Smithtown Historical Society

239 Middle Country Road

Smithtown, New York 11787

Your Heritage, Our Mission

The SHS Newsletter will be going paperless! In an effort to make the most of our

generous donations, as well as being good stewards of the environment, we will be

phasing out the print version of Whisperings over the course of 2018.

If you wish to still receive a paper copy, please let us know so we can add you to

the updated mailing list. If we do not have your email address, please let us know

so we can add you to the email list, and you don’t miss out on any of our

newsletters.

In This Issue

• Director’s

Message

• Meet Our New

Office Manager

and New Intern

• 2017 - Revisit

the Holidays

• Mildred Smith

Essay

Scholarship

Award

• Mondays in

March Lecture

Series

• New Programs

• Spring Farm

Festival

Sponsorship

WHISPERINGS Your Heritage, Our Mission

On Friday, January 26th, the Smithtown Historical Society hosted its annual Member’s meeting. We kicked off the evening around 6:30 pm with a potluck

dinner in the Brush Barn. At 7:30, a short business meeting was held to bring everyone up to date on all the new projects that the Society has been working on. We had a brief review of the past year and asked for any member input for future plans/events within the Society. The nominations of our new board members, David Bauer and Eileen Caulfield were motioned, seconded, and accepted so they may each begin their terms of service.

The Society also announced and introduced this year’s Heritage Ball Honorees at this meeting. The Partnership in History Award for this year will be presented to the Fire Departments of Commack, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Nesconset, Nissequogue, Smithtown and St James in recognition of their organization’s commitment and contributions.

Every year the Society also recognizes its volunteers by selecting a volunteer to receive the Volunteer of the Year award for their dedication and selfless service to the Society. This year’s Hancock- Harms Award (named after two longtime volunteers, Tom Hancock and Ethel Harms) honored 9 local young adults for their work in

our new Junior Educator Program! Angelina Cafisi, Anna Chiquitucto, Carson Chin, Connor Chin, Michael Hogan, Trisha Kanhai, Kyleigh Kondenar, Madeline Raeihle & Kumail Syed. We thank these wonderful young educators & their families for their hard work over the last year and hope that 2018 brings us even closer together. The Annual Meeting was closed with our memberships annual Amazon gift card drawing. Congratulations to Richard Liebert, who was this year’s winner!

Smithtown Historical Society Newsletter Vol.II, Issue 1, March 2018

2018 Annual Meeting

Director’s Message

Dear Friends:

My name is Priya Kapoor. As you may know, I am

the Interim Executive Director of the Smithtown

Historical Society. I would very much like to thank the

members of the board for extending this wonderful

opportunity to me. I look forward to serving and making a

difference.

The year is flying by! Spring is just around the

corner, (hang in there) and we have exciting plans on the

horizon for all of the Smithtown Historical Society. We

have set a fast pace thus far. There are no plans to slow.

To begin, let us all warmly welcome our new board and staff members. Hopefully, you were

able to join us for our Annual Meeting held in January, as we introduced our new board

members: David Bauer and Eileen Caulfield. They have both demonstrated dedication to the

society through their previous volunteer experience with us. However, each brings a unique

and valuable skill set to help guide us. Additionally, we would like to welcome two new staff

members, Victoria Del Vento, our new Office Manager, and Gabrielle Houston, our Spring

Intern. Both are a delight with which to work, and are creative and hard-working.

Next, I would like to mention our 2018 exhibition, “Woven Wonders: Highlights from the

Textile Collection,” which will open on Monday, March 26th, 2018 at 7pm.

Consulting Curator Joshua Ruff will present a slide show about the exhibition in the Frank

Brush Barn. After which, he will lead us through a tour of the exhibition at the Caleb Smith II

Building located at 5 North Country Road. There are beautiful and breathtaking surprises

throughout the gallery. We hope you can join us.

Finally, I would thank our entire community for making our educational and public programs

a success. A few exciting family events to watch for: our annual Spring Break Camp, Easter

Egg Hunt, Supermarket Bingo and Family Yoga. There is so much to look forward to every

spring. Be on the lookout for crocus and daffodils. Please come and celebrate with us as spring

nears, and don’t forget to put us on your calendar!

