A Mattituck pharmacist was arrested Friday after he was caught stealing Hydrocone pills from the Rite Aid store where he was employed, Southold Town Police said in a press release issued Monday morning.

An investigation revealed Paul Rinaldi, 57, of Miller Place was using the pills to self medicate over the course of a six-month period, police said. He was reported to police by Rite Aid’s asset protection division, police said.

He was transported to police headquarters and processed Friday, and has since been released on bail.

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | Sydney Campbell of Southold plays sorority sister Elle Woods in  North Fork Community Theatre’s production of “Legally Blond,” which opens Thursday.

“Legally Blonde,” the musical based on a novel by Amanda Brown and a 2001 movie, is this summer’s Youth on Stage presentation at North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck.

The story takes sorority sister Elle Woods (Sydney Campbell of Southold) from UCLA to the halls of Harvard in pursuit of love and a law degree. The NFCT production is directed by Jessica Raven and produced by Susan Hedges, with musical direction by Jacob Boergesson and choreography by Meagan Schmid.

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays, July 25 to Aug. 11. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. A free reception will start at 7 on opening night, Thursday, July 25.

Saturday, Aug. 1, will be a special “Think Pink” night, with all refreshment stand proceeds going to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Tickets are $20. Go to nfct.com or call 631-298-NFCT (6328).

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Mattituck striker Abby Graeb, with a Mount Sinai defender chasing her, closing in on her first goal of the game.

Abby Graeb holds an advantage over many soccer players. She can think like a striker, and a goalkeeper.

The reason for that is simple. The Mattituck High School junior has played both positions extensively, although she has been used as a field player by the Tuckers since last fall.

Straddling two different soccer worlds may seem odd to some, but not to Graeb. She has flip-flopped between the positions over the years, and is as adept at scoring goals as preventing them.

Recollecting her earlier goalkeeping days, Graeb said, “Sometimes I loved it and sometimes I hated it.”

Graeb played goal for the Sound Beach travel team for a while. In school soccer, two years ago she was brought up to the junior varsity team as an eighth-grade goalkeeper.

Mattituck didn’t have a junior varsity team last year. The varsity Tuckers already had three upperclassmen goalies, and the team’s former coach, Pete Hansen, considered Graeb more valuable in the field.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Jasmine Fell tries to get a foot on a corner kick.

Graeb said she likes the freedom of being a striker. “I like the field a little better now,” she said.

One might expect that Mattituck’s new coach, Melinda Nichol, will find a place for Graeb this fall. Judging by the way Graeb played on Tuesday night, she will almost surely have to be given serious consideration for playing time. Graeb scored both goals in the opening 13 minutes as Mattituck concluded its Town of Brookhaven Summer League season on a winning note, 2-0 over Mount Sinai at Diamond in the Pines in Coram. The game, which started 47 minutes later than scheduled because of rain and lightning, was limited to one 30-minute half.

For the Tuckers (2-5-2), it was a good 30 minutes. The two goals were almost identical.

Hannah Fitzgerald, a sophomore center midfielder, deserves a good deal of the credit for the first goal. It was her lead pass that sent Graeb, with a defender at her heels, in on goalkeeper Alicia Pirone. Graeb scored.

“She’s known for doing that,” said Fitzgerald.

Junior sweeper Nicole Zurawski assisted on the second strike in similar fashion, knocking a long, cutting through ball up the middle for Graeb to latch onto before directing it into the corner of the goal. It was the fourth goal of the summer for Graeb.

“I’m always looking for runs, looking for space,” she said.

With Graeb’s speed and finishing ability, sending the ball over the top for her to chase down is a good option.

“We love our through balls because we want to get it to Abby,” Mattituck’s summer coach, Veronica Stelzer, said. “We know she’s going to beat the last defender.”

Stelzer said the summer season was “bittersweet” for the Tuckers. She said, “We’re not in the playoffs, which is a bummer, but we improved as a team, so I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

BILL LANDON PHOTO | Greenport senior Gavin Dibble lofts a shot toward the basket against Mattituck Thursday night.

When Ev Corwin says he’s climbed the ranks in Greenport, he’s not joking.

He started as the ball boy before becoming a player for Greenport, where he graduated in 1990. He eventually became the junior high coach and then the junior varsity coach.

And now, the varsity coach.

It’ll be Corwin who’s tasked with the job of replacing the huge shoes of iconic Al Edwards, Greenport’s coach for the previous 34 years. Edwards, one of two Greenport players whose jersey is retired, announced in May he is officially stepping down as the varsity coach.

Corwin was recently confirmed by the school board as the new coach.

“It’s bittersweet a little bit,” Corwin said after a 54-53 loss to Mattituck Thursday in the Town of Brookhaven Summer League at Rocky Point Middle School. “I’ve been around Al for so long. So it’ll take a little getting used to not having him around all the time.

