2021-2022 Annual Report

ABOUT SYLVESTER MANOR

The lands known today as Sylvester Manor were home to the indigenous Manhansett People for thousands of years, on the island they called Mahansack-Ahaquatuwamock, the “Island Sheltered by Islands.” In the early 1650s Dutch-English colonists, Nathaniel Sylvester and three partners, established Shelter Island as a provisioning plantation for sugarcane operations in Barbados. Consisting today of 236 acres, Sylvester Manor is the most intact plantation remnant and former place of enslavement north of Virginia.

Sylvester Manor was owned continuously by one family, Sylvesters and their descendants, from 1652 until 2010 when Eben Fiske Ostby, and his nephew Bennett Konesni, gifted the historic site to the nonprofit organization they established. Over the past 370 years, Sylvester Manor has been a provisioning plantation, an Enlightenment-era farm, a pioneering food industrialist’s summer estate, and home to generations of Sylvester descendants and laborers who stewarded the historic structures, collections and cultural landscape.

TODAY, SYLVESTER MANOR IS

• A Nationally-recognized Site of Significance on Gardiners Creek consisting of 236 acres of farm fields, woodlands and wetlands, a 1737 Manor House, a restored 19th-century windmill, an Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground and family cemetery, a formal garden and layered cultural landscape

• A place that acknowledges and interprets inclusive history with a particular focus on those who built and sustained Sylvester Manor

• An educational resource for learners of all ages, from the youngest children to adults and eminent scholars

• A working farm that sustainably grows food for the whole community open to the public with 5 miles of walking trails, offering extensive educational and cultural arts programming; and committed to working closely with diverse partners – conservationists, educators, neighbors, public agencies, descendant community members – to interpret the past and build a resilient future

• Working to preserve and protect the landscape and ecosystems, and to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse historic structures

OUR

MISSION IS TO

Preserve, Cultivate and Share Historic Sylvester Manor.

Dear Fellow Supporters of Sylvester Manor,

What a joy to reflect on Sylvester Manor’s strong 2022. Despite a difficult global environment, Sylvester Manor benefited from many impressive accomplishments that reflect the energy, expertise and initiative of the staff and their ability to connect our mission with a broad audience.

It is important to note that Sylvester Manor is still a young organization. I remember planting rye in the windmill field just over 10 years ago with many of you as Bennett Konesni, Benjamin Dyett and Don Shillingburg announced the early vision of Sylvester Manor as a community-based organization. Sylvester Manor has more than lived up to this dream, expanding its reach well beyond the shores of Shelter Island.

The Sylvester Manor Board of Trustees, in collaboration with staff and management, is focused on plotting a course that carries us into the future, while fueling and embracing the telling of its past as a provisioning plantation that benefited from the labor of enslaved Africans and native Manhansett people. Sylvester Manor holds the legacy of a single extended families’ ownership, with a sizable archive of letters, art and artifacts that offer a window into how this Country evolved. Our responsibility is to continue to keep Sylvester Manor alive and growing.

We are excited to begin the rehabilitation of the Manor House in 2023, with the goal of keeping the historic building a living structure that represents the complexity and layers of history, while also creating

a space for learning and discovery. Sylvester Manor continues to evolve into a resource accessible to the whole community. In 2022, we consolidated the property with the purchase of the Old Farmhouse, which will be used for programming, administrative offices and staff housing. We continue to expand the trails, the Farm and the Farmstand, and were selected as the only site in Suffolk County to have woodlands dedicated into the national Old Growth Forest Network.

As we look ahead, 2023 will be another momentous year of growth with the kick-off of a $15M capital campaign, rehabilitation work beginning on the historic Manor House, continued growth of the agricultural and retail operations, expanded educational opportunities, and so much more.

On behalf of the entire board, I want to thank our wonderful team and dedicated supporters – donors, friends, neighbors, volunteers, and community partners – for your generosity, enthusiasm and energy as we continue to live up to the mission of Preserving, Cultivating and Sharing Historic Sylvester Manor.

Sincerely,

Marc Robert President, Sylvester Manor Board of Trustees

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Marc Robert, Board President

