1994, a June 28 date was set for an auction of the Chequit Inn that was in foreclosure. Today’s owners, James and Linda Eklund, took over the operation as leasees in the 1993 and 1994 seasons and were poised to bid on the Chequit, with the hope that others wouldn’t bid against them and escalate the price, Ms. Eklund told the Reporter at the time.

POSTSCRIPT: The Eklunds continue to own and operate the Chequit today after an anticipated deal to sell it to Cape Advisors fell through last year.

10 YEARS AGO
It’s no on the budget

Ten years ago, the Shelter Island School District saw the highest voter turnout it had seen in 10 years, but when ballots were counted, the news wasn’t good. The district’s $7.78 million budget proposal went down as 55 percent of those who went to the polls  rejected the spending plan. The vote was 456 to 352. It was a year in which 35 percent of Suffolk County’s 66 school districts rejected budgets. The following month, voters okayed a slimmed down $7.6 million budget by a vote of 361 to 337.

POSTSCRIPT: Happily for the district this year, the $10.47 million budget got a resounding approval from voters this week as 216 people who went to the polls said yes and only 47 said no. But there was a 30 percent drop off from last year in voter participation.

 

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