Community Corner

Good News: Dog Rescued in Fire; Windmill A Literary Landmark

Some stories put a smile on your face. Here's our wrap-up from around Northern Suffolk and the East End.

As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to nitty-gritty breakdowns of government and school district issues. But some stories are simply inspiring, often showing that at the heart of our communities is a desire to do good. Here are some of the touching headlines from the past seven days compiled from Patch Staff reports.

Chief Rescues Dog from Burning Amagansett Home

Flames were shooting through the roof of an Amagansett house when the first firefighters arrived on Sunday afternoon, and thanks to a quick search, a chief rescued the only occupant: An old Golden Retriever named Cooper cowering in the corner of the home.

First Assistant Chief Allen Bennett Jr. was the first to arrive at 163 Old Stone Highway after 911 dispatchers received multiple calls from passersby and dispatched emergency responders at 4:09 p.m.

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"I did a 360 of the house and I saw movement on the first floor," Bennett recalled on Sunday evening. "I popped the back door open and saw him scared in the corner in the kitchen. He was scared. He didn't know what was going on. He was happy to see somebody, I can tell you that."

Kings Park Hockey Star Glides into Islanders' Camp

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A Kings Park ice hockey star is hoping to impress with his skills on the ice at the Nassau Coliseum this week.

James Mazza, 19, is one of four Long Island prospects among the 48 players invited the Islanders' four-day mini camp at the Nassau Coliseum this week. Mazza played in a high school championship game for St. Anthony's at the Coliseum in 2012, before playing for Youngstown University in the United States Hockey League.

Kickstarter Campaign, Featuring Mick Foley as Santa Claus, Meets Goal

World Wrestling Entertainment great Mick Foley's obsession with Christmas has led him on a quest to portray Santa Claus – and one filmmaker has captured him, along with five other such Santa Claus figures, in a new documentary called "I am Santa Claus." Now, that documentary has wrapped up a Kickstarter campaign that raised $51,326 – more than its its initial $40,000 goal – to finish up the production process with animation, music, sound and other facets of production, and send the completed project to film festivals in 2014.

Community Comes Together for Athens Grill

Despite Sunday's soaring temps, scores of caring friends, fellow business owners, elected officials and customers turned out for a fundraiser held at The Riverhead Project to help rebuild the Athens Grill, recently destroyed by fire.

Locals Raise $2k in Honor of Late Teen

The Southold Fire Department and Southold Yacht Club co-sponsored a CPR Fundraiser to purchase a defibrillator in the name of Ronan Guyer, a Southold teen who collapsed and later died while running a cross-country meet last fall.

Simmons Is Schmidt's First Local Hero

The smiling face of Southampton Village resident Brenda Simmons looks down from the outside wall of Schmidt's Market, as the grocer honors her as the first in its new "Local Heroes" series.

The photographic portrait of Simmons is by Jennifer Meihofer of Spirit Catcher Studio, who is the wife of Schmidt's Market owner Dennis Schmidt. Inside the market, a hand-out explains that a different hero will be picked each month, and in addition to a photograph being put on display, a hero sandwich will be named after the honoree. The hand-out also includes a biography of Simmons.

Not only is Simmons a co-founder of the African American Museum of the East End in Southampton Village, she is the assistant to village Mayor Mark Epley, has her own show on LTV called "Voices of Wisdom," is a life coach for young women in need, and is a mentor for inmates at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside.

Campus Windmill to Be Designated 'Literary Landmark'

The windmill at the Stony Brook Southampton campus, formerly Southampton College, has long been considered a local landmark, but now it is slated to receive national acclaim in the arts world as it is named a Literary Landmark on Saturday.

United for Libraries, which has named 120 Literary Landmarks in the U.S. since 1986, is bestowing the title on the windmill because of its connection to playwright Tennessee Williams.

According to United for Libraries, "In the summer of 1957, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams lived in the campus windmill and wrote an experimental play, 'The Day on Which a Man Dies,' responding to the death of his friend, Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock."

At 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Frederic Tuten will put on a reading of his one-act play “At Stanley's Place,” which is named for Stanley Kowalski of Williams' play “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

The dedication ceremony begins at 5:15 p.m., following by a reception.


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