This week in Shelter Island histroy
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
Saying he felt like an outsider, Ringo Starr quit the Beatles temporarily. It was considered the first sign the group was having disagreements.
The Yankees and Detroit tigers played to a 3-3 tie in 19 innings with the game called due to a 1 a.m. curfew at Yankee Stadium.
Pope Paul VI made the first papal visit to Latin America, arriving in Bogota, Colombia.
France became the fifth thermonuclear power detonating a device in the South Pacific.
Arthur Ashe became the first African American to win the singles championship at the US Open.
And on Shelter Island . . .
50 YEARS AGO
Board weighs combining beaches
50 years ago at this time the Town Board weighed the possibility of extending Shell Beach so it would become part of Wades Beach. The board was waiting for updated maps and other documents before exploring the possibility of linking the two beaches. It was also seeking a report on ecology from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
POSTSCRIPT: The two beaches remain separate entities today.
30 YEARS AGO
Board moves to halt living on boats
The Shelter Island Town Board took up the issue of people living on town-owned docks or boats moored to the docks. At the time the proposed legislation dealt with Congdon Creek dock, Dering Harbor dock and the Silver Beach lagoon.
POSTSCRIPT: The Town Code today prohibits anyone living on a boat berthed at a private dock for more than a week.
20 YEARS AGO
Ribbon cutting opens fitness center
The newly finished FIT Center, attached to the back of Shelter Island School, observed its official opening at this time 20 years ago. The center was the third part of a program that saw two baseball fields and four tennis courts opened earlier in the year.
Approximately $280,000 was collected during a year-and-a-half-long fundraising drive.
POSTSCRIPT: This year, Recreation Director Bethany Ortmann is planning new equipment for the FIT Center and there has been talk about the town participating with the school in upgrading the tennis courts.
10 YEARS AGO
Money rolling in for 4-posters
It was a show of solidarity among Islanders at this time 10 years ago as the Deer & Tick Foundation brought in another $52,000 in contributions, raising the total on hand to pay for the deployment and maintenance of 4-poster units in the battle to decrease the tick population on the Island.
The total cost to be paid to Cornell University, which was leading the pilot program, was $180,000.
POSTSCRIPT: Use of 4-posters is still ongoing, but there has been debate in recent years over whether more money should be allocated to culling the deer herd. It’s expected that the 2019 town budget will increase money for culling, but hold the line on what still represents a solid investment in the 4-poster program.
