Jamesport Meeting House

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SECOND ANNUAL

 HISTORIC JAMESPORT HOUSE TOUR

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

10 AM TO 4 PM

PRE-TOUR COCKTAIL PARTY

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010, 5 - 7 PM

As with last year’s tour, September’s event will feature visits to a dozen homes in Jamesport and South Jamesport. Some date back to the founding, in the early 1800s, of what was then called “James’ Port,” named for James Tuthill, who purchased land on  and around Miamogue Point to establish a harbor for whaling ships. By the late 19th century, the area emerged as a popular vacation resort with major hotels as shown in Fred Bender’s painting above.  (Prints will be available.)  As the 20th century progressed, Jamesport gradually changed into a mixed residential and second home community.  The tour will include homes from all of these periods, plus a home or two from the 21st century.  All homes will be new to the tour this year.

Also new this year will be a pre-tour cocktail party the night before at a fantastic 1837 South Jamesport home not on the tour. Proceeds of both events will go to repair and maintain the historic 1731 Jamesport Meeting House. 

More information about both events will be forthcoming shortly.  Please call 631-722-5170 or e-mail richard@windswayfarm.com with any questions. 

ALSO COMING UP AT THE JAMESPORT MEETING HOUSE

August 28:  “Bassic Broadway” featuring Sal Diliberto (bass) and friends performing mostly Broadway music

September 4:  Long Island Opera Company

October (TBD):  Backwater Racket Folk/Bluegrass Band in concert

November 20:  Singer-songwriter Carolyn Cruso in concert

December (TBD):  Cookies and Carols at the Meeting House

December 31, 2009

Remarkably this will be the 279th New Year witnessed by the Meeting House.  Thanks to all of your support and encouragement, what seemed impossible less than two years ago is off to a great start and the venerable building is looking better than it has in many years. 

We have renovated the parsonage and found a tenant to help support this bold undertaking.  We have painted the exterior of the Meeting House and addressed other pressing issues.  Most important, we have opened the building for community events, held our first wedding and conducted a very successful “Historic Jamesport House Tour.”

The community loved “Carols and Cookies” at the Meeting House two weeks ago.  If you missed it, be sure to come next year.  If you missed Barbaraellen Koch’s photo in the News-Review of the East End Arts Council Chorus singing at the event, see below.

And please don’t forget that it is not too late to contribute to the Meeting House’s year-end appeal.  If you have already sent a check to support this important community resource, thank you very much!

On behalf of the board of directors of the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust, have a very healthy and prosperous New Year!

Richard Wines, President

Please send

contributions to:

Jamesport Meeting House

PO Box 330

Jamesport, NY 11947

Early November we hosted the first wedding in the Meeting House since it returned to community hands. 

The decorations were simple, but striking.  Late afternoon light streaming in through the beautiful windows bathed everyone in a golden glow.

The bride was beautiful.   It was a magical family affair, with lots of little tykes underfoot.  The old bell sounded particularly joyous as it rang forth the news.

The 12 homes featured on the tour ranged from Italianate mansions of prosperous sea captains to cottages of humble tradespersons. There was even a tavern turned into a residence and a former potato grading station now an environmentally conscious home of a well-known artist.

It

It was a glorious day for Jamesport indeed.  Several hundred people enjoyed the tour.  The homes were all wonderful.  We had plenty of enthusiastic volunteers (thank you all).    The weather was perfect.

Visitors loved discovering Jamesport.  The most common refrain of the day: “I didn’t know this was here.”  One visitor from the South Fork commented that they have lots of house tours there – but nothing that compares with the Historic Jamesport House Tour.  Even a 30-year resident  was amazed at the history of her home village.

Perhaps most important, visitors loved the historic Jamesport Meeting House, where the tour began.   The outside looked beautiful with all the plants loaned by Ivy Acres.  The interior shone with the fall light streaming in the big windows.  Chris Stress gave tours in colonial era costume to rapt audiences.    All proceeds went to the restoration and preservation of the Meeting House.

The one question we heard again and again:  when is the next tour?  Stay tuned while the committee recovers.

Just in case you missed the page one article in today’s News-Review “Community” section, Steven Sondheim’s “Assassins” is coming to the Jamesport Meeting House.  The Meeting House’s very own troupe of young actors have been rehearsing and preparing all summer.  This is a group who has worked together for several years, both as the Riverhead High School “Blue Masques” and at the North Fork Community Theater.   What holds this group together?  Basically, these young men and women love to act and produce theater.  They especially love Sondheim’s work which they describe as “always challenging” and “unlike a typical Broadway musical.” 

