President's message, 2023

This is my third year as President of the Nassau County Historical Society. This past year has been very successful due to the efforts of numerous Board Members. Natalie Naylor continues to be a tremendous asset to the Club and to me. She handles programing and is the Editor of the Journal.

I want to thank all Board Members for their strong supportincluding: Ceu Arantes, Membership Chair; Janet Bergholtz, acting as Recording Secretary when required; Stephanie Bird, Publicity Chair; Den Collins, Website Administrator; David Doucette, Zoom and Webinar Engineer; William Florio, servedas Communications Secretary; Lawrence Jones, Treasurer;Madalyn Klein, Recording Secretary; Betsy Murphy liaison with the Jericho Library and coordinating hospitality and refreshments for meetings; Ed Schacter and Jim Marsh for updating our Bylaws; and Paul van Wie, Associate Editor of the Journal.

We are pursuing a location to display the history of Nassau County. Jim Marsh, Gary Monti, Jim McKenna, Paul Meli, Natalie Naylor, and Tom Sanders are the Committee members seeking to obtain a building to exhibit the important history of Nassau County. ​David Ducette’s trustee term ended in 2023 and he decided to step down from the Board. For many years, Dave had provided the audio-visual equipment for our meetings in East Williston. During the pandemic, he was our Webinar Engineer for meetings, and he has continued to host Zoom Board meetings. For his outstanding service to the Society, Paul van Wie, Chair of the Nominating Committee, recommended that he become Trustee Emeritus. The Board enthusiastically concurred and unanimously voted him Trustee Emeritus at its September meeting.

We had a very successful Annual Luncheon on October 22 at the Davenport restaurant in Mineola. Tom Sanders chaired this event attended by more than 65 people. Jim McKenna organized the outstanding entertainment—Max Rowland performed traditional American music from the 19th century.

We have a new website (NassauCountyHistoricalSociety.org). Please visit and see the extensive changes.

Our dues had not been increased since 2005. The Board voted to increase annual dues a modest amount to cover theincrease in costs in the last two decades. Dues cover postage, printing, speakers, our new website, and other expenses. Effective January 1, 2024, individual dues are $40 and $60 for families.

We are extremely excited that we will have a tour of the Roosevelt School and its election exhibits on the LIU Post campus on Sunday, February 4, 2024. (Details in “The Last Word” below.)
The Entire Board wishes everybody a wonderful holiday season and that 2024 will be a year of good health, prosperity, and happiness for all.

—Scott Fairgrieve