The-Leader_1973-07-26

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FREEFOR.T H » llSSO' 6,
FREEPORT
BAIDWIN
ROOSEVELT
MERRICK
FREEPORT'S
NEWSPAPER
38th YEAR No. 13 FREEPORT. NEW YORK, JULY 26,1973
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PRICE; 10(( PER COPY
Ot ous unds
Pleads Innocent
Rev. Patton Answers Critics
When he was 12 years old, the
now Rev. Jay Patton attended the
. LongJiiand Holiness Camp
Meeting Association gathering in
Freeporl "and my life was
.changed," Tlie head of the
•> Association for the past 18 years,
he Bit on the idea of presenting
recreation^lo attfaet^nrfflr&H-children
to the non-demoninational
facility at that
— campgrounds-onrErince^-Avenue-
"so they too may learn the lovo of
. <jod before reaching the difficult
teen^years."
Notable cause or not, the
__resMenls surrounding the four
A GRAND OPENING. The iJBlilldran iif Joe and Fred Scalainandre are fronrlnd'Miiier ai Ffieport Mayor
William White cuti the ribbon,officiallyo|jenlfij:iOMan_«
South Ocean Avenue, built'by tiie Scalamandrfrywned^ea Crest Construction Co. Behind the children-
(C^i:iffe Joe Scalonnandre; a t » ^ Mayor White whose,
insurancseconipany.is locited tiiere, Mario Blanco whose real estate finiiociaipiespart^
Tired Scajamandre and Freeport Chamber-ofrGofftiwerce ^*re»ident Peter Baer. Other attorney-tenants
pictured are ViliafleAttoriiey.OaWeyjGentry and VflllapTfiisteeHalpf^ Over 300 persons attend-ed
the openlngiMtlFrlday evening. (Photo by OSCMJ - - _ ,
DijUar Savings Days Commg
In announcing the 45th Annual
Dollar Savinjgs Days of the
Preeport Chamber of Com­merce's
Retail Division, which
will involyc.pome 125 merchants
in the'Village's .'downtown
shopping. area, co-chairmen,;
' Bulch~ Khahamirian of- Hunters r
Clothes and Paul. Herman pf;
Paul's Army and Navy.Stores,
are pleased to report some in­novations
which will help the.,
many shoppers taking advantage
of this yearly, money-saving
event.
Through the cooperation of the
Village Board of Trustees and the >
Preeport Police Department,
South Main Street between
Sunrise Highway and.Merrick
Road will be closed to traffic on
the first Dollar Savings Day,
Thursday, Au^ist 2, from 8 am to
9 pm. On that day,'and for the
following 2 days, August 3 and 4,
free parking will be available at
municipal' parking - lots, in the
shopping: area for a two-hour
period. The Chamber wishes to
thank Village Parking Lot
Supervisor Lou Primavera for
his off-hours cooperation in the
chore'of placing Chamber bags
over meters so that shoppers'
may park with ease and without
expense.
. Chamber President Peter-
Baer, in approving the Retail
Division's plans, remarked that,
"It is with the Board qf Directors
slncerest thanks to all involved
that we once again launch Dollar
Savings Days. Year in and year
out Preeport Dollar Days serve;
the double purpose of providing
South Shore , residents /With
outstanding buys and remihcUi^
- the public that while Preeport Is
one of Long Islar^d's oldest retail
districts, it has kept' up with
modem merchandising ideas to
match large shopping' centers;
Preeport merchahts have alwaj^
maintained that all-important
neighbor-to-nei0ibor, friendly,
approach. Whether to buy or
simply window shop, we urge aU
Freeportera to visit the 6h<^ing
district during this year's Dollar
. Savings Days, August 2,3 and 4."
