Greenport: Skate Park festival this weekend

You’ll get no complaints from me about this weather. I still vividly remember those long, cold, dreary days of winter and I much prefer what we have right now!

I got this too late to make it into last week’s column but I want to let you all know that Colin Van Tuyl had a legitimate excuse for being absent from the Greenport Band performance this past Friday evening. He was off playing a gig with the South Shore Syncopators. Luckily he left his baton in the very capable hands of Greenport Band member the Rev. Ann Van Cleef. The band will resume its schedule Friday, July 29.

Pauline Smith, director of North Fork Head Start in Southold, wants to thank our local merchants for their generous contributions to the chinese auction on June 18. The proceeds, combined with previous fundraising efforts, enabled their parent organization to purchase tricycles for the center.

Don’t forget the third annual Greenport Skate Park Festival this Saturday, July 30 (rain date Sunday, July 31) from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be live music, raffle prizes, vendors and family fun for all. There is no charge to attend, but there is a $10 fee to participate in skateboarding events, which are open to ages 7 through adult.

Holy Trinity Church has changed the date of its fine arts and craft show to Sept. 16 and 17. There are still spaces open for vendors. A 10-foot-square space is available for $25.

If you’re planning your social calendar for August, be sure to save a spot for the ELIH Annual Summer Gala. This year it will be held at McCall Vineyard and Preserve in Cutchogue, where you’ll enjoy a continuous bounty of Native American cuisine in a beautiful natural setting overlooking the vines. The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. and the cost is $175 per person. The featured guest will be author and American art historian Terry Wallace. There will also be a luxury raffle and live auction. Make your reservations online at ELIH.org/gala or call 477-5164.

Birthday wishes go out this week to my cousins Kevin Heaney and Laura Pinter on the 29th; Annemarie Czartosieski on the 30th; Payge Corazzini, Bill Gorga and Lisa McElroy on the 31st; another cousin, Maria Heaney O’Callaghan, on Aug. 1; Joyce Lakowitz Leary, Claudia Sieverman, Corinne Fitting, Ethel Quillin and Jack Sepenoski (who will turn 5) on the 2nd; and Kaylee Kansen on the 3rd.

The happiest of anniversaries is wished to Karen and Mike Sage on July 28 and Chrissy and Tim McElroy, who celebrate their third anniversary Aug. 1.