Week in Review: A Fragile Spring

Spring Theater Preview

Author

Beth Young
March 15, 2026

On the Forks

DEC Tests Show Dead Geese Likely Had Bird Flu

As dead geese continue to wash up on shores along the Peconic Estuary, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed late Monday that goose specimens collected in Jamesport in February “suggest the geese were infected with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), with a non-negative finding. Confirmatory testing at the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory is underway.”

East End

Schiavoni: New Bill Reinstating Montaukett State Recognition Passes State Assembly

The New York State Assembly unanimously passed Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni’s latest legislation to reinstate state recognition and acknowledgement of the Montaukett Indian Nation on Monday, March 9.

Spring Theater Preview

“I Do! I Do!” Is A Heartfelt Reflection on Our Vows

What does it take to sustain a marriage over the better half of a century?

The Hampton Theatre Company’s spring production of the 1960s Broadway hit musical “I Do! I Do!” has some of the answers, and it also provides a rare opportunity for members of the audience to renew their vows.

The Founding Fathers (And Mothers) Have Something to Sing About

The North Fork Community Theatre doesn’t usually do musicals in March, but this year the company is thrilled to have the rights to produce “1776,” the 1969 Broadway hit that gave audiences a glimpse into the drama that took place in the room where the Second Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence.

On the North Fork

Southold Pans Affordable Housing at Clark’s Beach, as Greenport Searches for Other Sites

About nine months after Southold Town Board members first said they would consider supporting Greenport’s effort to study the feasibility of an affordable housing complex at Clark’s Beach, the town appears unlikely this week to back the effort.

Chris Kaplan-Walbrecht

Jamie Birdsong-Nieroda

Teddy Tomao

The Business Accelerator

Community Supported Agriculture Builds on Deep Local Roots

This is a perfect time of year to get to know your local farmer, particularly if you want to buy a share in their success this coming growing season.

Community-Supported Agriculture is alive and well on the East End, and this farm business model — in which customers pay at the beginning of the season for a share of a farmer’s harvest — is as varied as the personalities of the people who work the soil.

The East End Food Hub in Riverhead, which this spring is beginning to reopen with a series of pop-up events, was humming Saturday morning, March 7, with CSA farmers and prospective customers looking to learn more about how to support a sustainable local food web.

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North Fork

Southold Will Preserve 54 Acres in Greenport

The Southold Town Board approved the joint Community Preservation Fund and Suffolk County purchase of 54 acres of open space on Albertson Lane in Greenport Tuesday evening — the land will become part of a complex of more than 300 preserved acres in the area.

Suffolk County Legislator Greg Doroski and Save the Sound Long Island Project Manager Louise Harrison both enthusiastically supported the purchase at a public hearing Tuesday evening. Public officials were also excited.

“This is one of the big puzzle pieces left. The county has been such a good partner in these acquisitions,” said Town Supervisor Al Krupski, who added that the town had been preserving land in this area, surrounding Pipes Cove, for decades.

New Board Member Alexa Suess, who is from Greenport, said she was “extremely excited” about the opportunity the public will have to walk on the trails anticipated to be added to the surrounding trail network. “Many years of work have gone into this,” she said.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, March 19

Farming on the North Fork

The Cutchogue Civic Association presents: “The $1 Million Question: What Does it Take to Farm on the North Fork” on Thursday, March 19 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Free Library.

Friday, March 20

Spring Equinox Lantern Tour at QWR

Join a Quogue Wildlife Refuge Educator on the Spring Equinox to visit the Fairy Dell Boardwalk as the sun sets to learn more about the local history, flora and fauna of this place.

Saturday, March 21

Greenport Early Spring Earth Day Cleanup

Greenport Village will hold its annual cleanup of Moore’s Woods on Saturday, March 21 from 10 a.m. to Noon.

Our March print edition is on newsstands throughout the East End
All words in and on The Beacon are always generated by human beings. Guaranteed.

Words

“Having studied the mocking-bird's tones and the flight of the mountain-hawk,
And heard at dusk the unrivall'd one, the hermit thrush from the swamp-cedars,
Solitary, singing in the West, I strike up for a New World.”

— Walt Whitman

See you next Sunday,

Beth