Island Profile: The family business beckoned him back from the Granite State

There was one time when Dave Gurney flirted with the idea of a life someplace other than Shelter Island. It was in 1991, at the University of New Hampshire, just after he had graduated from Shelter Island High School. He was learning that college “wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to be here, working at the hardware store, making money and making my life on Shelter Island.”

The hardware store in question, Shelter Island Ace Hardware, was co-owned by his father, Ric Gurney.

“My dad came to me and said I had to make up my mind what I wanted to do because he was partners with two other people at the time. If I wanted to stay here, he would pursue buying them out and, if I didn’t, he would tell them they had to pursue buying him out.”

“I told him I wanted to be at the store,” said young Mr. Gurney, who’d been working at the store after school and during the summer since the age of 13.

Ric bought out one of the partners and the last remaining partner, Rachel Carpenter, the A&P heiress, left him her share when she died in 1993. “She was a great lady,” Dave remembered.

He and his dad ran the store together until his sister, Meredith, graduated from college. “Then she came on board. She hadn’t worked at the store through high school. She’d worked other jobs but, when she came back” from college, “she decided this is where she wanted to be. So now she and I are running the store together.”

Meredith’s married to Brett Page, who works for the Highway Department. Ric retired three years ago and, with his wife, Gayle, divides his time between their homes here and in New Hampshire.

Dave married his childhood sweetheart, Laura Frank, four years younger, almost 11 years ago. They have two children, Lauren, now 9, and John, born last August. Laura’s “a homemaker,” Dave said. “She takes care of our kids, does a great job raising them. I attribute their success — Lauren does great in school — I attribute all that to Laura.”

Lately Dave is getting reacquainted with one of his first loves — sports and the arrival in May of the Shelter Island Bucks, the Island’s new summer college-league baseball team.

“I played varsity baseball in high school … I really enjoyed sports,” Dave said. “The coach we had at school, Chris Tracy, he really developed a love for sports in me and a love of playing. I played Little League, basketball, baseball. Then when my daughter Lauren was born, I sort of got back involved in sports. She was 4, old enough to play Little League when she was still in preschool. So I’ve been coaching that team along with Mike Dunning, who’s my other half in Little League” for the past three years.

A few years ago, Dave coached her in an off-Island softball league that Little League sponsors. In the course of that experience, he got to know Ann Marie Brown, an East Hampton gym teacher who pitched for the high school team there. Impressed, Dave said he arranged for her to give a pitching tutorial for the girls here. “Garth Griffin [from the Recreation Department] and I got her over for a week, and one day while we were taking a break, she mentioned this baseball thing. ‘Did I ever hear of the Whalers?’” He had not, although he had heard of the North Fork Ospreys.

Both are members of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, whose supporters had mentioned to Ann Marie how much they wanted to see a team on Shelter Island. Dave mentioned that to Mike Dunning. Mike, who’s now working for the school, mentioned it to the school superintendent. Soon league officials were invited in to make a pitch to the School Board, offering to improve the diamond at Fiske Field if the Island agreed to host a team. The board soon agreed.

Going on about his daughter Lauren, Dave added, “She’s all about sports. I’ve had her on downhill skis since she’s been three, baseball since four, tennis since five. Now she’s into basketball. She runs, enjoys that, and even golfs a little bit. Whatever, pretty much everything, I enjoy it and enjoy introducing my daughter to it. For nine years old, she’s pretty good. And I can’t wait for Johnny to get old enough so I can show him.”

When Johnny gets older, Dave plans to get involved with Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts. “Growing up, my dad had me involved in all that. That was important. He was a big Scout guy.” So was his mom; and his sister Meredith is a Girl Scout leader. “It’s all about giving back,” Dave said.

He’ll be busy this summer, along with organizers Mike Dunning and Cori Cass, helping to launch the Shelter Island Bucks. “Please tell anyone who wants to get involved to get in touch,” Dave said. He pointed out there was plenty to do, tasks large and small. Housing is also still an issue. Ten more homes are needed for all the players to be housed. He’s open to answering questions and he’ll be out there on Sunday, June 3, when the Bucks play their first game, at home, against Southold.