In Gratitude

The Smithtown Historical Society is

fortunate to have contributions from many sources and greatly appreciates each

donation. We thank the following individuals &

businesses for their contributions of a business patron membership in 2017

Victor Noce

Smithtown Community Band

Brothers Security of Medford

Apple Bank of Smithtown

Whisper Woods at Smithtown

SMITHTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Tales for Tots A Smithtown Historical Society & Smithtown Library Partnership Program

The Smithtown Historical Society is proud to partner with the Smithtown Library

to continue our reading program for the new year! Tales for Tots is a free monthly

themed story-time program for children ages 3-5 years old accompanied by an

adult. The collaboration utilizes the two groups’ treasured resources, offering a reading adventure in the

unique setting of the Bradley L. Harris Learning Room and Gallery in Smithtown Historical Society’s

Roseneath Cottage. At 11 a.m. on the 2nd Friday of each month, toddlers and their caregivers gather to

hear Smithtown librarians read stories, sing songs, and play games related to that month’s theme.

Although Tales for Tots is a free program, space is limited and reservations are suggested. To reserve a

spot please call the Smithtown Library at 631-360-2480!

April 13th: Earth Day May 11th: Teddy Bears

June 8th: Tools July 13th: BBQ

August 10th: Camping September 14th: Traveling

October 12th: Halloween November 9th: Thanksgiving

* Please note April and November’s program will be held on the 3rd Friday of the month

December 14th: Snow

LAUNCHING APRIL 28th @ the SPRING FARM FESTIVAL

Meet our New Office Manager

I’m Victoria; I’ve lived on Long Island all my life, mostly in the east end along the south shore. I attended college in Baltimore, Maryland, at Loyola University of Maryland. I graduated in May of 2017 with a Bachelor’s of Art in History. I’ve had a fondness for history for pretty much as long as I can remember; to work with it and be surrounded by it has been a dream come true. I currently live in Mastic with two loveable dogs (and my mom, who’s also loveable). I love the sense of community here at the Historical Society; it’s great seeing familiar faces at all of our events!

Victoria joined the Society on December 1st, and is the cheerful voice you most often hear on the phone, or the smiling face you see most often greeting you when you come to our offices at the Roseneath Cottage. Please be sure to introduce yourself at our next event, so she can get faces to go with all those membership names.

Announcements

Meet our New Intern

Gabrielle Houston is currently enrolled in her senior year at CUNY Queens College studying cultural anthropology and history. At QC, Gabrielle is researching the Great Awakenings of colonial New England and their influence on social and political life. Gabrielle is also a member of QC’s Anthropology Society, a club that participates in coordinating many events, lectures, and demonstrations. After completing her work with the Smithtown Historical Society, Gabrielle will be spending her summer on an expedition in Reykjavik, Iceland as a researchers assistant studying youth culture and familial dynamics. Gabrielle is passionate about history and greatly looks forward to sharing her passion with Smithtown’s students. Gabrielle will be working extensively with the Education Department as well as assisting the Development and Marketing aspects of the Historical Society programs. She is a 2013 graduate of Hauppauge High School.

Planned Giving Your commitment to the Smithtown Historical Society is vitally important and we invite you to

strengthen that commitment by considering a planned giving opportunity. Planned gifts ensure that SHS continues to preserve our history for future generations.

Call our office for more information.

Holiday Celebrations

Friday, December 1st the SHS hosted its annual Holiday Luncheon. This year marked the 56th year of this treasured holiday tradition. As always, it was a delightful afternoon with great food,

gracious community relations, and generous support for the restoration of our historic buildings. After dining, guests bought raffle tickets for one of the beautiful Community Wreath Contest entries or one of the many festive holiday prizes donated by local merchants and SHS supporters, or purchased from the boutique for gourmet treats, decorations and gift items.

Saturday, December 2nd, we celebrated the annual Heritage Country Christmas. Live music performed

