No chopper will be landing at Fiske Field for Theinert bike-ride fundraiser for veterans Sept. 2

There won’t be a helicopter landing at Fiske Field on September 2 when the Wounded Warrior Spur Ride takes place on Shelter Island. Instead, the Vietnam-era former Marine helicopter, a Sikorski UH-34 Stinger from the Freedoms Flying Memorial, will be landing at Klenawicus airstrip. Shuttles will be provided to take people back and forth from the American Legion Hall, the center of activities during the event planned to benefit the Joseph J. Theinert Memorial Fund Inc.

The decision came Tuesday at the Town Board work session not from the board, but Matt Rohde, who represented the organizers of the event. Despite his initial plea for a one-time landing to kick off the Spur Ride that he said he hopes will become an annual event, he ultimately bowed to concerns from some about noise and safety.

Opposition came last week from Bill Banks and Mary Wilson, the town’s building inspector and permit administrator, who spoke from the audience with a plea to give them and their neighbors on Bateman Road some relief from what has been a steady stream of events at Fiske Field.

“We love these people,” Ms. Wilson said last week, referring to the Theinert Fund organizers who raise money to help wounded veterans in honor of First Lieutenant Joseph Theinert, a Shelter Islander who died in Afghanistan last year trying to dismantle explosive devices that threatened his troops. But the constant barrage of events is disturbing to them and their neighbors, she said.

What, perhaps, turned Mr. Rohde’s plea for Fiske Field around was Supervisor Jim Dougherty saying that he had spoken with Chrystyna Kestler, Joey’s mother, who said she would help to arrange shuttle service to the Klenawicus airstrip. Ms. Kestler, whose husband, Dr. Frank Kestler is about to deploy to Afghanistan, couldn’t be at the meeting because the family was making arrangements pertinent to Dr. Kestler’s leaving. But Ms. Kestler asked Mr. Dougherty to convey her message to the Town Board.

With Mr. Rohde’s agreement to use the airstrip, the supervisor promised, “We’ll bend over backwards; we’ll give it a real go” to work out the shuttle service.
For the full story, see Thursday’s Reporter.