“I don’t know how to put into words how excited I am,” he added. “I love Greenport, I love the community, the kids.”

Corwin learned the game playing and coaching under Edwards.

BILL LANDON PHOTO | Mattituck forward Tyler Reeve tried to grab a rebound against Greenport.

“I learned not to get too high when it’s going good, maybe not to get too low when it’s going bad,” Corwin said. “I’m a little high strung. Me and him were kind of like Yin and Yang.”

Corwin said he hopes to continue the legacy that Edwards established at Greenport.

“The main thing is the way he conducted himself,” Corwin said. “I’m going to try to do the best I can to continue that.”

Having been around the program so long, Corwin already is familiar with all the returning players.

The Porters, who are 4-5 in summer league, return an experienced core led by seniors Gavin Dibble, Austin Hooks and junior Timmy Stevens.

“I’m expecting a good year here,” Corwin said. “We’re changing, we’re going to be playing man-to-man this year a little more than before. That’s going to take a bit of getting used to, which is why summer league is so great. I like the guys we have coming back. That’s not just coach speak.”

Stevens is a player who could be primed for a big season. He hit four 3-pointers in the first half, showing off a deft touch from beyond the arc. He finished the game with five 3-pointers for 15 points.

“He’s like instant offense,” Corwin said. “Timmy can score in bunches.”

Dibble, the point guard, and Hooks, a forward, will be heavily relied on at both ends of the floor.

“They’re going to lead the team,” Corwin said.

Dibble had a strong game against Mattituck and nearly pulled off a heroic shot in the final second. With the Porters trailing by three, Dibble nearly banked in a 3-pointer with .4 seconds remaining. He was fouled on the shot, sending him to the line for three shots.

He hit the first two before Mattituck coach Paul Ellwood called a time-out. When Dibble returned to the line, the ball rattled out on the final free-throw to force overtime, giving the Tuckers (7-1) a come-from-behind victory.

“Paul does a great job with those guys,” Corwin said.”

If the summer league is any indication, the regular season games between the two schools should provide plenty of excitement. Considering it was summer league, Thursday’s game was surprisingly entertaining. Both team shot the ball well and hustled on both ends of the court.

“These guys play together on AAU teams and stuff now,” Corwin said. “It’s extra motivation.”

The Porters led nearly from start to finish against Mattituck until the Tuckers rolled off a late 7-0 run to take grab their first lead of the game at 52-51 with 1:37 left. Greenport had led by as many as 13 in the first half.

“There was a lot of intensity out there today,” Corwin said. “Good stuff. It was all good.”

joew@timesreview.com

GRANT PARPAN PHOTO | Charles Millman speaks at Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport Sunday morning.

Toward the end of a presentation on his investigation into the TWA Flight 800 crash, Mattituck resident Charles Millman was asked what he thought caused the plane to go down just 12 minutes after takeoff on July 17, 1996.

“I think it was not the center wing [fuel] tank,” Mr. Millman said, contradicting the official report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, following its investigation into the crash that left 230 people dead.

Mr. Millman, a retired aircraft engineer who once served as a maintenance manager at John F. Kennedy International Airport, worked as a consultant for the NTSB in the aftermath of the TWA Flight 800 crash over the Moriches Inlet in East Moriches. Now, 17 years later — and after a recent documentary offering alternative theories into the crash of the Boeing 747-100 headed from JFK to Paris, France has made headlines — Mr. Millman says he believes the federal government should reopen its investigation.

“I don’t know what happened that day,” Mr. Millman said during his presentation to the Men’s Club of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Greenport Sunday. “I do know that I think the investigation should be reopened and looked at carefully.”

The NTSB announced June 28 that it’s currently reviewing a Petition for Reconsideration of the Board’s findings and probable cause determination regarding the flight. The petition was received four weeks prior to the world premiere of the documentary, “TWA Flight 800,” on the EPIX television network. The film, which features six retired NTSB investigators who say the government’s explanation was a cover-up and the jet was actually downed by a missile, has since screened at the Stony Brook Film Festival and will also be shown Aug. 8 at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington.

Mr. Millman, who has not yet seen the documentary, said the pristine condition of several items recovered from the crash and the NTSB’s inability to replicate an explosion of a center wing fuel tank during its investigation have led him to dispute the government’s official position on the crash.

As part of his presentation to more than two dozen people at the synagogue Sunday, Mr. Millman shared the NTSB accident report, which states the explosion of the center wing tank as the probable cause of the crash. The report says the explosion was most likely caused by a short circuit outside of the tank.

“That doesn’t seem to make too much sense to me,” he said.

Mr. Millman also passed around photographs, newspaper articles and notes from the investigation.

Conspiracy theories have surfaced since the day of the crash, with more than 100 eyewitnesses having told investigators they saw a streak of light headed toward the aircraft moments before it exploded in the sky.

