October 05, 1995 - One of the High Points of AutumnOctober 5, 1995 • The Suffolk Times • 7 A
One of the High Points of Autumn
By Paul Stoutenburgh
I saw my first frost on the last day of
September but not here on our East End.
We had taken a few days off to enjoy the
fall colors up in the Catskills and it was
there on our first morning we saw Jack
Frost's wonder work of ice. I think we'd
do more of these short off - the - island
trips if it wasn't such a hassle getting off
the island.
Once over the George Washington
Bridge and on the Palisades �
Parkway, we felt we could
breathe again. Our first pit
stop was about midway along
this rather bumpy parkway
that gave us a high overlook
of the Hudson River from
550 feet above. Even with
some factories and other
buildings sprinkled along its —
shore, it's still a magnificent river. What
must it have looked like when Henry
Hudson sailed up it in his Half Moon?
Fish and shellfish were in the clear
sparkling waters, riverlets and streams
flowed where he filled his water cask
with sweet fresh water and unbroken
greenery grew on both sides.
It truly was an inspiring view and, as
we searched below, a small power boat
cut through the water like a miniature
water bug slowly moving upstream. Then
to top off our view, a broad - winged hawk
came sailing along at eye level scanning
the cliff side for its noonday meal.
After refreshing ourselves with food
and drink, we were off again, this time
taking the thruway to Route 17. It
wasn't long before we started to see
color in the maples. Previous to this all
we'd seen as far as color went was
brownish leaves of trees that we thought
had been affected by our dry weather.
Later we'd see this evidence of dryness
in the reservoirs we'd pass.
Our first bit of wildlife was a ground-
hog enjoying the now -green grass along
the roadside. We still have a few ground-
hogs here on Long Island but their num-
bers have been drastically reduced by
farming and urban sprawl. The easiest
place to see them is along our own
expressway, particularly along the east
end of it between Manorville and
Riverhead. If you don't see Mr.
Groundhog himself, you can usually see
his burrowed home dug out of the ground
with a pile of earth beside it. They enjoy
the greenery of the roadside as well as
roots and other plants, for they are most-
ly vegetarians. This is why they are not
appreciated by the gardener, for they will
raise havoc in a vegetable patch.
As we worked our way deeper and
deeper into the Catskills, the terrain be-
came more and more
hilly until we were in
true mountain country.
We'd been seeing the
common pale- violet
wood aster all along the
roadside. Now beacons
of deep - violet color
showed up in clumps of
the famous New York
aster. Both of these are found here on
our East End but the New York aster is
much less common. It is a handsome
plant and often used in backyard gardens
where, with a little tender loving care, it
outperforms all others.
Of course, the other common roadside
flower of fall is the goldenrod. It grows
everywhere and sorry to say has been
falsely accused of causing hay fever we
all seem to be suffering from these days.
What really causes hay fever is wind-
blown pollen that most likely comes
from ragweed. Goldenrod is pollinated
by insects and is not windblown. Of
course, there could be other windblown
culprits but ragweed is the big offender.
Three Towns Buried
As we neared our destination around
Andes we skirted the big 15 -mile
Pepacton Reservoir. When it was built it
buried three towns in the valley under
water. What tears and heartaches that
must have caused. Trees and houses (and
graveyards, too) were removed or taken
down. Nothing was left but the roads and
bridges. Now with the low water from our
dry weather these stood out and you could
identify places once traveled by the busy
people of the communities in the valley. It
gave you a weird feeling, but that was
soon forgotten as the fall colors were
painted throughout the mountains before
Focus
on
Nature
by Paul
Stoutenburgh
■_M49w ■ wwL Oww&
75 Years Ago
Oct. 1, 1920
Fine Fruit: Out of 58 entries in fruit at the Suffolk
County Fair, Nat Booth of Southold took 43 first prizes and
11 second prizes.
