Shleter Island Reporter Editorial: All smiles
The old saying, “No rest for the weary,” should be “Little rest for the bravest” when it comes to putting together one of summer’s greatest traditions, the Shelter Island Fire Department’s Chicken Barbecue.
It’s ironic that the firefighters, who must drop everything to respond to emergency calls and work hard for the community all year, don’t even get off a Saturday in August. They work at the barbecue, along with the department’s Women’s Auxiliary for all the rest of us.
It was estimated that all of the effort to bring off the great feast, including getting permits and filings completed, setting up the field at St. Gabe’s for deliveries, parking, cooking and serving, along with cleaning up and tearing down the site takes — are you ready? —2,060 man and woman hours. That comes to about 86 days.
But if you were there on Saturday — and lucky you because the chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender and the corn was sweeter than ever — you saw that our Fire Department men and women and those of the Emergency Medical Services were all smiles down to the last chicken grilled and eaten. The same can be said for all the Islanders and their guests who went home with full bellies and warm memories of a splendid community gathering.
Estimates of the attendance were inconsistent, but a good bet is that more than 1,800 people chowed down, and tens of thousands of dollars were raised. The Fire Department will put the money to good use for equipment and training to keep our Island safe. But beyond the funds raised, the department raised spirits and a sense of community connection that will last long after the memory of a great day begins to fade.
Getting loud
Anti-noise activists continue to make their own noise about loud and low-flying aircraft — mostly from helicopters — that besiege East End communities, including the Island. At an August 13 meeting in Peconic of activists and some elected officials, part of the discussion was about laws that East Hampton put on the books to take control of traffic at the town’s airport.
Voices were raised to say that by not going far enough restricting airport usage, as Kathleen Cunningham of the Quiet Skies Coalition noted, it has made the situation worse.
The best idea to emerge from the meeting was a recommitment by activists to turn up the heat on our representatives at the federal level to make some noise with the Federal Aviation Administration to crack down on those who are negatively affecting our quality of life.
Freshman Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) has already shown he is willing to challenge the FAA. But where are Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand? Can’t they hear what’s going on?
