This Week in Riverhead History: Boat explodes, Bush visits

35 years ago this week

Pair escapes unharmed after boat explodes

A Flanders man and woman reached shore safely after a 21-foot boat they were riding in exploded and burst into flames in Meetinghouse Creek on Sept. 4, 1979.

Bob Mirabelli and Irene Krizek jumped to safety and swam to shore following the explosion.

They had just left Larry’s Lighthouse Marina when the boat stalled. After checking the carburetor, Mr. Mirabelli attempted to start the boat up again when the engine exploded.

“There was too much flame to put out,” he said. “So we jumped into the water and started swimming to shore. Even before we got halfway there the whole boat was a mass of flames.”

Riverhead police officer Bob Boden threw a police boat’s anchor onto the burning boat to keep it from drifting to a neighboring dock or the wooden shoreline and the Riverhead Fire Department extinguished the fire, we reported in that week’s issue of the News-Review.

Nobody was injured but the boat was “burned to the waterline,” we reported.

30 years ago this week

Vice President Bush comes to Calverton

Vice President George Bush attended a ceremony at the Grumman facility in Calverton on Aug. 27, 1984. The event was held to mark the rollout of the X-29 Fighter.

“I’m proud to be here,” the vice president said. “Proud because today, in a sense, marks the strengthening of America’s defenses.”

The computerized, 48-foot long X-29 was described as the “wave of the future.”

25 years ago this week

First ‘Wine Country’ signs erected

It was 25 years ago this week that the North Fork was officially dubbed Long Island Wine country in signs welcoming visitors to the region.

The original Wine Country signs, donated by the Long Island Wine Council, were placed on Main Road in Aquebogue, Southold and Orient and along Sound Avenue in Riverhead, we reported in the Aug. 31, 1989 issue of the News-Review.

Family Community Life Center gets cool shoulder

Organizers met with a somewhat skeptical Riverhead Town Board about their plans to build the Family Community Life Center behind First Baptist Church in Northville on Aug. 28, 1989.

The organizers, led by Rev. Charles Coverdale, presented a large-scale model showing what the center would look like, which was built with a $10,000 grant.. The group was asking for “100 percent support” from the Town Board, which would have made it easier to secure additional funding for the then-$8 million project.

The group is still actively pursuing the housing plan.