Last week, the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot reported that the Oyster Bay Civic Association was interested in historic signs in town and that NYS Senator Carl Marcellino offered dollars toward that project from his Senate member items allotment. He said the group, with a board of directors, was able to receive funds, but that they had to account for the use of the money.

At the December Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce meeting, Jerritt Gluck pointed out that the signs were not new, but were the existing blue and yellow historic markers that were in disrepair. There are five of them, said Tom Kuehhas, director of the Oyster Bay Historical Society: Raynham Hall, Fortified Hill, Youngs Farmstead, the First Presbyterian Church and Council Rock.

Mr. Gluck and Les Marbles are in charge of new historic parking signs the chamber of commerce is working on. They made a presentation at the October chamber meeting - came back to the December meeting with changes - and have been told to go ahead with their choice for the project.

The Town of Oyster Bay Highway Sign Department has indicated they will create whatever the chamber requests, as long as it fits into their size restrictions. (They recently did the same thing for Massapequa.)

Interestingly, the Route 25A North Shore Heritage Trail has proposed 25 signs to be put up along Route 25A. They will use their logo, a colonial carriage to mark off the trail of George Washington when he visited the members of his Long Island spy ring.

At a recent meeting in Oyster Bay, someone said something about "Another new group in Oyster Bay?"

It was a cogent question. New groups are coming into being in town. There is a concern that they will fragment the town as opposed to "getting it all together." There is a concern about a duplication of effort.

From our vantage point of covering as many groups as we can, we find we are often telling one group about what another group is doing. It is a little like being a mini-town crier which after all it what a local newspaper is all about.

All we can say, is that we will do our best to keep you informed as to what's going on in town. The important thing for readers is to watch and see if they want to be involved in something and not to miss the opportunity to shape the future of the village.

Since the Florio House came down people have been saying they wish they wrote letters in support of the house, are sad we have lost another piece of our past and would like to be involved in the future.

There is a lot going on. It's an exciting time to be in Oyster Bay. The best thing is to be informed, be alert and be involved.

Maybe it's a good time to renew your subscription to the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot and to buy a few subscriptions for friends. We need an informed public. We need you as much as you need us!

- DFK