Huntington Historical Society Celebrates the Season and 250 Years of Liberty

Images from the Huntington Historical Society’s 2022 Apple Festival by Katheryn Laible

Like most things with them, the About Page of the Huntington Historical Society is fascinating.

Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt spoke at the 250th celebration of the Founding of the Town of Huntington, back in 1903? Did you know it inspired a group of prominent local women to organize a society to “perpetuate an interest in things Historic;……in fact all Historic relics relating to the Town of Huntington since 1653?”

This “Colonial Society”, which later evolved into the Huntington Historical Society at first restricted active membership to women. Eight years later, they let the men get involved. Going gangbusters since, they have protected and interpreted the history of our town and the central Long Island region, maintaining five national register historic properties, stewarding a deep and fascinating collection of artifacts, and hosting a variety of fun and educational events.

Come to the Apple Festival on October 5th!

One of their favorite events is also serving as an incredibly rich addition to the 2025 Fall Huntington Art Walk, happening October 5th. At that time, they warmly invite you to bring the whole family to the historic Kissam House for the 2025 Apple Festival!

There, you may enjoy traditional and seasonal crafts and games, including pumpkin painting. The folk artists, artisans and musicians are wonderful, as are all the neighbors who don costumes and explain how life was way back when. Of course, there are plenty of apples, both fresh and prepared in all sorts of ways. The Museum Shop will be open. It’s so much fun!

Celebrating 250 Years: What Does Liberty Mean to You?

Now, we’re celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In honor, the Historical Society is offering LIBERTY 250. From their website:

 

“Liberty is one of the inalienable rights specified in the Declaration of Independence. 

The Pledge of Allegiance promises Liberty for all.

Patrick Henry demanded Liberty or Death. 

Share your thoughts as part of Liberty250 – Huntington’s celebration of 250 years of American Independence.”

 

They will have a booth at the 2025 “Celebrate Huntington! LI Fall Festival”, happening Columbus Day weekend. They hope you will stop by then and let them know: WHAT DOES LIBERTY MEAN TO YOU?

Autumn Landscaping Resources

Child in leaves

Autumn Landscaping: Plant Something and Chill

Autumn is a GREAT time for gardening! Click this link to learn why from Anthony Marinello of Dropseed Natives. Their most recent weekly newsletter announces their “Best of Long Island” nomination, and shares some of the great plants they have for sale at their Malverne nursery.
 
If you’d like something a little further east, I am personally a big fan of KMS Native Plants, which also has great things on sale this time of year. Thay also have a beautiful, searchable blog filled with all sorts of helpful information.
 
They are just a few of the great resources available to help Long Islanders learn how to use landscaping, not only to beautiful their world, but also to make it healthier. 
Autumn Dogwood
"Autumn Dogwood" photo by Katheryn Laible

On Leaving the Leaves

To explain why this is so beneficial, let’s start with another post from deeply knowledegable local expert Anthony Marinello of Dropseed Natives, “Leave the Leaves!”

This is rapidly becoming a very mainstream concept.

Here’s a piece from Homeserve.com, “Rake It or Leave It? Here’s Why You May Just Wanna Leave Your Leaves Where They Fall,”  one from the USDA, and even one in Good Housekeeping.

Here’s an article from James Doubek for NPR on the subject.

Environmental groups have been saying this for years. Here’s the National Wildlife Federation on why.

And one from The Xerces Society: “Leave the leaves.”

BTW the Xerces Society is interesting. It’s really focused on saving invertebrates. Their work is deeply fundamental and yet applied at our level in the food chain, so it’s also really helpful! Their Facebook page is a wealth of basic, excellent advice.

…There are tips on winter cleanup, saving seeds, a beautiful sight of Monarch Butterflies migrating….

I learned about them from Long Island Native Plant Group on Facebook, a great community of incredibly knowledgeable and helpful folks who think about our local ecoscapes all year long

…but I digress…

…I was talking about leaving the leaves…

Photo of oak leaf on pavement
"Oak Leaf" photo by Katheryn Laible

Well, Most of Them Anyway

The movement to leave the leaves is really important, but should be taken with a little common sense.

It also remains important to keep the driveway clear, as well as stone patios and pathways, assuming you wish to preserve them. The same goes for grass (though a thin layer of leaves may be mowed quite healthfully), which also likes to be aerated from time to time.