Elly Karp Wong, Vice President

Kathleen DeRose, Secretary

James Preston, Treasurer

Eben Fiske Ostby, Founding Chair

Ingrid Brody Bateman

Julia Brennan

Thomas F. Carrier

Benjamin Dyett

Steven Eisenstadt

Cynthia Flynt

Kathleen R. Gerard

Rhonda Greene

Steve Houston

Kareen Mozes Laton

Thomas Misson

Stephen Mrozowski

Karolann Rubin

Peter Vielbig

Administration

Stephen Searl, Executive Director

Courtney Wingate, Director of Development

Tracy McCarthy, Director of Operations

Donnamarie Barnes, Director of History & Heritage

Sara Gordon, Planning & Sustainability

Gunnar Wissemann, House & Grounds Manager

Alice Clark, History & Heritage Associate & Events Planner

Virginia Gerardi, Office/Facilities Support

Farm

Cristina Cosentino, Director of Farm Operations

Brooke Parrett, Field Manager

Erin Tranfield, Livestock Coordinator

Andrew Geller, Crew Lead/Markets Coordinator

Tayem Hackman, Assistant Field Manager

Daphne Allen

Yotum Almor

Julia Amiri

Maryann Conigliaro

Evan Feliciano

Alexander Kuchta

Katherine Marshall

Paul Massick Colombo

Eva Nelson

Jessica Tonn

Catherine Tsarouhtsis

Olive Wauzynski

Farmstand

Jennifer Ernst, Farmstand Manager

Kat Austin

James Burrell

Kimberly Chicka

Grace Gallant

Victoria Hernandez

Nathan Hernandez

Lisa Kaasik

Heather Lee

Lilah Marsh

Moriah Moore

Grace Olinkiewicz

Summer Youth Program

Hannah Gray, Summer Youth Program Director

Hannah Rogers, Assistant Director

Sean Denara, Assistant Director

Lucy Browne

William Carrier

Finn Egan

India Eisenstadt

Alexa Halper

John Kimmelmann

Jonas Kinsey

Isabelle Laton

Lucia Levine

Beckett McCann

Lauren Mlicko

Ava Oakley

Tess Peress

Hannah Pettibone

Emily Pisall

Max Radomisli

Christopher Rodier

Jackson Slater

Samuel Slater

Christine Watts

Ella Watts-Gorman

Anna Wong

Cover photo by Wil Weiss

OLD FARMHOUSE

The circa-1850 Old Farmhouse near the Sylvester Manor barns, which was gifted on 2 acres by Andrew Fiske to his stepdaughter Elisabeth in 1979, was purchased by Sylvester Manor in June 2022, reuniting this key parcel and asset with the surrounding site.

Historically, a succession of farmers and property caretakers lived in the Old Farmhouse. Now, it is slated for renovation and will serve a number of crucial functions that include multi-use facilities for Education Programs staff and participants; administrative offices, particularly during rehabilitation of the Manor House; and residential accommodations for staff and crew.

As we begin to implement the campuswide redevelopment of Sylvester Manor, we will revisit our 2020 Comprehensive Landscape Plan to incorporate the addition of the Old Farmhouse.

The purchase of the Old Farmhouse was made possible by a bridge loan from a very generous donor.

New York State $500,000 EPF Award for Manor House

In July of 2022, the Manor’s preservation team submitted a New York State Consolidated Funding Application to the Regional Economic Development Commission and the Environmental Protection Fund’s Parks and Historic Preservation program. Governor Hochul announced in December that Sylvester Manor was awarded the maximum $500,000 matching grant to rehabilitate the exterior building envelope of the 1737 Manor House. Sylvester Manor was one of only two organizations in Suffolk County to receive EPF Historic Preservation funding in 2022.

The project will implement the preservation strategies of the Sylvester Manor House Preservation and Maintenance Plan completed in November 2021 by Architectural Preservation Studio (APS).

The NYS grant and matching funds will support the repair or replacement of these Manor House exterior features:

● Roofs and Chimneys

● Foundation

● Porches

● Façades/Siding

● Doors, Windows and Shutters

The Manor House Collections

Significant advances were made last year in managing the extraordinary collection of material culture gathered and held over the centuries in the Manor House and Barns. In September 2022, a much-needed survey of the contents and interior finishes of the Manor House was undertaken by preservation professionals Mary A. Jablonski of Jablonski Building Conservation, Inc. and Eugenie Milroy of AM Art Conservation. This work was supported by funding from the Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) Program of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation.

EUGENIE MILROY OF AM ART CONSERVATION:

This preservation project is expected to begin in mid-late 2023 and take approximately 3 years.

“The Preservation League has been pleased to support Sylvester Manor’s preservation work through our Preserve New York and Technical Assistance Grant programs, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts. We commend Sylvester Manor on the thoughtful stewardship of their historic resources and the development of interpretive programs that bring stories of the Indigenous heritage of Long Island, the role of the sugar trade, enslavement, the evolution of agriculture, and sustainable farm practices to life for the public. We congratulate Sylvester Manor on their $500,000 EPF Historic Preservation award and wish them every success moving forward!”

– Katie Eggers Comeau, Vice President for Policy and

“This was a fascinating CAP to do because we learned so much about your institution and its rich history, current programs and all the exciting possibilities going forward.”

MARY JABLONSKI OF JABLONSKI BUILDING CONSERVATION, INC:

Preservation, Preservation League of

New

York State

We are very grateful to the many partners who have supported Manor House stewardship efforts to date and to the donors contributing to this major, long-awaited preservation initiative.

“What is always fun is how much we learn about small institutions. I learned a lot more about Sylvester Manor, all interesting. We also meet such incredible dedicated people who manage to make museums relevant to the communities they live in and the visitors that also come from afar.”

In 2022 the Manor House collections were incorporated into Bard Graduate Center’s MA program in Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture. Ongoing study includes field work and analysis at Sylvester Manor, led by Professor Jennifer L. Mass, PhD, whose research is centered on understanding the materials chemistry of cultural heritage.

The Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan offered a course in the Fall of 2022 entitled, “Science and Sylvester Manor.” Students were provided with an introduction to the scientific study of material culture using the Manor and its collections to demonstrate how materials analysis can inform humanities scholars about the past. Graduate students visited and toured the Manor and then each picked an object for study over the semester to be scientifically analyzed with an x-ray spectrometer.

The Manor House collection generated much enthusiasm among the students as they surveyed the various pieces of silver, ceramics, textile, wallpaper and furniture. Being students of the decorative arts, they also provided wonderful insights and history for many of the pieces we see everyday in the Manor House!

The students will present their findings at a presentation at the Bard Graduate Center in the Spring of 2023.