The government has maintained that what those witnesses actually saw was a piece of the aircraft falling from the sky, a theory Mr. Millman disagrees with.

“Common sense says that if hundreds of people say they saw [the streak of light] ascending, then it was ascending, not falling,” Mr. Millman said.

The investigation into the crash lasted more than four years and is reportedly the most expensive crash investigation in U.S. history.

Two men who attended the presentation Sunday said they had sons who were witnesses to the crash. Jed Clauss of Mattituck said his son, Josh, was surfing in Westhampton when debris from the plane landed near him.

Mr. Clauss said Josh returned home with a piece of plastic that surrounded one of the plane’s windows. They called the FBI to report the discovery and an investigator was sent to the house, he said.

“He asked Josh if he noticed a Grady-White [boat] headed in the opposite direction,” Mr. Clauss said. “I always found that curious.”

Mr. Clauss says he’s always believed kinetic energy from a missile shot in the direction of the plane caused the explosion.

Mr. Millman said he hasn’t dwelled on what caused the crash, since he doesn’t exactly know, but he thinks the time has come for the government to take another look.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said, “but 230 lives were affected and when you also consider [all their family members], a tremendous amount of people were hurt by this crash.”

gparpan@timesreview.com

Members from several North Fork congregations will gather in Mattituck’s Strawberry Fields August 3 for a day of music, prayer and sermons at the Great North Fork Awakening.

The free event, which starts at noon and ends at 8 p.m., is being hosted by volunteers and will consist of short sermons from various Long Island churches. Greg Gaffga, pastor of the Mattituck Presbyterian Church, will give the opening sermon.

In a press release, Monica Harbes, who owns Harbes Family Farm in Mattituck with her husband, Ed, said the event is geared toward “anyone who is interested in renewing their faith, seeking spiritual direction, or those who may have questions about beginning a relationship with God.” Ms. Harbes was not immediately available for further comment.

Local Christian rock band Crossing Jordan will perform two short sets during the day and a longer set in the evening.

Food vendors will be on site, but guests are invited to bring their own picnic baskets.

ryoung@timesreview.com

JENNIFER GUSTAVSON FILE PHOTO | Former Mattituck teacher Anthony Claudio leaving court during the trial last fall.

Four years after he last taught in the district, Anthony Claudio is getting his job back with the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District.

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Mr. Claudio is to be reinstated into an appropriate position within the district. The ruling comes 10 months after a jury found the school district discriminated against the former special education teacher due to his age when it denied him tenure in 2009.

“The judge reinstated Anthony Claudio,” said his attorney, Frank Blangiardo of Cutchogue. “He’s back on the clock.”

News of his reinstatement was satisfying to the friends and family who stood by Mr. Claudio’s side during the lengthy court battle.

“The jury ruled and now the judge has ruled that Tony fought for what was right and he won,” said Barbara Smith, Mr. Claudio’s sister-in-law who testified on his behalf and is a teacher in the district. “I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

Superintendent James McKenna said Friday that “the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District will have no comment on this case until we have received a written judgment from the court.”

The eight-member jury had awarded the 50-year-old Mr. Claudio $70,000 in back pay at the conclusion of his trial before Judge Joseph Bianco in the Eastern District Court of New York last October.

Mr. Claudio alleged in his complaint, which was filed soon after he was terminated, that he was fired from a special education department where 28 of 30 employees were female and most were younger than 30.

Just last month, Judge Bianco denied the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District’s post-trial motion to overturn the jury’s verdict in the Claudio civil discrimination case and order a new trial request.

gparpan@timesreview.com

A Southold man was arrested for driving drunk Friday evening, Southold Town police said.

Patrick Ryan, 59, was stopped for failing to maintain his lane of travel while driving along Sound Avenue in Mattituck shortly before 6 p.m., police said.

He failed several roadside sobriety tests and was transported to police headquarters, where he was held for a Saturday morning arraignment, police said.

A Mattituck man was arrested for drunk driving after he was involved in a single-car crash on Lesters Road in Mattituck early Saturday morning, Southold Town police said.

Brian Bannon, 37, was found to be intoxicated after he failed several roadside sobriety tests at the crash scene, police said. The crash occurred about 3:40 a.m.

He was charged with DWI and transferred to police headquarters for processing, police said.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Mattituck’s James Hayes in an aerial duel with Elwood/John Glenn’s James Groark.

Diamond in the Pines in Coram never will be confused with Wembley in England, Maracana Stadium in Rio or even Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. But the sports complex has become a must destination site for some of the best Suffolk County soccer teams come the fall.

And that includes the Mattituck High School boys’ soccer side. The Tuckers, who spent a good portion of the summer playing at the facility, hope to return to it for the Suffolk Class B final on Nov. 2.

This year’s version of the team already has some vital experience winning a big game on the artificial turf, earning the Town of Brookhaven Summer League small schools title behind a 3-2 triumph over Elwood/John Glenn on Monday.