On my property, I’m dealing with invasive Norway Maples that I’m working to eradicate and replace with native trees as quickly as I can afford to do so. With them, I have found raking the leaves is fairly important as they seem particularly smother-y and slow to break down. As I am working to reduce their spread, I also want to be able to get their whirlybirds up in the spring!

As such, my approach isn’t so different from what these folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have to say, or The Spruce, here.

So, I do continue to rake a bit….mindfully….

Autumn afterblooms
"Autumn Afterblooms" photo by Katheryn Laible

Consider Losing the Lawn

Of course, while lawn health is among the biggest reasons to still rake, folks such as those from Re-Wild Long Island (an incredible collaboration of Long Island experts) suggest you consider doing away with your lawn instead.

This powerful opinion piece in the New York Times suggests you’d best “Kill your lawn before it kills you.”

On the West Coast, this has become a serious affair. Alternatives such as Xeriscaping, which focuses on minimizing water use, have become very popular. There, many factors including severe ongoing drought are coming together to prove that fighting the ecosystem for the sake of grass isn’t worth the trouble.

Related practices are gaining popularity across the country as communities come to realize that tending their own yard is a great way to nurture a healthier environment.

I’m not quite ready to ditch my lawn myself. However, I am committed to neither watering nor fertilizing nor spraying it with chemicals, and to doing all I can to maximize the ecological value of my property.

Here’s a nice piece from Brooklyn Greenways on why native plants are so important.

I am deeply inspired by projects like these “Rewilding Long Island” examples featured on the Rewild Long Island website.

See these 12 Inspiring ideas for a lawn-free landscape from porch.com, and some more on Houzz.

Check them all out and then go, tread lightly into winter, and dream of the upcoming spring.

 

(BTW: You can find resources for that here … it’s never too early to start planning!)

photo looking up at trees in twilight
"Looking Up: After the Fall" photo by Katheryn Laible

Northport Storytelling Event: Fear

"Storytelling to Light Up Hearts & Minds"

Inspired by The Moth Radio Hour, Elizabeth Alexander has been crafting live story telling events, creating opportunities for the community to connect and to be inspired. There’s a beautiful story about it in the Northport Journal. 
 
Moth-style storytelling is a genre of personal narrative stories about an experience that took place in the storyteller’s life. The stories are crafted, planned, and told (not read) before a live audience. It’s a wonderful art form that allows folks to connect at a very human level.
 
These Northport Village Storytelling events are super fun and a wonderful way to get to know our neighbors and build community. We were thrilled to get to host one at The Firefly last year and are excited for this next one!
 
You can follow them on Facebook, and check out their website: www.northportvillagestorytelling.com.

Details on the Next Event

This next event will feature both beginning storytellers folks with a bit more practice, including Michael Ien Cohen- filmmaker of the documentary Humanity Stoked. – Here’s the trailer. 
Does the theme inspire a tale, but you also fear you won’t be up to it when the time comes? Last minutes bids are invited, so come on down and see how you feel! If you put your name in the hat, you may be picked to share a 5-minute tale that reflects the theme.
 
Theme: Fear – True Stories of an Emotion with the Power to Motivate or Freeze
When: Friday, October 10th. Doors open at 7pm. Event begins at 7:30
Where:  St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 270 Main St, Northport 
Tickets: Tickets cost $20. To purchase, please venmo @nptstorytelling
For More Info: Email Northportvillagestorytelling@gmail.com.
 
 

Basic Guidelines for Storytelling

Basic Guidelines for Storytelling: 1. Tell story in 5-10 minutes 2. Story to be told, not read 3. Base story on theme: coincidences 4. Craft your story 5. Story must be about a personal experience. 6. No stand-up comedy acts or rants

We are sure they are already dreaming of the next event, and always looking for story tellers. They might even offer another class to help folks learn this fine art. Here are their basic guidelines, so you can start thinking about that!

1. Tell story in 5-12 minutes

2. Your story is to be told, not read

3. Base your story on the theme: Hope

4. Craft your story

5. Story must be about a personal experience.

6. No stand-up comedy acts or rants

To sign-up, and become a Storyteller: Call or Text Liz at (631) 375-4144 or email at Northportvillagestorytelling@gmail.com.

Huntington Art Walk – Fall 2025!

Join the Huntington Art Center, along with a variety of other venues around town, as they celebrate that vibrant village’s deep embrace of the arts. It is free. It is fun. Come see!

