Last Saturday on Wades Beach was a clear fall day with good visibility and volunteers as far as the eye could see, restocking the food tables, and eating at picnic tables, serving beverages and consuming them, thanking volunteers for their service, and being thanked.
Scores of Shelter Island volunteers came out in force to enjoy the first Hometown Heroes BBQ sponsored by Shelter Island Lions Club, the Shelter Island Action Alliance, and the Town of Shelter Island. Many Island businesses donated their tastiest picnic fare, including The Pharmacy, Marie Eiffel, Vine Street Café, Maria’s Kitchen, The Islander, The Lettuce Lady, Stars Café, and impressive baked goods ‘from the women who play mahjong.” It was a genuine beach party with all the considerations of sand in the sandwiches and airborne umbrellas you’ve got to love. Police Chief Jim Read reported high winds at set-up on Saturday morning, leading to the decision to locate a large tent a little off the beach, where it was more stable, a call he was second-guessing once the winds dropped and the beach was filled with volunteers.
As Sophie, a local beagle worked the crowd, Sharon Donno and Cristina Peffer were taking a moment off from volunteering to catch up. Peffer had an emergency appendectomy a few weeks back. Her hospital roommate — a woman in her 80s — asked Peffer how she was doing; they bonded and Peffer ended up losing an appendix and gaining a good friend.
Leah Friedman, and her brother-in-law Seymour Bilgray stopped by to pour some love on the music of Chris Tedesco as he launched into a fiddle solo of the Hall & Oates 1980 hit, “You make my dreams.”
School Superintendent Brian Doelger, Laurie Fanelli, Director of Senior Services and Town Supervisor Gerry Siller each stepped up to thank the volunteers.
Doelger, ever the educator, defined what it means to volunteer, “I believe that community means that members will sacrifice what is good for them personally to be a part of a greater good. That to me is what this day is about,” he said. “People sacrifice things — money, time with their family, talents — to try to make the lives of others in the community better.”
Siller thanked the volunteers of Shelter Island, and make note of what an extraordinary year it had been with two mass vaccination events and the sudden cessation of in-person school. Fanelli exhorted the crowd to “Enjoy one another.”
MICHAEL VERSANDI’S FRANKENBERRY PUMPKIN CREATED THIS MONTH.
Last year, an estimated 150 million Americans carved a pumpkin, but it’s safe to say few of them approached the sculpting of winter squash with the enthusiasm and artistry of Michael Versandi. This year he’s already carved three, and he’s just getting warmed up.
Versandi, a graphic designer for northforker and Times Media Group, has an outside-the-box interest that is squarely inside the pumpkin patch. Every Halloween, he creates a series of whimsical and intricately-carved jack-o-lanterns; lights them, takes pictures and then watches them gradually disintegrate.
Often, his subjects are drawn from movies and popular culture like the images of characters from Goonies, or a jaw-dropping likeness of Alfred Hitchcock.
VERSANDI CREATED THIS TWO-MINUTE VIDEO SHOWING THE STAGES OF HIS ARTISTIC PROCESS; A PUMPKIN PERFORMANCE PIECE INSPIRED BY EATING A BOWL OF HALLOWEEN-THEMED CEREAL WHILE IN THE PRESENCE OF A BIG, BEAUTIFUL SQUASH.
“I let the pumpkin dictate the design. I’ll pick up a pumpkin, give it a once over, decide to take it home, and then I let it decide what is going to happen,” he said of his process. Once Versandi has come to an understanding with the pumpkin, he works from memory, or free-hand to carve the image. He’ll refer to a photograph if he’s reproducing a familiar face.
Pumpkin is an unforgiving medium for the artist.
“Carving pumpkins can be laborious, and any mistake is hard to cover up,” Versandi said. “As it disintegrates, I take pictures of that too, but no one seems to be interested. It’s like looking at pictures of a melted snowman.”
“My favorite thing about pumpkin carving is that it does not last; that there is the art of carving, and the art of letting it become nothing,” he said. “Especially here on the North Fork, fall shows up and suddenly it’s gone. It disappears and then we are into the winter season. It’s an exact metaphor for the art itself.”
The corn maze at Krupski Farms in Peconic. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
Looking for something to do with the last of the local corn? Get lost.
A family visit to a North Fork corn maze is a great idea. In theory. The anticipation of a golden fall day, of an outdoors frolic with children, maybe a nice drink of cider afterwards… it sounds wonderful. But ask people for their maze memories, and you’ll hear stories; of backed-up traffic, disappearing children and scarecrows that frighten people, not birds.
It sounds straightforward. A few acres of corn planted in crooked rows, pay $10 a head, and off you go. Soon, you’ll recognize the turns, find your way out, and be rewarded with a cider donut. Or walk endlessly in circles. I have a friend in Southold who swore off corn mazes forever when she got lost with her two children, and had to yell for help to be guided out of the corn puzzle they were stuck in. This is not a position any parent wants to be in.
Some mothers just won’t go there. “I don’t remember taking my kids to a corn maze,” Janet D’Amato told me, “I had a hard time keeping track of all of them as it was.”
The one time I took my own children to the corn, reviews were mixed. One has fond memories of Krupski’s maze as a place where he got to wander around on his own. The other can’t remember if he had fun. “Judging from my dislike of looking for things, probably not.”
Perhaps no North Fork corn maze is better known than Harbes. Maggie Murphy and David Browne of Burro Hall Lane won’t soon forget a visit there with their daughter, and a large contingent of family and friends, including Maggie’s mom, who was then in her early 80s, but still game.