Winning the summer league obviously isn’t as big as the county crown, but it certainly will get the Tuckers into the right frame of mind.

“It’s huge,” goalkeeper Steve Ostrowski said. “I don’t remember the last time Mattituck did this. My brother [Peter, a center back] two years ago, they got pretty close and they lost on penalty kicks, so this is huge for me. It’s just really exciting.”

And it will be more exciting come November.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Paul Hayes and his Mattituck teammates are Brookhaven Summer League small school champions.

“It’s always great to be back here,” Ostrowski said. “It’s just the feeling knowing that you’re the best in the league. And it’s Mattituck tradition.”

Midfielder Paul Hayes had a slightly different take. “I don’t want to be compared to last year’s team [which reached the state semifinals],” he said. “This is a new team. I’d just love to be back here, hopefully going back to states. That’s my goal.”

Will Hayes, the coach of the summer team, hoped that the Tuckers will be back there in a few months.

“If you’re a high school kid, that’s what you live for,” he said. “It’s what you want to do. That’s why you play. It’s fun, but you want to win. You want to get out there in the championship game and test yourselves against the best teams and see in the end how good you are.”

The Tuckers will get one more test this summer. They will meet Central Islip, a 1-0 winner over Ward Melville in the boys’ large school final Monday, in the varsity championship game at the complex at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Playing a larger team does not faze the Tuckers.

“I just want to show them up,” midfielder Chris Hayes said. “I don’t think they’re really expecting too much out of us. But they don’t know us as well.”

Will Hayes remembered when he coached the junior varsity team to the small schools final two years ago. “We got to the final, and sat them down and said, ‘We’re not supposed to win. The big school always wins,’ ” he said. “I think the big school has won every time but three on the JV level.”

Mattituck lost to Sachem on penalties, 7-6.

That was far from the case Monday. Only 3 minutes 20 seconds into the game, the Tuckers received a reality check as Jonny Schefer gave Glenn a 1-0 lead.

“That woke us up right away,” midfielder Paul Hayes said. “This team is not as great as us. We should be winning this game. We just got back into our game plan.”

“It was really intense,” Ostrowski said. “They gave a run the first time we played them. They scored first. Getting scored on first never really has been a problem for us. It was a battle back and forth the whole game. We got caught into their game a little bit, the kick and run. But in the end we pulled it out.”

Less than four minutes later it was tied at 1-1 as Mario Arreola motored down the left side and scored.

Oscar Puluc scored at 12:50, shaking his fist in triumph en route to a 2-1 lead. Only 40 seconds into the second half, Erik Schwartz put in a rebound of Puluc’s shot off the crossbar for a 3-1 lead, a goal the Tuckers needed because Corey Ainsworth brought Glenn within striking distance with Ostrowski pulled out of the goalmouth at 32:40.

Glenn threw just about everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Mattituck over the final 15 minutes as the Tuckers withstood the pressure.

“It says that we’re experienced,” Ostrowski said. “We’re ready. We’ve got ice blood, basically. We don’t crack under pressure.”

LAURA BAXENDALE PHOTO | Strawberry Queen Leah LaFreniere of Southold poses with two girls at the Kids Night and Family Outdoor Movie July 26 in Mattituck.

The Strawberry Fields Fairgrounds in Mattituck served as host July 26 to the North Fork’s first Kids Night and Family Outdoor Movie. The event featured pony rides, ice cream truck, games and DJ “Willy G.”

2013 Strawberry Queen Leah LaFreniere stopped by for a visit as well.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Mattituck goalkeeper Steve Ostrowski watching action in his penalty area.

The Town of Brookhaven Summer League small schools champion Mattituck boys soccer team didn’t seem overly concerned about the prospect of playing the league’s large schools champion, Central Islip, on Wednesday night. After all, the Tuckers are accustomed to playing against teams from larger schools. What the Tuckers may have found disconcerting, however, was Central Islip’s lethal speed and skill.

That is a dangerous combination.

“That’s as good a team as we’re ever going to play,” Mattituck’s summer team coach, Will Hayes, said. “They were excellent. Every player they put on the field, every kid they took off the bench was good.” To add emphasis, he repeated, “That was a good team.”

So good that the 1-0 scoreline in Central Islip’s favor doesn’t do the Musketeers justice. Only resolute defending by the Tuckers and capable goalkeeping by Steve Ostrowski kept it close.

The Tuckers were under no illusions. They recognized the task that lay before them in the game for the league’s overall championship.

“We knew we had to defend,” said Hayes.

So the Tuckers defended and looked to counterattack when they could.