Mellon Foundation NEW & EXPANDING HISTORY & HERITAGE PARTNERSHIPS SECURED

In 2022 Sylvester Manor was proud to announce that the nonprofit organization had been awarded a $150,000 Officer’s Planning Grant from The Mellon Foundation to support the History and Heritage Planning and Partnership Initiative. This year-long Initiative focused on organizational engagement with institutions of higher learning and other historical sites, enhancing Sylvester Manor’s capacity as a placebased center of inquiry, scholarship and public engagement.

Executive Director Stephen Searl noted, “With the support of The Mellon Foundation, this project will build upon existing partnerships, introduce Sylvester Manor to new institutions of higher learning, and connect the organization to similar historical organizations and projects that are striving to advance more inclusive narratives. Institutionally and programmatically, Sylvester Manor has reached a point of national significance, and has a responsibility to share this place’s history of generational enslavement, indenture and displacement with a broader constituency.”

Throughout the year, Director of History & Heritage and Research Associate, Donnamarie Barnes and Alice Clark, traveled to historic sites in New York City such as the Morris Jumel Mansion, The African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan, as well as to Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon along with the University of Virginia in Charlotte and to the Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. At every stop Donnamarie and Alice met with historians, curators and archaeologists to discuss how historical stories were being told with an emphasis on changing the narrative to include the history of the enslaved and indigenous at sites. Time and again they were surprised and delighted to learn that our work at Sylvester Manor is known and admired for the way we have approached our history, research and public programming.

Sylvester Manor welcomed the Mellon team from the Humanities in Place program this past August for a 2-day onsite visit.

Sylvester Manor also began partnerships with various universities and colleges offering graduate level courses focusing on Northern Slavery using Sylvester Manor as a base of study. Courses were conducted by the Bard Graduate Center focusing on the decorative art collections within the Manor house, Yale University School of Architecture and Law in a collaborative class with the University of Michigan studying Plantation logic in the north and Columbia University School of Architecture.

The funding from Mellon has allowed us to move beyond the East End and to see Sylvester Manor as a leading member of a greater community telling the stories of Northern Slavery and uncovering the history and lives of the enslaved and free people of color. As we learned and experienced new things we also reflected on where we are going and the next steps we hope to take at the Manor.

In late September, Donnamarie and Alice culminated their travel schedule funded by Mellon with a trip to Barbados to meet with the Dean of History & Heritage at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill and the Director and staff at the Barbados Museum & Historical Society. At the University they discussed a proposed plan of study for graduate and postgraduate students focusing on tracing the Sylvester family and their plantations on Barbados as well as attempting to research the African people transported in a dispora from Barbados to

Shelter Island in the 17th century. The project proposed over the next three years would allow students from UWI to research the archives in Barbados as well as to travel to New York to visit and study at Sylvester Manor. Eventual findings would be published in the Journal of the Barbados Museum and presented at the Manor.

We are so grateful for the support, inspiration and help of the Mellon Foundation and the teams from Humanities in Place and Higher Learning programs this past year. It has been tremendously exciting and successful in ways we couldn’t have imagined, and has prepared us to move into the next phases of projects, plans and programs with confidence and pride. Our historical research has uncovered histories and stories we hadn’t known before and has strengthened what makes Sylvester Manor so special and a site that is in the forefront of place-based historical learning and the study of Northern Slavery.

We look forward to all that is ahead in 2023 and beyond!

Donnamarie Barnes and Alice Clark had a chance to visit the present-day Constant Plantation in St. George Parish, once owned by the Sylvester family in Barbados, and still in operation as a sugar-producing property. They are seen here with Alissandra Cummins (center), Director of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society.

Place-Based Learning

In 2022, we focused Sylvester Manor’s vast educational resources on creating a PreK-12 curriculum. Sylvester Manor-based curriculum can align with many of the New York State public school standards. Our immediate goal was to create a Learning Expedition to be piloted in the Shelter Island School’s 5th Grade class. A Learning Expedition is a long-term project that makes Standards come alive for students. The curriculum focuses on the Indigenous history of Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island and Long Island.

Whose Voices Have We Not Yet Heard?

This 10-week, multidisciplinary, Inquiry-Driven Social Studies Project places Sylvester Manor and the Indigenous people of Shelter Island and Long Island at its center. Through two connected case studies, one culminating writing unit, and several visits to Sylvester Manor for fieldwork, students are immersed in research about the history of the Indigenous people of Long Island and the impact of European colonization of the American northeast.

Students will examine all texts and sources through the lens of multiple perspectives. This Learning Expedition was designed and developed in partnership with Indigenous people who were critical thoughtpartners throughout the process to ensure respectful representation and dignity for all people who are the subject of the students’ research.

As a way to showcase their learning, students will take action by adapting their final written product to create a narrative for the Sylvester Manor Walking Tour App.

This innovative place-based curriculum development work has already gained regional attention and interest in replication for other localities and is a successful model that will lead to other public school programs and place-based learning initiatives.

Field Trips

Over the course of 2022, 229 students from grades PreK through 6th grade visited Sylvester Manor on school field trips to learn about regenerative farming techniques, soil science, stewardship, sustainability, the Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground and much, much more. Some students heard directly from Shane Weeks, a tribal leader in the Shinnecock Nation, as he shared songs and stories of his ancestors, and demonstrated native drumming. Students came from as far west as Wading River, and from both Forks and Shelter Island. Sylvester Manor hosts all Shelter Island Elementary School students, pre-K through grade 5, every year at no cost. This is a much-loved immersive and inclusive program that culminates in fifth-graders visiting the Manor House attic.

