________________ OYSTER BAY _______________
A garden show like no other
Celebrating our independence
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Vol. 126 No. 29
JUlY 12 - 18, 2024
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HERALD Roosevelt’s long-lost watch restored at last Kovaleski. The Resource Crime Unit worked quickly to retrieve the A sentimental gift to Theo- missing artifact, returning it to dore Roosevelt was recently the Sagamore Hill National recovered and returned to his Historic Site where it will be home at Sagamore Hill, decades displayed permanently in the after being stolen from a dis- museum alongside 90,000 other objects. play case at the “It was with him Theodore Roosevelt pretty much all of Inaugural National his life. I would Historic Site in l o ve t o h e a r i t Buffalo in 1987. talk,” Tweed RoosThe historic evelt, the for mer artifact, a Waltham president’s great17 jewel watch, is grandson, said. speculated to have “It’s terrific that traveled in Roosit’s back, and the evelt’s pocket work that everythrough the many body did to get it g reat adventures here is really and tribulations extraordinary.” throughout his life, The pocket as indicated by his watch, which Roosletters. tweed RooSeVelt eve l t re p o r t e d ly In February Great-grandson of wore for decades, 2023, the National was a gift to him Park Service was Theodore Roosevelt f ro m h i s s i s t e r, alerted to the potential surfacing of Roos- Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, evelt’s property at an auction in and her husband, Douglas RobFlorida. The watch was recog- inson Jr., in 1898. The watch nized by the inscription on the accompanied the former presiinside, and Park Service special dent through his service in agents were able to determine Cuba during the Spanish-Amerthat it was indeed Roosevelt’s, ican War. It remained with him according to the acting special while exploring the Amazon in agent in charge, Christopher Continued on page 2
By JeNNA StANCo
Intern
Courtesy Processional Arts
processional arts will lead workshops culminating in the Catalyst 2024 performance.
Moving art made to move hearts at the Planting Fields Arboretum By wIll SHeelINe wsheeline@liherald.com
Oyster Bay’s Planting Fields Foundation is set to launch its most immersive Catalyst program yet, with a weeklong series of art workshops culminating in a unique performance on the historic grounds of Planting Fields Arboretum. This year’s program, titled “Follies: A Botanical Backstory,” will be led by Processional Arts — a nonprofit dedicated to preserving processions such as parades as an art form — and promises to blend art, community and history in a dynamic, interactive experience. The Catalyst 2024 workshops, July 19 to 25, will offer participants the chance to work closely with artists Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles. Known for its largescale, community-driven art parades and performances, Processional Arts will guide workshop attendees in creating puppets and props that will be showcased in a final per-
formance on July 27. Kayla Cheshire, the Planting Fields Foundation’s communications and marketing manager, and Emily Leger, its collections and exhibition manager, explained that this will be the largest and most ambitious Catalyst program the foundation has ever held. “We are very, very excited about this program,” Cheshire said. “It’s going to be a really great combination of just about everything that Planting Fields has to offer.” Since its inception in 2020, the Catalyst program has invited contemporary artists to create site-specific installations at Planting Fields. Artists such as Courtney Leonard, Mark Dion and David Brooks, have left their mark with memorable stationary outdoor art installations. This year’s program marks a departure from that format, with Processional Arts introducing a mobile performance that will traverse the grounds of Continued on page 9
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t’s terrific that it’s back, and the work that everybody did to get it here is really extraordinary.