However, the port of Sag Harbor was busier, meaning that the railroad would have more variables to deal with when it came to scheduling. Greenport was the most advantageous jumping-off point for passengers coming from New York City on their way to Boston. 

“We like to say, that Greenport was the reason for the Long Island Railroad,” said Don Fisher, president of the Railroad Museum of Long Island.

Greenport has a deeper, wider harbor that allowed steamships in and out to Connecticut more easily. Most importantly, to get to Sag Harbor, you had to go over Shinnecock Canal, which at that time was essentially a tidal swamp where water would pass between the Peconic Bay and Southampton Bay. 


“It was marshy, you would have had to bridge it over. That cost a lot of money. Also, you didn’t have the metallurgy and stuff in the early 1800s. That’s why we’re coming down Long Island anyway, because you couldn’t get across the rivers in Connecticut,” said Mr. Fisher. “At that point, we didn’t have the resources, knowledge, or the metallurgy to build bridges. We didn’t have the Portland cement to put proper piers to get across those rivers.” 

Before engineering advancements in metal and cement, it wasn’t possible to build bridges strong enough to support the weight of the trains. In order to connect points south with New England and create a corridor for both passengers and commerce, the Long Island Rail Road chose to run along the center of the island and up to Greenport. On July 27, 1844, the Greenport line began operation.

“And for five or six years, the Long Island Railroad, after it was formed, those people made a lot of money because it was the fastest way to get from New York to Boston. So you get on a boat, go across on a ferry boat to Brooklyn, you’d get on the train, and in three hours, you would be out there on the dock,” Mr. Fisher said.

Greenport had a four-bay engine house, a hostler engine, freight houses and a turntable. The train ran right out onto the dock so that boats could unload directly into the cars.

“They got fresh oysters from out here every day. You’re going to be sending out perishables, you needed to be able to ice them down. The oysters would be put into boxes or barrels at the time, and they put ice on top of their oysters to keep them chilled. The railroad made it not only economically feasible, but physically feasible to move these perishables, because you could put it on the train in less than three hours it was in the city,” said Mr. Fisher. “The truck would run up to the train depot there in Greenport, and they would ice in on top of the oysters and the fish and then transport the stuff in.”

The freight house serves as the eastern outpost for the Railroad Museum and the turntable is still there. The dock still stands, with the old station serving as the East End Maritime Museum. Ownership of the line has changed hands several times, first from the MTA to Suffolk County and then to the village of Greenport.

Sag Harbor eventually got its own railroad connection, but not until 1870 — more than two decades after Greenport’s line opened. The Sag Harbor branch served as the South Fork’s eastern terminus for 25 years until expansion pushed further east to Montauk in 1895.

The village’s station was rebuilt in 1909 and saw various uses, including transporting torpedoes to the wharf for testing during World War I. The branch was abandoned in 1939.

“The importance of Greenport cannot be downplayed because it was the reason for the law on the railroad,” said Mr. Fisher. “It was an important site for maintenance and preparing the trains to go back to the city the next day. It’s where the people could come and get on a train and get on their way to Boston.”

See more in the Keeping track of history series:

Wading River Station

Calverton Station

Manorville Station

Riverhead Station

North Fork stations

The post Keeping track of history: Why Greenport won LIRR race to the East End appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

The North Fork once boasted a collection of LIRR train stations, spaced about three miles apart, for the convenience of passengers. This distance made it easy to travel between hamlets and move freight to and from the main hub in Riverhead. Taking the train was much faster than walking or taking a horse and buggy to the next village.

“If you walk normally, you can go about three miles in an hour. So if you have a station every three miles or so, the most somebody’s going to have to walk is a mile and a half to get to the station,” said George Walsh, trustee and archivist for the Railroad Museum of Long Island.

“People used to take the train to go from Greenport to Mattituck to visit friends and family,” said museum president Don Fisher.

One of the destinations along the route to Greenport was the Methodist camp in Jamesport, located between South Jamesport and Washington avenues.