The strategy worked for the first 49 minutes 41 seconds of the 60-minute game, before Central Islip gained its well-deserved reward through a penalty kick. Ever Manzanares was fouled in the penalty area and Robenson Jasmin, the game’s most valuable player, directed the spot kick into the net for the game’s only goal.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Central Islip’s Osman Portillo Jr., left, and Mattituck’s Paul Hayes pursuing the ball.

Central Islip, in only its second year in the 33-year-old summer league, earned  the right to play the Town of Babylon champion tomorrow night at St. Joseph’s College.

Mattituck won the overall summer league championship once, in 1999. That speaks to the difficulty of advancing that far.

Of course, the Tuckers would have needed to get by Central Islip in order to do that, and that proved to be a problem. Central Islip did something that not many teams do to Mattituck. It essentially boxed the Tuckers in their own half of the field at Diamond in the Pines in Coram for much of the time and applied a great deal of pressure on Mattituck’s defense.

“That was probably one of the best teams I ever played against, travel or school,” Ostrowski said. “They just orchestrated every pass. They didn’t put any of their free kicks long. They really knew what they were doing.’

Central Islip was denied a goal in the 34th minute when Ostrowski made a snazzy diving save of a shot by Jorge Magana, catching the ball and not leaving a rebound.

The Musketeers missed a couple of good scoring chances in the second half as well: Magana’s side volley was directed right at Ostrowski in the 40th minute. Eight minutes later, Magana nearly had a clear shot at goal, but it was deflected by a defender at the last moment for a corner kick.

Central Islip outshot Mattituck, 13-4, but the Tuckers had a couple of opportunities themselves. Mario Arreola, who has scored 17 goals in 13 games this summer, exhibited his splendid speed on a memorable sequence almost five minutes into the second half. He somehow managed to catch up with a midfield ball that looked as if it would roll out of bounds. Arreola then pushed the ball forward down the left wing and beat a defender to it before curling a shot beyond the right goalpost.

“I didn’t know it was possible, but I think he has gotten faster,” said Mattituck’s school team coach, Mat Litchhult.

Arreola was also involved in Mattituck’s only other serious attempt at goal He latched onto an incisive through ball from James Hayes in the 44th minute, only to see his right-footed effort stopped by Rene Melgar for one of his two saves.

“These guys … took the game plan and put it in place and played it to perfection,” Litchhult said. “That was a great team. We almost stole it.”

Mattituck was missing three players who probably would have started: Kaan Ilgin, Jake Jacob and Oscar Puluc. Ostrowski was the only senior on the field for the young Tuckers.

It was a productive and encouraging summer season for Mattituck, which won 10 games and lost three, outscoring opponents by 35-17. The Tuckers finished second to Center Moriches on goal difference in the regular-season standings.

After losing two of its first three games, Mattituck won nine straight during a stretch.

“It was a roller coaster,” Ostrowski said. “In the beginning, we didn’t know how we were going to do. We had two not-so-great games against Center Moriches and Shoreham, and then Litch just gave us a speech, and I guess we just snapped out of it, and we started playing really well. We strung a couple of wins together and we just got here. It’s an awesome experience.”

The Tuckers seemed happy with the T-shirts they were awarded after the game along with their small schools title plaque. With the school team’s first preseason practice scheduled for Aug. 26, they gave themselves something of a head start on preseason training and a healthy dose of good feeling.

“We lost 1-nothing on a penalty kick,” Litchhult said. “There’s nothing really to look back on and be disappointed about.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Mattituck’s Gene Allen attacking the basket during the Brookhaven Summer League small schools final against Westhampton Beach.

One of the most valuable things to come out of this productive summer for the Mattituck boys basketball team is its proven ability to pull out close games. That’s a wonderful quality, and was best illustrated in the team’s 1-point wins over Miller Place and Greenport during the Town of Brookhaven Summer League regular season.

That knack for winning the close ones doesn’t seem to work against Westhampton Beach, though.

During the regular season, Westhampton Beach handed Mattituck an 8-point loss. Things were even tighter when the teams met again in the small schools final on Thursday evening, with Westhampton Beach prevailing by 4 points, 31-27. The defensive struggle at St. Joseph’s College’s John A. Danzi Athletic Center saw Mattituck’s lowest point output of the summer in the Brookhaven League.

Points were hard to come by. Through the first 15 minutes of running time, the scoreboard read 5-5, a score more fitting for a game played by elementary school-age players than two high school varsity teams. The Tuckers allowed only 13 points in the first half, and still trailed by 3 points because of Mike Frangeskos’ 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

The teams stayed within 5 points of each other the whole way until Frangeskos sank a pair of free throws, putting the Hurricanes ahead, 29-27, late in the game for the seventh lead change.

Another two foul shots by Luke Dyer gave Westhampton Beach a little more breathing room with 13.9 seconds left.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Auggie Knuth of Mattituck, under the shadow of  Westhampton Beach’s Luke Dyer, examines his options.