This summer we welcomed a group of teens from a program of Brooklyn’s Brownsville community – Empowering Youth Through Excellence – whose mission is to improve the lives of youth in underserved communities and facilitate their development into positive, contributing adults. The group has begun a research project in their community to uncover the names and identities of Enslaved people buried in an African American Burial Ground that was built over. The students were very interested and engaged in hearing the inclusive history stories of Sylvester Manor. In addition to visiting Sylvester Manor and the Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground, the group visited East Hampton where they helped the Plain Sight Project install bronze bricks outside the East Hampton Library to commemorate an Enslaved child who had lived near the Library.

We use a 1964 Farmall Cub as our primary machine for cultivation; you may have seen this beautiful piece of history on the farm!

FARM HIGHLIGHTS

2022 was a banner year for the Sylvester Manor Farm. We continued to expand food production, farming with more vegetables, small fruit, laying hens and pigs. We even had sheep grazing the back pastures. Here are a few of the highlights from the past year:

Farmstand Expansion

If you’ve been in the Farmstand in the last year, you know there’s been quite an upgrade and expansion! The new footprint of our Farm Store allows for bountiful displays of all the fruits and vegetables grown on the farm, with local additions from our friends at Balsam Farm, Treiber Farm, and many others – as well as other curated items. The awning and chairs provide a shaded and welcoming spot to put your feet up and admire the fields.

Berries

This year we planted over a thousand berry plants: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, currants, and elderberries. These plants will fruit for years to come. By next year we’ll be able to invite CSA members into the field for more pick-your-own harvests. Expect loads of strawberries by late spring through early summer, as we planted both June Bearing and Day Neutral strawberries. We also planted plenty of summer and fall raspberries, two varieties of blackberries, and four varieties of blueberries, for summers full of fruit!

Cub Tractor

Our historic 1964 Farmall Cub continues to play a starring role in the fields. This tractor is one of our primary methods for cultivating the fields, and it has made a world of difference in how we manage the perennial enemy: weeds. With one pass of the tractor, we are able to replace hours of hard labor.

Refrigeration Installation

As the farm continues to grow, so too does our need for postharvest refrigeration. When the Farmstand was expanded we installed a new, self-contained refrigerator that can accommodate produce for our CSA, expanded wholesale accounts and the Farmstand. We now have approximately 3,500 square feet of refrigerated space, three times what we had in 2021!

Food Access Program Expanded

Of the 170 CSA shares that we distributed every week during the summer and fall, 24 were donated to our food pantry partners, including the Center for Advocacy, Support & Transformation in Southold Town (CAST) as well as the Shelter Island and Montauk food pantries. With the help of donors and foundations, we donated nearly $30,000 of fresh local food to community members in need.

FINANCIAL SUMMARYStatement of Revenue and Expenses / NARRATIVE

Sylvester Manor’s Fiscal Year 2022 started November 1, 2021 and ended October 31, 2022. FY22 began with continued uncertainty due to the pandemic, but the organization kept pace with prior years. Fundraising continued to grow, as did investment in our History & Heritage work thanks to support from the Mellon Foundation. Revenue from educational programming and the farm also increased over 2021, and, for the second year in a row, Sylvester Manor made significant investments in the Farm and the Preservation of the Manor House.

Note: This financial overview draws from the organization’s unaudited financials. The audited financial statements and Form 990 for FY22 will be complete by Spring 2023. Please contact our office to request copies of our audited financials and filed Form 990.

OPERATING EXPENDITURES

FY22 Total Expended: $2,104,615

REVENUE & RESTRICTED SUPPORT

FY22 Total Raised: $2,191,422

10%

8%

HISTORY & HERITAGE: 17% $365,080

37%

CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND RESTRICTED PROJECTS

FY22 Total Expended: $303,168

Windmill Fundraising and Restoration Continues

One of the highlights of summer 2022 was gathering with our friends to support the continued restoration of the 1810 Nathaniel Dominy Windmill. Over 175 people joined us for a joyous celebration at the base of the mill for our 5th Annual Windmill Cocktail Party, which raised over $25,000 toward additional repairs. A big thank you to all of our supporters, the Bar Truck, Wishbone Farms Catering, Half Pint, Peeko Oysters, Debbie Speeches staffing and Shelter Island Party Rentals for making it another night to remember.

Through funding raised for the mill, we were thrilled to welcome back master carpenters Jim Kricker and Amy Boyce and their team

in the fall. It was imperative to jack up the mill to reset certain posts, replace the north sill, and repair some of the stone foundation to protect against water infiltration. Like most historic projects, we’ve had to take a flexible and patient approach in order to both maintain the historic integrity and characterdefining features of the mill, and also take into account some unique challenges along the way. Jim and Amy share the commitment to completing this project and will return in 2023 to identify next steps on repairing the internal mechanisms, so that the mill can become fully functional!

