Thursday, June 22, 2017

FW: Summer Solstice Celebration

 

 

From: Center for Environmental Education & Discovery (CEED) [mailto:artnaturegroup@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2017 8:30 AM
To: deitzj@optonline.net
Subject: Summer Solstice Celebration

 

June 23, 2017

 

Center for Environmental Education & Discovery (CEED) | PO Box 295, 287 South County Road, Brookhaven, NY 11719

 

Monday, June 5, 2017

CEED/Washington Lodge Article in Today's online Newsday

 

 

Century-old house in Brookhaven to become nature center

Washington Lodge, a century-old house in Brookhaven hamlet, is slated to become a public nature center highlighting 

Long Island's native wildlife. Photo Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas

 

A century-old house in Brookhaven hamlet is inching closer to becoming a public nature center highlighting Long Island's native wildlife.

The nonprofit Art & Nature Group last week held a "passing of the keys" ceremony to announce a 10-year agreement with Brookhaven Town to manage the 9-acre Washington Lodge, on South Country Road.

The nonprofit plans to develop an environmental education center at the site featuring live animals, beekeeping classes and wilderness survival training. The facility will be called the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, or CEED.

Art & Nature vice president Eric Powers said CEED would be the fulfillment of "a lifelong dream" to augment local school programs by offering kids a chance to see live animals such as owls and red-tailed hawks. He said a summer solstice celebration will be held on the property on June 23.

"We're going to be lighting that candle for people and getting them back to nature," Powers said. "We need a society that helps people live in harmony with nature."

Washington Lodge — named for a former owner, Belgium-born inventor George Constant Louis Washington — has been vacant for about seven years since it was sold by the Marist Brothers, a religious order that used it for retreats.

The site includes 2 acres owned by Brookhaven Town and about 7 acres jointly owned by the town and Suffolk County.

Art & Nature president Rebecca Muellers said she hopes to work with a famous neighbor — actress Isabella Rossellini, who owns an organic farm nearby — on future projects. Rossellini, who attended the ceremony, raises chickens and promotes farm-to-table agriculture.

"We already have schools coming, so I imagine the program would be expanded so not only can they come to the farm, but they can come to see the animals," Rossellini said.

Muellers said CEED officials hope to begin offering programs in the next year or two. They are trying to raise $1 million to refurbish the three-story lodge, which has been broken into by vandals and raccoons.

The lodge must be upgraded with new plumbing, electrical wiring and septic systems, she said.

The nonprofit has a 10-year license with the town to use the property, with an option to extend the license for an additional 10 years, Muellers said. In exchange for paying $1 a year in rent to the town, the nonprofit is responsible for maintaining the property, she said.

Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said CEED could "make a huge difference to this community."

"I think this will have the opportunity to revolutionize what we do for the environment," he said. "The environment is something we need to protect each and every day."

 

 

 

 

 

//////

Saturday, January 21, 2017

FW: Faith McCutcheon (Part 2)

Part 2 (continued from Part 1)

 

Faith uncovering Priest Rose's headstone:

 

Faith and Ben at Ben's 82nd birthday party in 2007:

 

Faith at our recently found David Hawkins Cemetery 1994:

 

 

 

 

Faith with son David at the Memorial Day parade in 2008:

 

Faith and Gloria Brown at the Azel Hawkins Cemetery in 2010:

 

Faith and Ron at the Rose Cemetery 2008:

 

Faith with Catherine Kellogg circa 2000:

 

Faith and Ben looking for the foundation of Priest Hawkins house:

 

Faith dumping some of the 3,000 oyster spats we raised in 2004:

 

Faith with Charlie Brown 2004:

 

Faith and her sister Phebe in 2009:

 

At the Old South Haven Church yard sale:

 

Thank you Faith! 

 

 

—Marty

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faith McCutcheon (Part 1)

 

 

From: HamletReporter [mailto:HamletReporter@BrookhavenSouthHaven.org]
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2017 5:33 PM
To: Hamlet Reporter Blogger (HamletReporter.d04290429@blogger.com)
Subject: Faith McCutcheon

 

From: Martin Van Lith [mailto:vanlith@optonline.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2017 11:25 AM

 

Dear All,

 

Unfortunately, I have sad news to report. Faith McCutcheon passed away on Wednesday. She was 94. Her daughter Katie said that the family does not plan to have a wake or memorial service. However, there may be something from a community organization sometime in the future.

 

A little of my background knowing Faith. I had known Faith's husband David from Brookhaven Lab but didn't really know Faith until one day in 1988 when we met doing roadside and Marsh cleanup at the end of Beaver Dam Road. Shortly afterward, we both joined the BVA and began a friendship that lasted until her death on Wednesday. She loved to share her history and the history of our beautiful hamlet. We spent 20+ years together doing this. 

 

Faith's maiden name was Champlin, her father's family were dairy farmers in Bellport:  

 

Her mother was Phyllis Fraser, Malcolm and Katherine Church Fraser's daughter.

 

Her childhood friend, growing up in Brookhaven, was Tom and Elisabeth Post-Morrow's daughter, Betsy.

 

Faith and I served together as board members of the BVA for 9 years, 1989 - 1997. Among the many things Faith did for me was to introduce me to raising chickens. We also worked together supporting the Wertheim Refuge, and she got me interested in Brookhaven hamlet's history, showed me where the cemeteries were, and, right up until her 80s, helped maintain them. She also introduced me to all of her friends and family. 

 

Here are some pictures of Faith through her 94 years of life in Brookhaven hamlet:

 

[In following photo, Faith McCutchen was Faith Champlin at the time.  Year was 1938, not 1936]

Faith, Phebe and Geoffrey McCutcheon 1935:

 

 

Faith's childhood home:

 

Oil painting of Faith by her grandfather Malcolm Fraser: