Community Columns

Flanders News: Fire Department to host annual memorial service

Welcome, May and, hopefully, more seasonal weather. I want to do yard work and sit outside and drink my tea in the morning. I’d like to ask Mother Nature to turn up the heat a little. I’m not the only one. Everyone I run into says the same thing: “Where is spring?” 

The Friends of the Big Duck will host their annual Craft Fair/Flea Market Saturday, May 23, at the Big Duck Ranch, 1012 Flanders Road. (Rain date is May 24.) Vendors are wanted, especially a face-painter for the children. The fee is $50 for a 10×10 space. The Duck Farming Exhibit and Museum will be open that weekend also. Admission is free. Call 727-0593 or visit bigduck.org and click on Friends of the Big Duck for more information.

The Southampton Youth Bureau will host a free Job and Internship Fair, Tuesday, May 12, for young people ages 16 to 26. Over 20 local employers will be looking for people to fill a host of summer or year-round jobs. Bring your resumé, wear a nice suit and smile.

A film-making program, offered by the Southampton Youth Bureau and Southampton Multimedia Center, will take place Saturdays, May 9 through June 6, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Southampton Town Recreation Center. The program is free for Southampton Town residents in grades 9 through 12, but requires preregistration. Contact southamptontownny.gov/youthbureau or call 631-702-2421.

Congratulations from the Southampton Youth Bureau to the winners of the second annual Hamptons Got Talent competition, held April 18 at Hampton Bays High School. James Sullivan of Westhampton Beach High School placed third, Ella Marcus of Hampton Bays Middle School placed second and Tyren Smith of Southampton High School took first place. Sharley Garcia of Southampton High School took home the People’s Choice Award. The Southampton Youth Bureau would like to thank every student who participated in the program. Everyone did a fantastic job!

The Flanders Fire Department will hold its annual memorial service and inspection Sunday, May 3, at 10 a.m. at Flanders Memorial Park on Flanders Road. Following the service, all are welcome at fire department headquarters for light refreshments. I’d like to personally thank the volunteers for keeping our area safe at great personal risk. As you know, the pine barrens next door to us all have many dangerous roads and paths that impede our volunteers when they’re fighting forest fires. A petition is on Facebook and I’ve read that the county hopefully will remedy the situation before tragedy strikes one of our volunteers or a home and family.

Happy birthday to my good friend Fran Iaccone, who celebrates today, April 30. Sandy Fioto celebrates May 1; Rob Santoro and Lisa Hubbard on May 2; and Carmecha Langhorne on May 12. I hope everyone enjoys their special day.

That is all for this week. If have news or events to share, please call or email me, but remember that this column is biweekly. Please give me enough time to write about it, unless it doesn’t matter if the news is published after the fact.

Contact Flanders columnist Tanya Doherty at 727-8687 or [email protected].