WLIW21’s new production celebrates the Town of Huntington
Encore Presentation Monday September 13 at 7:00 p.m
Features Host/Narrator Bernadette Castro, Patti LuPone, Ralph Macchio, The Lockhorns’ Bunny Hoest, and other past and present residents
There is no place like Huntington. With its harbor villages and picturesque towns it has long been a haven for residents and tourists, ripe with glorious beaches, abundant fishing and a sense of place that embraces both the quintessential Main Street and the height of sophisticated culture. WLIW21’s new production, Hometown Huntington celebrates the Town of Huntington, then and now, by giving voice to the shared memories of one Suffolk County community via interviews with past and present residents, including Tony Award-winning singer/actress and Northport native Patti LuPone, actor and Dix Hills native Ralph Macchio, and Huntington resident Bunny Hoest, creator of the syndicated comic The Lockhorns. Hometown Huntington is hosted and narrated by former New York State Parks Commissioner and former New York State Historic Preservation Officer Bernadette Castro, a Lloyd Harbor resident.
Nestled on Long Island’s North Shore, over 190,000 people call the Town of Huntington’s 93 square miles home, from the Villages of Northport, Asharoken, Lloyd Harbor, and Huntington Bay to the Town’s many hamlets – Cold Spring Harbor, Elwood, Huntington, Huntington Station, South Huntington, Melville, East Northport, Halesite, Dix Hills, Centerport, Greenlawn, and Fort Salonga – and five harbors: Cold Spring Harbor, Northport, Huntington Harbor, Centerport, and Lloyd Harbor. Hometown Huntington acknowledges the area’s rich history – The Battle of Long Island, African-American writer and former slave Jupiter Hammon, poet Walt Whitman, William K. Vanderbilt II’s summer mansion, Eagle’s Nest – but focuses more on the regular people who shaped the Town and made it the special place it still is today, from the farmer to the ship builder, the revolutionary to the rum-runner. “Remembering My Hometown…” moments throughout the film feature viewer-contributed stories and photos.
“Hometown Huntington perfectly captures the spirit of WLIW’s ‘21 Weeks of Summer’ initiative,” said Executive Producer and WLIW21 Acting General Manager John Servidio. “It’s a feel-good program that celebrates one of our local community’s accomplishments and offerings, including beaches, harbors and great entertainment.”
Hometown Huntington begins with “The Way It Was,” a look at Huntington’s founding families, including the Primes and the Sammis, Knutson’s Shipyard, Cold Spring Harbor’s whaling history, and Finnegan’s, long considered the “Cheers” of Huntington. Pamela Prime, Vera Sammis Murphy, Tim Finnegan, and Dan, Lillian and TK Knutson all share family stories; Jack Abrams, curator for the Huntington School Museum, recalls what caused the Town’s first gridlock incident back in 1947; and Huntington Town Historian Robert Hughes discusses the dramatic population increase from 1950 to 1960.
The second part of the film, “Happy Days,” spotlights the cherished storybook childhoods and close-knit communities of post-World War II suburbia, from clamming on the beach to sledding behind the Old First Church. Residents remember Huntington Village’s first toy shop, Kiddie City; “Freddie the Shoemaker,” now enjoying his 80th year in business; the joy of a burger served hot off the train at Hamburger Choo-Choo; clothing stores like Ingerman’s and Marshs; Gunther’s Tap Room in Northport, frequented by Jack Kerouac; and many others. Len Totora (deceased February, 2010) recalls opening L&L Camera in 1956 and what’s kept him in business so many years, and Hoest reveals Huntington’s influence on The Lockhorns, the comic which brings the Town’s people and places to more than 200 million readers worldwide every week.
Hometown Huntington’s final part, “Home Sweet Home,” recounts fond memories of school, church and family life, and closes with Huntington’s cultural scene and today’s thriving downtown. Voted the Best Downtown for the fourth consecutive year in Long Island Press’s annual “Best of L.I.” poll, Huntington is loaded with popular attractions like independent film house the Cinema Arts Centre and long-running family businesses, including Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room, the Book Revue, and Reinwald’s Bakery. Hometown Huntington visits them all and interviews the owners to learn the secrets of their success: friendliness, excellence, customer loyalty, community pride, and longevity – all traits Joye Brown pointed to in a recent Newsday column about what makes Huntington’s downtown so popular.
Hometown Huntington continues WLIW21’s ongoing commitment to locally-focused programming, including the award-winning New York The Way it Was series, the New York War Stories project, Shoreline Sonata: A Long Island Love Story, Going Green Long Island, The Jews of New York, Visions® of New York City, and Leaving Long Island.