“People could literally step off the train with their bags, and you didn’t even have to come pick them up with a horse and wagon, they could walk there … and families would take a cottage for a week,” said Mr. Fisher. “The houses are still there, people live in them, and there’s a road, a circle, that comes in, and in the center, where they used to have like a common area with grass. Now the trees have grown up in there, but the road still goes in and circles around.”

Besides moving people along, the railroad also served to transport all manner of things to and from the North Fork. One of the most prominent products was ducks. At first, the birds were taken live from the farms in stock cars and dispatched when they reached the city.

“That was not an optimal way to deal with the ducks. Too many ducks died. You would lose your product on the two-hour, three-hour trip. It’s very stressful for the animals. So, that didn’t last for very long,” said Mr. Fisher.

Instead of shipping live, the farmers began processing the birds locally and placing them in barrels of brine. Once flash freezing became widespread, the birds were frozen and sent in refrigerated cars.

“The feathers we used for down, for bedding, pillows, clothing, and the ducks were used, consumed altogether,” said Mr. Fisher. “Now everything’s [shipped] on a truck.”

Possibly even more important to Long Island’s duck farming was the feed, which came via freight cars. Crates of feed came from suppliers like Purina to merchants, who then sold it to the farmers. Crescent Duck Farm had its own miniature industrial railroad to move the feed around the farm. This tiny train is now at the Railroad Museum facility in Riverhead.

Another important way the train served local farms was by transporting fertilizer components. These components were transported to fertilizer plants, which were built near the train yards. They had a crane house where each component was mixed as it traveled down a conveyor to the waiting farmer. “They could put it in bags, or they could run a truck right underneath this thing, and the various components would come down the chute into the back of the truck,” said Mr. Fisher.

Another key function of the railroad was to haul mail to postmasters to then distribute to residents. According to the classic Long Island Rail Road photo book, “Steel Rails to the Sunrise” by Ron Ziel, there was a rule stating that within a certain distance, measured door to door, the post office was responsible for carrying the mail from the train. Otherwise, the station master had to move the mail.

“When they built [the station in Laurel], the door was on the south side of the station, facing the tracks. And the post office manager said, ‘You guys are responsible for bringing the mail to us.’ And the Long Island Railroad station master called up what they called buildings and bridges, the B&B department, and said, ‘Come out here, we need a door on the north side of the building.’ So the railroad sent the carpenters out,” said Mr. Fisher. “And now the station agent called up the postmaster at Laurel post office, and said, ‘Get your tape out and come down and measure to the door again.’ So out comes the postmaster with his wheel, he measured the footage, and they were inside the line.”

After the Pennsylvania Railroad bought the Long Island Rail Road, many of the large, beautiful station buildings were removed or downsized to shelters. Some stations, like Aquebogue, Jamesport, Peconic and Laurel, were shuttered. After the LIRR was taken over by the MTA, the cuts deepened.

“Once we got past World War II, and we got into the ’50s, people were making money and the economy was good. Everybody wanted a car,” Mr. Fisher said.

“And the automobile industry, the bus industry, were instrumental in getting rid of trolleys and also tearing down railroads. We built the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System … They didn’t need the train anymore,” he continued.

This downsizing continued, until service was actually discontinued for a time in the 1960s, and the LIRR ran buses for two decades, from 1962 to 1982.

“When you got a bus here, you went to Huntington, because the bus went up Sound Avenue after it left Riverhead, it stayed on 25A into Huntington. You got off the bus in Huntington, and you got on a train in Huntington that took you the rest of the way to Jamaica and to Penn Station,” said Mr. Fisher.

Service resumed, and though there are more riders on the weekends than at other times, passengers are still rolling into North Fork train stations.

“We’ve had that problem, that challenge, of getting people to ride,” said Mr. Fisher. “We’ve got more trains running today than I can remember since I was a little boy. We actually have four round-trips to Greenport, and we have an additional, fifth round-trip here to Riverhead.”

