Loading...
November 11, 1993 - The Natural vs. a Man-Made World6A • The Suffolk Times • November 11, 1993 The Natural vs. a Man -Made World By Paul Stoutenburgh The calendar told us that Saturday we had scheduled our- selves for a bus trip to New York. We try to get in three or four times a year via this conve- nient means of' transportation to see a show or sonic other event. Our day started bright and sunny, a typical fall day with its glow of yellow leaves everywhere. Each time we leave for the city I feel we're Focus on leaving a way of life Nature b e h i n d that's rare today and are traveling into a world foreign and uncomfortable to me. The bus loaded in the converted church - library parking lot where the stark, white steeple of the church stood out clear and strong against a cloudless blue sky. Ev- eryone was in high spirits. Trips like this have become more and more popular and in a day of concerned and enlightened people, it should be the only responsible way to go. We were among the first to enter the bus and once comfortably seated we watched the wide range of dress from the casual to the lat- est in style file in. No need to tell you at what end of the parade I was found. Once under way we left behind a rural character not easily matched in today's world of pizazz and polish. Farms and vineyards disappeared behind us. Occasionally we'd see the telltale sign of our changing times, the stark "For Sale" sign that meant another farmer had given up a way of life that would affect us all in the future in one way or another. Quaint towns passed by, still not pol- luted by the modern shopping centers that we'd become familiar with as we moved westward. It's funny but the song that had the key line, "You always hurt the one you love," ran through my mind. People move out here on the East End because they love its rural character, but to accommodate them developments are built and we lose the very open spaces of the farms they had come for. The demand for shopping centers grows and the quiet country businesses dry up as big business takes over. We Have Everything We were leaving behind the great beaches and tidal flats that our East End is so well known for. Nowhere else can you find the fine beaches of the ocean along the South Shore nor the pebbly beaches of the protected bays that line the fishtail of our North and South forks. Few places can rival our creeks with all their spoils of fish, clams, crabs and a variety of life forms that make living on these estuaries so rewarding. Later at the outskirts of the city we'd pass over what were in the early days pristine creeks that have been lost to pollution and bulk- heads. Their only use now is to transport barges laden with man's waste and prod- ucts. Most of the tree plantings along the highway were the non- native Norway maples and their bright - yellow leaves gave us a trail of color to follow. As we approached Riverhead's Route 58 the rural character of the roadside changed. Stores with no sense of place started to clutter the road edge. Signs of every color and description tried to lure our 1 wVw ■ wwL nwwiL 52 Years Ago Nov 11, 1911 Repeal Escallop Law: A petition has been pre- pared by Justice George W. Hildreth of Riverhead asking for the repeal of the escallop law passed by the Suffolk Board of Supervisors two years ago, which prohibits catch- ing escallops under one year old. The baymen were instru- mental in having this law passed, but now, owing to the scarcity of escallops over one year old, they want the reso- lution repealed. 50 Years Ago Nov 12, 1943 Wartime Drama at GHS: "Mrs. Miniver," a human and moving drama of a typical English family in war time, is the three -act play to be presented by the seniors of Greenport High School on Friday, Nov. 19, at 8:15 o'clock. The cast of 14 characters is headed by Marionlee Watkins, who, as Mrs. Miniver, very capably brings to life the gracious English gentlewoman who has become an almost universal symbol of modern courage and unselfish- ness. "Mrs. Miniver" is directed by Miss Margaret Kunes. The play, which is not just a repetition of the moving pic- ture but rather an original view of the same delightful fami- ly, has everything to make it enjoyable. NhUlo U eyes. Ugliness of unplanned businesses dominated the scene. Businesses are necessary, but to blight an area with no thought as to how it will affect the com- munity in this day and age of knowledge and planning is a crime. We looped around the 60 -acre clover- leaf that marks the beginning and end of the Long Island Expressway. Th`e yellow leaves of the maples were gone now and the dark reds of the scrub oak and the greenery of pines took over. We were passing through the pine barrens that hold the future of Suffolk County's fresh water supply. Thank good- ness some of it has been protected, for without that protection it would surely have gone into development sooner or later and with it septic tanks and cesspools that eventually would ruin the water below. they've been able to hold on as they did in colonial times. When the Express- way was first put in, extensive non - native plantings were put along the roadside edge to make it beautiful. The trouble is that the relentless pressure of nature has pushed the pine barrens and scrub oaks into the mowed and planted area. In many places they have taken back their lost territory. If a service road or other manmade objects separate the plantings from the pine barrens, the introduced yi,aui5routenourgl Plants can hold on to their own but there's always the pressure of pressure of the local flora taking over. Occasionally we'd pass or see huge tractor trailers hauling garbage away from some town or village to be deposit- ed in someone else's backyard. The old adage, "not in my backyard," is all too evident throughout our country. Perhaps we should rethink this concept and real- ize that if we produce it we should take care of it. But then I was never one to be on the pop- ular side of things. Further west the traffic started to build up. Where were they all going? Most of the cars carried only one person. At one point the thumpety -thump of the cement highway gave way to a new, smoother black- top. The original road had literally been worn out and had to be resurfaced. This is one of the many costs that politicians don't tell you about when they put in the original project. We passed the great wooden walls that have recently been put up to protect the people behind from the sounds and smells of modern -day traffic, another hidden and untold expense. It wasn't too long after that when we saw the first high -rise on the horizon and from then on to the city we found walls of brick, cement and glass separated by blacktop. This was the world I could do without. As we rambled along with the build- ings towering over us I couldn't help but think that much of what is wrong with the world today starts in these crowded corridors. Here people have little contact with the natural world, little room for enjoyment except what is manmade. I often wonder what I would do if I lived under the same conditions. The old adage,`not in my backyard,' is all too evident throughout our country. Occasionally along the Expressway edge I'd see mounds of newly dug dirt where groundhogs or woodchucks had burrowed. Usually we associate these large rodents with the upstate pastures, but here and in a few other places 25 Years Ago Nov 15, 1968 East End Swept by Storm: On Tuesday an autumn gale of hurricane force accompanied by a torrential rainfall swept the Atlantic seaboard. Winds of 100 miles an hour were recorded. The oceanfront in the Hamptons suf- fered heavy financial damage from the winds, heavy seas and record high tide. In Greenport, despite the fact that winds over 70 miles an hour were recorded and that the barometer was at the same low as during the 1944 hurri- cane, damage was slight. Ferry service to Shelter Island was suspended and the Orient causeway was impassable. Tax Budget Adopted: The Shelter Island Town Board unanimously passed a 1969 gross budget of $192,143.74. The tax rate will decrease in the town from $1.74 to $1.28. The major factors in the new budget are $17,000 for the purchase of the Shelter Island Light and Power Co. building for use as a town hall annex and an across - the -board 10- percent pay increase for all town employees except Super- visor Evans K. Griffing, who got no increase in his salary of $5,000 a year. A reassessment of land has raised the assessed valuation from $8,000,000 to $15,000,000, permitting a tax -rate decrease. Aquarium Fund - Raiser RIVERHEAD —The Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation, Inc, will hold a benefit reception on Friday, Nov. 19, for the "Unveiling of the Master Plan for the Okeanos Long Island Aquarium." There will be a presentation by ex- hibit designers and architects, a ques- tion- and - answer period, displays of exhibits and floor plans, and classical music entertainment. The reception will be held at the Fox Hill Country Club in Baiting Hollow from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling Okeanos at 728 -4522.