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This week in Shelter Island history

REPORTER FILE PHOTO Using water, veterinarian William Zitek, a former member of the Deer & Tick Committee, demonstrated for then supervisor Alfred Kilb Jr. the equivalent amount of permethrin that is applied to deer in an oil-based mixture as they feed at 4-poster units.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO | Using water, veterinarian William Zitek, a former member of the Deer & Tick Committee, demonstrated for then supervisor Alfred Kilb Jr. the equivalent amount of permethrin that is applied to deer in an oil-based mixture when they feed at 4-poster units.

50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY

The Russians landed the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft on the moon becoming the first controlled landing on the surface and demonstrating through pictures it sent back that the surface is rock hard, not composed of eons of dust deposits.An Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunged into Tokyo Bay on a flight from Sapporo Chitose Airport to Tokyo Haneda International Airport, killing all 133 people onboard.

The four-man West German bobsled team competing at World Championships in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, crashed and driver Anton Pensberger later succumbed to brain and spinal cord injuries.

The Rolling Stones released their single “19th Nervous Breakdown” in the United Kingdom.

The last original episode of the CBS sitcom “Mr. Ed” about a talking horse aired after five seasons.

50 YEARS AGO
Island only whip-lashed by winter’s worst storm

A snowstorm that dropped significant snow throughout the Northeast 50 years ago this week left only 3 to 5 inches on Shelter Island. But lashing winds caused ferry delays and problems, especially at North Ferry, where significantly low tides resulted in boats scraping bottom on the Greenport side.

Deliveries to IGA had to be reloaded onto smaller trucks when a 55-foot truck couldn’t maneuver the steep ramp.

POSTSCRIPT: Ferries handled last week’s storm with few problems, gale force winds not withstanding. And while much of the Island received significant snow, estimates here varied between 8 to 12 inches.

30 YEARS AGO
Dr. Marlene Berman appointed school superintendent

East Hampton resident and then principal at Center Moriches Elementary School, Dr. Marlene Berman was tapped to become superintendent on Shelter Island. Although Dr. Berman wouldn’t assume the position until July, she received the appointment at the beginning of February 1986.

She succeeded Frederick Bement as superintendent and served the district until 1993.

POSTSCRIPT: Superintendent Leonard Skuggevik, the former Greenport High School principal, is in his second year with the district.

20 YEARS AGO
Incidents bring focus on hunting laws

The killing of one dog and injury to another by a bow hunter at Sylvester Manor during the winter of 1996 raised concerns by locals and brought clarification to the hunting laws.

The dogs, said to have been attacking deer, were not fair game for the bow hunter who admitted to the action. Only licensed hunters on state land are allowed to take such action. Peace officers and dog wardens are allowed to shoot dogs running at large in areas other than state-owned land.

POSTSCRIPT: Under current laws, dogs aren’t permitted to run at large not controlled by their owners.

Incidents such as that which occurred in 1996 are likely part of the reason why there remains no appetite among Islanders to allow outsiders to hunt here.

That particularly applies to sharpshooters the town rebuffed last year in favor of allowing only local hunters and friends from off- Island accompanying locals to shoot here.

10 YEARS AGO
Tick panel tries to get to skeptics on 4-posters

The Deer & Tick Committee introduced Islanders to the 4-poster system meant to eradicate tick-borne diseases by killing the insects on deer who would have their necks rubbed with the tickicide permethrin as they fed at the stations. It was two years before the Cornell University-Cornell Cooperative Extension program would use the Island as a test site, deploying 60 units here for two years.

Supervisor Alfred Kilb Jr. called for burning to eradicate ticks and the Fire Department conducted a burn in Sachem’s Woods that was said to have killed about 85 percent of ticks. Mike Scheibel, today’s Deer & Tick Committee chairman and then a member of the committee, warned that burning required air quality permits and an environmental impact statement.

United States Department of Agriculture spokesmen raised concerns about the toxicity of permethrin.

POSTSCRIPT: Ten years later, there are still questions about whether long-time use of the tickicide poses dangers. That’s something Deer & Tick Committee members, most of whom have been proponents of 4-posters, still want to know. Member Marc Wein has also raised the issue of cost of maintaining the units.

The committee has widened its efforts to cull the herd while still using the 4-posters.

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