Photo: Amy Boyce, Master Carpenter

Volunteer Spotlight

GALEN GUENGERICH

This year’s Volunteer Spotlight features Galen Guengerich, who in 2022 spent countless hours weeding in the rows at the Windmill Field, and in November joined a hardy team to clean up the historic Garden. Galen is the senior spiritual leader of All Souls NYC, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Manhattan. Galen and his wife, Holly Atkinson, are longtime Shelter Island residents. In addition to his hands-on volunteerism, Galen serves the Manor in the spiritual realm each year as the Minister at Union Chapel for Sylvester Manor’s annual Harvest Sunday.

His words at Sylvester Manor’s Harvest Sunday on August 28, 2022 were deeply felt and inspiring:

In recent years, Sylvester Manor has helped make directly tangible our sense of interconnection and interdependence. As a result, we’ve made a commitment to taking our history as an island seriously, to preserving the land and practicing sustainable agriculture, and to celebrating the beauty of the natural world and the beauty of human creativity.

Even as we have worked together to transform Sylvester Manor, its presence has in turn transformed us. The bounty of its fields nourishes our bodies and our souls. The work of producing and sharing this bounty draws us together as a

community. Many of us gather each week at the CSA and the Sylvester Manor Farmstand. As with any table laden with food, more gets shared than vegetables and fruit. We meet our neighbors and exchange greetings with old friends. Weplan get-togethers. We share our lives….

As we become more open to ourselves and the people and natural world around us, we become more hopeful in facing the larger challenges that confront us as a nation and a global community.

“I enjoy volunteering at Sylvester Manor,” Galen says, “because the experience connects me with the earth – the source of our sustenance. Having spent my early formative years on a farm in central Delaware, I feel at home in the fields and the pasture lands, where Holly and I enjoy walking in the evenings.”

In addition, Galen deeply values the friendships he has developed and the camaraderie he enjoys with other volunteers. He also values delving into the history of Sylvester Manor as the site of a former plantation worked by Enslaved Africans. He says, “It’s a microcosm of our nation’s history –both the worst of it, but alsothe best of it. Sylvester Manor confronts us with the hard work we need to do to redeem both our ecosystem as a planet and our ideals as a nation.”

DONNA DORIAN

The Manor Garden CleanUp project, which has drawn passionate garden lovers to the Manor over many years, was rebooted in 2022 with the help of garden designer Donna Dorian of Sag Harbor. Donna reached out to us and offered her help with the garden while attending The Garden Conservancy July 31, 2022 Open Days “Digging Deeper” Tour of the Manor Grounds. Donna worked with staff lead Virginia Gerardi and grounds caretaker Gunnar Wissemann to plan the early November work day, then guided a robust team of weed whackers and invasive plant eradicators to make a major dent in the unwelcome overgrowth besieging a large ‘room’ in the center of the garden. The volunteer turnout and accomplishments that day exceeded all expectations.

Donna Dorian reflected to her crew:

“After all of your hard work on Saturday morning, I was finally able to see what you had accomplished—the sketch of not only a garden surrounded by boxwoods, but a great lawn that was really quite lovely. Now we can see how in spring the boxwood surround captured the heady scent of lilacs like an open-air perfume bottle, and dogwood and viburnum dressed the garden in pinks and white. It was magic: In three hours you released the pleasures of a garden that had almost been lost in time. What a wonderful day it was.”

Donna also volunteered her time to walk the winter landscape to identify and map the specimen shrubs and trees and invasive plants in two of the main garden rooms, to help guide the volunteers when they get back to the garden in the spring.

As we all emerge from pandemic restrictions, the Garden Clean-up days are an encouraging step in reviving and revitalizing volunteer engagement in Sylvester Manor’s cultural landscape and programs. Warm thanks again to Donna Dorian and the devoted garden volunteers.

THANK YOU TO OUR FALL GARDEN CLEAN-UP VOLUNTEER CREW:

Holly Atkinson

Julia Brennan

Carol Carasek

Griff Fairbairn

Jack Fairbairn

Rob Fairbairn

Cynthia Flynt

Galen Guengerich

Edie Landeck

Diane Rossi

Mary Ward

Farm to Table 2022

What an amazing feeling it was to be safely gathered with friends again at the Ninth Annual Farm to Table Dinner, on Saturday, June 25, 2022. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the outdoor event was back and better than ever! For many participants, it was the first large event they had attended in person (and mask-free) since the start of the pandemic in 2020. We lucked out. The weather was gorgeous, and over the course of the beautiful evening nearly half a million dollars was raised for the Sylvester Manor Annual Fund – more than any other previous Farm to Table! It was thrilling to see so many new faces among the 352 guests. Nearly a third of the guests had never attended Farm to Table before and the event garnered many first-time gifts.

The magical evening featured delicious, locally-sourced food and wine by Love Lane Caterers of the North Fork. After delicious reviews, Love Lane will RETURN in 2023 for Sylvester Manor’s 10th Annual Farm to Table on June 24, 2023!