So, come and enjoy the show.  There will be a live pit orchestra.  Performances will be at the Meeting House on August 13, 14, and 15 at 8:00 PM each night.  Tickets are $5.  Call 902-8362.   Strong language and adult content; for mature audiences only.

And, consider a pre-theater dinner at one of our local restaurants who will also be supporting the Historic Jamesport House Tour on September 19:  Bayview Inn, Cliff’s Elbow Room, Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Jamesport Country Kitchen and Jamesport Manor Inn.

Dear Friends of the Jamesport Meeting House:

Historic Jamesport House Tour coming in September

Be sure to mark your calendars.  The Jamesport Meeting House is planning a spectacular house tour to benefit our restoration work.   The tour will feature fourteen homes along or near South Jamesport Avenue.  This first-ever tour of houses in the area will include five that date to the founding decade of “James Port” in the 1830’s, as well as other fabulous houses from later decades.  There is even a former potato grading station now converted into a “green” house. 

The tour will run September 19 from 10 AM to 4 PM and will start at the Meeting House.  Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 on the day of the tour.  Watch www.jamesportmeetinghouse.org  for more details on how to purchase tickets. 

This tour will be a big deal for Jamesport and will require a lot of volunteers.  If you can help for half a day, please call Cathie Flanagan at 722-2279 or e-mail her at cflanaga@optonline.net .  Tickets for volunteers will be half price.  Again, more details will follow shortly.

Coming up soon as a prelude to the house tour, Fred Bender and Richard Wines will give an illustrated talk on August 19^th 7 PM about the making of Bender’s painting, “Sunday Morning in James Port: May, 1839.”   The Bender painting is a gull’s eye view of the then-new port (now called “South Jamesport”) and accurate in every detail.  The painting includes four of the houses that will be on the September tour and many others still standing, as well as the ships in the harbor and the wharf that once stood at the end of South Jamesport Avenue.   Prints of the painting will be on sale – a must have for anyone who lives in or loves South Jamesport

Sondheim comes to the Meeting House

You may have noticed a lot of youthful activity at the meeting house this summer.  It is the Meeting House’s very own theater troupe, composed of and run by the young actors who are veterans of the Riverhead High School “Blue Masques.” Their debut production is “Assassins”, the 1990 Stephen Sondheim. It tells the stories in a revue format of nine men and women who were successful or unsuccessful in killing a President of the United States.  The music varies to reflect the popular music of the eras depicted.   There will be a live pit orchestra.  Performances will be at the Meeting House on August 13, 14, and 15 at 8:00 PM each night.  Watch our website for more details.

We’ve tested the acoustics and found them wonderful

A packed house enjoyed a concert performance by Eastbound Freight Bluegrass Band on May 30^th. The band was in top form and audience had a wonderful time.  But the other star performer was the Meeting House itself.  Its classic “shoebox” shape and the textured tin ceilings and walls make it an extraordinarily good place to perform and listen to music. 

A private party in June featuring two professional vocal artists from Musica Viva of New York singing opera arias and Broadway tunes confirmed the space’s virtues for music.  The performers had beautiful voices – and they sounded really good in the Meeting House. 

Both evenings’ performers loved the way the building sounded and they loved the intimate contact with the audience that the Meeting House affords.  We all hope that “Music in the Meeting House” becomes a regular feature in the community.

The Parsonage reveals some secrets

Work on the parsonage has been completed and our new tenant – Nathan Corwin, Land Surveyor – has moved in.   You may have noticed his sign in front of the building.   Along the way, we also discovered “dust boards” and other structural evidence indicating that the building dates to the 18^th century, and could be nearly as old as the Meeting House itself.  

While we no longer think it is the original parsonage built in 1735, we think that it was already an old building when acquired by the newly reorganized “Lower Aquebogue Congregational Church” in 1854.  They promptly added a second floor to what was originally a “Cape” style building.  At that time, the building stood on the south side of the road, where the gazebo in the town park now stands, and the one room Jamesport school was on the current parsonage site.

