Dunewood Labor Day Weekend Tennis Tradition

This years doubles tournament was over nine hours long. With a hot summer sun blazing  family and friends joined in the tradition with encouraging cheers & coaching tips from their beach chairs perched along Central Walk.

 Click on the first small image below to see the slide show:

 Photos: Ellen S. Abramowitz – Copyright c. 2014

A special 50th anniversary exhibit, “Protecting a Ribbon of Sand: The Creation of Fire Island National Seashore,” curated by Dunewood’s Susan and Cathy Barbash, opened August 8 and will run through October 12 at the Fire Island Lighthouse Fresnel Lens Building. Through correspondence, articles, memorabilia, and photographs, the exhibit explores the battle over the fate of Fire Island from the turn of the century until the Seashore’s 1964 establishment. For Susan Barbash the exhibit helps “tell the story of the grassroots movement to protect the unique character of Fire Island, which we continue to enjoy to this day.”

Jerry Jerome, one of Dunewood’s ardent fisherman, was one mile off shore from the Fire Island Lighthouse on Captain Al’s boat when he and some of his family members noticed quite a commotion in the water. They pulled the boat over to get a closer look. What they saw was quite a surprise. A tremendous striped-bass leaped out from the water in shock after being bitten in its tail by a hammerhead shark. Ace fisherman Jerome, without his fishing pole, reached over with his large net and pulled in the 40-pound striped bass as other hammerheads began to circle. This was a perfect birthday gift for Jerry Jerome who was out for his annual birthday fishing adventure.

Jerry may not have had the first bite, but the Jerome family and their friends had last licks at Saturday night’s dinner table.

Take a close look at the tail, the hammerhead’s teeth marks are larger than Jerry’s hand.

Photo: Copyright – Ellen S. Abramowitz c. 2015

At 5:30 a.m., two Dunewood residents and avid fishermen, sixteen year old Allie Henner and her father Kevin Henner, woke up to begin a day of fishing for sharks. Allie who has been chasing sharks for the last three years began begging her father to let her come along on a shark fishing expedition since she was nine years old. Her brother, Jake Henner, four years older started at the age of thirteen. That was the rule set in place by their parents Jane and Kevin. As it turned out, Jake’s nautical interest has leaned towards sailing. Jake is currently a sailing instructor at the Dunewood Yacht Club (DYC). However, Allie’s seafaring interests were to go offshore and catch some sharks.

The Henner’s boat pulled out at 6:30 a.m. on that bright Saturday morning. The shark bait was ready with a combination of chum comprised of bunker fish and fish oil to spice-up their chum slick. This type of baiting is similar to leaving out a trail of breadcrumbs that lead up to the mackerel on the hook. When they were eight miles off shore they began shark fishing. The first two sharks they caught were both under six feet in length, which is below the legal limit and were released. After several hours, they hooked onto a 250 pound 8’9” Mako shark that was all muscle. It took about an hour and half, with Allie and Kevin splitting the work of reeling in the shark and steering their boat. Allie said: “the key thing is to be fast and calm” then added “it is important to move quickly while keeping focused, it’s easy to get a finger caught in a line causing an injury and even easier to lose the shark.”

After docking their boat in their slip at the Dunewood “L- Dock” six hours later, local residents arrived to get a look at the substantial catch. Kevin, after removing a hook from the shark’s mouth, noticed that it was not theirs, a sign that they were not the first to attempt bringing in this shark. Allie concluded, that by the look of that hook, which was not rusty, that “the shark was mostly likely hooked by another fisherman within the last week”.

As in the past, the Henner’s cleaned the shark and shared their catch feeding at least half of the community.

Photos: Copyright – Ellen S. Abramowitz c. 2015

The Liberty Loop is the DYC way of celebrating the July 4th weekend. It is a race around East Island, where each racer decides which way he or she will round the island depending on the conditions of the Great South Bay. The Liberty Loop, the newest regatta within the DYC schedule, was started by Cooch Berman Duvall in 1996. Cooch grew inpatient waiting for the Dunewood Doubles regatta to kick-off the racing season in mid-July so the Liberty Loop came to life.

The regatta took place Sunday afternoon on July 5th. A glorious day for racers with a strong South West wind that blew across the Great South Bay as the tide was heading out.

Eleven racers ranging from ages 14 to 55 competed to have their name added to list of champions on the trophy. The tradition, as with all DYC regattas, is the first place winner keeps the trophy in their possession for one year and then returns the trophy to the DYC on race day the following year.

Out of the eleven racers, six headed west, while five chose to head east. The fleet of sunfish pass each other on the South side of East Island. As it turned out, all six racers that went west crossed the finish line ahead of the five racers that fared east. This was unlike last year’s Liberty Loop regatta where the placement was divided evenly between those racers that went both east and west.

Congratulations to Mike Perna who finished first in thirty-three minutes. Mike’s name will now be added as the 2015 champion on the trophy along all prior winners. Kudos to all of the 2015 Liberty Loop racers who all crossed the finish line within minutes of each other.

Participants in order of placement:
Mike Perna
Jake Singer
Rich Perna
Matthew Gilbert
Zach Resnick
Ernie Fritz
Emmett Wechsler
Sanjay Day
Oliver Roth
Jack Cutrone*
John Luke
*The youngest racer.

Photos: Copyright – Ellen S. Abramowitz c. 2015

The “Outsiders” Dunewood’s Softball Team:

In 2007, the Dunewood Outsiders softball team was formed. In order for the “Outsiders” to become the eighth team to join the Saltaire Softball League (SSL), they were required to play against each team in the league once. It was no surprise that the Outsiders, with their talented roster, were easily granted entry into the league. Furthermore, the Outsiders are the only team within the leagues history that does not reside in Saltaire. Hence, their team name.

Saturday’s July 28th game: Outsiders vs. Excitables took place at 10:30 am at the new softball field in Saltaire. Friends, family and neighbors of both teams were cheering on their teams from the bleachers. Several of the Outsiders were off island and substitutes were chosen to fill their spots on the roster.

Even with the Outsiders Coach Eric Katz’s guidance from the sidelines who shared some of the teams strategies with their talented substitutes, it was clear that the Outsiders regular roster was light. Nothing could makeup for Katz’s spring training camp. The Excitables are a solid team that played a strong game. The final score: Excitables 8 – Outsiders 3

Please be sure to cheer-on the Outsiders at their next game vs. Bulkheads – Saturday, July 4rd at 1:00 PM -Saltaire Softball field.

The following is the 2015 Outsider Roster:

Rich Perna – co/Captain
Lynn Berman – co/Captain
Eric Katz – Coach
Sean Boyle
Sandro Bologna
Claire Rogers*
Ben Berman
Joey Abrams
T.J. Demattia
Donnie Diabola
Jason Perna
John Salzinger
Jonah Katz
Peter Taub
Mike Perna
At least one woman is required to be a member on each team.

All photos – copyright: Ellen S. Abramowitz c. 2015

 

 

Happy 50th Birthday Fire Island!

 

 

03/21/2015

Location: Fire Island National Seashore William Floyd Estate | Map

Time: 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Fee Information: Free program

Contact Phone Number: 631-687-4780 (weekdays), 631-281-3010 (weekends)

Celebrate the first full day of spring and savor daylight till the sun sets on this three (3) mile round-trip hike to the wilderness breach. Subtle signs of the season are yours to discover and enjoy as Fire Island’s plants and wildlife spring into activity after the long cold winter. Park at Smith Point County Park and follow the path west to the Wilderness Visitor Center. Be prepared for walking in sand.