Both teams had their offensive struggles, with only about one-third of the shots finding their way through the basket. The shooting from the field was almost identical: Westhampton Beach shot 10 for 29 and Mattituck went 9 for 29.

“It was tough,” Mattituck’s sophomore point guard, Parker Tuthill, said. “We couldn’t get a flow to our offense, but defensively we were doing good. We stopped them a lot. We just couldn’t execute on offense.”

Frangesko led all scorers with 12 points. Dyer contributed 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block for the Hurricanes, who picked up their 10th win in 12 league games.

Gene Allen was Mattituck’s top scorer with 6 points. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

“It was a tough game,” Allen said. “It’s always a tough game when we play them.” He added, “Every time we play them, it’s hard to execute.”

What was Mattituck coach Paul Ellwood’s assessment of what he saw?

“It was hard for us to get looks,” he said. “We struggled to get anything going. … I think they had problems with our press, but we just didn’t score enough to get into it.”

It’s wise not to read too much into summer league results, but the fact that Mattituck (9-3) reached the championship game is evidence that it has done some things right.

The Tuckers also competed in a summer league in Southampton, going 7-7 in that league. By playing in both leagues, the Tuckers saw more playing time and had more opportunities to show what they can do.

“You never know what you’re going to get out of it,” Ellwood said of summer-league ball. “Sometimes the team grows. I think a lot of guys down in the pecking order got a lot of [playing] time and improved. I found roles for them on the team and how they can help us.”

Ellwood believes the Tuckers will be in a better situation when they start preseason practice for the school season than they were a year ago. It’s easy to see why. Mattituck returns its top three scorers (Will Gildersleeve, Allen and Chris Dwyer), its leading rebounder (Allen) and its No. 1 assist man (Joe Tardif) from last season.

Although the Tuckers have young players, they have basketball experience. Not a bad combination.

Among the developing young players who have looked good is Tuthill, who was the starting point guard for Mattituck’s 16-1 junior varsity team last season. “He had some games where he was just lights out,” said Ellwood.

The coach continued: “Parker’s going to be a tremendous player. He just needs to get a little meat on the bones. The only time he struggles is when bigger kids get physical with him. Other than that, the skill set is there. He can shoot. He’s going to grow up and get stronger. He’s going to be a handful. … He’s going to be a great player for us for the next three years.”

More encouragement comes from junior Josh Conklin and senior Tyler Reeve, who have provided the team with inside grit.

“Our front line was a weakness last year, so we addressed that with those two guys,” said Ellwood.

Playing in a league final, even if it is a summer league, has benefits, but Tuthill’s competitive fire may have made it difficult for him to sound upbeat after the league final.

“It’s a good experience,” he said, “but it would have been better if we had won.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

TIM KELLY PHOTO | West Nile Virus was found in two samples of Culex pipiens-restuans.

Suffolk County health officials announced Friday that 29 more mosquito samples tested positive for West Nile virus, including one in Mattituck.

Positive samples, collected on July 30 and July 31, also came from mosquito traps in Yaphank, Mastic Beach and other points in western Suffolk County.

Health officials do not disclose exactly where the traps are located.

To date this year, 69 mosquito samples and four birds have tested positive for West Nile. No humans or horses have tested positive this year, officials said.

The health department stops testing mosquito samples and dead birds for West Nile on Aug. 31.

“The New York State Parks Department has been notified and has been advised to restrict activities to daytime hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.,” a health department release reads.

Residents can reduce the mosquito population around their homes by eliminating stagnant water where mosquitoes breed, officials said
For medical questions related to West Nile virus, call (631) 854-0333 during normal business hours.

To report mosquito problems or stagnant pools of water, call vector control at (631) 852-4270.

mwhite@timesreview.com

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | Dan Yaiullo, center, leads a song and dance in a scene from Oklahoma!

A couple has given $100,000 to help fund renovations at the North Fork Community Theatre building in Mattituck.

On top of that, Emilie and Michael Corey have pledged to match all other donations to the theater, up to $300,000, through December 2015. That means as much as $700,000 could go toward rehabbing the facility.

The theater’s president, Mary Motto Kalich, called the donations “inspiring.”

“This really inspires all of us to work together and contribute,” Ms. Kalich said. “It makes it easier, if you will, for the community to say, ‘Hey, now my $100 is really $200.’ They are reaching out in a tremendous way to help us do these renovations to the theatre.”

The Coreys were not available for comment this week but, according to published reports, Ms. Corey is a retired social worker and Mr. Corey is a retired managing director of JP Morgan. The couple has a home Riverhead Town and ties to the East End and New York City.

The money will be used to purchase and install a new cesspool, curtains, as well as lights and rigging for the theater. The structure was built in the 19th century as a church and has been used for performances since 1957. The theater’s 166 chairs — hand-me-downs from the 1980s, Ms. Kalich said — will also be torn out and replaced for an estimated cost of $35,000. The theater’s exterior will be painted and re-shingled.