Then in 1891, the trustees of the school and church exchanged properties and moved the school building to the south side of the road and the parsonage to the north side.  Shortly thereafter the parsonage was updated again into a “Queen Anne” style house that hid all of its older fabric deep inside the walls.  During recent restoration work, we discovered the date “1892” carved into the mantel in the front room during that remodeling campaign.

The painting will get done!

Unfortunately, painting of the Meeting House itself has been delayed by the unusually wet weather this spring.  If we ever get a string of good weather days in a row, the painters will be back.  Our neighbor, O’Neill Outdoor Power Equipment, is providing equipment to enable us to paint the steeple.  At the same time, we hope to perform critical repair work on the leaky roof at the bottom of the belfry.  Apparently the tinwork installed when the steeple was added in 1859 has rusted out after 150 years!

And we are planning more improvements

The board of the Preservation Trust is working on additional restoration steps.  One top priority is replacing the badly worn carpet.   We have already booked two weddings in the Meeting House, but the current bright red color clashes with many bridesmaid dress colors and the ugly stains and gaping holes don’t add to the ambiance.  We plan to take up the old carpet on a date to be determined in August.  If you can help, please let me know.

Another top priority is the piano.  While recent performances demonstrated the excellence of the Meeting House as a performance space, the piano is sadly lacking and appears to be deteriorating rapidly.   The sounding board is cracked, some strings can no longer be tuned and the general sound is less than pleasing.  Ultimately we hope to have a concert quality instrument to attract top-flight performers, but in the meantime we hope to have at least a decent instrument that can be properly tuned.

Other high priority goals include replacing the pew cushions and cleaning, glazing, and painting the windows.   As soon as exterior work is completed, we also need to regrade the yard and plant new grass or put down sod.  If you can help in any way with any of these goals, please let us know. 

And finally, the good news is that you have been generous and the Meeting House project is off to a good start financially.  With your continued help, we will continue to bring this building back to its rightful place at the heart of our community.   

On behalf of the board of the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust,

Richard Wines

631-722-5170

Richard@windswayfarm.com

___________________________________

Donations may be sent to:

Jamesport Meeting House

PO Box 330

Jamesport, NY 11947

The Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust is a community-based 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.  For more information about the 1731 Jamesport Meeting House or how to volunteer, see our web site at www.jamesportmeetinghouse.org  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

SATURDAY, MAY 30 at 7 PM, the Eastbound Freight Bluegrass Band will perform in concert at the 1731 Jamesport Meeting House. Tickets are $15 and available at Duffy’s Deli, Main Road, Jamesport; Katrinka’s Deli, Jamesport Center; Blue Door Gallery, Riverhead; and Cecily’s Love Lane Gallery, Mattituck.  A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.   For information call 631-722-2650.  This concert will be the first in the Music at the Meeting House series.

Eastbound Freight Bluegrass Band has been performing throughout Long Island and the New York metropolitan area for over 20 years at festivals, country fairs and vineyards.  The band members share a life-long connection to the music and a love for the big sound of the classic bluegrass groups.  The band’s first release “Don’t Blame Me!” won accolades in Bluegrass Unlimited and received an achievement award from Billboard.

In 1731 all the pioneers of Riverhead Town came together to build the Jamesport Meeting House.  It is the oldest public building on the East End of Long Island and a direct connection with the area’s Puritan heritage.   It was recently acquired by the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust to restore and keep it in community hands forever.   The Meeting House is a town landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.  For information about the Trust and the Meeting House, see jamesportmeetinghouse.org.  

Spring, 2009

Dear Friends of the Jamesport Meeting House:

Spring brings lots of good news for the Meeting House!  As you pass by, you may have noticed that painting contractor Robert Toman has started work on the exterior of the Meeting House.  Warmer weather will bring a crisp new coat of white paint.  RW Mulligan will also repair some serious leaks at the base of the belfry and reshingle part of the roof.  Both contractors are offering substantial discounts from the true value of the work they are doing.  To add to this good news, our next door neighbor Van Kemenade is donating much of the paint. 

We have a tenant for the Parsonage!

In February, I wrote that finding a good tenant for the Parsonage is a key part of the Meeting House Trust’s long-term plan to pay down the debt we took on to purchase the property for the community.   Thanks to your suggestions, we now have someone.  Nathan Corwin III is moving his surveying business into the building.  He will be a great addition to the community.  Not only did he contribute survey work that facilitated our purchase of the building, but he also is a namesake and direct descendant of a community member who witnessed the original deed and “worked upon the meeting house timber” in 1731.

