BBP Heritage Association

Welcome to summer! At the BBPHA, we are excited to begin what we consider our most exciting time of the year.

Summer House Tours: June 1st starts the Meadow Croft Estate house tours. They are given every weekend starting in June and running through October. Trained docents will be showing the estate on Saturdays and Sundays from 2:00-4:00. There have been many updates and changes in recent months as the BBPHA volunteers work tirelessly to make your experience at Meadow Croft even better. How was life lived in the early 1900's? We welcome you to join us and find out.

If you would like to plan a tour for a group of 10 or more, email us to set a date: bbphistorical@gmail.com If you would like to learn more or become a docent please contact Jen at 631-235-9342.

On May 17th, the BBPHA board and some talented volunteers, put on a Clue-like production at Meadow Croft. There were two sessions, with over 50 sleuths looking to find out who killed Dan Blather! The estate served as a wonderful backdrop for this fun and interactive event. What started as a seed idea in a board meeting grew into this wonderful production. A special Thank You must go to the chairperson of this event, Beth LaMarca, who spearheaded this project.

Many thanks go to the following individuals who gave of their collective efforts, creativity, dedication, time and talents for this production: Laura Amato, Mary Bailey, Leanne Berg, Rebecca Church, Craig Clare, Denise Coscia, Michael Dawidziak, Beth Dazzo, Jennifer Economos, Grace Engel, Linda Engleman, Roy Fedelem, Frank Giebfried, Pam Greene, Sandra Iden, Anglea Johnson, Beth LaMarca, Tom Maher, Pete McNeill, Pat Ramo, Tim Ryan, Jayne Traver, and Shannon Voyack. Special thanks also go to Scott Nordin from New York Print N Mail for donating all of the printing services for this event.

This was a very popular event and many who were interested in attending did not secure a limited reservation. But stay tuned, as a command performance may be in the works! Read our Newsletter in the coming months for additional information. If you did attend and would like to provide any feedback to us on what worked and what didn't or any suggestions for future mystery nights, please email Beth at abclamarca@gmail.com

The Bayport Blue Point Heritage Association is proud to sponsor our first FREE Summer Concert of the year! We have received all of the permissions and permits and are excited to welcome all of you to Bayport Memorial Park on June 19th from 6:00-8:00 (weather permitting) for some wonderful music featuring The Flat Leavers.

Please bring lawn chairs or blankets, refreshments and bug spray! This is for families of all ages. Dancing is encouraged. We hope you can join us for our first FREE concert!

Save the date: The next FREE concert will be on July 24th and feature Gene Casey!

Be on the lookout as there will be a table set-up at our FREE concerts this summer where the BBPHA will be selling brand new items for sale! There will be; t-shirts, hoodies and vinyl stickers. All sizes available. Local history books by our late town historian Gene Horton will also be on sale. Make your purchase by cash or Venmo.

Support the BBPHA and purchase one of these items on June 19th at our first Summer Concert. Thanks!

On May 28th, 2025 students from Sayville HS came to Meadow Croft to volunteer some time in celebration of Community Connect Day. A wonderful group of students and their advisors did some much needed yard work at Meadow Croft. They raked the rhododendron garden and then took a tour of the estate. We appreciate all that they did and are proud of their service and giving back to their community. Thank you!

Local Troop 130 has a special participant, Kevin Griemsmann, who has been actively working on a project at Meadow Croft to earn his Eagle Scout award. Kevin worked with Suffolk County to get approval for his plans and had actively begun fundraising to facilitate this endeavor. The project was to build a fence with posts and mesh and a gate for the vegetable garden on the property. Suffolk Co. is making a sign with Kevin's name and project on it and will be installed soon. Thank you Kevin for enhancing Meadow Croft! It looks great. Congratulations on becoming an Eagle Scout!

It was a beautiful morning and the Bayport and Blue Point communities honored all those who served and sacrificed for our freedoms. Special thanks go to members of the BBPHA for marching in the Bayport and Blue Point parades. This is a tradition arranged and started by the fire departments in our communities over 75 years ago.

Both Bayport and Blue Point have had community members pay the ultimate sacrifice since the Civil War and we will never forget their devotion and service. May we remain worthy of all they have given us. As John F. Kennedy had so eloquently expressed, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them."

On June 20 & 24 starting at 6:30pm (rain date of June 25), once again, our own Frank Giebfried will be the tour guide for an evening stroll that marks the beginning of the summer season. This year's tour finds us back in Bayport, as we stroll up Bayport Ave. from Middle Road to Railroad Ave. Along the way, we'll discuss and explore the interesting history of the historic homes and lives of the families who once occupied this beautiful part of our hamlet. The tour will include the homes of local business owner James Snedecor, soft drink bottler CH Hawkins, ice box manufacturer John McKee, hotel owner Charles Frieman and many others. We'll also learn about our first railroad station and the travels of our first post office. Our tour will end at the former Frieman Hotel, now the People's Pub, which has been serving guests for over 150 years. We hope to see you for this local summer tradition that our friend Gene Horton began years ago! Meet at the parking lot on the corner of Middle Road and Howells Court in Bayport, across from the veterinarian's office. Since this is a BBP LIbrary event, and both dates have reached capacity at this time, you may contact the library to put your name on a waiting list. Enjoy!

The BBPHA is pleased once again to be awarding a $1000.00 scholarship to a deserving HS student from the BBP High School. This award is given to a graduating senior in the name of our dear friend, local historian, and former director, Gene Horton. More information will be printed in the July newsletter after the award has been presented to the winner at an award ceremony held at the end of June. Good luck and congratulations to all who are graduating!

These articles first appeared int he Bayport Blue Point Gazette and were written by Gene Horton. They are reprinted here with permission.

June 2006

The old photo of The Sunshine Shop was taken from the air sometime around the 1940s. The Sunshine Shop is located at 482 Sylvan Ave. in Bayport. Since 1975, it has been owned and operated by John and Anne Zelenka.

This property was originally part of the Nicholl estate. It was sold to William Arthur in the early 1800s and used for the agricultural business. The Zelenka's home was owned by William B. Arthur, the son of William Arthur. In 1869, William B. Arthur moved his old house from Blue Point to Bayport and it became the first Bayport post office. William B. Arthur died in 1896 in his Bayport home.

The house, property and outbuildings on Sylvan Ave. were willed to the heirs of William B. Arthur. Herbert Arthur, son of William B. Arthur, was the executor of the will. In 1901, Herbert Arthur sold the house, property and outbuildings and in 1910, the property was subdivided. In 1913, this property with the house and outbuildings (known as Lot #5) was sold to Wladyslaw Yablonski. Two years later, in 1915, Lot #6 was sold to Wladyslaw Yablonski, with the outbuildings.

In 1954, Anna Yablonski became the owner and she sold both lots to John and Anne Zalenka in 1975. John and Anne restored the house and greenhouses. The Zelenka family is still conducting the agricultural business that was established there in the early 1800s.