In her August 2008 installment of In the Kitchen with Jeni, we’re reminded of more reasons to shop at our local farmstands, including an infusion of poetry and meaning! Plus! Jeni gives us three new recipes that help us make the most of our North Fork bounty: creamy pesto, marinated white bean salad, and zucchini patties.
Please visit the NorthForkParents Family Cuisine page to read Jeni’s column, plus get lots of recipes, articles, and announcements.
In his latest installment for August 2008, David van Popering of Custer Observatory in Southold presents the summer night sky, featuring Scorpius, Sagittarius, Jupiter, mind-blowing proportions and speed of our Milky Way Galaxy, Antares the super giant star, beautiful star clusters, the Perseid Meteor Showers, and much, much more!
As always, he invites us to Custer Observatory on any Saturday night, when the observatory is open to the public, to show you these landmarks in person. And he gives us the lineup of special events at Custer this August, including music concerts and meteor shower viewing.
To read his column, visit the NorthForkParents Math & Science page.
Bideawee’s 8th Annual Love on a Leash Festival & Parade in Westhampton Beach, including a little red wagon contest, face painting, and “Ask the Vet,” has been added to the NorthForkParents Calendar of Events page. The event will take place on August 27 from 3:00pm to 6:00pm.
Register early for the contest and save.
On Sunday, September 7th, a variety of local farms will host the Second Annual North Fork Foodie Tour, including growers of organic produce, a goat farmer who produces cheese and other products, an oyster farmer, a bison farmer, a lavender farmer and beekeeper, a producer of specialty North Fork products, and a wine maker. With your map in hand and a description of each of the venues, arrange your own self-guided tour that might take you from Riverhead to Orient.
Tickets are $25 each, and children under 12 are free. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the following locations:
* Gallery M in Greenport
* Complement the Chef in Southold
* Cecily’s Love Lane in Mattituck
* Garden of Eve Organic Farm in Riverhead
Advance tickets may also be purchased from the North Fork Reform Synagogue at P.O. Box 1625, Southold NY 11971.
Tickets will also be available the day of the tour at Shinn Estate Vineyards, 2000 Oregon Road in Mattituck, and at each tour location.
Venues:
Catapano Dairy Farm
Sang Lee Farms
Satur Farms
Garden of Eve Organic Farm
Golden Earthworm Organic Farm
Ty Llwyd Farm
North Quarter Bison Farm
Lavender By the Bay
A Taste of the North Fork
Pipes Cove Oysters
SPAT (Southold Project in Aquaculture Training)
Shinn Estate Vineyards
Croteaux Vineyards, Barnyard & Cooking School
The 2008 North Fork Foodie Tour is being sponsored by the North Fork Reform Synagogue. For more information, visit their website or call 631-722-5712.
A local institution offering young and old rare glimpses into space, the Custer Institute in Southold, will have a new roof and gutters thanks to a generous donation by Home Depot.
“The Institute has needed a new roof for quite some time” said Custer’s president, Donna L. McCormick. “We operate on a shoestring and have no endowment so we were unable to fund the repair ourselves. We’ve been trying to raise the money through donations or grants for several years but didn’t have any luck. Then, this past Spring, a windstorm blew off a batch of shingles and within days a dinner plate sized hole appeared that went through the roof to the ceiling of the lecture hall below.”
Visitors would joke that the hole in the roof gave these stargazers another place through which they could look at the sky, but it wasn’t very funny when the rain poured in during classes.
“Two local contractors, Steven Born and Steve Schroeder, were kind enough to patch the outer hole without charge, but there was no question that our time had run out and a new roof was needed asap.”
In desperation, Ms. McCormick wrote Home Depot’s CEO, Frank Blake, and asked for help; within a few weeks, she received a call from Blake’s corporate office in Atlanta, Georgia. “I couldn’t believe it: Home Depot was willing to come to our rescue.”
Ms. McCormick said: “It is truly touching how this huge, international corporation is showing support for our humble observatory. We’ve been trying hard to ensure the Institute’s future as a place that instills an appreciation for science in the general public and gives students an opportunity to learn through hands-on experience. It’s not always easy getting everything done with just a few volunteers and sparse financial resources. But Home Depot is helping make the dream possible by preserving our facilities and by showing other corporate giants that it’s important to support their communities. The bottom line: we’re grateful beyond words.”