Other stories in the Keeping Track of History series:

Wading River Station

Calverton Station

Manorville Station

Riverhead Station

The post Keeping track of history: When trains ruled the North Fork appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

That was in 1844, when the Long Island Rail Road extended its line to Riverhead.

The new spur turned the East End from an isolated agricultural outpost into the bread-and-veggie-basket of New York. In addition to its geographical centrality, Riverhead had been Suffolk County’s seat of government since 1727, making it the natural choice for a rail center.

“We were an agricultural economy, we were a seafaring economy,” said Don Fisher, president of the Railroad Museum of Long Island. “Riverhead became the center and was physically, geographically, and certainly population-wise, the center of our county, and became the hub for our government. Everybody moved everything by boat before the railroad got here.”

Populations on the East End at that time were concentrated along the shorelines. The farmers who did begin to cultivate the Forks had good soil for growing all kinds of crops, including the potatoes and cauliflower the region was known for. And before the experimental farms, farmers didn’t believe that they could go into the Pine Barrens. 

Because of the railroad, the Forks could now supply the rest of Long Island, which at that time included Brooklyn, and Manhattan with fresh produce. Farmers could take their products and put them on a train into cold cars, and have them reach population centers often within a day or two after harvest. 

Farm produce coming into Riverhead went through the auction houses, where it was bought by brokers and then put on the railroad cars to be transported out of the area. These brokers sold to supermarkets and others — usually within two days of the vegetables being dug up.

“That stimulated everything in farming out here, because farmers now weren’t just growing for themselves and Suffolk County,” Mr. Fisher said. “They had a way, with the railroad, to be able to ship more and more produce, putting more and more acreage into production.”

The system proved remarkably efficient for its time.

“We had this thing licked. We had it down, farm to table,” he said. “The tables were in New York City. 
The tables were the people living in the tenements along the East River, the people living in Brooklyn.”

The LIRR used special cars lined with ice, known as reefers. These cars were filled from above via a hopper at the ice plant. There were vents at either end to circulate air, and melted ice and condensation would run out onto the track. 

Riverhead yard also had a special engine called a hostler to move cars through a complicated network of sidings. Each siding had an assigned purpose, and a crew could kick three boxcars off so they went into Brooklyn. 

“The actual work of moving all of this produce was time sensitive, laborious and it required resources from the railroad to make it work,” Mr. Fisher said. “One of those resources, we got our own locomotive.”

At first, the LIRR extension did not result in a population boom on the East End. Because the land was so productive, the properties proved more valuable for farming. Keeping those fields open for cultivation produced more wealth than dividing them for houses.

“The railroad coming here, creating a better economy for the farmers, limited the amount of people that were going to come out here at the time and build houses and live here, because the property was so valuable for farming,” Mr. Fisher said.

It wasn’t until after World War II that the railroad, combined with the highways, helped supercharge Long Island’s population growth as developments like Levittown blossomed. 
Before the war, bulk produce dominated traffic heading west from the East End.

It wasn’t only produce leaving the East End headed west that made use of Riverhead Station. Freight was also shipped east. Anything big, bulky or heavy was easier to ship via rail.

LILCO, the predecessor to LIPA, had two sidings in Riverhead because their poles and transformers came out on the train. Farm equipment was often shipped on flatcars. There were also smaller items that came via post cars and baggage cars on the railroad. Mail order items from catalogs would be left in the freight house for someone to pick up in their wagon and take home.

“We think about things that come to us today on UPS, FedEx, Postal Service — those things came out in special cars, baggage cars, railroad post office cars, and they went to the train station or to the little freight house,” said Mr. Fisher.

Because Riverhead is the county seat, the railroad also made it easier for politicians to attend meetings. Instead of taking a week to trek out to Riverhead for monthly business, it was a matter of days by train. 

Before Suffolk County had a Legislature, it was controlled by supervisors of the 10 towns and they would meet in Riverhead once a month. With the railroad, they could get on the train at 6 in the morning and be there by 9 a.m. They could meet all day, stay overnight and be home the next day.

“Not only was this great for the people that were doing the work, but it saved government money,” Mr. Fisher explained.

