Bayport Blue Point Heritage Association: ~ March 2023 Newsletter ~

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

~ March 2023 Newsletter ~

March General Membership Meeting

Join the BBP Heritage Association to explore the history of Long Island's abandoned places as author Richard Panchyk presents stories of spectacular ruins frozen in time and still standing today. Historic structures include great estates, vacant military and industrial buildings, and obsolete railways and roads.

Where: Bayport Blue Point Library

When: Sunday, March 19th, 2023

Time: 2:00

No registration required

Light refreshments served

All are welcome!

NOTE: This meeting will be held in the large Children's Room of the library

Save the date: April 16, 2023 for our April General Membership meeting. The topic will be Bayport Blue Point & Broadway.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Join your friends, neighbors and the BBPHA for Bayport Blue Point's 33rd Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade!

On March 12th, beginning at 11:00, starting from Snedecor Avenue and continuing down Montauk Hwy, our communities will be honoring the Grand Marshal for this year's parade... Constance "Connie" Haab.

Connie was born and raised in Bayport and has been very connected to our communities serving for an incredible 50 years as the Secretary of the Bayport Fire District. Connie was also the Fire Commissioner for 10 years, the first and only woman to hold this position. Connie held many other community positions including her important work with The Bayport Memorial Park committee and the BBP Little League.

Wear your green and come join in the merriment of our community's annual parade to celebrate the Irish and of course our Grand Marshal, Connie Haab!

In Memoriam...

It is with great sadness that the Bayport Blue Point Heritage Association announces the passing of one of our founding members, Florence "Flo" Olsson. Flo passed peacefully surrounded by her family on February 22, 2023, at the age of 96.

Flo grew up in Bayport as a Shand. Her family was the proud owners of the Shand's Grocery Store, located on Middle Road in Bayport. She married her childhood sweetheart, Alden Olsson, and they were married for 64 years.

As founding members of the Heritage Association, they both were instrumental in getting the Bayport Heritage Association started. They also worked diligently to acquire the Meadow Croft Estate, summer home of John Ellis Roosevelt, and helped transform it into the gem we have today.

Mrs. Olsson's long list of community involvement included but was certainly not limited to the following; arranging the houses for the BBPHA's Autumn House tour for many years, a docent at Meadow Croft, member of the Bayport Methodist Church, and an educator at Academy Street Elementary School in the Bayport School District. After retirement, she worked at the Bayport Blue Point Library. Flo was also a member of the Sayville Yacht Club and both she and Alden were Grand Marshals of the 2012 BBP St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Bayport Blue Point Heritage and generations of locals are grateful for Flo's passion and dedication to our community. Thank you Flo. Rest in peace.

Thank you!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to our board member at large, Dennis Fagan who is stepping down from his position on the BBPHA. For the past 7 years or so, Dennis has been our Membership Chairperson, and will continue in that role after he steps down. He has been instrumental in forwarding our mission of preserving our two hamlet's history and we thank him for his efforts! Thank you Dennis!

The Shack

These articles were first printed in the Bayport Blue Point Gazette and were written by Gene Horton. They are reprinted here with permission.

February 2014

"The Shack" was a summer refreshment stand located on the west side of Blue Point Avenue between Middle Road and Danes Street. This was a popular spot for the hundreds of summer visitors who flocked to Blue Point between 1900 and the 1920's as they strolled to and from the Great South Bay. Blue Point had at least eight major summer hotels and boarding houses during this era.

This old postcard view of "The Shack" was mailed out of Blue Point on August 4, 1914. "The Shack" specialized in serving Smith's Ice Cream, Whitman's Belle Meade Sweets and Bon Bons, Huyler's chocolates, ice cream sodas & cones, postcards and souvenirs of Blue Point, cigars, cigarettes and tobacco.

Roscoe L. Moore ("Rocky" Moore) was the proprietor of "The Shack."