Could everyone write one simple essay about something that once happened in Saltaire…that they saw or were a part of…and put it on one big website? Somebody should collect a lot of stories before we all forget. Otherwise it is like a line in “On The Beach” : The history of the war that now would never be written.” -(JO'H)

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Replenish the Beach?

Beach Replenishment Project:   Saltaire 1955
Pictures by Rich Greer, father of Sid and Puddy:


Pictures by Rich Greer


From the annual village report by the Village Historian 1955:
1955:  "the ocean front dunes of the Village had been substantially undermined and eroded y the hurricanes of 1954. In the spring of the year (1955) the Board of Trustees were aware of the probability of recurring storms; procured the use of a bulldozer with top loading equipment; sand was restored in the exposed and critical areas... On August ninth (1955) the weather bureau issued its alert on Hurricane Connie; Trustees Greer and Andren, complying with orders of the Coast Guard, arranged for the evacuation of the majority of the residents to the mainland.  The storm struck late in the evening of August eleventh, and continued unabated for a period of thirty six hours. Fortunately the eye of the hurricane veered out to sea and the Community was spared a repetition of the destruction of 1938.
But the Village felt the full brunt of the extra-tropical storm of October fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth. Gigantic waves broke against the dunes;the stairs at the walks leading to the beach were washed away; the tidal waters of the Great South Bay rose to unprecedented heights... despite the fury of the storm the dunes stood firm; although substantial part of the sand was carried away, and the Village escaped the losses suffered by adjacent communities....
FIRE ISLAND EROSION CONTROL COMMITTEE
Throughout the year (1955) the Village took an active part in the work of the Fire Island Erosion Control Committee... Mayor Ludlow served as toe Official Representative of Saltaire, with the Village attorney assisting in matters of legislation and Mrs. Norm Ervin acting as a volunteer aide. On January 30 (1956) Members of the Committee appeared before the Suffolk County Board of Supervisors and urged the purchase of a hydraulic dredge to be used to pump sand from the bay to the ocean front. ... it authorized the acquisition of the dredge, with delivery anticipated in the spring of 1956...
                Bertha C. Goggins, Village Historian, Annual Report, 1955.


Note: regrding beach replenishment: It is interesting to review the reports of the Village Historian throughout teh 1950. There were numerous severe storms and a number of replenishment projects, and joint work with Island wide erosion committees.  Take a look at "History of Incorporated  Village of Saltaire" by Ruth Bryan Brewster Dobie

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