Oysterponds News: A once-in-a-lifetime adventure

Village Lane’s Bill and Nancy Kanz have just returned from an amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventure. They are back on U.S. soil after an incredible month-long holiday in Asia. They started in Bangkok visiting an exchange student who’d lived with them many years ago and went to school with their sons. Then they toured Thailand, spent a day in Myanmar and went on to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, visiting Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Chiang Rai, Mae Sai (a border town in the Golden Triangle in Myanmar) and Caiang Mai, Thailand. That was followed by Luang Prabang, Laos; Siem Reap, Cambodia; and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Danang, Hue and Hanoi, Vietnam. Angkor Wat, Cambodia, and a cruise on Vietnam’s Halong Bay were among the outstanding highlights although everything they experienced will stay with them forever. 

Attention parents of 3- and 4-year-olds: Registration for the Orient Congregational Church preschool and summer camp will be Saturday, April 18, from 9 to 11 a.m. For more info, call 323-1316 or visit orientpreschool.com. This very special program, with special teachers, has been operating continuously for 26 years.

Orient United Methodist Church has rescheduled its Friday Bible study program because of unfortunate weather. It will now take place at noon Fridays, April 10, 17 and 24 and May 1, facilitated by adjunct lay minister Geoff Proud. Call him at 323-3523 for more details.

The annual Easter egg hunt sponsored by Oysterponds Community Activities is this Saturday, April 4, at 9 a.m. sharp, rain or shine. All Oysterponds children in grade 4 or younger are welcome to join in. Bring your own baskets and, hopefully, a freewill donation for OCA. For more info, call Holly Mastrangelo at 323-2311.

Details of all of the local Easter worship services appear elsewhere in this paper.

Save the date, Saturday, April 18, for the annual song swap at Poquatuck Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. I’ll share more details of this unique fundraiser for Oysterponds Community Activities in my next column.

Paula and Frank Thorp are thrilled to share the news that their son, Frank III, popped the question to longtime girlfriend Shannon Audette — and she said yes! Shannon works at San Simeon and Frank works for the DEC in Setauket. They will tie the knot sometime this summer. Congratulations, all!

Just a heads up that the Missoula Children’s Theatre workshop will once again visit Oysterponds and guide the students in creating a full theatrical performance of “Aladdin” in just one week of intense study. I’ll follow up later, but save May 9 at 5:30 p.m. to see the fruits of their labor at the Greenport High School auditorium.

I am always tickled by my small worlds and this week’s (one of many) was fun. I was attending a non-denominational church service Sunday morning at “Archies” in Fort Pierce and plunked down at an outdoor picnic table to wrap my hands around a hot cup of coffee. I began chatting with the woman next to me, the “where are you from” started and — why was I not surprised? — she was “formerly of Greenport.” So to Paul Henry and Sue Kreiling, here’s a hello from Eileen Skurnick, wife of Paul, a longtime ELIH employee. Paul and Sue bought the Skurnicks’ home a couple of decades ago.

Just like last year, I will be north next week but if it’s as cold as all of you make it out to be I am leaving till it warms up. Have a blessed Easter and a joyful Passover. See you soon.

Contact Oysterponds columnist Carol Gillooly at [email protected] or 323-3899.