Instead of putting politicians up for four or five nights in Riverhead, they only had to stay one night.

“We were saving taxpayers’ dollars,” he said.

Today, the LIRR still has a stop at Riverhead, but the old railway center serves as the home of the Railroad Museum of Long Island.

Other stories in the Keeping Track of History series:

Wading River Station

Calverton Station

Manorville Station

North Fork stations

The post Keeping track of history: How Riverhead’s station fed New York appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

The residents are concerned about having a cannabis growing operation in proximity to where children reside and where elderly people with respiratory illnesses may be exposed to odors. They also worry that the facility will precipitate a loss of property values and impact the environment. Other issues include increased traffic and noise pollution.

“We’re simply stating that it is a poor location, considering what has developed around that family farm,” said Toqui Terchun, president of the Greater Calverton Civic Association. 

A network of representatives have stood in for the applicant, Brother Bear Canna of Syosset, in both meetings with the town and an information session held at Windcrest East, a development that neighbors the property.

“I’ve never seen an owner stick a face in there and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to be your neighbor.’ And are those owners going to be the operators? And if they’re not, who are those people? So fundamentally, this doesn’t feel like a neighbor,” said Ms. Terchun.

Diane Gaudiosi, Windcrest East resident, has been vocal about the potential impacts of the growing operation on her community. She is on the team representing the 126 senior households in Windcrest. Many of the residents are in their ’80s and ’90s, with one who has reached 106 years old: Ms. Gaudiosi’s mother, who lives with her.

Ms. Gaudiosi said that many of her neighbors are living with serious respiratory illnesses and that the impact of marijuana odors is not well understood.

“Many of the seniors here have emphysema, COPD [and] asthma. Absolutely no health study has been done on the impact of cannabis odors on seniors with respiratory disease,” she said.

Another factor is the buffer of woods the applicant plans to leave between the new facility and the residential area. The patch of trees may provide cover in the summer months, but for most of the year, the building will be visible.

“There are only about 12 feet of trees between their property and our senior community. And during the winter, when trees lose their leaves, residents will have an unobstructed view of a monstrous industrial factory building,” said Ms. Gaudiosi. “The remaining area consists mainly of scrub oak and grass, but the applicant site plans suggests that a dense line of trees exists between the properties, which is very misleading.” 

Ms. Terchun agrees, noting the environmental cost of running such a large, 24/7 operation.

“They call it a greenhouse, but it really looks like a warehouse. It doesn’t look like a greenhouse. And it has an electrical system, HVAC system [and] water. They all have power requirements. Those things are going to be of particular concern, because those impacts are potentially great,” Ms. Terchun said.

The size of the building makes its proximity to the residences an issue when it comes to reselling. Also, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for many of the seniors to relocate at this stage of their lives. 

“For people to come and wanting to buy homes here, they’re going to ask, ‘What is that monster structure over there?’ and they’re not going to buy. Our values will go down, and our retirement savings will go down,” said Ms. Gaudiosi.

Larry Levy, property manager at Foxwood Village, another of the local developments, voiced his concerns at the planning meeting. He had many of the same concerns, citing noise, traffic and a drop in property values. 

“My company said that I can go take a drive. I want to personally go and smell, and listen, and get a feel for it. Because if I go there and there’s nothing, it’s an agricultural use, I get it,” said Mr. Levy.

Ultimately, residents want to continue living in the type of environment they have now, where the rural character of Calverton is preserved.

“It’s not like they bought next to an airport and now they want the airport to close,” Mr. Levy said. “They bought in a farm type area, you know, a very rural area.” 

Riverhead News-Review reached out multiple times to Larry Davis of Patchogue, the attorney representing Brother Bear Canna, but was unable to reach him for comment.

The post Calverton residents concerned about proposed cannabis cultivation appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

“I always loved school,” said Mr. Karlson, who became principal of Riley Avenue Elementary School this year. “I was very fortunate to have great teachers, great administrators, right through high school. And so it was always a place that I felt very, very comfortable.”

