DAN’S PAPERS
Page 58 May 31, 2013
danshamptons.com
NEWS BRIEFS COMPILED BY KELLY LAffEY
eASt HAMPton: on August 17, artists and writers will play ball in the Hamptons for the 65th year. Game time is at 2 p.m., and batting practice starts at noon. What began as a casual softball game amongst East End artists subsequently expanded to include writers, and the competitive game now draws internationally acclaimed artists, writers and celebrities. To commemorate the historic installment of one of the longestrunning traditions on the East End, there will be a pre-game party at LTV Studio on August 16 and a celebratory show at Guild Hall from June 15 through July 28. The Guild Hall show, “ARTISTS & WRITERS: They Played in the Game,” will display artwork, books, photos and ephemera dating back to Willem deKooning and Franz Kline in the original 1948 game. The game will support four charities: East End Hospice, East Hampton Day Care Learning Center, the Phoenix House of Long Island and The Retreat.
Family Service League Awarded Grant SUffoLK CoUnty: the family Service League (fSL), a non-profit human services organization focusing on the growth and wellbeing of special-needs youth, has been awarded a $45,000 grant by the United Way of Long Island youth Services. FSL was founded in 1926 and has various locations in Suffolk County, with five centers in Huntington, Huntington Station, Bay Shore, East Yaphank and Riverhead. FSL’s services include helping preschool education and summer camp for disadvantaged children, mental health services, educational services, therapeutic recreation for children with autism and other special needs, and other social services. For more information, on FSL, go to www.fsl-li.org.
John White, 91
Stand Up Paddle Race to Benefit Paddlers for Humanity
Courtesy Brockett Funeral Home
Artist and Writers Game to Celebrate 65 years
SAGAPonACK: My father, John White, had been fascinated with flying since high school. He began learning to fly in Bridgehampton, and in 1937 he bought a Piper Aircraft plane upstate, put some gas in it, and flew it back to Bridgehampton with nothing more than a roadmap! It was a few more years before he got his pilot’s license. He went to flight engineering school and eventually went to work for American Airlines. In the early 1940s during World War II, he began transporting supplies to the European theater and brought back wounded soldiers. He returned to the Hamptons full-time in 1946 when his father passed away, and went from flying planes to producing food and resources for the war. A few years later, he married Betty Jean Chambers, and they had four children. Everything my dad did was remarkable. Back then, most farmers also worked with a fishing crew, and typically when fish were spotted offshore, the crews all scrambled to catch them and send them to the fish market in Manhattan. One memorable morning, his crew caught an unusual fish that turned out to be an Atlantic Sturgeon, which wasn’t commonly found in that area. Dad went out west to see how potato farming was done in the Red River Valley, and after returning home, created a four-row potato planter to double the amount of potatoes that were usually planted. The increased productivity required bigger tractors and other equipment, and farms in the area either expanded or closed down. Dad also began harvesting grains and straw, pickles and other products that were in demand all over the area. The farm always had a lot of animals around; Gurden Ludlow would come over and direct the annual slaughtering of cows, pigs, chickens and ducks. Dad was so meticulous about the procedures of the farm. This meant that the weeds had to be tended to six days a week during the spring and summer. Dad always believed that Atrazine, a chemical that was used in Long Island farms until very recently, was dangerous. “That stuff will get into the water. It’s a bad idea,” Dad used to say. Dad believed in preservation and the status quo and always worked to preserve the land. He was very involved with the Nature Conservancy of Long Island. In his lifetime, he preserved over 110 acres in Sagaponack. All this time, Dad never forgot his love of flying. Well into his 70s, he would take the plane up right off the farm to find a dog or animal that had gotten loose, and used it to travel for business and pleasure well into the ’90s. Dad was also a member of the Bridgehampton Fire Department and worked his way up to Fire Chief in the ’80s. He was married for 63 years to Betty Jean and leaves behind four children: John, Barbara, Jeff and Tom, and a granddaughter, Eliza. He was a direct descendant of Ebenezer White, the first pastor in Sagaponack from 1686 to 1750, approximately 10 generations ago. God bless Dad. —J. N. White
WAInSCott: on Sunday June 16, Main Beach Surf and Sport will sponsor a charity Stand up Paddle Race for the organization Paddlers for Humanity. The race will start at Beach Lane in Wainscott at 9 a.m., and proceed in an easterly direction to Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett. This is a Surf Zone Race. Participants will enter through the surf, round a turn buoy on the outside break and ride the wind swell down wind to the finish, where another turn buoy will be located. They will then exit through the surf to the beach. Registration will take place at the Main Beach Surf Shop starting at 7:30 a.m. Race support is provided by the East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue Squad. Visit www. mainbeach.com to sign up, or for more information or call the shop at 631-537-2716. Visit Main Beach Surf’s Facebook page for frequent updates on this event!
Our Trailer Parks Really are Better Than Yours HAMPtonS: Is one person’s trailer another person’s Montauk treasure? A recent New York Post article, “Summer Rental: Hampton Locals’ 2-Month Trailer-Cash Bonanza,” seems to indicate just that. Local East End families have rented out their year-round properties for tens of thousands of dollars, and are bunking in Montauk Shores Condominiums, which is also known as the Ditch Plains Trailer Park, for the high season. The Post does the math: One East Hampton village family is getting $50,000 in rent for their home for July and August. The yearly cost of the space in Montauk is $16,800 a year, for a profit of $33,200 for the summer. But the profit doesn’t come with the ultimate sacrifice of “roughing it,” as the Post refers to their digs as “glamping,” or glamorouscamping, and indicates that Mercedes and Audis are a frequent presence.