“The curtain has some sort of tape on top of it because there’s a big rip in it,” Ms. Kalich said. “You make do and you fix what you can.”

This isn’t the first major donation the theatre has received. Last year, with the help of donations from community supporters, the group was able to purchase the building itself from Mattituck Presbyterian Church for $465,000. The amateur theater group had been leasing the theater since 1961.

“We had never really done much fundraising before,” Ms. Kalich said. “Then we realized we needed to buy the building. About five years ago we started a campaign, reached out to the community and received wonderful support from a wide variety of people.”

ryoung@timesreview.com

CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | A classic car show fundraiser was held in Southold Sunday to benefit the Sweeney family of Laurel.

More than 400 local residents attended a classic car show in Southold Sunday to support Mattituck fireman Michael Sweeney and his family.

The Sweeney home in Laurel was badly damaged in a fire just two weeks ago.

The benefit classic car and motorcycle show at the American Legion Hall was organized by a group of Mr. Sweeney’s oldest friends. You can read more about how the fundraiser came to be by clicking here.

CARRIE MILLER PHOTO | Leah Santacroce, right, and her sister Sarah with many of the patches they want to turn into blankets for sick children.

Hospital rooms are known for being cold and dark, so even something as simple as a hand-knit blanket can provide much needed warmth and comfort to patients.

That’s exactly how Leah Santacroce, now a junior at Mattituck High School, felt when she had an unexpected hospital stay in seventh grade.

When Leah came down with an unforeseen illness and ended up needing a life-saving surgery, she was treated and recovered at Cohen Children’s Medical Center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

Her mom, dad, and younger sister stayed at the Ronald McDonald House next door. Ronald McDonald Houses are located all around the world and provide a “home away from home” for the families of hospitalized children. They are part of Ronald McDonald House Charities, a nonprofit.

Leah’s mother, Ellen, said that when the family first got to their room at the Ronald McDonald House in New Hyde Park there were a few homemade items sitting on the bureau. Among them was a blanket made up of many different squares of crocheted material.

“It was the first thing we brought to the hospital,” Ms. Santacroce said. “It was a whole crocheted blanket, hand stitched. It must’ve taken hours, with many people contributing many squares. I couldn’t believe they made it and then gave it away to us.”

The blanket meant a lot to Leah, and she has it on her bed to this day.

“The blanket was just really comforting and made the hospital room homey because it wasn’t really very homey [before then],” said Leah, now 16.

This past spring, when the Santacroce girls took a beginner knitting and crocheting class at Altman’s Needle and Fiber Arts on Love Lane in Mattituck, Ms. Santacroce thought of an idea to help give back. Leah’s 11-year-old sister, Sarah, dubbed the project “Captain Blankie.”

Captain Blankie is a blanket drive that asks local residents to knit or crochet 7-by-9-inch rectangles and drop them off at Altman’s. The squares are then crocheted together to create a blanket, much like Leah’s, to be donated to The Ronald McDonald House of Long Island.

Though the project only began this spring, the charity venture has already been very successful. Altman’s currently has a basket full of donated squares, as well as a full blanket that one customer knitted. An employee said they have enough squares right now for about four blankets.

“After she proposed the idea, I started mentioning it at our open stitch groups and, soon after ,projects started pouring in,” said shop owner Kate Altman. “Community is really important to me, and the fact that this project is connected to someone we know is great. We’re going to have a little party one evening to crochet all of the pieces together into blankets.”

The Santacroce family and the Altman’s staff have been hanging up and handing out fliers about Captain Blankie throughout the community. The girls even worked together to draw a character to represent Captain Blankie, a girl with a crocheted cape. Sarah also came up with a slogan, “Comfort is on the way.”

“I thought of the idea of ‘comfort is on the way’ because it’s like we’re coming to the rescue with blankets,” Sarah said.

CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | During a eulogy Friday, the Rev. Michael Walrond Jr. said William Lynch Jr.’s legacy will be everlasting because of the countless lives he touched.

Widely-known civil rights activist and political consultant William Lynch Jr. died Friday, Aug. 9, from complications of kidney disease. He was 72.

Mr. Lynch was born July 21, 1941, in Mattituck to William Sr. and Lillie Lynch and graduated from Mattituck High School in 1959. As a teenager “Butch” as he was known then, played soccer, basketball and baseball. Of his youth on the North Fork, Mr. Lynch told The Suffolk Times in 2008,“Those were the great years for me. I’ll never forget them.”

Family and friends gathered at New Bethany cemetery in Mattituck on Friday to honor the man they remember as a great Mattituck High School basketball player with a heart of gold.

“He dined with presidents but his heart never left Mattituck,” Sally Goode-Carragher told a reporter before the services. “He always fought for the little guy and never forgot his humble roots.”