Home Depot will send a large enough crew of workers to accomplish the work in one day. They will arrive on the morning of August 5th (rain date TBA but most likely August 6th), remove the old roof, replace whatever damaged wood they find in the underlayer, put on a new layer of shingles and, if there’s still time, install the gutters. They’ll even cart away the debris.
The Institute next hopes to find help to repair the damage the leaky roof caused in the lecture hall, meeting room and library: ceilings need patching, rooms need painting, and there is even need for electrical work. Once that’s done, they hope to tackle the basement where they can no longer hold workshops because of the unhealthy conditions resulting from mold due to dampness from water penetration, cracked windows, and bad grading.
“Capital improvements seem to be the hardest to fund for small nonprofits like Custer. As a result, there’s lots of deterioration that takes place because repairs are neglected. The roof was an example of that: it became a critical problem because we couldn’t afford to fix it. And there are a lot of other areas that are heading in the same direction. Hopefully others will follow Home Depot’s example and come to our rescue for some of those jobs as well.”
David van Popering of Custer Observatory contributes a monthly column in the NorthForkParents feature, What’s Up At Custer on the Math & Science page.
The Custer Institute Inc. (est. 1927) is a NYS 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit that operates on public support and is staffed by volunteers. It is the home of Long Island’s oldest public observatory, and also hosts the observatories of Long Island’s two oldest astronomy clubs: the Amateur Observers Society and the Astronomical Society of Long Island. The Institute offers a wide range of programs: from in-house lectures, classes, and “how to” workshops, to an annual astronomy conference (est. 1978), to concerts and art exhibits.
The “Education Through Research” program gives students the opportunity to work alongside scientists engaged in research at the Institute, thus providing them with hands-on training in scientific methodology. Students also find assistance in the design and execution of their own research, which they may then present at the Institute’s annual Astronomy Science Fair which awards sponsorship to regional fairs and cash prizes; the fair will be held on October 4, 2008, concurrent with Custer’s 30th Annual Astronomy Conference (with keynote address by Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican’s astronomer, and such other distinguished speakers as Pulitzer Prize winning author, Dava Sobel). The Institute itself has been honored to have been the recipient of a number of awards, including David and Wendee Levy’s National Sharing the Sky Foundation 2007 award of a 14″ Meade telescope, runner-up in Astronomy Magazine’s 2007 “Out of this World” competition for excellence in educational outreach, and the award of a small grant for research equipment from the Fund for Astrophysical Research. The membership (250 and growing) consists of amateurs, professionals, students, educators, and supportive members of the community.
Custer Observatory in Southold has announced four new events for this summer, including a Perseid Meteor Shower party, a Johnny Zarrow Band concert, a Jeanine Cullen concert, and an evening with the legendary John Dobson.
In addition, the Observatory is open to the public each Saturday evening for night sky viewing. For the NorthForkParents feature column and archived articles from David van Popering of Custer called What’s Up At Custer, please refer to the Math & Science page.
For more info, please visit the NorthForkParents Calendar of Events.
The Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild will be hosting a Young Artist Contest for children ages 5 to 15. Three (3) winners, will each receive a $25.00 award and professional art lessons. All entries exhibited at the Art Guild and on the Snow fence Sale on Saturday, August 23, 2008.
Contest Rules: Submit by August 9, 2008, an original drawing or painting no larger that 9″ by 12″. On the back of your entry include your name, address, telephone number and age.
Mail entries to the Old Town Art and Crafts Guild, P.O. Box 392, Cutchogue, New York 11935 – Or -Entries may be brought to the Guild on the Main Road, Cutchogue. Phone 631-734-6382
The Southold Mothers Club has announced its August 2008 activities, many of which have been added to the NorthForkParents Calendar of Events.
On Thursday, July 17, Lyrical Children will present a free Music Together class at its new Manorville location:
“Lyrical Children invites you to experience what a Music Together class is all about with your newborn through 5 yr old. Music and movement in a family style, research-based program that is celebrating its 20th year.”
Space is limited, reservations required. Call 208-4003 or visit www.LyricalChildren.com.
According to The Wall Street Journal, a good way to choose the best hospital is The Hospital Value Report, which ranks hospitals based on quality, affordability and efficiency.
Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport announced in July 2008 that it received a ranking of sixth out of 1,400 American hospitals and achieved the highest score in New York State.
