BY DANNY McCARTHY
Now “of-course” I have a bit-of-a-story to exchange.
Former Mattituck resident Hudson Hagglund exchanged articles with me via our mutual friend Stephen Polla to get ideas for composing a story/stories. His generosity for this particular time of year had me sort-through the folder of clippings he gave me finding coverage in The Suffolk Times dated April 8, 1982 stating that the North Fork had an “Easter Blizzard” in 1982.
I thought “to-keep-my-cool” -&- not talk about that Easter Blizzard. - THEN … I flipped-through the inserted pages of that issue included in the folder finding discussion of a golf course on Shelter Island.
Kindly allow me to state a definite clarification{s}: The August 1940 Long Island Forum had an article titled Suffolk's Tiniest Town by Dr. Clarence A. (Ashton) Wood. I was most interested in locating that 1730 appears in the first sentence in the fourth paragraph on page 147, and I quote: “No town meeting was held on Shelter Island until 1730 and then under mandate.” * There is no mention that Shelter Island separated from Southold Town in 1730 in Dr. Clarence Ashton Wood’s article but it did!
An historic nine-hole golf course established in 1901 as a private golf club for Shelter Island Heights property owners coming to spend their summers on Shelter Island became public in 1942. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places covering 2,512 yards of widely varying & hilly terrain is the Shelter Island Country Club, “affectionately known as ‘Goat Hill.’”
Let’s Have a Round-After-Round of Applause - I did further research and thought to share what I happened to learn.
Shelter Island Gazette dated April 16, 2020 included an item titled: Message from Goat Hill By {the} Gazette Staff.
“Membership renewals were going strong, until the pandemic hit.” The Board of Trustees of the Shelter Island Country Club “{met} weekly via conference call, video conferencing, {phone, text and e-mail}, to address the pressing issues facing the club during the pandemic.
The maintenance staff’s hours were cut back. “Fairways and greens will still be tended to, but with less frequency in some areas. This reduction is effective until April 30 and will be reassessed then.”
“Money Talks” – “It’s Not Where You {C}art – It’s Where You Finish”
The Board of Trustees sought to see if their “{cart-leasing} company{would be}willing to defer monthly payments or reduce them.”
And the Board of Trustees applied “for a small business loan through a program established by the federal government’s {then-recent} economic relief package.”
Negotiations to arrange for a “signed lease agreement with the Flying Goat {Restaurant}” occurred “when the pandemic hit.”
PAR NONE
“Yes, like the restaurant, it might not make sense to renew or join when the course is in a holding pattern. Yet, {the Board of Trustees appealed for folks to have aa} sense of optimism and commitment to Goat Hill. Your membership will help us stay afloat during this crisis so when the coast is clear we can be up and running without a hitch, and you can play golf and enjoy the club to your heart’s content. If you haven’t already, please renew your memberships.”
- I’m Not Going to Become a Basket Case – I’m Merely Being Egg-Stra Special – Well I HOPE! –
Mary Fran Gleason is member of the Shelter island Board of Trustees. In the Shelter Island Reporter dated 04.24.2021 {stet}, Mary Fran Gleason had an article which made me so-definitely think to say “and that’s a rap”:
Back to the Goat Hill golf course, with changes - Shelter Island Reporter (timesreview.com)
Here’s a link for the Flying Goat Restaurant:
The Flying Goat Restaurant
Something Got Your Goat? - No one is going terrain on my parade!