Loading...
October 03, 1985 - Keeping Tabs on Gloria' __ _ ,•i Second Section/ The Suffolk Times - I Page 1A October 3, 1985 Keeping Tabs on Gloria By PAUL STOUTENBURGH There always has to be a first and this is my first time writing by kerosene lantern. Like so many other people we don't have lights, our freezer is down, the refrigerator looks sad and our re- serve water is used very, very spar- ingly. So what else is new? some might say. The good news is I saw a monarch butterfly ambling on its lazy way south the day after the hurricane struck, and to me that says all is well. When a but- terfly can live through those gales of wind and rain we surely should be able to come out of this without too much of a problem. This is not to say there weren't real hardships, and for some, real heartbreaks, but most of the folks I talked to had pretty much the same story: trees down, lots of leaves and limbs strewn about but no real prob- lems of flooding or Ioss of homes or life. My big concern was our boat, which I'm glad to say came out of the ordeal with- out a scratch thanks to two kind gentle- men who let me moor in their slips' I watched Gloria from the beginning when we awoke that windy morning. Barbara and I boarded up our picture window just in case. We use an old two - by -six plank in the center of the window with two pieces of four -by -eight plywood screwed to the casing. The two - by -six plank is specially cut to fit the window, and on its dusty sides are dates HELPING HAND - -Harry Charkow of Mattituck F.D. raises CROP banner. of the last two hurricanes worthy of put- ting battens over the picture window: Donna of '60 and Esther of '61. Focus on Nature I wanted to see how the animals were doing in the barn, and it was then I felt the real fury of the storm. Of course, the wind was howling in the treetops and the shreds of leaves filled the air with their tattered remains. I could even smell that odd aroma of green leaves being torn up. I quickly moved into the building and watched in awe. Every once in a while a great gust -- a downward thrust of super moving air -- would twist and bend each limb to its limit. Trees snap- ped and limbs were whipped loose from their trunks. I wanted to experience this phenome- non more fully and so I walked out into the pastures where I'd be safe from fal- ling limbs and trees. Were my beehives okay? I'd weighed them down with ce- ment blocks and propped boards to their sides to prevent them from tipping over. And how was the orchard? Barbara and Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh MONARCH BUTTERFLY - -One day after the passing of Gloria, it was good to see monarch butterflies still passing through on their way south for the winter. I had tied each tree to the base of the fence and so far all were standing up but below them was a carpet of hur- ricane- dropped apples. Just about then one of those gusts swept over the pasture and literally bent me over the fence with its force. In the background I heard one of my pines snap off as if it were a match stick. It had given up and lay on the ground CROP WalkOCtAr 20 The second annual CROP walk for hunger will be staged at 1 p.m. on Sun- day, Oct. 20, at Mattituck High School. This year the goal of the 10- kilometer (6.2 -mile) walk -run will be to raise funds for the people of the island of LaGonave, Haiti, and four North Fork charities. In the 1984 CROP walk, 300 North Fork volunteer walkers and runners raised $14,000, making it the sixth - largest event of its kind in the north- eastern United States. This year the goals are 400 volunteers and $25,000, one - quarter of which will be distributed locally as follows: • To the Long Island Council of Churches' food relief program, which last year helped feed over 100 people in Southold Town. • To purchase and repair a used truck for the North Fork agricultural glean- ing program, in which surplus crops are made available to area nutrition cen- ters and soup kitchens. 0 To CAST's (Community Action Southold Town) food commissary in Greenport, which provides food at re- duced prices to low- income families. • To help expand the Greenport Senior Citizen Day Care Center's nutri- tion program. According to director Venetia McKeighan, $1,000 will pro- vide breakfast and snacks for senior citizen clients for one year. The funds earmarked for Haiti will be used to help pay teachers' salaries and to purchase wood, thread, cloth, iron, leather and rubber for the voca- tional school on LaGonave. On Oct. 21, the day following the CROP walk -run, the Rev. George Gaffga of the Mattituck Presbyterian Church will visit Haiti for the second time. In his words, his 1984 trip proved "it's working. Money, energy, faith and lots of support are' helping people to help themselves out of the quagmire of poverty and hunger." The Rev. Gaffga said the purpose of his upcoming trip is to report on the "con- tinued effectiveness of our support." The CROP walk works like this: Each volunteer walker or runner solicits sponsors who make pledges for each mile traveled. The volunteer fills out an envelope for each sponsor, then col- lects the pledges immediately following the walk -run. Envelopes may be ob- tained from area churches, at Mattituck High School or by calling Bunny Talbot at 298 -4781. Registration forms also are available at local branches of Southold Savings Bank and North Fork Bank & Trust Co., both of which are sponsoring the 1985 Crop walk. Other early spon- sors include the Mattituck Chamber of Commerce, which expects to back its walking president with $1,000, and the Mattituck Lioness Club, which is spon- soring six walkers. Registration will take place at Mattituck High School at 12:30 p.m. on the day of the walk -run. The event starts promptly at 1 p.m., pro- ceeding in a loop east on the Main Road to Moores Lane in Cutchogue, south on Moores Lane to New Suffolk Avenue, west on New Suffolk Avenue to Reeve Avenue, across the Main Road and re- turning to the school. Traffic control will be provided by the Southold Town Police. The sponsors of the 1985 CROP walk stress that walkers, runners, wheel chair riders and those pushing baby car- riages are invited to participate. Likewise, participating is open to vol- unteers of any age. For further information, volunteers may contact 1985 CROP walk coor- dinator Frank Sinnott at 722 -4910. trailing in the wind like a huge green weather vane. Scene on the Bay The scene on the bay was that of a tempest let loose, trying its best to de- stroy the shore. We had gone to check the boat early in the morning when the east wind was blowing strong out of that quarter. In the protection of the point, the sail and power boats moored below seemed quite safe. Off to the right were two large Coast Guard boats from the Shinnecock station. They had been evacuated and were anchored in the lee waiting out the storm. Then, as we all know, in the afternoon the wind shifted to the south and the picture changed dramatically. Now the boats took the full fury of the storm which had the whole bay to build up before striking. The water that had but a ripple of waves in the morning now churned and boiled as the hurricane built. The storm was bent on destroying all in its path. The huge Coast Guard boats tore at their anchors as wave after wave broke over them. Each had its en- gine running, trying to counter the force of the sea. As I looked across the bay I could barely see through the spray and rain as huge breakers crashed on the bul- kheads, shooting white clouds of spray into the air. Looking down on all this turmoil, I'd occasionally see whirlpools of wind and sea spin counter - clockwise as they sped down the bay. One could see how easily a tornado could be born out of this mix- ture of wind, rain and sea. As I croached behind a huge hedge that protected me, I saw at my feet the first junco -- or snowbird -- of the season. This is that lovely grey and white ground feeder that has been up north all season and now has come to spend the winter with us. What a welcome we have given him! Then the heartbreaks started to show up. One after another sailboats and power boats that could no longer take the churning sea broke loose or dragged their moorings toward the black bul- kheads below. There was nothing we could do as we watched these beautiful boats crashing and crunching under the power of those huge waves. It was sad to see. One boat gave up by flipping over completely and riding the storm out bottom up at its mooring. Today, with a bright sun and a sparkling sea, we are all turning to clean up. Like the 1938 hurricane I re- member so well as a high school student in Southold, I, along with many others, will remember Gloria in 1985.