Editorial

So much to cheer for
 this holiday season


Shelter Island is known for its hometown pride for many good reasons. This Thanksgiving, why not take a minute to remember all the people and moments that have made us happy to be Islanders this season?


Top of the list has to be the Shelter Island School girls varsity volleyball team. Everyone loves a winner but this team has done something more. They gave us something to cheer about as our gloomy season set in.


Coach Cindy Belt couldn’t go to the post office in recent weeks without someone asking if the girls had won their playoff game. You couldn’t drive down Route 114 without seeing the news on the Police Department message board — GO SI GIRLS, VOLLEYBALL CHAMPS, HEADED TO STATE FINAL FOUR.


The entire school sent the team off to Glens Falls with a pep rally last Thursday. What a great thing for the younger kids to see, these confident young women representing this community as they were challenged to play the game they love far from home at an intimidating and intense level. We hope they know that regardless of the state scores, they made us all so proud.


We can also take a little pride in our Town Board for standing up to the state, successfully so far, to fight for a right that if not inalienable is intrinsic to traditional life on this Island. A state law that prohibits a 16-year-old kid from dropping a shiner into West Neck Creek off a bamboo pole to catch a snapper, without buying a $10 state license, must be opposed.


A moment that we won’t soon forget was the circle of veterans gathered around the flag at the American Legion Hall on November 11, joined by the Auxiliary, scouts, friends and family there to support them. Their faces as they saluted the flag and a foursome of young women sang the National Anthem in a cappella harmony was full of meaning for many of us. We hope this rediscovered tradition will continue. We also salute the Girl Scouts for writing personal notes to individual Island veterans thanking them for their service.


The night before the Veteran’s Day ceremony, members of the high school’s National Honor Society slept on the school grounds in cardboard boxes. The purpose: to raise awareness and money to help the homeless on Long Island. These high school seniors will have volunteered at dozens of fundraising events for Island organizations before they graduate next June. But it was inspiring to see them reach out beyond their own shores in such a novel way. 


Thanks to Dana and Emily Hallman for inviting those without a Thanksgiving dinner destination to come on in to the Presbyterian Church for a potluck feast.


Be thankful just to be on Shelter Island this Thanksgiving.