Interviewees
Bernadette Castro, host/narrator
Former NYS Parks Commissioner and Former NYS Historic Preservation Officer
Jack Abrams
Former Principal of Jack Abrams Intermediate School
Curator for the Huntington School Museum
Jon Austin
Lloyd Harbor resident
Susan Degnan
Social Worker, Huntington Hospital
Paul DeOrsay
Executive Director, Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum
Nellie Edwards
Lifelong Huntington Resident
Tim Finnegan
Grandson of Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room (Huntington, since 1913) Founder
Tommy Forte
Manager/Bartender Finnegan’s Restaurant and Tap Room
Bunny Hoest
Creator of the syndicated comic The Lockhorns and Huntington resident
Robert Hughes
Huntington Town Historian
Robert Klein
Co-Owner of the Book Revue
Lillian Knutson
Daughter of Thomas Knutson
Dan Knutson
Manager, Knutson Yard Haven Marina and grandson of Thomas Knutson
TK Knutson
Grandson of Thomas Knutson
Patti LuPone
Tony Award-winning singer/actor and Northport native
Ralph Macchio
Actor and Dix Hills native
Captain Moose
Bayman
Vera Sammis Murphy
Daughter of Byron Sammis
Pamela Prime
Author and Huntington native
Richard Reinwald
Owner, Reinwald’s Bakery
Dr. Al Sforza
Author, Portrait of a Small Town
Winston Simone
Music Producer and Cold Spring Harbor resident
Charlotte Sky
Co-Director/Founder at the Cinema Arts Centre
Vic Skolnick
Co-Director/Founder at the Cinema Arts Centre
Dylan Skolnick
Co-Director at the Cinema Arts Centre
Larry Smith
Northport architect and friend of Jack Kerouac
Len Totora (deceased, February 2010)
Owner, L&L Camera (Huntington, since 1956) and Huntington native
Emma Foster Watkins
Huntington resident
Featured Remembrances
Liza Burby
Carol Cerrato
Lorraine M. Cortina
Susan Danzig
Ruth Schier Hackstaff
Jerry Kessler
Liz Roddin
Patricia Ross
Dot Tarantino
Eric Weiner
A production of WLIW21 for WNET.ORG. Executive Producer: John Servidio. Producer/Writer: Theresa Statz-Smith. Editor/Producer: Charlotte Coté.
I married a lovely young woman from Oyster Bay after my time serving in the Pacific as a Control Tower Operator. We married in 1952, and built a home in the wooded land just a mile south of Huntington Village.We had two boys, and lived an idyllic life there for thirty years. I loved the Village (still do). I now live in Moriches on the South Shore, which in many ways reminds me of the old Huntington. I have taken many photos of the new and the old Long Island……….. “Ah those dim dear days beyond recall…………”
When I was 5 years old my dad would put on his skate, then me on his shoulders and we’d whiz all around the frozen Mill Pond in Centerport. That was 75 years ago. I remember being so happy way up on his shoulders and the icy wind brushing across my face. What a thrill!
Will you be airing this again?
I grew up in Huntington Station. I originally lived in an apartment over Joosts near the train station, then Church Street and finally, Columbia Street. I worked in Huntington Village at Spic and Span Cleaners on Wall Street, next to the Shore Theater. When I was 20, I moved away because of Urban Renewal and now live in California in a small town that reminds me of my old hometown. I am now 60 years old. There will always be a warm spot in my heart and in my memories for Huntington…but the one I remembered when I was growing up. I went back in 1989 but there was too much change. I haven’t been back since. Your tv show sounds wonderful and what I saw in the clip was great. I send Huntington my love…
Will there be another airing of the June 7 show?
The next airing will be on Friday, June 11, 2010 from 8:00-9:30 p.m.
Wow! We moved there when I was in 7th grade at Toaz JH. Friends were Marvin Marsh and his family. My dad was an English butler on an estate in Halesite. Ultimately we moved to Oyster Bay. in my sophomore year I left home to move in with friends in South Huntington and graduated in 1948. Classmate commuting to Hofstra was one of the sons from Spic & Span Cleaners. Worked as bartender/waiter at Glynn’s Inn, Thatched Cottage and The Mooring.
Then became Sports Editor at The Long Islander and Creative Guy at WGSM when it was across the street from the Century Theater. Yeah, l could write a book about those years. Even married a girl from Northport!
Ron
I grew up in Huntington for the first 18 years of my life and still go back to visit at least once a year. What a wonderful place full of memories. I must comment on one piece of your program. Bunny Hoest is not creator or co-creator of the Lockhorns. My father, Bill Hoest, created that comic in the late 60’s with the help of his first wife Connie before Bunny was a part of his life. Bunny is a business woman who has allowed Bill Hoest’s work to continue with the help of a man who apprenticed with my father during his illness. To call Bunny Hoest the creator of the Lockhorns is giving credit where no credit is due and, quite frankly, damages the artistic reputation of Bill Hoest. I do wish your researchers had been more thorough and I hope that someone will correct this error.
I was born in Huntington Hospital in 1917 and was raised in the house across from the present location of the Halesite Fire Dept. The Fire Dept. was previously located down on the dock road. Before I was born my father, William Glover Young, was captain of “The Huntington”, a steamer that made regular trips from Halesite to Manhatten carrying passengers and cargo. He died of the flu in the epidemic during WWI when I was a year old. The Edgewater Hotel and Selleck’s farm animals were on the spot taken over by Abram’s Shipyard, and later by Knutson’s Shipyard. Halesite Park was a favorite summer hangout for all of Huntington. I remember the trolly car that ran from Halesite to Huntington Station. I think the fare was a nickel.
The kindergarten I attended was held in the old trade school on East Main Street and when I was in high school I took ballroom dancing in Muriel Lefferts’ class in the same building. I remember the Hotel Huntington which was later B. Altman’s; the Bank of Huntington; the Peggy Outlet; Raymond’s (where Mrs Raymond would take time to pin your pattern pieces on the fabric and cut them out for you); Ray’s Bakery, Guckenberger’s and so much more. Those were the good old days
My grandparents moved to Huntington Station in 1904 having moved from Manhattan where they lived when they arrived from Hungary. I spent the first 17 summers of my life (I’m now 72) in Huntington Station and my memories of tree climbing, the July 4th parade, the firedept fair where I always played bingo, YMCA day camp in Heksher park. I could go on and on. My grandfather was one of the first Jews to move to Huntington and he was a founder of the Huntington Hebrew Congregation which was originally in Huntington Station but later moved to its present location on Park Avenue. I am taping the Saturday show which I know will awaken many memories.