Mr. Karlson has spent every one of his 25 years with the Riverhead school district in its elementary schools, first as a teacher at Phillips Avenue Elementary, then at Roanoke Avenue before moving up to Aquebogue Elementary School as an administrator. After a brief stint as an assistant principal at Roanoke, Mr. Karlson landed at Riley Avenue.

It didn’t take him long to settle in and get started helping everyone address their needs.

“Things occur in different proportionality at the schools, but the issues are the same. And the mission is the same,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about learning how to be a solid administrator at Riley Avenue. It’s about helping people with what they need help with.”

It’s important to Mr. Karlson that he models transparency and directness to both staff and parents. It’s this authenticity that allows parents and staff to put their trust in the school.

“We get to have really frank conversations. All the relationships are about as direct as they get and they’re about as real as it gets,” said Mr. Karlson. “I believe in high agency paired with high accountability. I do think people do well when they are in the driver’s seat, as long as we have a culture that matches that, that we’re going to talk about how it’s going, like almost all the time, and not be afraid to change it.”

One of the ongoing problems in schools across the country is chronic absenteeism, which can be a difficult and sensitive issue to address. To combat attendance issues at his schools, Mr. Karlson reframed the approach as promoting attendance rather than dealing with absences. 

“Those felt like different things with different strategies. When I came here, one of the first things we did is form an attendance team. The parent-facing communication and the ways that we engage teachers are some things I’m really proud of,” Mr. Karlson said.

When Karlson began his career, it was Bryan Miltenberg, now principal of Aquebogue Elementary School, who made him his first official hire as a teacher at Phillips Avenue in 2001.

No matter which building he is in or in which position, Mr. Karlson brings his brand of gentle listening and kindness to bear on the administration at Riverhead schools. He hopes to leave Riley Avenue better than he found it, and that his time there makes him better, too.

For anyone considering a leap into educational administration, Mr. Karlson believes there is a litmus test for success in the field.

“There’s only one ingredient that you need, and it’s kind of like the go, no-go on being administrator, and that’s can you approach situations with benevolence?” he said.

“Can you, the harder the situation with the family, can you keep in mind that they’ve got a real problem, that they are trying to get a real solution to it? You might approach it differently than them, but they are just trying to be everything they can be for their kid,” he continued.

“With the staff member, when they come in and they have a need, the reason they’re discussing it with you is real. If you can’t do that, you’re just going to be very unhappy.”

The post Principal Gary Karlson settles in at Riley Avenue appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Volunteers are needed to walk north-facing beaches after high tides and strong northwest winds, when endangered loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley and green sea turtles wash ashore, unable to navigate out of rapidly cooling waters.

“So, as they’re here and waters continue to drop, they become lethargic and unable to navigate out of the waters. Eventually, they become so listless that they float to the surface and kind of are just floating, waiting for prevailing wind, strong northwest winds that will push them to shore,” said Maxine Montello, executive director of the rescue center.

These animals are not actively swimming to the beach to strand. Instead, it is the wind that is pushing them to the shore. The three species that are found here are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.

“We tend to find them with those prevailing winds right after a high tide. That combo of a high tide of strong winds will actually indicate that these turtles will most likely be up on the beach,” said Ms. Montello.

There are two tiers of volunteer rescuers. The first tier is trained via a lecture that is presented over Zoom. Once trained, these volunteers know when to patrol to be most effective, how to identify each species and how to reach out for help.

Tier two volunteers receive the tier one training plus field training. This allows the volunteer to assist the rescue team when they arrive.

“We show them how to — once they find a turtle — take GPS coordinates, take photos, be able to identify that species, and then we teach them how to handle that turtle in the field so that we have more hands to help us get these animals back to our facilities,” Ms. Montello said.

One volunteer has been a cold-stun patroller for the last five years and found his 29^th turtle on Nov. 17.