by the Smithtown Community Band, LI Blue Grass Group, Paul Antonios, as well as Sampawam’s Creek set the tone of the day. Santa greeted pets, and guests young and old in his workshop, a shadow puppet show brought “T’was the Night Before Christmas” to life and Lionel trains mesmerized guests as they looped on their tracks. At the center of the festivities was the popular Community Wreath Contest. Guests had the opportunity to view and vote on a selection of 15 unique entries. At the end of the evening each wreath was auctioned off in a drawing to raise funds for the SHS. The Best in Show Community Choice was awarded to Ami Hunt, 2nd place to Gail Hessel & 3rd to Marianna Halufska. Thank you to all the participants and contributing community members and Judge Gloria Godsell. We would like to thank our partners: People’s United Bank, The Schaeffer Agency, Williams & Williams Insurance, Millennium Diner, One Fine Day Photography, Mr. Kenneth Donato, and Vanguard Insurance Agency. A special thanks to: News 12 our Media Partner, Luncheon Chairperson Lisa Scott, Designers Joan Harris & community volunteers, 9th Virginia Infantry Co. C - Living Historians, Smithtown Community Band, Community Wreath Participants, Cookie Bakers * Local Girl Scout Troops Boy Scout Troop 301 of St. James, Wreath contest Judge Gloria Godsell, SHS Board of Trustees, Staff, & Volunteers.

Chili Bowl Contest

On Friday, February 2nd, the Smithtown

Historical Society hosted its 2nd annual Chili

Bowl Contest. The event was a great success!

Food is always a large part of any social

gathering, and this event was no different!

There were eleven submissions this year and

the event attracted almost 60 attendants.

Chili was judged by the people who attended

this event. First prize winner was Mayte

Giraski; Runner-up was Tara Guonagura

and 3rd place went to Marty McMahon.

We congratulate all the winners and thank

all participants for their contributions.

Board President Kathy Tusa presenting 1st Place

Winner, Mayte Giraski with her prize.

Art by, Susan Buroker

Scholarships Awarded

Every year, the Smithtown Historical Society offers junior year students in the Township of Smithtown an

opportunity to win a $1,000 scholarship. The Mildred Smith Historical Essay Contest, a scholarship award,

is open to all 11th graders in attendance at Commack, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Smithtown East & West

High Schools, as well as at The Knox School and Smithtown Christian School.

Mildred Smith was an original founder of the Smithtown Historical Society and its first President. She

possessed an intense passion for the history of Smithtown and was a great friend and supporter of the

Society. The Smithtown Historical Society is proud to honor her through this annual essay contest and

hopes that the spirit of Ms. Smith will live on in the devotion and hard work of students submitting essays

for consideration.

The Annual Mildred Smith Historical Essay Scholarship Contest is in its 13th year. This year’s question for

the essay is: How do you plan to become a hero for the Smithtown Community? (800 words.)

Submissions for the contest will be accepted from now until June 8th, 2018 up until 5 pm in the

Smithtown Historical Society’s headquarters at the Roseneath Cottage, 239 Middle Country Road,

Smithtown, New York 11787.

For more detailed information regarding the rules and regulations pertaining to the contest, please visit the

Society’s website or call our office (631) 265-6768.

The Smithtown Historical Society and the 911 Responders Remembered Memorial Park in conjunction with the FealGood Foundation, offered junior year students in the Township of Smithtown an opportunity to win a $2,000.00 scholarship. The Mildred Smith Historical Essay Contest, a scholarship award, is open to all 11th

graders in attendance at Commack, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Smithtown East & West High Schools, as well as at The Knox School and Smithtown Christian School. The award was shared by two winners. Caralyn Stein, a member of St. Joseph's church has been involved with Junior Hibernians, Junior Catholic Daughters, Young Vincentians and she plays violin with St. Joseph's Ensemble. At Kings Park High School Caralyn is currently Peer Support President, she's an officer in Leadership club, plays in the school orchestra and Chamber, participates in KPITS, Tri-M, and was involved with Student Council and SEAS.

Caralyn participates in the Coastal Clean Up at Sunken Meadow and Kings Park Bluff yearly. She's received the Smithtown Youth Bureau Global Youth Services Award multiple times over the years for her clothing and food drives. Caralyn works at the SJCCY in their Special Needs after school program. The second winner is Julia Diana. Julia is a senior at Hauppauge High School. She is a member and section leader in her school’s marching band and also holds the position of librarian in the school’s wind ensemble. She is on the Varsity Girls Tennis team since her freshman year of high school. This year Julia was awarded the position of team captain. In addition, Julia is the Vice President of the Spanish Honor Society and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also involved in the Best Buddies Club. Julia also was recently selected to be a member of the Natural Helpers Program in Hauppauge which is a group of students that help their peers. She has volunteered numerous hours as a counselor at a science camp in her district. She also spends time leading activities for people with Alzheimer’s disease in an assisted living home.

13th Annual Mildred Smith Historical Essay Contest Announced for 2018