New Bandleader: A. Schwarzkoff of Brooklyn,
who has been secured as bandmaster for the Greenport
Band, will arrive today, and the first rehearsal of the band
will be held tonight in the store room over Harry
Geehreng's store. Mr. Geehreng has had the room fixed up
so as to make a comfortable meeting place for the members
of the band. It was through the efforts of I.P. Hallock and
the generosity of the local businessmen that funds were pro-
vided to pay Mr. Schwarzkoff for his services. Greenport
people may look forward to the resumption of the concerts
in the bandstand in the near future.
50 Years Ago
Oct. 5, 1945
Gillette Property Sold: The former William
Gillette property, located East Marion, has been sold by
Edna Brown to Edwin King of Orient. This tract has 26
acres and is one of the most desirable properties on the east-
ern end of Long Island. Mr. King will increase the farm
acreage by cleaning up additional land this fall. The lower
Photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh
SKUNK —Fifty or more years ago, skunks were common here on the East
End. Some say pesticides did them in, for they often dined on potato bugs
and all sorts of grubs and insects.
us. The maples are the true dazzlers and
with the sun behind them, as it was on our
way up, they were spectacular.
At one point a deer bounded across the
road, its white flag showing it was off
and away. The houses all along the now
sparsely populated area had their big
wood piles nearby. Some even had the
porches filled to the ceiling in prepa-
ration for winter days ahead. We passed
over a skunk that had been flattened on
the road some time before we arrived,
but the smell lingered on. I can remem-
ber when skunks were common here on
our East End. Every barn seemed to have
its family of skunks and every compost
pile attracted their scavenging. Today the
only reminder of skunks from the past is
the occasional smell of a fox. The scent
is somewhat similar and can usually be
picked up if there is one nearby.
As we turned off the state -paved road
end, or the bay frontage, will be developed by A. Halsey
Brown for Mr. King. This will be known as the "Gillette
Estates," in memory of the noted and beloved former owner.
Labor Office Opens: The Division of Placement
and Unemployment Insurance of the New York Department
of Labor will open an office in the Village Hall, Greenport,
on Tuesday next, Oct. 9, for the convenience of the resi-
dents of Greenport and vicinity. Veterans of World War II
may also register for readjustment at this office.
25 Years Ago
Oct. 2, 1970
Indefinite Future for Inn: The historic Orient
Point Inn found itself in the role of stepchild during the
recent sale of the property which its presence has dominat-
ed for nearly 300 years. The land and building were bought
by purchasers seeking a 50 -foot right of way from the high-
way to property already owned by them. In order to obtain
the land they wanted, they had to buy the entire parcel.
"We aren't going to do anything with it [the inn] right
now," said Ernest Wilsberg, one of the new owners, "but
we're not going into the restaurant business; don't think
anything like that," he added. Mr. Wilsberg declined to
name the other new owners of the approximately two acres
and famous old inn.
that circled the reservoir, we went on a
fairly good county- surfaced road that
soon changed to familiar blacktop of the
local town that then turned into a dirt
road, telling us we were nearing our des-
tination. Clumps of red and yellow
sumac grew along the little creek that
paralleled the road. It was still and yet
leaves were falling in our pathway as if
beckoning us on. ,
Then the house of old friends showed
up with a surprise we won't forget. At
least 20 turkeys were there feeding on
their daily hand6ut from these grand old
folks. Now trees closed in all about us as
we moved slowly along. Then we spotted
a plastic water jug being filled by a
spring through a moss - covered pipe com-
ing out of the bank. We knew what that
meant, so we stopped and picked it up to
deliver to our friends at their cabin just a
short ways up the road. This was the
sweetest, coldest water you can imagine.
We were welcomed with hugs and
kisses and knew then that we were as
close to home as one could get in the
Catskills. We had found our way up
Mary Smith Road on the last leg of our
trip to their cabin in the woods.
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just about any dam ole thing"
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North Side of Rt. 25 and
Oaklawn Ave., Southold
765 -5384