Community

Greenport

The Santa Claus mystery has been solved. According to the calls I received, Santa was constructed by Charlie Bumble Sr. and painted by Sherrill “Rip” Pemberton (I was told Mr. Pemberton was quite the artist and could copy anything presented to him!) It first appeared in 1957, but stood then at the corner of Fourth and Front streets (where Layyah is now). A great big thank you to Alice Dzenkowski, Jessie Pemberton, Marie Pemberton and Marie Zebrowski for providing this information. I love learning tidbits like this about our lovely little village.

Boy Scouts, Webelos and Cub Scouts from Greenport’s Troop 51 participated in the annual Pinewood Derby at Greenport School on Jan. 27. The winners were: Jacob Mazzaferro, first place; Luca Rallis, second place; and John Wright, third place.

A Valentine’s Dance for pre-K (SCOPE) through sixth grade will be held this Saturday, Feb. 11, 6-8 p.m. in the school’s small gym. Admission is free; raffle tickets for prizes will be sold at $2 each. Be sure to dress in your party best. Children must be accompanied by an adult. This is a PTA fundraiser to support class trips.

Just putting in another plug for Lydia Wells and the Greenport Interact Club. She has a group of students lined up to spend their April spring break in New Orleans helping to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. The cost for each student is $825 plus airfare and the club is seeking sponsorships to help defray those expenses. Checks should be made out to Rotary District 7250 and sent to Lydia Wells at Greenport Schools, 720 Front St., Greenport, NY 11944. The students are also holding a 50/50 raffle. Tickets can be purchased for $5 apiece from any club member or by calling Lydia at 477-1950, ext. 210. The lucky winner will be chosen on Feb. 17.

The final GHS regular-season basketball games will be Feb. 15, and the school science department will host a Science Fair that same evening in the small gym. The JV team plays at 4 p.m., the varsity at 5:45 and the fair starts at 6:30.

Birthday shout-outs this week to Anna Lekkas, Jim Sage, Cindy Sepenoski, Bruce Blasko, Eileen Kapell and Joey Meraz on Feb. 9; Christy Grattan on the 10th; Eric Wilson and Jeffrey Watson Hunt on the 11th; Jason Van Etten and Sally King on the 12th; Sean Kancewick, Greg Kavanagh, Ray Mazzaferro, Jimmy McElroy, Mike Sage, Sheena Welch and Shawn Peterson on the 13th; Sarah Golden and Diane Ship Oates on the 14th; and Mark Richter, my cousin Bernadette Heaney Crimi, Beth Richter and Kathy Mazzaferro on the 15th.

The happiest of anniversaries to Mariella and Gary Ostroski, who will celebrate their 29th on Feb. 12, and Faith and Danny Bullock, married 20 years on Feb. 15.