This week in Shelter Island history
Some freaks never go out of style. Frankenstein was popular in 1994 and remains a crowd pleaser today.
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
An irreplaceable collection of gems, including the Star of India, was stolen from the American Museum of Natural History with Jack Murphy, “Murph the Surf,” former surfing champion, musician, artist and convicted murderer arrested the following day.President Lyndon Baines Johnson, campaigning at Madison Square Garden pledged to create his Great Society.
Time Magazine reported the independence of Zambia, formerly Northern Rhodesia.
Fairchild Controls of Hicksville, Long Island, installed equipment into a dummy to test the potential effect of various gravity forces on future astronauts they would encounter returning to the earth from the moon.
Olympic swimmer Don Schollander graced the cover of LIFE Magazine after becoming the most decorated Olympian of his time with five gold medals in the summer games in Tokyo, Japan.
And on Shelter Island …
50 YEARS AGO
Court strikes term limit proposition from ballot
It was just prior to the 1964 election that the Appellate Division upheld an earlier Supreme Court ruling removing a proposition from the ballot to change the terms of highway superintendent, assessors and town clerk from two to four years.
POSTSCRIPT: This year, Islanders will be asked to vote on five propositions. Explanations of all appear in this week’s Reporter under League of Women Voters president Lois B. Morris’ byline. They also appear on the Reporter website.
30 YEARS AGO
Who’s paying the freight?
The debate back in the fall of 1984 was whether the town or state would be picking up the tab for repairs to resurface sections of the Ram Island Causeway that had been damaged by a storm the previous March. The town was delaying work, according to then supervisor George Kontje awaiting what it understood would be money funneled through the state from the Federal Emergency Management Assistance funds.
POSTSCRIPT: In today’s world, the town picks up the tab and then submits bills for work done and often has to wait until the following year to receive reimbursement.
20 YEARS AGO
Frankenstein and his bride
Frankenstein and his bride appeared in the Shelter Island Reporter in celebration of Halloween 1994. They had appeared at the Shelter Island Fire Department’s annual parade that week.
POSTSCRIPT: Some things don’t change. Shelter Island School’s play in the past year was “Young Frankenstein” that played to delighted audiences last spring.
10 YEARS AGO
Lanier tenders resignation as supe
School superintendent Ken Lanier announced that for health reasons, he would be resigning his post effective in mid-November 2004. The Board of Education had previously granted him a leave of absence until the following February, but he said he thought it important that a search for his successor begin immediately. Interim superintendent Gil DeCiccco took over the job during the search for a successor.
POSTSCRIPT: The Shelter Island School District has undergone a number of transitions in superintendents since Mr. Lanier was its leader. Leonard Skuggevik took over the reins this September from Dr. Michael Hynes, who came to Shelter Island in the summer of 2011.