On behalf of event chair Karolann Rubin and everyone at Sylvester Manor, thank you for being a part of this very special and meaningful event. With your help, we are fulfilling our mission to Preserve, Cultivate and Share this unique historic place on Shelter Island.

photos Wil Weiss

Committee Members

Karolann Rubin, Chair

Courtney Wingate, Director of Development

Alice Clark, Events Planner

Matthew Arendt

Susan Petrie Badertscher

Amy Cococcia

Andrew Ehrlich

Ingrid Fagen

Chuck Fleckenstein

Kathleen Gerard

Rhonda Greene

Kathryn Huarte

Edie Landeck

Patrick Loftus-Hills

Mara Manus

Russell Piccione

Caroline Ritter

Karen Robert

Konnin Tam

Harvest Moon Ferry Cruise

172 people attended the sold-out Harvest Moon Ferry Cruise on Saturday, September 10, 2022. The harvest moon happens once annually in either late summer or early autumn depending on the lunar cycle. The harvest moonrise comes soon after sunset resulting in an abundance of bright, early evening light. Traditionally, this was a night celebrated by farmers who could work longer hours during their harvest. For us, clear skies, warm air, and a huge moon made for a spectacular night to dance under the stars! Enormous thanks to Bill Clark, Briton Clark, Cliff Clark and everyone at South Ferry Company for their generosity in donating the boat ride, their time, captain and crew for the evening.

2022 Quick Facts

RECENT RESEARCH FINDINGS

Through primary and secondary source research we identified the names of nearly 50 individuals who are buried in Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

With the help of Architectural Preservation Studio, historic preservation architects, we completed comprehensive 360-degree orthoimagery and baseline drawings of the Manor House exterior and interior. It was the first time scaled drawings of the House have been done since 1908!

COMPOST & FOOD WASTE DIVERSION PROGRAM

We spread 200 yards of our own compost, which was used to mulch the garlic and amend a section of the Windmill Field. We purchased 500 yards of compost from the Town Recycling Center and used it to spread on all the other vegetable beds. 50 CSA members participated and provided approximately 7K lbs of food scraps diverted from the waste stream.

CULTURAL PROGRAMMING ACROSS AMERICAN ROOTS CONCERT

250 people attended the Concert that featured: Rites of Spring Woodwind Quintet, Shane Weeks of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, and The Jazz Loft Big Band.

TOURS

128 people attended 33 public tours (Windmill Field; Past, Present & Future; History & Heritage; Family Fun @ the Farm; Digging Deeper with The Garden Conservancy).

Honor Roll of Donors

We are grateful to Sylvester Manor’s friends and donors who share our confidence in the mission and values, and who continue to invest in the critical work we do. This support and the careful stewardship of our resources are an essential partnership – and help us become the innovative, evolving farm and historic center with boundarybreaking programming we aspire to be.

