This week in Shelter Island history
Teacher Carol Taplin in 1984 led seminars with Shelter Island students on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
You could mail a first class letter for a nickle, buy a gallon of gasoline for 30 cents and get a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake at McDonald’s for 59 cents.My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, was among the most popular movies released in October 1964 with Ms. Hepburn replacing Julie Andrews, who played the Eliza Doolittle role on Broadway because it was thought Ms. Andrews lacked a sufficient star power for a movie.
Lee Harvey Oswald was on the October 2, 1964, cover of Time, almost a full year after killing President John F. Kennedy and subsequently dying himself at the hands of Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
People were reading Pulitzer Prize winner Saul Bellow’s “Herzog,” the story of a man struggling with his own identity and seeking redemption.
The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” was among the top five hits on the music charts.
And on Shelter Island …
50 YEARS AGO
Locals get traffic control on state and county roads
Thanks to legislation enacted in Albany, beginning in October 1964, local officials were entitled to set traffic rules on state and county roads, except for speed limits.
The move was designed to eliminate red tape so if there was a need for stop or yield signs , they could be installed without waiting for approvals from the state or county governing bodies. On Shelter Island, the Town Board passed a resolution to control traffic on School Street and parking at Crescent Street.
POSTSCRIPT: Shelter Island is one of the few municipalities without a single traffic light.
30 YEARS AGO
Class focuses on dangers of drug abuse
A small group of Shelter Island High School students enrolled in a seminar on Alcohol and Drug Abuse to discuss the dangers and hear from experts. Guidance teacher Carol Taplin organized the program that was planned to have the older students not only learn the lessons, but carry the message to elementary school students.
POSTSCRIPT: The seminars were a pre-runner to today’s Communities That Care that tries to support students and parents in making wise choices in their lives, including avoiding addiction. CTC organizer Marilynn Pysher said this week that some parents of elementary school students think their kids are too young to get involved with drugs and alchol. But clearly, that wasn’t the case in 1984 and, sadly, isn’t the case today.
20 YEARS AGO
Town proposed budget calls for 2.15 percent hike
Taxpayers were anticipating a 2.15 percent tax hike based on early budgeting by the Town Board in 1994. For a Center property owner with a house assessed at $10,000, that was going to mean an extra $19.50 to what had been a $928.42 tax bill. Total spending for the following year’s budget was expected to be $94,653 more than the $3.48 million budget for 1994.
POSTSCRIPT: Just this week, Supervisor Jim Dougherty was anticipating presenting a budget to his Town Board that would represent a 3.8 percent hike in taxes, but during the next two weeks, his colleagues will have their own crack at the proposal before spending for 2015 is determined.
10 YEARS AGO
Board rescinds resolution
In October 2004, the Town Board rescinded a resolution passed in 1998 to construct a combined senior and youth center on the site of the old highway barn if that was to be moved to another site. A senior center had been created in the basement of the Medical Building and there was a temporary youth center operation off Menantic Road and plans to create the youth center at the American Legion Post.
POSTSCRIPT: Today the American Legion Post doubles as a youth center.