Meeting House receives $28,000 donation

The board of the Preservation Trust is pleased to announce that it has received a donation of $28,000 from the North Fork Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.  As you know, they are renting the Meeting House on Sunday mornings.  These funds were a credit for monies the Fellowship invested in capital improvements while renting the building from First Parish.  This is the single largest donation received by the Trust!

National Register listing

In another bit of welcome news, the Meeting House’s application to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places was fast tracked.  The actual listing occurred in February.  National Register status is a prerequisite to apply for many types of grants, so this is a big step in securing the financial stability of our enterprise.   

Future plans

As spring turns to summer, volunteers are planning interesting events for the Meeting House.  We hope you will come and bring your friends!  The opening event will be a concert by Eastbound Freight Bluegrass Band on May 30.  We expect a private musical evening in June and a couple of dramatic performances over the summer.  One highlight will be a South Jamesport Avenue house tour on September 19 to benefit the Meeting House.  We also expect to have a second annual “Celebration” at the Meeting House in November.   Other possible programming includes cooking classes in the kitchen, lectures in the lecture room, flower arranging workshops and movie nights in the sanctuary.  We’re even hopeful there will be a wedding or two this season.

As always, your help is needed to bring this building back to its rightful place at the heart of our community.  We need volunteers to restore and paint the shutters (added to the building in 1859) and to clean, glaze and paint the windows.  The “Little Church” needs someone to adopt and restore it. 

We need volunteers to help with programming, especially the September house tour.  And finances remain a challenge.  We will appreciate your assistance with the cost of the painting and restoration.

With your commitment and enthusiasm, together we will continue to make the Meeting House bloom and prosper.

On behalf of the officers and directors of the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust,

Richard Wines

631-722-5170

Richard@windswayfarm.com

___________________________________

Donations may be sent to:

Jamesport Meeting House

PO Box 330

Jamesport, NY 11947

The Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust is a community-based 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.  For more information about the 1731 Jamesport Meeting House or how to volunteer, see our web site at www.jamesportmeetinghouse.org  

February 11, 2009

Dear Friends of the Jamesport Meeting House:

The Meeting House project is off to a good start for 2009.  Thanks to the generosity of Kolb Mechanical in Mattituck, who donated all of the labor, we now have a new (and functioning) hydro-air heating system in the Meeting House Parsonage.  Similarly, Robert Toman is almost finished with painting the Parsonage’s interior, and will move on to the exterior of the Meeting House itself when the weather permits.  Again, he is doing the work at a substantial discount to its real cost and Van Kemenade Paint, our neighbor across the street, is donating most of the paint.  And, if you have driven by in the last few days, you may have noticed a new roof going on the Parsonage.  The roofer, RW Mulligan, will also be repairing some serious leaks in the roof at the floor of the belfry and replacing part of the Meeting House roof itself.  He too is generously giving us a substantial discount from his real cost.  Other contractors have given us special rates on plumbing and electrical work.  All of these efforts are yet more examples of the community coming together to help preserve the venerable Jamesport Meeting House – just as it did to build the structure 278 years ago.

Help us find a good tenant

Now we need to find a good tenant for the Parsonage.  Renting this space is part of the Meeting House Trust’s long-term plan to pay down the debt we took on to purchase the property for the community.  The Parsonage has five bedrooms upstairs, an eat-in kitchen, spacious dining room and two large living rooms downstairs.  It is conveniently situated at the heart of the Jamesport community, near public transport.   Hamlet Center zoning allows us to accommodate either residential or commercial tenants.   If you know of someone who might be interested or if you need more information, contact me at the number below.

And we can use your help

The Board is also organizing several key committees to move our project forward.  One will work on fundraising efforts.  A second will focus on programming for the Meeting House.  And the third will focus on promoting the venue as a place for weddings and other events.  If you are interested in helping in any of these efforts, please let us know.

And finally, thanks again for all of your past assistance.  We look forward to your future support to keep this project moving ahead.

On behalf of the officers and directors of the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust,

Richard Wines

631-722-5170

Dear Friends of the Jamesport Meeting House,

The year 2008 has been a good one for the Jamesport Meeting House – perhaps the most momentous since 1731 when it was built by the community or 1859 when they rebuilt and rededicated it.  As most of you know, in October the Preservation Trust was finally able to purchase the venerable structure in order to ensure that it will be forever in community hands and protected against inappropriate use and development.

