Rose’s View – Fire Island Pines By Robert LevineIf you read last week’s column you would have read all about the Real Housewives of Cherry Grove. As sources say the term housewives is affiliated with frequent Pines visitor Andy Cohen. Now I will tell you who the Real Housewives of Fire Island Pines are: Laura Hartstein, Adrienne Villarreal, Karen Boss, Robbie Regina, Tony La Rocco, Mark Ricigliano, Henry Robin, Maureen Schrader, Lise Zinn, Brian Ridley, Karen Nicosia, Howard Goldfarb, Ken Pollard, Nicole LaFountaine Danaky, Michael DeFalco, Ellen Feldman-Putnam, Sumner Freeman, Sabrina Shulman, Scott Bromley, Thom Ford, Gil Neary, Dan Cochran, Teresa Lovato, Maureen Schrader, Irene Mueller, Judy Kingman, Judy Raynor, Jay Pagano, Andy Baker, Crayton Robey, Vanessa Diamond, and Walter Cartier.Would you Believe – The town is still Cher-ing stories about the icon herself making an appearance at The Pines Club for the Hillary Clinton fundraiser? Her secret arrival in the Pines, and her grand departure was as dramatic as her appearance in the club itself! Not unlike a Hollywood script similar to “Casablanca” but starring the Academy Award winner Cher.The covert mission was to transport her on and off the Island with as little fanfare as possible. Well thanks to Dave Mahler, and his wife Jodi who have been docking their yacht, “Crossconnect 6” in the Pines Harbor for many years, they pulled it off without a hitch. The powers that be behind this event wanted to respect Cher’s privacy, accomplishing this mission by picking her up in Sayville, then arriving in the Pines indiscreetly on Friday night.She enjoyed a quiet day at The Pines Club before the explosion of her appearance. Around midnight, they reversed the plan and successfully sailed her back to Sayville, where she met her limo and then flew up to Cape Cod for the next leg of this presidential campaigning tour for Hillary Clinton in Provincetown, Massachusetts. “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” on MSNBC had a segment on Cher, talking about the fund raising weekend beginning in Miami Beach, Fire Island and Provincetown.
Fire Island Pines resident Laura Haim is a foreign correspondent, and has appeared frequently on MSNBC over this past year. She has reported on many of the destructive terrorist attacks in Europe. Laura and I had a wonderful lunch in the Pines, at her beautiful home. She relaxed here for a few weeks before returning to her work in Washington, D.C. She is getting ready for the count down on Nov. 8, and covering this next election.Tony La Rocco and Bill Moore missed a weekend on the island and enjoyed a weekend in Manhattan. While they were gone Tony’s nephew Matt, his wife Erica, and their two children Ben and Luke, ages 6 and 10 respectively, stayed at their house. Tony and Bill returned to the Pines and celebrated Bill’s birthday. Kent Dillon is looking good and feeling fine after a short health setback. He is back on the beat driving the “Margie” Mobility Cart.Stuart Slackman has lived in the Pines since 1969. He was sitting at the Harbor with his dogs Daisy and Sam. We reminisced about the old times in the Pines, and many of our friends who are gone. The one person we mentioned was Eddie Rosenberg who had a great sense of humor and was lots of fun. He was an original cocktail “waitress” on the Islanders Bus. He worked alongside Sandy Stevenson and Tommy Axt. Eddie died at least 30 years ago. Tommy died in 2015, and Sandy just this past March. It’s hard to watch our friends go.Upcoming Events:
- FIPAP presents “Once On This Island,” directed and choreographed by Joe Barros, at Whyte Hall on Sept. 2, 3 and 4. Tickets are $70, available at Harbor or fipap.org.
- On Sunday, Sept. 11, the Pines Conservation Society will hold a 50th Anniversary luncheon at The Pines Club, catered by Billy Carrol. The luncheon is $50 per person.
- B’nai Olam, founded in the Pines by Alan Masur and Marc Berman of the Congregation, will conduct their High Holiday Services at Whyte Hall. Rosh Hashanah services are Sunday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. and Monday, Oct. 3, at 10:30 a.m., with a traditional luncheon buffet to follow. Yom Kippur Kol Nidre service will be Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 8 p.m. Yom Kippur morning service will follow on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 10:30 a.m. with Yizkor service later that day at 1 p.m.
It’s been a great summer everyone. See you next spring.
