BBP Heritage Association

Join us for these FREE, fun and informative General Membership meetings! These are open to all!

March Meeting:

Avery's Five Mile Look

Date: March 23, 2025

Presenter: Frank Giebfried

Place: BBP Library

Time: 2:00

The wall that was recently restored at the foot of Blue Point Avenue once surrounded one of our

most beautiful hotels: Avery’s Five Mile Look. Finished in 1913, the history of the boarding house

begins years earlier with the Avery family. Our story includes tragedy, adultery, gambling, and rum

running on the Great South Bay, ending with fire in 1939. We’ll also discuss future plans for the site,

including the original fountain. Join local historian Frank Giebfried for a trip back in time and see

what it was like to dine, dance, and swim at the Five Mile Look.

Save the date for April!

The Deep Roots of Music on Long Island

Date: April 13, 2025

Presenter: JK Hodge

Place: BBP LIbrary

Time: 2:00

Congratulations to our very own Mary Bailey who has been nominated by Councilman Neil Foley to receive the 39th Annual Brookhaven Women's Recognition Award. The recipients of this award either live or work in the town of Brookhaven and have demonstrated excellence in their endeavors and outstanding service to their community.

Mary works tirelessly for the BBPHA and this award is in recognition of all she has accomplished. A special ceremony will be held at Brookhaven Town Hall in March to recognize Mary and others who give so generously of their time and talents. Congratulations!!

We are always looking for help and support with a variety of things happening at Meadow Croft. Currently, we are looking for some people for very different types of activities. Maybe you can lend a hand or volunteer for some of these events! Bring your spouse, your kids or your friends! We'd love to have you and it is all for a good cause. 🙂

Mystery themed event: The BBPHA is looking for volunteers to help with a "Clue" like mystery event that will happen in the spring right at Meadow Croft. This should be a lot of fun! We are looking for volunteers to help with all aspects of this event to make it a great success. Are you interested in being a greeter? Maybe a docent role is more comfortable for you. Or you always wanted to ACT and here is your opportunity! Don't worry, no professional acting experience required.

We also need someone to help create the graphics (think Clue cards, biographies of players, instructions, etc). We will provide the content and we need someone good with computers who can volunteer some time to creatively assist with this task. If you have computer experience and would like to help, We need you!

If interested in any of these opportunities or would just like some more information, please email Beth at abclamarca@gmail.com

Spring Clean-up: On April 5th, we are looking for those individuals who like to work with their hands and are not afraid of getting dirty! The BBPHA is looking to clean out the Carriage House on the Meadow Croft property. We also are doing some garden clean-up. If interested, please bring rakes, clippers, gloves and a strong back! The fun starts at 10:00AM. We need you!

Docents: During the months of June through October, every weekend the BBPHA offers tours of the Meadow Croft estate. Dedicated docents help guide tours through the house and property to share the rich history of the Roosevelt family and what life was like in the 1900's. Training is available. If you are interested and would be able to donate some of your time, please reach out to Jen at jtbudgie@aol.com

Save the dates, read and share our newsletters, or follow us on Social Media for information of these upcoming events brought to you by the BBPHA!

March 16, 2025: BBP St. Patrick's Day parade

March 23, 2025: General Membership Meeting

April 5, 2025: Carriage House & Heirloom Garden Clean-up

May 17, 2025: Mystery Night at Meadow Croft

June-October 2025: Tours of Meadow Croft each weekend from 2-4:00

June 19 & July 24, 2025: FREE Summer concerts featuring The Flat Leavers and Gene Casey

August 2025: Historic Boat cruise on the Great South Bay

December 6-7 2025: Christmas at Meadow Croft

The nominating committee is looking for members for the 2025 year. Any current paid BBPHA member may serve. It requires only one meeting per month. If you are interested in serving or volunteering in some capacity, please contact us at bbphistorical@gmail.com

We are also looking for members to serve on various committees throughout the year. You can work from home! If you have a particular skill or interest (house tour, special events, light clerical and organization) please contact us at BBPhistorical@gmail.com.

🍀 Save the date! The BBP Chamber of Commerce has announced the date for the BBP Parade and this event will be held on March 16th at 11:00. Rain date will be March 30, 2025. We here at the BBPHA are especially honored to have our own treasurer, Craig Clare, and his wonderful wife Wendy as the grand marshals. Wear your green and come join in the merriment of our community's annual parade to celebrate the Irish and of course our Grand Marshals, Craig & Wendy Clare!

These articles first appeared in the Bayport Blue Point Gazette and were written by Gene Horton. They are reprinted here with permission.

January 2005

Scooters were small, one or two person, amphibious crafts, that could travel over both ice and water. An ice scooter is actually half sailboat and half iceboat. It has runners on its bottom. A typical scooter had two sails. The large main sail captured the wind and generated speed. The forward sail, called the jib sail, was used for steering the scooter. The scooter could also be steered by shifting body weight.

This old postcard view shows a group of ice scooters getting ready to race on the frozen bay at the foot of Blue Point Avenue around a hundred years ago. If you actually want to see a real wooden ice scooters from the old days, go over to the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville where a "Henry Watkins Scooter" (1915) is on exhibit.