Many of you were able to join the “Celebration” at the Meeting House on November 16.  It was a spectacular event.  We doubt the place ever looked better.  It was a chance for some to reacquaint themselves with their favorite landmark.  For others, it was their first time inside the building.  We feasted on food provided by the Jamesport Country Kitchen and Junda’s Pastry.  We enjoyed the wine of all four of Jamesport’s celebrated vineyards (Jason’s, Diliberto, Jamesport and Clovis Point) and cider from nearby Woodside Farms.  In every way, the community truly did come together to make this event possible – just as they did to build the meeting house 277 years ago. 

Looking ahead

2009 will be a year of both challenges and opportunities for the Meeting House.   We have secured the building.  Now we need to secure an income stream to help pay down the debt that made it possible.    We plan to rent the parsonage; we are leasing the Meeting House itself to the North Fork Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for Sunday mornings and hope to attract other groups. We also need to secure grant financing and will be applying for a purchase grant from the state’s Environmental Protection (EPF) fund.  We have our fingers crossed that there will still be sufficient funding in these difficult times.

Of course, there are many things we need to do.  We are installing a new heating system in the Parsonage and doing other work necessary to make it rentable.  We need to fix a bad leak in the Meeting House steeple and undertake other urgent repairs.  We hope to start painting  the Meeting House as soon as the weather and finances permit. 

Weddings and parties at the Meeting House

We also hope to generate revenue by renting the Meeting House for weddings or other similar events.   As we all saw on November 16, it is a perfect place for a celebration.  It is a beautiful space and probably the most historic venue on the East End.  Because it was built by the Puritans, there are no religious symbols of any kind incorporated into the structure, so it is perfect for couples of all faiths – or who haven’t figured that part out yet.  Click on the “weddings” page of the web site and check out the possibilities.

We need your programming ideas

The Preservation Trust is eager to start scheduling events for the community.  At the “Celebration,” attendees thought that it would be a great place for concerts and similar performances.  Some attendees with longer memories asked if we could revive the tradition of covered dish community suppers that once occurred there.   The Town Board wants to bring one of their meetings.  We hope to schedule an evening of community caroling next holiday season.  A committee of the Preservation Trust is working on programming and needs your ideas.  So, if you have suggestions or would like to help, please let us know. 

Our new web site

The Jamesport Meeting House is now firmly in the 21^st century.  Check out our new web site, jamesportmeetinghouse.org, beautifully set up by professional web designer Jack Kratoville.  And, while you are on the site, go to the “News” page for some photos from the November 16 event.  You can also share your programming ideas here or make a donation. 

Prints of the Meeting House

One of the highlights of the November 16 “Celebration” was the chance to purchase prints of a Fred Bender painting of the Jamesport Meeting House as it appeared in 1859.    These are limited edition artist proof Giclee prints hand crafted by Bill Girimonti.  Both the artist and the printmaker were on hand to sign the prints and talk about their work.  If you didn’t have a chance to acquire one of these prints at the event, a few signed and numbered copies are still available for $200 each.  Check them out on the web site or call 722-5170.

National Register designation

One of the first acts of the Preservation Trust after acquiring the building was to reinstate the application to list it on the National Register of Historic Places.  The process was terminated last year by First Parish in its efforts to make the Meeting House more marketable.    We are pleased to report that the state review board has already approved the building for listing on the State Register of Historic Places.  With this approval, National Register listing is now only a matter of time. 

The New Year

All of us connected with the Jamesport Meeting House are looking forward to the new year.  We look forward to seeing the building painted.  We look forward to seeing the grounds cleaned up.  We look forward to scheduling weddings and parties.  We look forward to a year of wonderful community events in the Meeting House.

Your tax-deductible gift will help make it possible for us to complete the painting and needed repairs to the steeple, as well to start paying down the loans that have made preservation of the Meeting House possible.  Thanks in advance for your generosity. 

All of us on the board of the Preservation Trust look forward to seeing you at a Meeting House event during 2009.

Happy New Years!

The Officers and Directors of the Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust

___________________________________

Please send all donations to:

Jamesport Meeting House

PO Box 330

Jamesport, NY 11947

See jamesportmeetinghouse.org for a credit card donation form.  The Jamesport Meeting House Preservation Trust is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.