$100,000+

Jennifer and Steven Eisenstadt

Thomas Roush and LaVon Kellner

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

$20,000-$49,999

Dan and Maureen Cahill

Kathleen DeRose and Nigel Francombe

Andrew Ehrlich and Tania Brief

The Gillian S. Fuller Foundation, Inc

The Ida and Robert Gordon

Family Foundation

Alex Jackson

Jasteka Foundation, Inc. /

Elly and Tony Wong

Jennifer Kroman and David Wermuth

Kevin Roberts and Timothy Haynes

Sarah Tobin and Paul Skinner

$10,000-$19,999

The Angelson Family Foundation /

Mark and Lynn Angelson

Ingrid and Justin Bateman

Victoria and Craig Bergstrom

Blair and John Borthwick

Krista and Paul Carberry

Letitia and Clifford Clark

Nancy Cooley and Stuart Goode

Concordia Foundation

Marie and John Evans

Cynthia Flynt and David Kriegel

Katie Ford

Willette Hoffmann

Mimi and Steve Houston

Eugenie and Derek Jacobson

Edie Landeck and Michael Coles

Patrick Loftus-Hills and Konnin Tam

The Mamdani Foundation, Inc. /

Iqbal and Shelby Mamdani

Alex Rappaport and Lisbeth Kaiser

Karen and Marc Robert

Karolann and Alex Rubin

Traynor Family Foundation/

Kathleen DeRose and Nigel Francombe

VOYA Foundation/

Kathleen DeRose and Nigel Francombe

$5,000-$9999

Bessemer Trust /

Debbie and Michael Shepherd

Christine and Cromwell Coulson

Sarah and Robert Fairbairn

Samantha Gilbert

Kristin Kehrberg

Andrew and Gretchen McFarland

National Christian Foundation /

Elizabeth and Joseph Eckman

Meryl Rosofsky and Stuart Coleman

Stanford and Rebecca Searl

Karen and Sam Seymour

Richard Smith

Nancy and John Sommi

Eva and Jan Sudol

William C. Dowling Jr. Foundation /

John and Marie Evans

$1,000-$4,999

Hans Aaltonen

Mary Ellen and Frank Adipietro

Ana and Andre Appignani

Jane Azia and Robert Quaintance

Susan and Brian Badertscher

Ann Banks and Peter Petre

Margarita and Ari Benacerraf

Evelyn Benjamin

Patti Bumsted

Adam Bundy and James Marshall

Capital Group

Catherine and Bryan Carey

Elisabeth Cholnoky and Richard Levine

The Thomas Cholnoky Foundation

Amy Cococcia

Melanie Coronetz and Bruce Miller

Ellen Davis

Eric Deutsch

James Dougherty

Thomas Eagan

Emily Ewing

Ingrid and Robert Fagen

Thomas Fallon and Richard Hersh

Eric Fischl and April Gornik

Brigid Flanagan and Robert Friebel

Charles Fleckenstein

Heidi and Chris Fokine

Ann Foley and Joshua Sapan

Sarah Francois-Poncet

John Gachot

Kathleen R. Gerard

Mike Gerstner

Dorothy Gray

Rhonda Greene

Karyn and Bruce Greenwald

Galen Guengerich and Holly Atkinson

Alexandra Hakim

William and Julie Harding

Bonnie Harris

Eric Hensley and Bob Weinstein

Sylvia Hewlett and Richard Weinert

Lily and Joel Hoffman

Andreas Hommert

Stuart Israel

Greg James

Sheldon Kasowitz and Kathryn Huarte

Beth Kehrberg

Maryann Koch and William Johnston III

Jonathan Kosow and Ariane Gold Kosow

Jenny Kuso and Jack Sullivan

Paola Kusner

Nancy Lashine and Gary Sher

Kareen and Scott Laton

Stephanie and Samuel Lebowitz

Ilana Levine

Lauren Lombardi

Kathleen Lynch and William Geraghty

Mara Manus and Mark DuBois

Andrew Marks

Georgette and Michael McConnell

Thomas McMahon and Linda Gibbs

Anton Metlitsky

Bill and Eileen Michael

Thomas Misson and Matthew Arendt

Mnuchin Foundation / Valerie Mnuchin

Lucille and Stephen Morgan

Kimberly Noland and Kim Bonstrom

Donna and David Persson

Russell Piccione

James Preston and Barbara Warren

Kimeran and Samuel Reinhart

Cristina Roig

Dr. Alicia Rojas-Sloan and Dr. Robert Sloan

Gosia and Andrezj Rojekk

Caroline Rosen

Rosemarie Ryan and Benjamin Dyett

Petra Schmidt

Jana and Louis Sheinker

Shelter Island Run

Randall Shy

Liana and John Slater

Shelby and Scott Slayton

Oscar Sloterbeck and Caroline Ritter

Jeffrey Smith

Gerard Smith

Jay Sterling

Ricki Stern and Evan Guillemin

Pamela Sweeney and Peter Levenson

Terry Girls Realty, Inc.

James S. Thieringer

James G. Tuthill

Mary Ward

Donna Winston

Thomas Woltz

Margaret and Erwin Zeuschner

Lion Robin C. Zust

$500-$999

Julie Bean

Jerome Breguet

Lisa Cholnoky

Dale and Bill Clark

Tara Coniaris

Shira Cornfeld

Moran Eizenberger

Marguerite Embry

Miriam and Thomas Farmakis

Deno W. Fischer

Kim Gibson

Kathleen and Gordon Gooding

Sara Gordon and Peter Vielbig

Alfred Griffin

Anne Grifo

Lisa Hall

J.W. Piccozzi, Inc.

Gerald L’Hommedieu

Katharine Lawless and Dirk Van Dall

Alfred Ling

Tal Litvin

Michael Longacre

Susan Lyne

Alex MacCallum and Nicholas Fribourg

Diana McCarthy

Randy Meech

Mary Elena Montes

Maggie Murphy

Network for Good

Kerrey Paley Giving Fund

Lois Patranzino

Kathryn Casey Quigley

Charity Robey

Leah Robinson

Marie Seifts

Sterling Shea

Donna Shelley

Andrea Stern

Landey Strongin

Erica and Adam True

Jackie and Tut Tuttle

Mary and Kenneth Walker

Sedgwick Ward

$250-$499

Poppy and Ross Allonby

Donnamarie Barnes

Maryellen Basile

Annette and Stanley Blaugrund

Jean-Sebastien Brettes

Christopher Bruno

Mitchell Burgess

Elizabeth Casey and Stephen Searl

Gabrielle and David Chamberlain

Christopher Coulson

Christine DeFouw

Mary Eileen and Didier Marie

Bret Eynon

Sandi and John Fifield

Cathy and Alasdair Findlay-Shirras

Sylvie and Robert Fitzpatrick

Flora and Fauna Project

Betty Fogarty

Nancy Gilbert and Richard Wines

Alice and Stuart Goldman

Sharon Goldenberg

Caroline Hackney and Carl Hribar

Cynthia Halaby

Susan Harris

Stephen Harvey and Perry Sayles

Stacey Haskel

Susan and Clarkson Hine

BJ Ianfolla

Georgine Jeffries

Graham Johnson

Lawrence Kast

Jane and John Kenney

Kerry Kinney and Gil Bakal

Mary Knowles

Lighte Grant Family Fund

Cara and Michael Loriz

Sally and Barry Mandel

Joe McKay

Susan Morrison

Lois Morris and Robert Lipsyte

Margie Mosher

Bruce Moskowitz

Michelle and Con Nicolet

Cristina Peffer

Janet Pyers

Robert Raiber

Liza Rawson

Gloria Reiss

Ruth Riordan

Tamsin Roe and Stewart Mackie

Laura Rubin

Amanda and David Russekoff

Tamsen Sharpless

June Shatken

Jo Ann Secor-Skolnick and Lee Skolnick

Bonnie Berman Stockwell

Fred W. Thiele, Jr. and NancyLynn Thiele

Maureen Turey

Alicin Williamson

Courtney Wingate and Marcus Borowsky

Up to $249

Joanne Casey Allegretti

Amazon Smile

Anton Angelich

Beth Auman

Julie Bailey

Jonathan Banks

Cynthia Barrett

Regina and Donald Becker

Anne and Tom Beggins

Richard Behrke

Benevity

Karin Bennett

Jennifer Borg

James Brennan

Virginia Brooks

Archer Brown

Browne Family Fund

Marianne Carey

Bonnie Carey

Susannah and Tom Carrier

Jeanne Catherine

Mary Chobor

Amanda Ciaccio and Douglas Crowe

Annie Sullivan Cob

Jessica Colas

Margaret Colligan

John Coogan

Kathryn Costello

Susan Coursey

Gregory Cranford

Deb and Brad Davis

Nina Dec

Carolyn and Richard Denning

Laurie Dolphin and Stuart Shapiro

Margaret Dooley

Laury Dowd

Gerard Drumm

Patricia and Stephen Fearing

Fire Ants Production LLC

Karla Friedlich and James Webster

Anna Gannon

Virginia Gerardi

Nancy Gilbert and Richard Wines

Ellen Gove

James Gray

Dr. Georgette Grier-Key

Janice Griffiths

Catherine Grigioni

Robert and Brenda Grosbard

Barbara Groves

Patrick Guadagno

Brenda Harms

Alexandra Hayden

Jean Held

Eugene Hernandez

Melissa Heus

Esther Hird Hunt

Anne Hubbell

Kay Hymowitz

Rebecca James

Yvette Janssen and Martin Ainbinder

Julianne Karpeh

Kimberly and John Keiserman

Karen Kelsey

Penny and John Kerr

Leslie Koch

Deborah Hughes Lajda

Lori Lancaster

Bobbie Lane

Belle Lareau

Richard Laton-Taylor

Valerie and Martin Levenstein

JoAnn LoBue

Ann Loeffler

Ellen and Robert Lowery

Genevieve and Robert Lynch

Maria Maggenti

Diana Malcolmson

William Martens

Karen Mateo

Jessica McCarthy

Tracy and Bryan McCarthy

Jacqueline Meere

Lucy Millard

Paul E. Mobius Jr.

Lynda Moecker

Rebecca Mundy

Maude Muto

Sarah Netburn and John Cuti

Zach Newcomb

Nancy and Ken Nolan

Bethany Notley

Siobhan O’Connor and Gregory Hodkinson

Sandra O’Connor

Martin O’Neill

Thomas C. Orr

Gina Parlovecchio

Renate Paul

Scott Persson

Martha L. Pichey

Barbara Pollert

Alice Powers

Lisa and Daniel Reich

Ann Robertson and Jeffrey Feingold

Diane Rossi

Deborah Rouzee

Cathy Rowe

Robert Ruben

Carla Rykowski

Ronnie Salzman

JoAnn Sardo

Anne and Andrew Schotter

Helen Smith

Jacqueline Smith

Christopher Snyder

Patricia and Jack Stack

Natalie Sticesen

Natasha and Richard Stowe

Charlot Taylor

Beverly and Barbara Tyler

Gwen and Glenn Waddington

Marshall Watson

Joan Wicks

Mary Woltz and Rob Calvert

Amy Wood

In Honor Of:

Donnamarie Barnes

Alfred Griffin

Maggie Murphy

Michael Longacre

Alice and Briton Clark

Michelle and Con Nicolet

Alice Clark

Dale and Bill Clark

Griff And Rob Fairbairn

Stacey Haskel

Kathleen Gerard

Marguerite Embry

Bennett Konesni

Deb and Brad Davis

Kareen Laton

Richard Laton-Taylor

Mara Manus

Sarah Francois-Poncet

Loren Reich

Lisa and Daniel Reich

Thomas Roush and LaVon Kellner

Eric Fischl

Stephen A.W. Searl

The Angelson Family Foundation

Courtney Wingate

Sara Gordon

Thomas Woltz

Dan Cahill

In Memory Of:

Wendyce H. Brody

Anne Grifo

Vera B. Burns/ Janet Pyers

Ludo K. Racine/ Julie Bailey

Dick Tarlow/ Beth Kehrberg

Gift-in-Kind:

Barbara Barnes

Edie Landeck and Michael Coles

South Ferry Inc.

A Note from Capt. Clifford Clark CEO, South Ferry

I grew up a frequent guest of Andrew and Alice Fiske at Sylvester Manor. Their children Susan and Lissa and I were very close friends. Deeper than that, Alice Fiske introduced my mother to my father. The memories shared at the Manor are priceless to me.

The value of Sylvester Manor to Shelter Island is impossible to fully quantify. When Eben Ostby agreed to underwrite preserving the property, one could almost hear a collective sigh throughout Shelter Island. His incredibly generous decision prevented irreversible damage to our Island by forever avoiding more than 200 pristine acres of the aquifer being sold to developers.

Moreover, the mission of the Manor, “to preserve, cultivate and share historic Sylvester Manor,” is perfect. The Trustees and Staff have gone to great efforts to search out, preserve and report the history of the Indigenous and enslaved people and the landlords, both good and bad, with great accuracy and transparency. Since Mr. Ostby made his gift, the highly motivated and capable leadership team has encouraged a steady flow of archivists, archaeologists, researchers, diverse speakers, supporters, staff, and school children to “preserve ” “cultivate” and “share.” Such individuals and groups have passed through the iconic white columns in numbers never before seen.

A historical landmark preserved, history learned and taught, underserved people being remembered and honored, land preserved for all time, a working educational farm, and a friendly, welcoming staff. What more could one ask for from Sylvester Manor?

The annual South Ferry Sylvester Manor Cruise is one of the highlights of my summer. The Clark Family is honored to be a small part of a very big thing on Shelter Island.

Clifford and Tisha Clark in the pilothouse of the Lt. Joe Theinert South Ferry