“I would encourage anybody that lives by a north-facing beach on Long Island to get out and walk. These turtles typically wash up between November and January. So any help that the public can give us is greatly appreciated,” said Rob, who didn’t want his last name used. “All of these turtles are endangered species; Kemp’s ridley are the most critically endangered, and we typically find a lot of juvenile Kemp’s during the wintertime, during the cold stun season.”

There are volunteer opportunities inside the rescue center’s facility as well, for those who are unable to patrol the beaches.

“They can help with us in the field, but we also need help here at the facility. We’re located in Riverhead, New York, and we maintain a sea turtle and seal rehab hospital. We’re one of the largest in the network, which is Virginia all the way to Maine. Last year, I believe we processed over 200 animals throughout the year,” said Ms. Montello. “So it gets pretty busy. It’s definitely for somebody that has some time on their hands and wants to work with how they preserve these really critical species.”

Individuals interested in applying can visit nymarinerescue.org/.

New York Marine Rescue Center set up a stranding hotline for anyone who happens upon a cold-stunned, often dead-looking sea turtle. The first step is to call 631-369-9829. Biologists will be on the line to ask questions and give instructions.

The post Marine Rescue Center seeks volunteers to save sea turtles during cold-stun season appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

The Bluffs, Peconic Landing’s short-term rehabilitation center, and The Shores, its skilled nursing facility, were both recognized among the “Best Nursing Homes” for 2026, according to rankings released Monday.

U.S. News evaluated more than 15,000 nursing homes by looking at care quality, safety, infection rates, staffing levels, health inspections and resident outcomes. New measures added this year include weekend staffing and infection rates, metrics that reveal how facilities perform when administrative staff are off-site and during clinical emergencies.

Of the 14,751 nursing homes evaluated nationwide, only 2,739, or 19%, earned the “High Performing” designation in either short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, or both.

“We are incredibly proud to have both The Bluffs and The Shores recognized at the highest level,” said Robert J. Syron, president and CEO of Peconic Landing, said in a statement. “This achievement speaks to the remarkable dedication of our team members, who show unwavering commitment to compassionate, person-centered care. Their professionalism and heart continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the individuals and families we serve.”

Peconic Landing demonstrated stronger staffing levels and performed better across several key quality and safety indicators when compared to both state and national averages.

The Greenport facility experienced fewer major falls and lower infection-related hospitalizations among short-term rehabilitation residents, saw a higher percentage of residents returning home after short-term rehabilitation and had lower hospitalization rates for long-term care — all despite industrywide staffing shortages that have challenged nursing facilities around the country.

Founded in 2002 on a 144-acre campus overlooking Long Island Sound, Peconic Landing is New York’s first equity-based cooperative retirement community.

Designed for adults 62 and older, the not-for-profit organization offers independent living alongside on-campus assisted living, skilled nursing and short-term rehabilitation.

The complete rankings are available at health.usnews.com/best-nursing-homes.

The post Peconic Landing nursing facilities rank among nation’s best appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

The parents and their nine adoptees gathered in the main part of the aquarium to hear remarks from local officials, judges, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, and special guests the Hebert family, who adopted a daughter from foster care last year.

“For our family, that’s why [adoption] is rooted in faith. We believe that true joy doesn’t come from material goods, but from giving one’s self away,” said Justin Hebert. 

While adoptions are taking place throughout the year, the adoption day event is extra special, with facepainting, pictures with a Disney princess and a children’s book author on hand signing their books. There is a private room where the judge presides over each family’s adoption proceedings, and then the families are invited to a breakfast banquet.

“I want to thank my adoptive parents for helping me on my very stressful journey and making my life better,” Lily Hebert said. 

The families also gain access to the aquarium during the celebration, so they are able to enjoy the exhibits in private, making the experience even more special. Custom t-shirts were also available to the children and their adoptive families. 

There were surprise guest appearances from Long Island Ducks mascot QuackerJack and therapy dogs from the Suffolk County Police Department.

Children in attendance each received specially embroidered backpacks donated by Jockey as part of its Being Family Foundation. The backpacks were filled with stuffed animals, toys and other mementos as parting gifts for the kids.

