SALTAIRE SUMMERYBy Hugh O’BrienIt’s July! Summer is at its height, the days are hot, sunny and languorous except when they’re not, and everyone’s out enjoying their favorite summer pastimes – swimming, sailing, sunning, outdoor dining, outdoor tennis, outdoor stand-up paddleboard clinics – so with everything in full swing, it falls to a spoilsport correspondent to introduce a discordant note…namely, that the days are now getting noticeably shorter. Just another one of nature’s merry pranks to remind us all of the fleetingness of this fun. So, before it gets too dark to type by, and in the spirit of classic movie titles – things to come:PARADE! Have to do this first. This Saturday, July 16, commencing at 11 a.m. sharp. Well, okay, it’s the Fire Company, make that 11 a.m. dull. But that’s the timing only; the parade is anything but, culminating in excellent music and, that perpetual Saltaire lure and staple, free food, back at the firehouse – once the trooping has run, or rather stomped, its course. It’s our traditionally-delayed Fourth of July celebration, but this year it also serves as a test of the new boardwalks. Will the stronger wood support the weight of rescue vehicles? Will the redesigned underpinnings stand up to the rhythmic marching of paraders? Will the walks’ higher elevation increase the incidence of vertigo among firefighters? The resiliency of many critical village elements will be put to the test this weekend. So save a spot along the hallowed Broadway-Bay-Atlantic-Lighthouse-Broadway route, follow the sound of the xylophones and join us for one of the summer’s great community celebrations.Last Friday, by the way, was one of the busiest days in SVFC’s history: Four calls in 12 hours, bookended by several others on adjoining days. The new paramedic had barely gotten off the ferry when he was tossed into this maelstrom. Please thank a member for their service, and call 911 when you need us.So, the reborn Yacht Club has gotten its belated but welcome start. The revised menu is a hit, sailing has started, and tennis – not dependent upon the existence of an actual building – continues uninterrupted as it has since, I don’t know, February. A few items remain at loose ends. Movies, which need the dark of night before they can see the light of day, still await the installation of the necessary equipment, but all this is on its way, so we should salvage most of the season for kids on Tuesdays, and classicists on Thursdays. Mean time Monday Night Bridge began July 11 at 7:30 p.m., and the sound system gets its most, shall we say, vigorous workout at this Saturday’s annual Karaoke Night. Neighbors have been pre-warned! Keep apprised via Pia-mail (Commodore Pia Carroll’s weekly updates). Oh, Vice Commodore Connie Lawler promised me information on Bridge Camp, I gave her my email twice, got nothing yet, and for all I know the thing’s already over, so until further notice please direct all inquiries to the VC.Catching up with the SCAA, soon to be the streamlined if truncated SCA, the organization held its annual meeting June 25, at which their contributions, monetary and otherwise, to village life were reviewed. Top of the list was SCAA’s lead in purchasing a new transport cart to serve the residents, and their taking over oversight of the bayside fireworks this August. SCA’s next event is the annual House & Garden Tour, Saturday, July 23, beginning at 10 a.m., at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church on Lighthouse. Ticket sales are under way; price is $25 or $40 if you want the boxed lunch. If you buy your tickets on the day of the tour it’s a penalized $30, and no lunch for you! See Chair Grace Corradino at her home at 207 Anchor Walk, or get tickets at the Village Library. Rain date is Sunday, July 25, same Bat-time, same Bat-location.Coming soon: The rechristened Saltaire Festival, formerly the Art & Music Festival, formerly the Music & Art Festival, formerly Al Skinner’s drunken birthday bash, on Saturday, Aug. 6, but, in the spirit of not rushing the season, more on that nearer the time.Rounding up various items: The Maggie Fischer Cross-Bay Swim is set for Friday, July 22, starting at 7 a.m. at the (real) Lighthouse; please go to www.greatsouthbayswim.com for details. The Post Office has been open since June 21 and will continue to zealously harbor its horde of mail until Sept. 6, unless concerned citizens descend and demand that presiding Postmasters Alice Whitlatch and Liv Hempel hand it over. Yes, that’s a subtle hint.Much of this information comes from the Saltaire Village website, which features an integrated calendar combining scheduled events from the Village, Club, SCA and so on.Lastly, I chanced upon a new resident of the main terminal parking lot in Bay Shore the other night: A big white bunny. The guys told me he’s been around about two weeks, sticking mostly to the lot’s southwestern corner. He seems healthy enough but he’s clearly someone’s pet. Poor bunny! He needs to get back where he belongs. So if you know of anyone missing a plump white bunny with a gray stripe down his back, he’s at the O.B. Terminal, and I think Tim Mooney’s charging him by the day, so… Nothing that interesting ever shows up at the Saltaire lot.
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