Bethpage-Tribune_1974-10-03

              OLDBETHMGE
also serving I S L A N D T R E ES
PIA1NVIEW PLAINEDa SEAFORD
Thursday, October 3, 1974
The Campaign Trail
Wilson
Governor Wilson has an-
HSffiIced Xhe appointment of
William C. Bursten of Lake
Success, Long Island, as
Assistant Communications
Director for New York City and
Long Island weekly publications
in the Governor's campaign for
reelection to a four-year term
Bursten served in a similar
capacity in the 1970 Rockefeller-
Wilson campaign. He also has
worked on statewide campaigns
for U.S. Senators Javits and
Keating.
He has traveled widely
throughout the United States and
abroad writing articles on geo­politics
for Graphic Features
Syndicate, for which, he was a
roving correspondent and feature
writer. An article on political
campaign financing appeared in
me May 1974 edition of the New
York State Bar Association
""* ' MANIMM
State Senator Ralph J.
Marino's fight to protect our
coastal waters from oil polluters
won renewed impetus last week
when Governor Malcolm Wilson
announced his opposition to the
premature granting of leases for
oil and gas drilling. -
The Syosset Republican has
attempted to block unsafe
drilling with a strict Marine
Sanctuary Act. The measure
minimizes damages through
state regulation of offshore
operations and by levying
punishing fines on polluters
whose contaminating materials
enter the state's three mile limit,
regardless of source. The
measure, co-sponsored by
Assemblyman Joseph Reilly (R-Glen
Cove), was passed by the
Legislature in 1973, but vetoed by
Governor Rockefeller, a
proponent of oil exploration.
Journal.
Bursten holds a Master's
degree in Political Science from
Long Island University, and was Eiduated in June from Hofstra
w School.
In announcing the appointment
of Bursten, Governor Wilson
said:
"I am pleased that Bill Bursten
will again lend his experience
and youthful enthusiasm to my
campaign by dealing with the
weekly publications in the New
York City and Long Island area,
ine weekly newspapers are
government's most direct
channel to the grass roots of the
electorate. The people should be
fully enlightened on govern­mental
actions and on can­didates'
predilections. Bursten's
experience and expertise make
nun a natural to handle this
assignment."
"Governor Wilson agrees that
to date, there are no assurances
that offshore oil or gas could be
extracted Without irreparable
damage to the marine en­vironment
and the coastal
wetlands," said Marino. "If the
major oil companies can
guarantee fail-Safe drilling, there
is no need for them to oppose the
Act."
Marino plans to revive the
proposal by filing his bill in
December for consideration in
1975. 'The bill stands a good
chance," said the lawmaker.
"While downstaters are- more
keenly sensitive to the esthetic
and biologic value of our
coastline, the entire Legislature
will appreciate the seriousness of
risking our $30 million fishing
industry and multi-million
recreational industry by drilling
in the turbulent Atlantic waters."
Johnson
Senator Owen H. Johnson (R-
4th Senatorial District), the in­cumbent
candidate in the 4th
Senatorial District, has received
the endorsement of both the
Police Conference of New York,
Inc., and of the more locall
Suffolk County Police Con­ference.
President Al Sgaglione, of the
New York Conference, com­mended
Senator Johnson for his
responsiveness and declared that
its members voted to pledge him
their support without hesitation.
Also heralding Senator Johnson
for his accomplishments,
sident Isreal Horowitz an-jced
that the Suffolk Con­ference
was pleased to continue
to support the Senator for re­election
in November.
Senator Johnson also received
the full support of the Police
Benevolent Association of the
Metropolitan Transportation
Authority whose president,
Michel Matthaei, praised the
Senator for his human un­derstanding,
community
awareness, and his contributions
to good government.
All three organizations ap­plauded
Senator Johnson for a
job well done and expressed their
best wishes for a victorious
campaign and continued success
as Senator for a second term in
office.
Yevoli
Democratic Assembly can­didate
Lewis J. Yevoli vowed that
his major concern in Albany
would be to solve the serious
financial problems faced by local
homeowners. "The increasing
cost of everything, from
groceries and utilities to property
taxes, is our number one problem
today," according to Yevoli.
