Oysterponds News: Fire department’s old-fashioned pancake breakfast

Well, Katie bar the door! Can’t believe the summer season kicks off this weekend, the North Fork will once again be the destination for recreation and the ferry lines will snake the East End. On the flip side, it’s always special to welcome back old friends and snow birds.

A good place to do that will be OFD’s old-fashioned pancake breakfast this Sunday, May 29, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the firehouse. If you’re over 10 years old the tickets will cost you $10 and if you’re under 4 you get in free. The in-between cost is $5. (This is a test.) There will also be a raffle for a 2016 Giant ATX bicycle, tours of the fire engines and ambulance and banjo music for your listening pleasure.

Congratulations to OPU alum Max Mastrangelo, who was Greenport Rotary’s Student of the Month for May. Holly and Phil are proud parents.

The most special Memorial Day parade in the country — which, as we all know, takes place in Orient — kicks off Monday, May 30, at 7:30 a.m. at the firehouse, winds down Tabor to Navy and makes its first stop at the OYC wharf. There they will place wreaths on the monuments to World War I and those lost at sea. The next stops are OHS, where they will honor those from World War II, and across the street at Poquatuck Hall, where the Korean War monument stands. The last leg is north on Village Lane to the Civil War monument, after which marchers return to the firehouse for a reception,  coffee and doughnuts. If you were at this parade 20 years ago, it’s exactly the same, with most participants and viewers 20 years older — and it never disappoints. See you there!

The Memorial Day service at Orient Congregational Church is always memorable (pardon the pun). This year’s service at Sunday, May 29, at 10 a.m., will include a reading of all those who have died this year as well as those memorialized with gifts. That will be followed by a barbecue on church grounds. Everyone is invited to both events.

Oysterponds Elementary School is now holding an open enrollment for pre-K (3- and 4-year-olds) and kindergarten for the 2016-17 school year. Registration forms are available online at oysterponds.org. For further information, call registrar Tara Kupecki at 631-323-2410, ext. 100.

When I typed that phone number it reminded me of my latest public service announcement. Suffolk County’s new 934 area code is fast-approaching. Starting June 16, you will have to dial the full 10-digit number to call someone in area code 631. Get in the habit now.

That also sparked another trip down memory lane. When I arrived in Orient there were still “party” lines, something the baby boomers are the last to remember. Then, even though we did have to use seven digits, no one referred to an Orient phone number with anything more than four digits, making it easy for me to carry most of the directory in my brain. Oh, those were the days!

A few tickets might still be available for OHS’s North Fork Fresh Saturday, June 18, which is always a coveted event. Also save the date for the society’s summer benefit on Aug. 6. You can get more info on both of these at oysterpondshistoricalsociety.org.

I drove up the coast slowly this week to give the Florida sun a chance to catch up with me, but as I type there is no sign of it. Hopefully by the time you read this “we’ll” see  it together. When I popped north in March, I was greeted by a small snowstorm so, like the groundhog, I returned south until all the leaves were back on the trees.

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

Photo: (Credit: flickr.com/Aimee Plesa)