acre site stormed the July open
: Village Board meeting to protest
" Uie operation of a '*proflt-inaklng
day camp" in th^ residentialty-zdifetf&
reaT While the AiwDciation
has been atiowcd to me the
'grounds two weeks every year for
Its religious meeting ("there has
never been a formal agreement;^
on that" says Rev, Patton), the
Village Board decreed that a day
camp was a violation of an
already non-conforming use and
issued a summons shortly after
the camp opened July 10 which is
answerable in Village Court,
August 2. In addition, Village
'Attorney Oakley Gentry went to
Nassau" Supreme Court Monday
to seek an injunction against the
day camp so it may or may not be
operating when the LEADER is
published. /_„^'
Rev. Patton says the neigh­bors'
reaction was perhaps un­derstandable
because of a
"misunderstanding" but he is
"bewildered" by the reaction of
• Village officialsr^—^-—— ^—
Officials at the camp told THE
^LEADER that thc-^iiiisun-^
. deratanding" with'neighbiirs was
-rcleared-up-on the whole-after
members visited with the ownere
of some 150 homes ""after the'^
Board meeting. Rev. Patton says:
there was an en-oneous im­pression
that school busies would
be plying the residential roads
and hun&-^. of children would
t>e milling around and yelling on
the grounds ^ch daiy. "Our plan
was never to have the type of
• prtqp"am offered by a com­mercial
day camp" he says. "It
is meant to be a Christian camp"
•of bible^studyjf prayer and
;fello<VBhip^mith iithe , type-of
'•^: recrea tion^ needed- by. yoiihg:
^ clitdrenonA warm day; We had:
iK^ied to IwveJW children so we
; mlghtbrMkevehbuf,«>fir,we
; liave some 50, Prinianly MPents
have been solicited through
•: church grdiip*. - OiUdrea are not
' tNJsed in but delivered and picked;
lup by thelr:;|fflrcntf or i^ pools;
run % our staff members. They
Ining their own lunch, £lnd, ages
.^ she to 12, they stay on the cam­pgrounds
from 9 am to 4 pm. Our
camp .staff was recruited from
Christian colleges from among
those in training for the ministry
or missionary work and it is
indicative of the type of people
lliey arc that iallbough they were .
originally hired at $100 a week -
qioney. needed to continue their
~cducalion^=-that-whcn-cnrollment—
fell short of our expectations and
we offered them release from
-thelrcommitmentofrlSOa week,—
each one stayed becauiie they
believe jn our purpose."
The cost for the camp Is $35 for
one week or $125 for a IB-Hay
Tuesday and Thursday program.
New for ih^ camp are four foot
and three foot abbveground
,fencedin pools, MUed It the pools
serve In uie Baptirthal ritCrReVr-
Palton said, "Wo have no other
font."
Rev. Patton seemed most upset
by the fact that the Village thinks
Iheitssoclatfon is anything but "a
good neighbor" and is doing
anything new. The Asjwciation,
which held its first meeting on the
North Shore in 1010, purchased
the Preeport site in 1912 ("it was
mostly a rural area" > and held its
first gathering there in 1920 to
which, as they do today, hun-dreds'lsf
people from all over the .
northeast traveled. Over the
years a tabernacle seating some
600, as well as a chapel used by
children, dormitories, dining hall
and office buildings have been
added.As to their "good neighBor
policy" Rev. Patton points out
-that after World War II when
returning—veterans faced a
severe housing shortage, the
Association threw open the
-buildlnp to themrHe also points
out that the Association donated
some of its original land to the
VlUage to allow "for._the
development of North Long
BeacH^Ayenue which torminat«i
"at the carop's-preient dAy sito.
As to "doing soniethlng n«v,"^
Rev. Patton produces a bulletin
describing the 1^8 Preeport
School ()f Religion held on the
campgrounds, "It is exactly the
type of prc^am we're trying, to
run now. It was felt then, as we
feel now, that it is wrong to let the
property go to waste when it
could be ^used for diristlan
education beyond the two wedc
.meeting,'';;.:•-• :/;.^;.,,.'-,;,
Agalii, Itev* Patton dcnlies any '
pr(rfit-maWng use of the tax-free ..
faciUty. /'We have to maintain
our facility,'erf course, but fund-raising
events for that pirpose
are hardly unheard ol in
organized ffligion, Lo(ric at your
church 8iipper«,;.lair«^ biiigo :
gapes,' eto. And we hardly make
a "profiti*^ rye t ^ coming to
Preeport for^18 ye&n. It is my
vacation from my awn church
(located in Maine.) I receive no
salary." •
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