Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays!
Christmas at Meadow Croft
The
Meadow Croft elves have been very busy these last few weeks planning,
decorating, volunteering, organizing and making Meadow Croft BEAUTIFUL
to celebrate
Christmas at Meadow Croft 2022. We are so grateful to be able to open this home, once again, for the holiday season.
On
Saturday December 3rd and Sunday December 4th from 12:00-4:00, Meadow
Croft will be open to the public. Come see each room of the John Ellis
Roosevelt estate alive with festive holiday decorations! There will be
music played on the original Roosevelt piano and pictures with Old Saint
Nick in the Carriage House. Cookies and hot chocolate will be served!
Many raffle baskets will be on display and holiday decorations and the
baskets will be raffled off at the end of the weekend. A special sale of
historical gifts will be on sale as well. We have great items
including; local history books by author Gene Horton, ornaments, note
cards, tote bags, and Meadow Croft prints. All of these items would make
great holiday gifts! The admission fee is $5.00 per person.
We
thank our chairperson Leanne Berg for her efforts in coordinating this
event. We thank our many volunteers who have put in countless hours
preparing for this weekend. We look forward to seeing YOU at Meadow
Croft this weekend to celebrate the season.
Nominations for BBPHA
The
nominating committee is developing a slate of members for the 2023
board. There are open seats; including directors. Any current paid BBPHA
member may serve on the board. It requires only one meeting per month.
If you would be willing to serve for the 2023 year, please contact us at
bbphistorical@gmail.com
We
are also looking for members to serve on various committees throughout
the year. You can work from home! If you have a particular skill or
interest (house tour, special events, light clerical and organization)
please contact us at BBPhistorical@gmail.com.
Digitizing of Previous Newsletters
FYI: As reported in a previous newsletter, we have
completed the project to digitize our newsletters from years 1894 to
2009. Now you all have viewing access to these newsletters from you
computer. We are thankful to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation
who funded the program which was administered by the graduate history
department of Long Island University, headed by Dr. Greg Hunter. The
hard copies of the newsletters were sent to LIU and the students
digitized them for web access. We are proud to offer them to all of our
members for a look back in time. Follow these instructions for access.
There is no log-in needed.
1. Use the link https://liu.access.preservica.com
2. Click on "Browse Collections."
3. Click on "Bayport-Blue Point Heritage Association."
4. You will see the years in chronological order with the image of the front page.
5. Click on the year you would like to view
6. IMPORTANT: Click on "View Gallery" This tab allows you to scroll through the pages.
7. Scroll through the pages using the "Previous" and "Next " buttons at the top of the page.
Have
fun looking into the past. The current board members want to thank the
previous members for their hard work in creating the interesting stories
and posting the photos which make these items the valuable artifacts
that they are. Thank you!
Environmental Planting at Meadow Croft
The Long Island Conservancy, with the support of
Spadefoot Design and Construction, has been engaged to restore habitat
here at Meadow Croft. With the direction of Suffolk County Parks
Director of Historical Services, Richard Martin, the original Historic
Landscape plan was followed.
Eleven red maples were planted
along the western spur of the driveway in keeping with the John Ellis
Roosevelt Estate's original planting design from the early 1900's.
In
addition, a native wildflower bed was planted where historically there
had been a garden. Lemon balm, broom sedge, and bergamot were planted.
These new plantings will help restore native habitat and provide an
educational experience for Suffolk County residents. Invasive plants
including mugwort and tree of heaven were also removed. More plantings
are planned and contemplated.
The Stillman Barge at the Foot of Blue Point Avenue
These
articles first appeared in the Bayport Blue-Point Gazette and were
written by Gene Horton. They are reprinted here with permission.
December 2008
Only
a few old-timers would remember the STILLMAN BARGE. It was located at
the foot of Blue Point Avenue tied up to the town pier. It was there
from the 19-teens until the 1930's. It was only open during the summer
months and was owned and operated by Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Stillman.
In
April 1939, the NY WORLD TELEGRAM ran a story about the Stillman Barge.
"There tucked securely into a shoulder of piling and lashed to
dockside, is the Stillman Houseboat. There has been a Stillman Houseboat
in that berth for 20 years, although this, the second, is only about 14
years old. Stuart Stillman, a thin, white-haired boatman goes out every
day and digs up the clams, while Mrs. Stillman, an amply proportioned
woman with a kindly manner and a somewhat worried expression, turns out
clam chowder. "It's the New York kind, but I don't make it like they do
in New York," she tells you and clam fritters and fried fish, and crabs
and splendid small donuts which she calls snowballs, and applesauce
cake, which is her husband's favorite.
I
don't know how you describe direction in a houseboat; nothing with such
uncompromising ends can have anything to do with fore and aft...but the
eating cabin occupies the inshore half of the boat and the rest of it
is given over to the kitchen and storage space and a small back room
where Mrs. Stillman presumably sits whenever she has a moment to sit
(they don't sleep aboard). The dining cabin contains two long, rather
narrow tables aligned on opposite sides of the room, each set between
two benches. If Stillman's is anything like crowded, you would want to
be on good terms with your companions!
The
large sign on the roof of the Stillman Barge advertised clam chowder,
clam cocktail and clams on the shell. The smaller roof sign advertised
sandwiches, frankfurters, tea & coffee, soft crab sandwiches, NEAR
BEER, soft drinks. Stillman's Barge is long gone now, but not entirely
forgotten, as part of Blue Point's shoreline history.
Have a wonderful holiday season! Happy New Year!