(Read more about Mr. Lynch and his remarkable life in politics in the Aug. 22 Suffolk Times newspaper.)

Friends said Mr. Lynch maintained ties to his hometown throughout his life.

Family friend LeRoy Heyliger remembered running into Mr. Lynch around the time of Christmas 1965, while the men were serving in the Air Force in different divisions.

“Our planes were in for service, and I heard a voice call my name,” Mr. Heyliger recalled. “It was Bill. He was back from overseas and said that he was discharged.”

It was soon after that Mr. Lynch moved to Harlem to work for a job training and policy institute at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

And so began his venture into politics.

In 1975, Mr. Lynch successfully managed Diane Lacey’s campaign for Democratic district leader in Central Harlem and the Upper West Side. He went on to work on presidential campaigns for Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1980 and the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988. He also worked on the campaigns for Congressman Major Owens of Brooklyn in 1982 and state Senator David A. Paterson in 1985. Later, in 2008, he worked as a consultant for Mr. Paterson, who at the time was just taking over as governor for the outgoing Eliot Spitzer.

From 1985-1989, Mr. Lynch served as chief of staff to then-Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins and was instrumental in Mr. Dinkins’s victorious mayoral campaign in 1989. It was during this time he earned the nickname “rumpled genius” for his combination of political skills and wrinkled wardrobe. He served during the Dinkins administration as the deputy mayor for intergovernmental relations, and maintained a longstanding political relationship with Mr. Dinkins.

“He was really a warrior for all races and colors,” Hazel N. Dukes, president of the NAACP New York State Conference, said Friday. “He was instrumental in the success of that campaign.”

Some of the most important moments in his career included working with former South African president and anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela, Mr. Lynch said in the 2008 Suffolk Times interview. After Mr. Mandela was released from prison in 1991, Mr. Lynch helped him campaign for political reform in South Africa. “He was an unbelievable candidate and human being,” Mr. Lynch said.

Mr. Lynch founded his own political consulting firm, Bill Lynch Associates (LLC) in 1999, working on numerous campaigns in the New York area. He also served as a co-chair of John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004.  At the time of his death, he was working as a consultant for the mayoral campaign of city Controller, John Liu. His motto “make it happen” stayed with him through his entire life.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Lynch; his children, William Lynch III and Stacy Lynch and a grandson, William Lynch IV.

Funeral services took place in Manhattan on Thursday, Aug. 15 at Riverside Church, where over 1,000 mourners were in attendance, including former President, Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, former senator and secretary of state; Representative Charles B. Rangel; former secretary of State Basil A. Patterson; the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the New York Times article.

“I have to say it was a beautiful tribute to a man who was proud of his humble roots on the North Fork, who allowed others to take credit for his genius and stand in the limelight,” said John Vahey of Mattituck, who attended the services in New York as a guest of one of Mr. Lynch’s former colleagues.

“I don’t know how anyone could have attended that moving, beautiful service without being inspired to go out and make the world a better place.”

lhuber@timesreview.com

MLSI PHOTO |  Attorney William Goggins hopes to construct two apartments and an office into this Mattituck building.

Southold Town Justice candidate William Goggins is planning to construct two apartments and an office within an existing Mattituck building, according to applications filed with the town’s building department.

This is Mr. Goggins’ second attempt to renovate the structure, located at 13200 Main Road in Mattituck. In March 2012, he received approval from the planning department to construct three apartments within the building. However, the Suffolk County Department of Health struck down the plan.

“Originally it was supposed to be three apartments but the health department wouldn’t give me the sanitary flow I needed to have those apartments,” Mr. Goggins said. “Because of the limitations I could only do two apartments and that small amount of office space. There’s a disconnect between what the health department will allow and what the town’s master plan is.”

Even with the amended project, Mr. Goggins, an attorney, is still hitting snags on the road to construction.

In June, the town denied his building permit, citing violations to town code. The proposed apartment would make up more than 40 percent — the maximum permitted — of the principal building, according to the town’s building inspector.

Mr. Goggins is seeking a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to move forward with the site plan as is.

The design calls for an 850-square-foot office, two 600-square-foot apartments and 12 parking spaces to accommodate a future business and residents.

Since the project is still in the development phase, Mr. Goggins said he isn’t sure how the office will be used.

“I don’t have anyone looking to rent it yet,” he said. “It could possibly be a law office.”

The public will have a chance to weigh in on the plan when the issue goes up for public hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals at 10:45 a.m. Sept. 5 in the Town Hall meeting room.

ryoung@timesreview.com

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | Many businesses donated food for Saturday’s unity picnic in Mattituck.

The Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force hosted its fourth annual ‘Celebrating Diversity’ Unity Picnic at Strawberry Fields in Mattiuck Saturday afternoon.

Local businesses donated food, drink and entertainment to dozens of people who came to celebrate the diversity of Southold Town and to promote a bias-free community.