The post Adoption Day 2025 a success for Suffolk Courts appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Two barns caught fire at the farm at 4976 Sound Ave. around 5 p.m., though firefighters were able to save one, according to Riverhead Fire Department Chief Piotr Kurzyna. One of the destroyed barns housed pigs and chickens.

“I literally drove here at 4:35, and by five the building was on fire. 
So, I drove through here. I didn’t see anything, nothing to indicate there was any problems,” Laura Wells, the owner of the farm, told Riverhead News-Review on Thursday, Nov. 13.

“I was talking to my grandson. He’d come over to get a package from our porch. 
I walked outside with him, and then I went back in the house. I got word that there was a fire, came back and the yard was full of smoke. I was literally outside not even two minutes before that, and then all of a sudden, there was smoke everywhere.”

The Wells family has operated the farm since 1661, making it Riverhead’s oldest farming family.

The Riverhead Police Department said they responded to the fire and found a portion of one barn fully engulfed in flames.

With the assistance of the Wells family, uniformed officers entered the barn and helped multiple animals to safety. Firefighters at the farm were reportedly seen chasing pigs out of the barn and into pens to save them.

“It was difficult to get the animals out, especially when they were afraid,” Chief Kurzyna told Riverhead News-Review last Thursday afternoon. Smoke also made it difficult to get the animals out, he added.

All of the chickens in the barn were killed, as well as two of the 20 pigs, Ms. Wells said. None of the lambs on site were in the barn.

A Riverhead police officer and Ms. Wells’ two granddaughters were treated on site for smoke inhalation and transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center for further care, according to officials and Ms. Wells.

“My granddaughters ended up in the ER. 
They had smoke inhalation. They were helping get the pigs out. I believe [there was also] a police officer, but they say he’s doing fine,” she said. 


The officer was treated and released from the hospital, Riverhead Police Department Chief Ed Frost said.

The pigs have been secured together in an outdoor pen since last week. Their behavior appears normal, and they are eating and drinking.

“The pigs are doing very well. There’s one that has a small burn on the backside. They will probably bring somebody in to have to look at that. As far I can tell, it’s just the one pig,” Ms. Wells said. “But they’re doing well, surprisingly. Being outside probably helped them, with the fresh air.” 

According to Ms. Wells, more animals are housed in these barns during the summer, but now the season is winding down.

“I would like to thank all the first responders who came to our place to help with the barns that caught fire. Also, I would like to thank those who helped save as many animals as possible and get them out of the building and into an outside pen where they could get fresh air and be tended to by our personnel,” Eric Wells Sr. wrote on Facebook. “I would also like to thank Stan Niegocki of Niegocki Farms for his help in tending to the animals.”

Fire departments from Riverhead, Jamesport, Flanders, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Wading River, Hampton Bays and Eastport responded to the inferno, which closed traffic along Sound Avenue between Church Lane and West Lane for several hours. Chief Kurzyna said that more than 50 firefighters responded to the scene.

It took more than two hours to get the fire under control, according to Chief Kurzyna. Firefighters were there for about nearly four hours, spraying the buildings down to ensure there were no more hot spots.

“Everybody did a phenomenal job at that fire,” Chief Kurzyna said.

The Ridge Fire Department and other ambulance personnel were also on standby.

The Riverhead fire marshal’s office, Riverhead Detective Division and the Suffolk County Police Arson Section are investigating the cause of the fire, which did not appear to be suspicious in nature.

“They’ve ruled out foul play. That’s about all they can do at this point,” Ms. Wells said.  “The fire marshal was saying they’re just leaving it as undetermined.”

Police said due to the significant amount of water used to extinguish the fire, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation representatives were present to monitor water runoff.

John Di Leonardo of Humane Long Island rushed to the scene after smelling smoke from the nearby fire. He got there around 6 p.m. and stayed for about an hour. Mr. Di Leonardo said upon arriving, he immediately noticed how terrified all the pigs and sheep in the corral were. 

“A lot of the pigs were experiencing smoke inhalation, foaming at the mouth,” he said. “They had burns and lacerations on their body.”

