This week in Shelter Island history
50 YEARS AGO IN HISTORY
“Night of the Living Dead,” starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea and Karl Harding was pulling in movie audiences.
“Finian’s Rainbow,” directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark, was released.
Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced a rating system for films that would ban young children from seeing certain films or require that children be accompanied by adults to view others.
Led Zeppelin, which originally performed as the New Yardbirds, performed together for the first time starting its United Kingdom tour in London.
The initial “Planet of the Apes” film starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter opened.
And on Shelter Island . . .
50 YEARS AGO
Board of Ed unveils building plan
At this time in 1968, the Board of Education unveiled a proposal for a major expansion that included teaching facilities and an auditorium/gymnasium at a cost of $985,000. The board scheduled a meeting to give taxpayers an opportunity to learn about the thinking that had gone into development of the expansion plan and to answer questions.
Discussion of expansion had started three years earlier when the existing gymnasium was packed for a basketball game to the point where it became unsafe.
POSTSCRIPT: It was only a matter of cleaning and painting to ready the building for the 2018-19 school year.
30 YEARS AGO
New management at Heights’ pharmacy
Southold Pharmacy owner Don Scott bought the Shelter Island Pharmacy from the Disch family who had operated the store since 1937. Greg Ofrias, Mr. Scott’s son-in-law, took over management of the store with Suzanne Scott serving as pharmacist working with pharmacist Michael Finnican.
POSTSCRIPT: Mr. Ofrias continues to manage the pharmacy today.
20 YEARS AGO
HPOC votes to replace ferry office building
By an overwhelming margin — 100 to 33 — members of the Heights Property Owners Corporation (HPOC) voted to invest $250,000 to replace the office building at North Ferry.
The fate of the existing building at the time was still in question with the HPOC looking at three options: Demolish the building; turn it over to the Chamber of Commerce; or turn it over to the Historical Society.
POSTSCRIPT: Today, North Ferry continues to invest in its infrastructure and has undertaken construction of a new boat.
10 YEARS AGO
Tax hike looms for 2009
It was early October 2008 when the Town Board began examining the initial budget proposal from then supervisor Jim Dougherty, and started meetings with department chiefs and chairs of committees to try to roll back spending.
As it turned out, with spending cuts, the board was ultimately able to contain the tax hike to 5.4 percent, the lowest on the East End.
POSTSCRIPT: The Town Board is scheduled to begin meetings with department chiefs and committees on Friday, October 5, as work begins in earnest on the 2019 spending plan.
