Fair Harbor Lights
By Laura Tichler and
Jacqueline Haberfeld

Well, it was a very activity-filled two weeks on the beach. For the kids, the fun began on Saturday August 12, with a book reading and signing by local author and illustrator, Tad Hills. Tad’s book, Duck & Goose, is a New York Times children’s bestseller about a duck and goose who “adopt” an egg (or is it?) that they find in a park. You’ll find no spoilers here; you’ll have to read it yourself to find out what happens. The children really enjoyed the reading and had fun getting their books signed by Tad, while the parents enjoyed discovering a wonderful book for their children that contains both a great story and lovely artwork.

Fun for the adults was kicked off on the evening of August 12, when 80 members of the Fair Harbor community hopped aboard a special lateral ferry in their barefoot and black tie finery to kick up their heels at the annual Dinner Dance at the Fire Island Lighthouse. Notwithstanding reports of the Chicken Dance being played by the band, a good time was had by all (well, at least by most…), and the after-party revelry continued at Le Dock well into the wee hours.

A pancake breakfast was held at the Fair Harbor Firehouse on Sunday, August 13. Notwithstanding the overhang of many of the partygoers from the previous night, the breakfast was, as usual, well attended. FHFD t-shirts were available for sale, as were the perennial favorite FHFD tattoos. Hey kids—stop spending your money on temporary tattoos and just go for the real thing, eh? Free permanent FHFD tattoos will be available on the dock after the Labor Day parade. You heard it here first.

Also contributing to the Fair Harbor firehouse’s reputation as the social focal point of our town was desert and dancing at the firehouse on the evening of Saturday, August 19th. Local regulars and irregulars alike turned out to cavort around the dance floor to the musical stylings of DJ Covert, who did a great job spinning disks (can you say “spinning disks” about iPod dj’ing?) from the ’60s through today, while nestled amongst the fire gear. Sun-soaked partygoers, fresh from enjoying the most gorgeous few weeks EVER at the beach, snacked, drank, chatted and danced all evening against the festive backdrop of strings of lights and the fancy new red firetruck.

Minor drama of the week: Ellen Aronson, Walnut Walk, lost her flowers, reputed to be one of the most beautiful plantings in Fair Harbor, because her daughters, Suzanne and Debby, forgot to lock the gate. (I swear, those deer will lurk for hours behind garbage cans just waiting to see who forgets to lock the gate so that they can get a tasty meal…). Fortunately, Ellen’s granddaughter Ella broke the news to Ellen in such a way that she didn’t blow her stack.

Major drama of the week (in two parts): At around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, August 18, a foghorn blew on the beach in Fair Harbor. A shark had been sighted in the water. All swimmers and surfers were “encouraged” to leave the water pronto, but were reinstalled about half an hour later, after helicopters determined that the sea creature was, in fact, a manta ray. Whew.

Part B of the major drama occurred about an hour and a half later, when police on foot and in dune buggies and, again, helicopters, swarmed the beach in Fair Harbor searching for a lost five-year-old boy. He had apparently wandered away from his family in Fair Harbor, and in trying to find his way home to his house, got a bit turned around, almost reaching the end of Saltaire. He knew on which walk he lived, but refused to talk to strangers (good boy) or accept any help, so it was not until some alert women followed him and notified authorities that he could be picked up by Suffolk County police and returned to his understandably extremely distraught mother. Fortunately everyone was all right, but one can only imagine how frightening that half hour must have been for that family.

Fair Harbor lost two valuable members of the community last week. Dr. Chuck Ursa, a doctor for the FHFD for many years, and the father of three children, died last week. He and his wife Karen had been married for only a year, but all who knew him said that he was the happiest this last year than they had seen him in as long as they could remember. Ed Whitlach, a chief of the FHFD in the early ’80s, also died last week. His funeral held on the mainland was standing room only. One of the fondest memories that Fair Harborites have of Eddie Whitlach was his Evil Kneivel stunt that he would execute every Labor Day. He would start at the top of Broadway and the beach, on his bicycle in a full, usually outlandish, costume, and go straight down Broadway all the way across Central, across Bay Walk, down the dock and off into the bay. (A tribute is being considered by the FHFD, so please keep Broadway as clear as possible after the parade.) Both of these community members will be deeply missed.

And now, it’s the time for personal messages. This is the last issue of The Fire Island News for the season. Thanks to all those who gave us news for giving us news. You can continue to write to us over the winter, and we will save your items for next year, so keep those e-mails coming. Thanks especially to Bob Whitney, who spent the summer answering questions that started like, “Do you know who that guy is who…”

Speaking of Bob Whitney, he asked us to deliver a message that we’re more than happy to deliver. Bob wants Lynn to know how much he loves her. Their 49th wedding anniversary is September 1, and Bob says that these have been the best 49 years of his life. Congratulations, Bob and Lynn!

See you next year. All the best,

Jackie & Laura

jeh@nyc.rr.com and lauratich@earthlink.net