Spyglass, Spring/Summer 2014 Issue

The Spy-Glass
Spring/Summer 2014
(516) 922 6808
Raynham Hall Museum
20 West Main Street, Oyster Bay, New York 11771
www.raynhamhallmuseum.org
Rebuilding the Past for the Future
30 West Main Street before façade restoration...
...and at completion
Association, the North Country Garden Club, and
the Corita Charitable Trust, as well an anonymous
contributed to our capital campaign, we’ve now
benefactor, have also been extraordinarily
completed the restoration of the 18th century
section of our Museum building, as well as the first generous with funding, encouragement and
inspiration. Paint and painting supplies used in
phase of the exterior restoration of the 1915
the restoration were provided by Aboff’s at no cost,
Lincoln Market building at 30 West Main Street.
and we received a handsome and welcome discount
The 30 West Main Street building, which the
on the wood from Riverhead Building Supply.
museum had first hoped to acquire 60 years ago,
will soon be our new Education Center. Besides
Built in about 1915 on land once belonging to
providing a needed lift to our streetscape, this
Raynham Hall, the Lincoln Market building was
restoration/renovation project will allow the
originally a meat and poultry shop on the ground
Museum to re-open to the public many rooms in
floor, with an apartment for the shopkeeper and
the Museum that were once children’s, servants’
his family on the second floor. After a fire in about
and slaves’ rooms and are currently used for
1950, the building was remodeled into two onecollections storage and staff offices.
bedroom apartments on the first floor and a twobedroom apartment on the second floor. The
Among the contributors to the capital campaign
restoration work being done by the museum
project, the Friends of Raynham Hall would
carefully recreates the long-lost early 20th century
particularly like to acknowledge the Town of
wooden shop-front.
Oyster Bay, which acquired the Lincoln Market
building for the Museum’s use, on condition that
Many interesting details of the original shop were
the Friends undertake the building’s renovation.
discovered in the process of removing modern
The Gerry Charitable Trust, the Barker Welfare
(continued on page 8)
Foundation, the Oyster Bay Main Street
With the indispensible help of so many who have
“Architecture [is] worth great attention. It is then among the most important arts: and it
is desireable to introduce taste into an art which shews so much.”
- Thomas Jefferson, 1788
Page two
RAYNHAM HALL MUSEUM
Board of Trustees
John M. Collins, President
Rita Roselle, 1st Vice President
Joanna Badami, 2nd Vice President
Karen J. Underwood, 3rd Vice President
Rebecca Finelli, 4th Vice President
Elizabeth Brown, Treasurer
Barbara Curry, Secretary
James M. Murphy, Legal Advisor
Barbara Adelhardt
John A. Bonifacio
Patricia P. Sands
Maureen Brennan
Colette Buzzetta
Sandra Dillingham DeMille
June B. Fisher
Rebecca Lawton Flatters
Marianna Kirikian
G. Bruce Knecht
Kathleen Gallagher Pries
Kay Hutchins Sato
Abby Youngs Weir
Advisory Board:
Rosemary E. Bourne
Judith C. Chapman
Alice L. Gromisch
Thomas Hogan
Robert F. Hussey
John M. Perkins
Franklin Hill Perrell
Bradford G. Weekes III
Townsend Weekes
Richard Weir III
Honorary Trustee:
Mrs. Bradford G. Weekes, Jr.
Staff
Harriet Gerard Clark, Executive Director
Theresa Skvarla, Public Relations Director
Nicole Menchise, Collections Manager
Alex Sutherland, Director of Education
Antoinette Fleig, Michael Goudket,
Jeanne Pellizzi, Joann Perotto,
Jo Ann Paulsen, Thomas Valentine,
Educators & Greeters
The mission of RHM is to enable visitors to
the nearly three-hundred-year-old Townsend
family home in Oyster Bay to experience
what it meant to be prominent merchants and
heroic patriots and to become engaged in the
worlds of espionage, domestic life and the
decorative arts.
Author Evan Thomas Speaks on the
Presidential Use of Intelligence in RHM’s
Spymasters Series
Raynham Hall Museum’s Spymasters lecture series ended on a
scholarly note on March 9 with a lecture by award-winning
journalist, TV news panelist, professor and author Evan Thomas,
whose most recent book, Ike’s Bluff: President Eisenhower’s Secret
Battle to Save the World, was published in 2012. Mr. Thomas is
currently at work on a book on Richard Nixon. His previous books
include Sea of Thunder: Four Naval Commanders and the Last
Great Naval Campaign, 1941 - 1945, (Simon and Schuster, 2007),
and The Very Best Men: Four Men Who Dared -- The Early Years of
the CIA (Simon and Schuster, 1995).
Mr. Thomas’s talk covered a wide range of
relatively recent history, from the founding of
the Central Intelligence Agency after World
War II, to the present day, including the very
timely subject of the role of accused turncoat
Edward Snowden, who he bluntly characterized
as “a traitor.” Several members of the audience
asked Mr. Thomas during the question-andanswer period to comment on the topic of the
Internal Revenue Service’s admission that it
had targeted some political non-profits applying for non-profit
status for special scrutiny based on their name or perceived
affiliation, but Mr. Thomas replied that IRS matters were beyond
the realm of his particular expertise.
A native of Huntington who grew up in Cold Spring Harbor, Mr.
Thomas was able to catch up over supper after the lecture at
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club with a number of old friends and
acquaintances, including Bill Sheeline, Deborah Solbert, Patricia
Sands and Joan Shepard.
Raynham Hall Museum is very grateful to Mr. Thomas, who drove
with his wife from Washington, D.C. for our event, for his kindness in
offering his time and friendship for our benefit.
This was the last of the RHM Spymasters lectures for the year 20132014. Our previous speakers this season were best-selling novelist
Nelson DeMille and TV personality and author Brian Kilmeade. The
Spymasters series will resume in the fall.
Page three
Town of Oyster Bay and Historic Preservation Roundtable
Announce Agreement to Preserve the Mill Pond House
Supervisor Venditto said. “Selling the house to the
public under a strict set of covenants and restrictions
represents the best possible plan of action to ensure
the usage and preservation of one of Oyster Bay
hamlet’s most historic structures.”
The Town purchased the house, along with a second
property, in 2008 for $1,927,000. Parts of the structure
date to the early colonial period, when John Townsend
built the house for his family. It had been John’s
father Henry who in 1661 built Oyster Bay’s first grain
mill. Following John Townsend’s death in 1705, his
Representatives of the Town of Oyster Bay and the
home became known as Esther Townsend’s Dwelling
Oyster Bay Historic Preservation Roundtable have
House after his widow Esther, an enterprising
announced a preliminary agreement towards the
preservation of the Mill Pond House, a Town landmark businesswoman who managed a successful sloop-based
trading business, dealing primarily in cider with
on West Shore Drive.
customers as far away as North Carolina. Townsends
The Mill Pond House, damaged this spring in two
continued to hold the property until its sale out of the
separate fires, will be offered for sale to the public
family in 1929.
under covenants that ensure its restoration to the
The Historic Preservation Roundtable includes
strict standards of the United States Secretary of the
representatives from Raynham Hall Museum, the
Interior. In exchange, the Town will work with the
Society for the Preservation of Long Island
purchaser to allow flexibility in developing the
Antiquities, Oyster Bay Main Street Association,
remainder of the property’s acreage, to ensure its
Oyster Bay Historical Society, and private individuals
economic viability.
concerned with the historic preservation and economic
“The Oyster Bay Town Board is pleased to work with vitality of the hamlet of Oyster Bay.
the Oyster Bay Historic Preservation Roundtable,”
Great Summer Events and Programs at Raynham Hall Museum
Creative Cursive! Children’s Script-Writing and Calligraphy
Workshop Series
July 10, 17 and 24, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. $20 per session
Children’s Spy Workshop: Learn to Code the Old-Fashioned Way!
July 29, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. $15 per child
The Ancient Art of Paper Quilling: Learn to Make Art with Paper
Curls!
August 7, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. $15 per child
Woven Felt Wall Hanging Workshop: Make Art Using Strips of Felt in
Terrific Colors!
August 14, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. $15 per child
Talking Rocks: Native American “Petroglyph” Workshop
August 21, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. $15 per child
The Art of History: A Colonial Encampment and Re-enactment
September 21, 11:00 - 4:00 p.m. Free and open to the public
Seating is limited, so call the Museum at 516 922 6808 to reserve a seat!
Page four
Founding Friends: an Exhibition
On a day in late August of the summer of 1950,
several concerned friends gathered at The Terrace,
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Rose, to discuss
the creation of a group that would be called the
Friends of Raynham Hall. In the first few years of
the Friends, many decisions were made as to the
mission and re-creation of Raynham Hall as a
historic house museum. From the beginning, the
Friends consulted only the most expert authorities
from Williamsburg, Winterthur and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, to endeavor to ensure that the
Museum would accurately represent its distinguished
Revolutionary history to the public.
Sixty years later, to ensure that those early efforts
are remembered, Raynham Hall Museum presented
an exhibition, “Founding Friends,” curated by
Education Director Alexandra Payne Sutherland and
Collections Manager Nicole Menchise, and
inaugurated with a reception in the garden.
“The past is valuable only to the extent that it
contributes to, or influences the future. If this be true,
the historic events which took place in Raynham Hall
during those stirring days of the Revolution are of
great value to us today. This historic house and the
brave deeds of the Townsend family should be
preserved as long as there is an America.”
— Carolyn Hill, First Board President, 1955
Photos of the reception, from left to right from top: Rebecca Finelli and Karen Underwood; Alex Sutherland, RHM Board
President John Collins and his daughter Courtney; Alex Sutherland, Ann Nolte and Patricia P. Sands; Victoria Crosby and
Nicole Menchise; Frank Olt, Theresa Skvarla, Harriet Gerard Clark and Howard Sutherland; Henry Clark and Tish Rand;
Christopher, Alex, Ashby and Howard Sutherland; Jane Byrd and Ian McCurdy with Barbara Curry.
Photos courtesy of Mike Goudket and Joy S. Oviedo.
We are grateful to the following institutions and individuals for making this exhibition possible:
Ayer Bellerman Judith Chapman Daughters of the American Revolution, Oyster Bay Chapter
John Hammond
Huntington Historical Society
David Lamb Grosvenor F. Merle-Smith
Ellen Peck Nicoll
North Country Garden Club
Oyster Bay Historical Society
Antonio Ponvert III
Patricia P. Sands
Town of Oyster Bay
Jamie and Mary Gay Townsend
Bradford and Phyllis Weekes
Townsend U. Weekes III
Page five
A Love-ly 2014 Valentine’s Benefit
The RHM annual Valentine’s Benefit proved to be a great success this year, providing much-needed
funding for the Museum’s operations and programming. This year the Museum was very pleased to honor
Oyster Bay Main Street Association and Board member Patricia Sands for their achievements and service
to our community. During her acceptance speech, Mrs. Sands spoke of the operations of the museum when
the organization was just over a decade old. “In the early days we had only a Town of Oyster Bay
receptionist, so the operation of the museum was entirely the responsibility of the board…. Since then, we
have had professional staff to train docents to give tours and teach school children, to catalogue collections,
to achieve accreditation by the American Association of Museums -- with the assistance and oversight of a
dedicated board.”
The event was held at Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley. The live auction had the audience on tenterhooks
with the assistance of Christie’s auctioneer Robbie Gordy, who kept the bidders raising their paddles long
enough to bring in record amounts, including for the field trip scholarship fund, which provides free tours to
classes who cannot afford to come. (More photos on pages 6 and 7.)
Left to Right from top left corner: Kelly and Mario Gallo; Ragnar Knutsen, Rita Cleary, Laureen Knutsen, and Gil Ott; Lucie Bard
and Mary Beth Donohue; Meredith and Frank Olt; Rita and Jim Roselle; Meredith Maus, Executive Director of The Oyster Bay
Main Street Association, John Collins, President of the Board of RHM Trustees, Honoree Patricia P. Sands, Michele Johnson, Town
of Oyster Bay Councilwoman, John Bonifacio, Board President, Main Street Association, Harriet Gerard Clark, RHM Executive
Director, Maureen Brennan, RHM Board member; Master of Ceremonies Carol Silva and husband Robert Reilly; Karen and Allen
Underwood; Virginia and Stuyvesant Pierrepont; Cathy and Andrew Adelhardt; Susan and John Sands. Photographs courtesy of Jill
Johnson Photography.
Page six
Left to right from top: Julian and June Fisher; Kevin and Barbara Curry with Kim and Joseph Onorato;
Michelle Chamberlain and Michael Anhouse, Diana Collins; Elizabeth Sands Petty, Joan Shepard,
Catherine Sands, Margaret Sands Witham, and Susan Meldau Sands; Jeralyn Hanrahan, Rebecca and
Charles Finelli, Deborah and Robert Hussey; Paula and John Hornbostel; Nicole Menchise, Chris Wool,
Theresa Skvarla. Photographs courtesy of Jill Johnson Photography.
Page seven
Left to right from top: Josie Conelley and Victor Camacho; Cindy and Donald Morrongiello; Alex and
Howard Sutherland; Connie Cincotta and Zac Nudo; Volunteers Toni Fleig, Mia DiMeo, and Wendy
Finn; Joanna Badami; Frances and Daniel Covello; Thomas Calabrese, Richard Weir, Henry Clark
and David Lamb; Sandy and Nelson DeMille. Photographs courtesy of Jill Johnson Photography.
Page eight
(Rebuilding the Past, continued from Page 1)
interior finishes. These discoveries, along with
several early photographs, guided the design and
detailing of the shop-front. John Collins, president
of the Friends of Raynham Hall and a designer
specializing in historic preservation, has donated
many hours of his time to prepare detailed
specifications for the façade restoration and to
supervise the work.
John Bonifacio, president of the Oyster Bay Main
Street Association, commented that "the
reconstructed shop-front is a great example of the
Main Street Association's effort to encourage the
restoration of the façades of the village's historic
commercial buildings and to open up poorly
remodeled shop-fronts, for the enjoyment of
pedestrians."
With the completion of the front façade, the
Museum is now proceeding with the design and
bidding-out of the work to complete the restoration
of the sides and rear of the new Education Center.
Additional capital fund contributions are being
sought in order to then finish the interior work, at
which time the restoration of the Museum’s 19th
century wing can begin.
The Main Street Association and Raynham Hall
Museum hope that the restoration of the Lincoln
Market building will be an inspiration to other
owners of historic buildings in the village to
undertake similar restorations. For more
information on this project and to learn how you
can make a contribution, please contact the
Museum at (516) 922-6808 or online at
www.raynhamhallmuseum.org.
Raynham Hall’s façade in 2012, in 2013 and today, completely
restored, with rotted wood siding and windows replaced
Raynham Hall’s 18th century parlor, in 2012, left . . . . . and as it is today, repainted with the advice of paint analyst Frank Welsh
Page nine
Never a Dull Moment! Photos of Recent Events and Visitors
Top row, from left: Educator Mike Goudket leading Oyster Bay’s Cub Scout Troop; enjoying the garden; Educator Mike
Goudket giving a school tour; Memorial Day Parade marchers Barbara Curry and Howard Sutherland; little boy at
Memorial Day open house; percussionist at the Oyster Bay Music Festival; making music with a squash at the music
festival; Halloween with Johnny Cuomo; Nicole Menchise at the Memorial Day Parade; young lady playing with her
vegetables at the music festival; The Face Lady, JoAnn Alario Paulsen, showing the results of her artistry; Prof. Dale
Stuckenbruck demonstrating how to play a musical instrument made from a vegetable; John Bonifacio, Alex and Ewai
Page ten
Mark Your Calendars . . .
Great summer children’s events and workshops inside
See listing inside, p. 3
The Art of History: A Colonial Re-enactment with the Huntington
Militia. Includes a military drill, cooking demonstration, historic toys and ice
Sunday, September 21, 2014
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Mort Künstler signs books and prints from his new book,
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Spies, Spooks & Spirits: A Victorian Halloween at RHM. A very
Victorian party for adults with music, dancing, tricks and treats.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
9:00 p.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Halloween Hullabaloo. Let’s not forget the kids! There’s pumpkin painting,
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Annual Valentine’s Day Benefit Party
Saturday, February 7, 2015
2015 Great Presidents Writing Contest Awards Ceremony
Thursday, February 12, 2015
4:00 p.m.
cream. A free family event that is part of Arts Day in Oyster Bay!
The New Nation: The Creation of the United States in Paintings and
Eyewitness Accounts, including two images for Raynham Hall.
face painting and not-too-scary ghost stories by Johnny Cuomo.
THANK YOU to our new members!!!
Don’t miss out on our events and programs! Join or renew your membership today!
Aboff’s Paints
Ragnar and Laureen Knutson
Molly and William Rand, Jr.
Beverly Aulman
The Main Street Association
Riverhead Building Supply
Adelhardt Construction Corp.
Matinecock Garden Club
Lisa and Peter Schiff
Joanna Badami Appraisals
Christina and Willets Meyer
William Sharkey
Susan and Peter Bentel
Mary and Harry Meyers
Sheehan & Company, CPA
Canterbury Ales
Mill Max Manufacturing Corp.
Cindy and Ray Sidhom
Chalikian Jewelers
Sally and Paul Misencik
Cathy Soref
Wids DelaCour
North Country Garden Club
John Specce Agency
John F. DeLillo, CPA
Mr. and Mrs. Peter O’Farrell
Jean Thatcher
Dodds & Eder
Andrew Pascoe Flowers
Megan and Alex Urdea
Patricia Farnell
Mrs. Richardson Pratt
Rosalie and Terry Walton
Harry Whaley & Son
Meline and Donald Purdy
Youngs Farm
Susan Hillberg
Paula and Tish Rand
Check out our web site for the latest information at www.raynhamhallmuseum.org!