| Issue #36, December 1, 2006 |
Windmill Sparkles
The Biggest Present Southampton Could Ask for Lights Up
By Alan-Michael Braveman
The old Shinnecock Windmill that sits high atop the Stony Brook Southampton College campus (formerly Southampton College) is nearly 300 hundred years old and in need of some serious repair work. When it is lit up during the Christmas Season it is transformed into a magnificent beacon of triumph and joy for all to behold. It transcends the religious and makes your heart beat a little faster as you drive along Montauk Highway on a darkened night. It is somehow reassuring to see it all aglow, still proudly sitting up there in the night as if it were saying, “You did your worst, but I am still here, You SOBs…” With the recent change in ownership of the campus this tradition of lighting the windmill, which was started about 17 years ago by Professor Tim Burke and has continued unabated through all these years, was in doubt. But the Southampton College alumni have since been reassured that it is here to stay, for all to enjoy. In fact, the old windmill is the future meeting center for the alumni and friends of Southampton College. This 1712 Shinnecock windmill, however, will need some serious rehabilitation after years of neglect. A serious fund raising effort for the rehabilitation of this almost 300-year-old building will be launched in the coming weeks.
The windmill has been the symbol of the college since the doors first opened in 1963. It was moved from its original site in Southampton Village in 1890 and has been in place on the campus through many decades and many incarnations. At different points in time it was the summer home for famous writers, a beacon at night for sailors in World War Two, a lofty residence for a Dean of the College where he hosted Sunday teas for honor students, and the playroom for a variety of local children through the ages who dared to sneak in and crawl around its ancient attic space. It has also been the site of graduations, parties, festivals, reunions and, in its original incarnation, the site of years of grinding flour and wheat as well as just plain old gossip. It is also rumored to host a variety of ghosts who come out only on Halloween.
This year, the brightly colored lights that festoon the windmills paddles will be lit by Dr. Shirley Kenny, the President of Stony Brook University, at dusk (about 5 p.m.) on Dec 8.
Following the lighting there will be some Christmas cookies, hot fresh-baked Christmas pies, hot cider, cocoa and entertainment in Chancellors Hall on the college campus. It is expected that there will be lots of caroling from the Glee Club, perhaps a marching band, and that Santa Claus will appear to help decorate the tree in the Fine Arts Building. Santa may even have some presents to give out to the lucky boys and girls who show up.
Kathy Bishop, the founder of the Children’s School, has invited all her students and their parents to attend this fun event. The adults will have to make do with cookies and hot chocolate or cider and pie but are expected to help out with the singing. The event is open to the entire Southampton community and Dr. Kenny hopes that everyone who loves the holidays will come over and join in the fun and festivities. The Southampton College alumni association is proudly participating in this event and would like to invite all the former and present faculty and their families as well as the alumni to come out and join with them on Dec. 8 at dusk and see the difference that a caring university can make in this wonderful celebration of life as the restoration of life, pride and spirit to this campus begins. There will be many more events for the community to attend in the coming days as the campus is brought back to life.
 |