It was a warm day, and one member of the party wore shoes that were not maze-appropriate. As they moved through the turns, everyone was getting hungry for lunch, and eyes started to water, but that was probably just allergies. “After about 25 minutes we had looped around twice, and I decided to be a city slicker,” said Maggie. “I found a scarecrow and asked if his brain and $10 could help me find the maze’s fast pass exit. He obliged. He would have done it without the cash, but I thought it was the least I could do for getting us to the cider donuts faster.” Her advice to maze-goers: “Comfortable shoes, a crisp $10 bill and respect for the hard-working scarecrows you meet along the way.”
Harbes has innovated over the years. This year there are three ways to experience the maze of maize; one for the timid with Wizard of Oz characters (presumably without the flying monkeys); two that involve answering trivia questions as you progress through; and one with nighttime admission that starts at sundown, requires a flashlight, and scares me since it costs about twice as much as the same maze in daylight.
Shelter Island School Superintendent Brian Doelger grew up on Long Island, but did not go to corn mazes as a young child, although his parents did bring him and his brothers out East to visit farm fields. “I remember feeling excited and a bit scared, that I would get lost in them forever,” he recalled. “I do think there is good pedagogical value in visiting these farms; to teach children to learn directions and not be scared, to allow children to figure things out on their own. When we were younger, it seems like the kids were left to figure out a lot more on their own than they are now. Any time a child can problem-solve on his/her own, I think it is an excellent opportunity to grow.”
Linda DiOrio did not go to a corn maze as a child in Sweden, but she did take her own children, Mia and Christopher, and they seem to be none the worse for it. “We had a good time. Once it was a little scary and I thought we would get lost, but I am an adventurer so what can I tell you.”
When Susan Cincotta’s kids were little, she took them to a corn maze for the feeling of adventure. “Knee high by the 4th of July was what my kid’s Dad always said. He was from Wisconsin and corn was serious business…A maze was a relief from the stress, where kids could run, and get lost, and find their way.”
These days, my own fear surrounding corn mazes centers on the likelihood of being stuck on the way to one in slow traffic with a passenger who has to go to the bathroom. If not for that dread specter, I would visit Stakey’s in Aquebogue, where a corn maze purist can still find the emphasis on navigating through a vast expanse of corn rows, and less on interactive videos and trivia questions. The ability to navigate a maze is an important life skill and I intend to keep improving it.
The North Fork’s best brewers make beer like chefs make a meal, drawing on a palette of ingredients and combining them to achieve a unique experience of flavor. This year’s fall releases reflect the incredible creativity of North Fork brewers, and are packed with tastes and aromas that go beyond the humble pumpkin.
And like the brilliant fall foliage, they won’t last forever. From the lightest hefeweizen to a dark and tempting doppelbock, here’s a continuum of fall releases for you to savor while you can.
Eastern Front Brewing Co. in Mattituck is a distinctive brewery with a mission: to preserve and emulate German brewing traditions in a time when adding sweet to beer is as on-trend as taking it out of chardonnay.
I Got a Rock is a fall squash ale with no cinnamon and no nutmeg. If you like cinnamon and sugar on the rim, manager Adam Slater will suggest putting it on one side, “so you can sip on the other and get the aroma, but no taste.”
Shown here is Eastern Front’s traditional, seasonal hefeweizen called Hefe (5.6% ABV), a golden beer made with a German strain of hefeweizen yeast that imparts a bright, crisp banana and clove flavor.
Sour beers are cold-season favorites that pair well with hearty food, and Jamesport Farm Brewery is brewing a blackberry sour called Tasty Waves (6% ABV).
A good American sour beer balances bitter and sweet, and this one uses late-season berries to balance the flavors and contribute a purple/pink hue to the beer.
Leaf Pile (5.2% ABV) is one of the North Fork’s most popular seasonal ales because it’s one of the most drinkable. Brewer Pat Alfred describes Leaf Pile as “a versatile beer, spiced but very balanced.
People come back for more and more pours of Leaf Pile. It can be paired with hearty foods and it doesn’t skew the palate.”
Last year an even bigger beer sprang out of the pile and quickly developed an avid following: Leaf Pile Pie (8.5% ABV) is back this year. It’s made with more malt, plus brown sugar, and supplemented with Golden Naked Hops that give a gingerbread flavor and a creamy sweetness from lactose. “That’s where the ‘pie’ comes from,” said Arnold.
42155 Main Road, Peconic and 234 Carpenter St., Greenport
Harvest Notes (4.9% ABV) is a seasonal amber ale with subtle notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger from Twin Fork Beer Co. It’s sold locally in cans, and you can enjoy it in their downtown Riverhead tasting room with or without the sugar rim.
Oktoberfest season officially started in September, but almost every craft brewery is still offering an Oktoberfest brew well into the tenth month of the calendar. At North Fork Brewing Company in Riverhead it’s called Burning Down the Fest (5.5% ABV), with subtle smoky notes and a dark amber color.
Also available now is their annual fall brew, Butternut the Hutt (5.7% ABV), made with local winter squash and allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Übergeek is a tiny but growing brewery and tasting room in the heart of Riverhead’s Polish Town neighborhood. In September, they got their first distribution deal for an IPA called What If We Nuke Mars? (7.5% ABV) — so look for it on store shelves this season.
If you like a darker beer for autumn, owner Rob Raffa is brewing a doppelbock style, You Call That a Calculator? (7.5% ABV) whose flavor profile he called “plummy and clean.”
400 Hallett Ave., Riverhead
THE FEATURED FALL BEERS FROM LIGHT TO DARK. CREDIT: DAVID BENTHAL
More stops for your fall beer crawl …
October is the ideal month to try a new tasting room…or a few! Try these East End spots for local brews and handcrafted cider.
