Rich McLaughlin of the Sagamore Rowing Association has been trying to find a way to restore the Council Rock to its deserved condition as an international site. It is the place where George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, met with important local Quakers.

A sign erected by New York State says: Council Rock, here George Fox, in 1672 met with Wrights, Underhills and Feekes (all founding fathers of Oyster Bay) at a Quaker meeting.

Today, the sign is listing over and the rock is almost entirely covered by undergrowth.

Mr. McLaughlin has been familiar with the site since childhood. He has been thinking of doing something to restore it to its former glory and recently spoke to

Allison Doherty an art teacher at Friends Academy and a rower with the SRA. She told Mr. McLaughlin that each year the Friends Academy seniors have to do a citizenship project. She thought it would be an excellent one for them to tackle, and she suggested he call FA Headmaster Marcus Hurlbutt.

Mr. McLaughlin said, "Mr. Hurlbutt said we had to clear it with the property owners, They might not like the idea of hundreds of Quakers picnicking on their lawn," he said, jokingly.

"He seemed to like the idea of them doing so," said Mr. McLaughlin since it would be promoting Quakerism.

Actually, Marcus Hurlbutt said on Thursday, Dec. 20, "It's a little bit premature to make any announcements. I haven't been out there. I will go there during our holiday vacation and then, when I go back again I will take some students with me.

"While there are no plans as yet, but doing the work fits into the mission of the school to do something about Quakerism, and George Fox and keeping Council Rock in the best condition sounds appropriate."

Friends Academy is already committed to preservation and restoration, said Headmaster Hurlbutt. "We have been refurbishing Youngs Cemetery in Locust Valley." It is a black cemetery located opposite the Piping Rock Club entrance on Piping Rock Road. There was a ceremony held at 10:30, Saturday, Dec. 16, to honor the people and groups of people who worked so hard to restore the site, both individuals and the Matinecock Neighborhood Association, he said.

"We would look at Council Rock in sort of the same category although it is more directly involved in Quakerism and the work load would be much less."

The work on the cemetery was difficult. Now Friends Academy includes it as part of their regular weekly outdoor maintenance.

"The project has multiple layers of interest, including physical work and research work, and trying to restore headstones and to have an accurate representation of who is buried there. It is a scholarly sort of thing that we hope to help out with."

The Saturday ceremony included Glen Cove Mayor Tom Suozzi, the Nassau Country Supervisor Elect as well as members of the Matinecock Neighborhood Association and the AME Calvary Church of Glen Cove. The cemetery was being taken care of by the church group about 25 years ago, but that appeared to have stopped and the site became overgrown.

"No one had touched it until Friends Academy went in with weed whackers and it then attracted some attention including TV coverage. The MNA agreed to work on refurbishing the cemetery again, with the understanding that there was a commitment for long-time care, and not to let it become overgrown again.

"The MNA had cleared it years and years ago but not kept up. They helped this time, and raised quite a bit of money to clear it with the commitment of Friends Academy that they would maintain it.

"So the Council Rock cleanup doesn't sound that difficult," he said.

Andrew Batten, director of Raynham Hall Museum said the Townsends weren't very good Quakers. "Some of Samuel Townsend's relatives wrote letters telling him he was ostentatious. He had a gold-headed cane and wore shirts of fine cambric and they felt he was putting on airs that were inconsistent with his Quaker heritage."

Mr. Batten said on Thursday, Dec. 13, some Quakers visited the museum for the candlelight tour. "Sam Mitchell of Williston Park, who was related to Quaker Saidie Scudder of Locust Valley, was visiting. Mitchell is an old Nassau County name. He is related to many of the founding families of Oyster Bay.

"We were looking at holiday traditions and about how the Townsends in the 18th century didn't celebrate Christmas," he said. Mr. Batten always proves that a good sense of humor makes education more palatable.

Rich McLaughlin said, "In 1678 when George Fox called Council Rock a meeting place it was because everyone knew where the rock was located, by the Mill Pond. In those days everyone clear-cut everything to create meadows and farmland.

"When the British occupied Lloyds Neck it punished the rebels - the Lloyds. They had escaped to Connecticut and the British clear-cut the entire area of Lloyds Neck, as a punishment for the Lloyds.

"There were very few trees all over the Island: these people made their living off the land or died. There were no strawberries coming from California. Nothing was coming from anywhere else. The necessities you needed you grew. The only way to do that was to get rid of the trees," he said. "To make the land produce - they had to clear-cut. That's why the rock stood out. It was an easy landmark, since there were no street names.

"It is also important because - it's one of the few times the founder of a protestant sect ever came to the new world. He visited the various meeting houses around the area."

Mr. McLaughlin was interested in restoring the site, since he has known it since he was a child. "I've been thinking of it for a long time."

The Oyster Bay Civic Association had the rock on their agenda for some time. They intended to get permission to repaint the sign. Pierre Brandt was the committee chair, and he got all the other historic signs in town done, but the last one was a problem, the Council Rock sign.

NYS Senator Carl Marcellino got the townspeople to paint the signs, said OBCA president Marie Knight. They couldn't find the Council Rock sign which is one tenth of a mile down Lake Ave. counting from the Mill Pond.

Ms. Knight said she has called the Mill Neck Mayor's secretary and was asked to put the request in writing.

Mr. McLaughlin's plan is more than just painting the sign as you can see. "They haven't been talking to the right people," he said. "That's why I called Friends Academy. It is for those that it means the most to -the Quakers. It will take a group effort to be able to overcome the neglect."

Still he, too, sees the need to contact the Village of Mill Neck and the property owner.