This week in Shelter Island history
Then Board of Education President Bob DeStefano, now a Reporter columnist, tried to convince voters to support a $1.9 million bond for school renovations.
50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
• The Warren Commission released its report on the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone• Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater accused President Lyndon Baines Johnson of being “soft on communism”
• Rolls Royce was selling its Silver Cloud III sedan for $16,655
• Gilligan’s Island debuted on CBS and ran for a total of 98 episodes shown through 1967
• Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” topped the Billboard music chart
And on shelter Island …
50 YEARS AGO
Michael Goldwater speaks on Shelter Island
Michael Goldwater, son of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, was the speaker at the Shelter Island Republican Club dinner at Gardiner’s Bay Country Club.
He told locals he wished his dad could take a few days from the campaign trail to relax on Shelter Island. Backers presented the young Goldwater with a “four-figure check” for the campaign and made him an honorary member of the Shelter Island Baymen’s Association. He also took home a quart of scallops.
Islanders went on that November to give Barry Goldwater their votes by a margin of of 543 to 425, but New York State gave its electoral votes to the incumbent president. Nationwide, Mr. Johnson carried 44 states and the District of Columbia to win re-election.
POSTSCRIPT: The closest a presidential candidate for the 2016 race has come to the Island is the Hamptons where Hillary Clinton, expected to seek the Democratic nomination, spoke earlier this month. But it was part of her book tour, not a campaign stop, she told supporters. It’s still very early, so the Island has plenty of time to lure candidates of all stripes here during the 2016 campaign.
30 YEARS AGO
School distributes bond plan details
In September 1984, the Board of Education outlined a $1.9 million bond proposal for major renovations — alterations and additions to accommodate school activities — and was set for a public vote the following month. Residents weren’t happy with the size of the proposed bond and ultimately turned it down by a tally of 393 to 398.
POSTSCRIPT: This week, voters overwhelmingly endorsed a school bond for work not to exceed $1.63 million. The vote was 159 to 21 to pay for work related to a critically needed new heating and ventilation system.
20 YEARS AGO
2.9-acre liner seals town landfill
The Manhattan Environmental Corporation of Tulsa, Oklahoma was hard at work 20 years ago installing a 125,000 square foot liner over the old landfill as the next to last step in closing and sealing the site as required by state and federal regulations. The cost for that part of the job was $84,000 of a $350,000 closure project.
POSTSCRIPT: Yesterday’s landfill is today’s Recycling Center, not the “dump,” Public Works Commissioner Jay Card Jr. is fond of telling people. Last Saturday there was a major blaze at the construction debris pile at the Recycling Center. Responding firefighters were hampered in their efforts to quell the blaze by a lack of on-site water. They had to bring in water from Daniel Lord Road to finally control the fire.
10 YEARS AGO
Cell callers, can you hear AT&T
Ten years ago, in response to complaints about poor cell service for AT&T wireless subscribers, the company put a new antennae on the tower at the Recycling Center. Problem solved? No. Turned out that the problem wasn’t with a lack of an antenna, but the actual cell phones people were using with the carrier. To improve their reception, they had to upgrade their phones to units with lower frequency range that would allow better in-building coverage. Only Global Mobile Communications-equipped phones would provide the improved service.
POSTSCRIPT: The Town Board will soon be considering an application tby Elite Towers to place a cell tower at the Manhanset Firehouse on Cobbetts Lane to improve cellphone communications for people in Hay Beach and the Rams.
While the original call for improved service came from area residents complaining about dropped calls, the Fire District has embraced the second tower as a means of dealing with current dead zones in those areas. But some residents are questioning the efficacy of a tower in that area.