(Continued on Page 71
10 cents per copy
Come, Come To The Fair- - -
The Agricultural Fair
An American And L.I. Way Of Life
While the Agricultural Society
of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk
Counties traces its roots to 1841,
the idea of public fairs on Long
Island dates back to the late
1600's.
In 1697 the King of England
approved a law which permitted
Colonists living on Long Island to
"twice yearly and every year
(hold) a fair for ... exposure and
trade." Although records are
sketchy, there is mention of
various fairs being held in the
Jamaica area through the l700*s,
including one that featured a lion
on display along with a variety of
goods, merchandise and horses
exposed for sale.
- :|*y' 1816 there was a firm
(MMaiiil for a soundly established
fair and a group of prominent
Long Island residents met at the
County Courthouse in Mineola to
discuss such an event. The group
felt it desirable to have an
organization devoted to im­proving
"the method of farming,
the raising of stock, and rural
economy." Two years later the
new Society held its first
exhibition at the Courthouse and
awarded $200 in premiums for
corn,' potatoes, rutabagas, cloth,
flannel, diapers, sheetings,
cattle, sheep, swine and one four-year-
old gelding.
During the next two decades
interest in the. fair dwindled, but
in 1841, a group of Queens men
initiated another try at the
formation of a permanent fair
and formed the Queens County
Agricultural Society. This was
the origin of the Mineola Fair and
the association that would carry
it forward over a century-and-a-quarter.
In 1842 the Society held its first
Fair and Cattle Show in the yard
of R.G. Anderson's Hotel on Main
Street in Hempstead Village. The
next year another show was held
at the same location under a tent.
Each fair continued to draw more
attention and participation
the scope of events also continued
to expand. Finally, in 1866, after
being located in various commu­nities,
the fair located in per­manent
quarters at Mineola and
construction was started on fair
ground facilities including a
large exhibition hall.
Over the next years more
emphasis was placed on enter­tainment
and special events at
the fair. During the 1690's- em­phasis
was placed on horses and
horse racing, and the horse show
became one of the more popular
attractions at the fair. The
commercial section of the fair
also expanded and Mason and
Hamlin, for example, put music
into the affair with the firm's
pianos and organs.
The early 1900's brought the
advent of the automobile, and
fair directors reluctantly moved
Attractive displays of quality vegetables and luscious fruits await
Visitors to the 1974 Long Island Fair, scheduled October 11-14 at the
Old Bethpage village restoration.
to include "horse-less carriages"
in a variety of events, including
races. This tremendous fair
development slowly came to a
halt with the coming of World
War I as troops poured over the
Hempstead Plains in training
maneuvers and Camp Mills, a
military concentration point and
embarkation center, found its
home just to the east of the fair
grounds.
But when the war was ended in
1918, the fair directors began
planning and the Mineola Fan-was
resumed in 1919.
The post-war years of the 1920's
were bigger and better for the
fair. During the early part of the
decade, the 65 acres of the fair
grounds contained a large
assortment of major buildings
including the grandstand with
3,200 chairs, the judges stand,
education hall, floral hall, in­dustrial
hall and annex, ladies
building, office building, poultry
building, privilege building,
vegetable-fruit building and
cattle barns.
The development of the fan-began
to falter with the coming of
the Depression years and World
War II. When the war ended,
however, the fair bounced back
and directors began planning for
the future. Other plans had to be
made though, when in 1952, after
that year's fair, the directors
transferred the fair grounds land
to Nassau County for use in the
county's new governmental
center.
Instead of shutting its door, the
directors of the Mineola Fair
joined with those of a newly-formed
group, the Long Island
Industrial Exposition, and began
scheduling the Mineola Fair and
Industrial Exposition at Roose­velt
Raceway in West bury. The
association was indeed success­ful
and the combination of fairs
and expositions became a Long
Island attraction. These events
continued until 1967, when the
Board of Directors decided to
return the Fair format to its
original agricultural and crafts
emphasis and eliminate comm­ercial
activities.
In 1970 a traditional fair was
held at the Old Bethpage village
restoration providing a Fair that
included the original 19th century
premium contests, domestic
crafts and agricultural contests
which are still relevant of con­temporary
life. Each year since
then the fair has returned to Old
Bethpage village as part of Long
Island's rural heritage with
varied special attractions appro­priate
to the period. The Fair
continues as a vital part of
contemporary Long Island but
maintains an illustrious histori­cal
heritage.