This is “a self-guided tour of the new exhibits at the museums and galleries, in the Village of Huntington, New York.  Many of the artists will be on hand to talk about their inspiration, while you enjoy tasty treats and check out the art scene in the Village! Live music playing along the way.”  

When: Sunday, October 5, 12-5pm
Detailed information on each site is available at The Huntington Art Center Website. There’s a lot there. Check it out!
There will be an info table under the marquee at the Paramount Theater on the day of the event.
 
This is ALWAYS a fantastic event. Enjoy! 

Firefly Lights: September 26, 2025

Photo of the exterior of The Firefly Artists

Click here for the latest edition of Firefly Lights, all about our beautiful downtown gallery of local art and artists. In this edition, please find:

Welcome Autumn
Final Week: “pARTy ’til the Cows Come Home”
Submissions Due 10/13: “Post-It”
Up Next: “Abandoned Haunts & Curious Trappings”
Fireflies Light Up Northport Books
2025 Exhibition Schedule
About the Firefly

Fireflies featured below, from the left starting at the top: Dianna Hollyn Catania, Tina Nadeem, Jennifer Mariotti and Jill Beebee

To subscribe to The Firefly Artists newsletter, please drop us a line indicating interest here.

Subscribe To The Newsletter

LI Public Arts Festival to Pop-up in Huntington

Until now, the LI Public Arts Festival has happened exclusively in Babylon. Now, in partnership with the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, there will be a special pop-up featuring a new set of immersive art prisms at the historic Huntington Fall Festival.

Continue reading

A Note on Science

Photo of an Antique Quack Medical Device by Katheryn Laible

Please...

You know…I’m never going to say that scientists aren’t prone to dogmatism or corruption, nor that money doesn’t direct a lot of focus and strong will. Certainly, there are plenty of non-scientists frequently willing to pass stuff off as scientifically verified that is just not…or who take some grain of discovered knowledge and just…run wild…

However, there is a huge difference between that and scientific consensus based on careful application of the empirical method and honest assessment of lots of carefully gathered data.

The Word "Science" Means Something

Scientists know they are funny subjective humans by nature and that objective reality is a tough thing to grasp, even without that. The whole point for folks who are truly scientists is to give it their best to overcome those biases, think really hard about how we might actually know what we know, and then carefully catalogue and analyze that, while repeatedly double checking each other and themselves.

A lot of folks aren’t diregarded as quacks because no one wants to look at their truth, but because they’ve examined it carefully and what they see is hogwash.

They may not not know precisely what is, but they’re qualified to give the best guess we’ve got and can often tell for sure when something doesn’t prove what someone else is claiming it does.

Please Honor Expertise.

If we’re willing to actually sit there and listen (keeping in mind that these folks have studied their fields and methodology in general for years and it can be a little hard to follow sometimes), they might even be willing to try and explain how they’ve come to these carefully derived conclusions, and the chances they think this or that may be so.

Grateful when folks actually care about that. It makes a big difference. 

Spotted: Jaci Clement Talks Journalism with Gregory Zeller of Innovate LI

Photo by Nick Morrison on unsplash

In reading a recent issue of “The Latest,” (which we encourage folks to read) we realized two entities we deeply appreciate just came together to talk about a mission they share: Quality journalism. Seems like an important thing to talk about, especially with folks as experienced as these guys, and especially now when too many folks on every side don’t seem to know who to believe or what journalistic standards actually are.

Continue reading

Firefly Lights: September 11, 2025

Photo of the exterior of The Firefly Artists

Click here for the latest edition of Firefly Lights, all about our beautiful downtown gallery of local art and artists. In this edition, please find:

Come. Breathe. Center.
On View Now: pARTy ’til the Cows Come Home
DUE DATE EXTENDED TO 9/12: “Abandoned Haunts & Curious Trappings”
Submissions Due 10/13: “Post-It”
Fireflies Light Up Portofino
Fireflies Light Up Northport Books
2025 Exhibition Schedule
About the Firefly

Fireflies featured below, from the left starting at the top: Constance Sloggatt-Wolf, Drigo Morin, Kirk Larsen and Andrea M. Gordon. Two pieces now on our planter by Firefly Jim Darcy, and a stone of remembrance by Firefly Marilyn Barker.

To subscribe to The Firefly Artists newsletter, please drop us a line indicating interest here.

Subscribe To The Newsletter