THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, 2022

This is my second year as President of the Nassau County Historical Society.  I have been very fortunate to have the Past President Natalie Naylor advise and assist me during the past year. She served as president for 12 years and has been editor of the Journal for more than 25 years. We are very fortunate to have such an outstanding and accomplished individual serve our Historical Society over the years. 

I must thank all Board members and officers for their strong support. Without the Board and officers, there would be no Nassau County Historical Society. Special thanks to Janet Bergholtz (Recording Secretary), Stephanie Bird (Publicity Chair), Dave Doucette (Zoom Engineer), Lawrence Jones (Treasurer), Billy Florio (Communications Secretary and Webmaster), and Ceu Arantes (Membership Chair). Special mention for Board Member Betsey Murphy for her assistance in securing use of the Jericho Library for our meetings, chairing our hospitality (refreshments) committee, and coordinating the October luncheon.

We are actively pursuing a building for the Nassau County Historical Society to display the history of Nassau County. Recently, a meeting was held with County Executive Bruce Blakeman to discuss this topic. We hope to revive the Nassau County Historical Museum, which was in Eisenhower Park from 1961 to 1991. We have also met with Nassau County Parks Commissioner Darcy Belyea to discuss possibilities. As a first step, we plan to have an exhibit in the Visitor Center at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. This “pop-up museum” will include from eight to ten historical themes from Nassau County’s past. Discussions are continuing and I hope in next year’s message we will report success. Board Member Jim McKenna has been quite instrumental in pursuing this goal. 

The Board has also been working on revisions to the Society’s Bylaws and this should be completed shortly. The Bylaws will be sent to the Board for review and approval. Board members Jim Marsh and Ed Schachter have done an outstanding effort on the difficult project.

We had a very successful Annual Meeting and luncheon in October at the Davenport Press restaurant in Mineola. I am very excited that the Nassau County Historical Society will host a program on the World War II Tuskegee Airmen on February 5, 2023, at the Jericho Library at 2 PM. All are urged to attend this and our other meetings. 

Finally, we wish that everybody has a wonderful and happy holiday season and a fantastic New Year in 2023. 

— Scott Fairgrieve