Mr. Di Leonardo said he did not perform any veterinary assistance, but offered to bring some doctors in.

“It could have been so much worse. Buildings can be rebuilt, you know. Nobody got hurt, so that’s what’s important at this point. That’s what we need to focus on,” Ms. Wells said.

The post Three hospitalized in Wells Farm fire that killed pigs, chickens appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Each banner featured the name, image and branch of service of a local veteran. 

The veterans met with student ambassadors and their children or grandchildren in the cafeteria to hear the high school band play patriotic songs. Then the student ambassadors led them through the halls while the other kids waved flags and sang a song of appreciation.

“We are so appreciative of [Principal Gary Karlson] bringing us to Riley. This has been such an honor,” said Erica Murphy of Manorville, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant and current board of education president. “I love that the kids get to see the veterans and connect with people in the community they may not know have served.”

Ms. Murphy has participated in several Veteran’s Day events in the district. She and her husband, Michael, a retired senior master sergeant from both the Air National Guard and the Air Force, walked along with their daughter, Charlotte. 

“People forget that the military is a volunteer position, you don’t have to work there. Being able to make that choice. … It was right after 9/11 that I decided to enlist and make the country a little safer for everyone here,” said Ms. Murphy. “It means so much to feel the love and appreciation for that.”

Angel Velez, of Calverton, served as one of the student ambassadors. He said he was happy to participate in the walk. 

“I’m happy for them because they take care of our country,” said Angel.

1 | 7

Banners lined the halls. (Credit: Amanda Olsen) Printes Brown with daughter Nahla Brown, along with student council member James Scanapico (Credit: Amanda Olsen) Ryan Dush with his daughters Sterling and Zephyr Dush, along with student council member Alexa Maldanado. (Credit: Amanda Olsen) Raymond Kreiger with his grandchildren Ethan and Elizabeth Barrett. (Credit: Amanda Olsen) The high school band played patriotic songs. (Credit: Amanda Olsen) Riley Ave. displayed their veteran appreciation Monday. (Credit: Amanda Olsen) Students join their veteran and active duty family and friends before the entire school salutes them in the halls. (Credit: Amanda Olsen)

This is the first veterans walk for Riley Avenue Elementary, a program Mr. Karlson brought with him when he came to lead the school this year. He first began connecting veterans with his students as a teacher at Roanoke around ten years ago.

Mr. Karlson’s father-in-law, Barry Gilmore, a Vietnam War veteran, had always been tight-lipped about his experiences in the past, but after Mr. Karlson’s questions, he began to open up.

“I came across some of his artifacts in his home, and I was asking him questions. My mother-in-law, my wife, my sister-in-law, all said, ‘You know, it’s awesome that he talked to you about it, because it wasn’t a topic of conversation in our house growing up,’” Mr. Karlson said.

Mr. Karlson invited Mr. Gilmore to meet with the kids in his class and talk about what it means to be a veteran. This evolved into a grade-level event called “Heros with Heroes” where students would have sandwiches with the veterans. Later, during COVID, the event was a webinar that spanned multiple schools. 

“I think of a family member or a veteran who spends time in our school is changed, too. 
We’re changed and they’re changed, and it’s all in a non-predetermined way, but education is supposed to make us different, right? You value the same things, but you’re not supposed to really leave school and be exactly the same as you were when you came in,” said Mr. Karlson.

The walk came from the idea of creating an event that is formative for a wide range of ages and grade levels.

“School is very powerful when it can provide shared experiences,” said Mr. Karlson. “It’s a difficult thing to find something of interest to someone who’s turning 5 years old and someone who’s turning 10. So we used Veterans Day and the concept of the walk to just give a shared experience.”

Charlotte Murphy summed up her experience with a hug for each of her heroes.

“It felt really fun [to walk] and I’m proud of my parents for being in the military because they’re the best people ever,” said Charlotte.

The post Riley Avenue Elementary hosts first Veterans Appreciation Walk appeared first on Riverhead News Review.