Three Smithtown Octogenarian Women Dorothy Chanin, Carolyn DeHart, Peggy Micciche Living Life To The Fullest

By Stacey Altherr

Women have seen many changes through the decades, from getting the vote with the passage of the 19^th amendment in 1920 to the Equal Opportunity Credit Act of 1974 which prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, age and marital status for credit transactions. (That’s right. Women could be denied credit because of their marital status before 1974). 

Sandra Day O’Connor was chosen by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 when he promised to name a woman to the next Supreme Court opening. And Title IX, which opened up equal access to women in high school sports, or risk withdrawal of federal funding, helped young high school female athletes rise to the ranks for high-performing and higher-paid professional athletes.

These three Smithtown women, all octogenarians, have seen the frustratingly slow progress for women through the years, and are still active members of their community. Here’s their stories.

Peggy MiccichePeggy Micciche*, 85, St. James, was always an adventurer and athlete. After college, she and two friends traveled two months through Europe, and another time, she spent two months camping out in national parks cross-country. 

“The best trip was when I bicycled along the Danube River,” she said. “We started in Germany and ended up in Vienna. It was 35 miles a day.”

A retired math teacher and director of the math and computer department in North Babylon, the St. James resident said that changes happened in the early 80s when North Babylon hired Dr. William Leary, originally from Boston and who oversaw the city schools there during the busing racial riots. Leary, much to the chagrin of many of her male colleagues, chose women for administrative roles for the first time, including Micciche as department chair. 

The biggest change over the decades, said Micciche, is women’s sports. When she was playing basketball in the 1950s, women wore uncomfortable uniforms, could only play on half a court, and there were only four schools that had a girls basketball team.

Title IX changed things for the better.

“No one came to the games,” she said. “Boys had leagues, and everyone came to the games. Before Title IX, women and men did not have equal rights in sports.”

In 1953, Micciche was elected president of the General Organization, the school’s student organization at the time. Both the vice-president and secretary-treasurer were also girls, and it was so unusual that it was an all-female slate, that a local newspaper wrote a story about it.

During her high school years, few girls went into math and science, like herself. Most went to secretarial school and got married, she said. 

Peggy in her 70’s with friends on a bicycling trip in EuropeAt a monthly assembly, there would be a bible reading and a reciting of the Lord’s Prayer at her public school, despite the separation of church and state contained in the First Amendment, and it was very unusual for unmarried women, such as herself, to own their own home.

Even on the golf course, there were disparities. Women couldn’t tee off until later in the morning so that men could play first at many private country club courses. 

She is happy to see the changes for women.

“The world is open to them now,” Micciche said. “They can be doctors, go to college and to law school—in fact, there are more women than men in college now.  They can be vice president of the United States.”

*Apolgies to Peggy for the misspelling of Micciche.

                                           ———————————————————————

For Carolyn DeHart, 81, Nesconset,  her life has been about the music. She played violin all through high school and wanted to be a music teacher, but changed her mind and became a nurse when she “saw a very handsome doctor” on a TV show. While studying nursing, she fainted on the bed of a patient, she said, and realized hospital work wasn’t in the cards for her.

Instead, she concentrated on her first passion- music- and studied piano under three different concert pianists, including one from the Julliard School of Music.

DeHart wanted to further her violin studies but was married with a young child. Soon, the marriage was over, and she started teaching piano lessons at home to make ends meet. She met her husband Ronald DeHart, also a piano teacher, and they have been making beautiful music in their home ever since. Married now for 49 years and after raising four children, the couple still teach music.Carolyn and Ron DeHart

“We started a real home business,” she said. “At one time, we had 120 students between us.”

DeHart says that working from home with her husband shielded her from much of the struggles young women her age endured in the workplace, but her success shows what can be accomplished with a passion and a plan. 

“We are down to 45 students now,” she said. “People may still see me as a role model because I am still teaching. I work out every day. And I still practice my instruments for an hour-and-a-half every day.”

She is now teaching grandchildren of her original students, helping many get into NYSSMA and even playing at some of their students’ weddings.

“Music is my greatest joy,” she said. “It gives back exactly what you put into it. I think that is true of a lot of things.”

                        ————————————————————————————————

Dorothy ChaninDorothy Chanin, 82, Kings Park, worked as a technical assistant in the Natural Sciences department at the western campus of Suffolk Community College, officially retiring in 2001, but staying on part-time until around 2019. Because she worked in labs, she was required to stay on top of changes in technology, which serves her well even now.

The Kings Park resident takes classes in photography and languages through Stony Brook University’s OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which teaches non-credit classes to adults.  She takes Spanish classes, she said, because her son’s partner is Peruvian and she wants to be able to communicate with his parents since they don’t speak much English.

“I only want to learn basic stuff,” she said. “I want to be able to greet them and say, hi and how are you.”

While she was satisfied in her career, she notes that women have a lot more opportunities now.

“There are more careers available to them,” she said. “Some of the things I was interested wouldn’t have worked out then,” such as ballet. Her mother discouraged her, she said, because it didn’t seem practical.

Chanin’s love of photography was part of her way to document her travels when she was younger, she said.Hairy Woodpecker Now, she takes photos almost every day, documenting the birds in her yard.

Born in 1939 and growing up in Manhattan during World War II, Dorothy remembers the remnants of it, but said she couldn’t imagine we would be at the brink of war again.

“Now I see war again and I am horrified,” Chanin said. “I couldn’t imagine this would happen again.”

Paddy's Back And A St. James Resident Recorded The Conversation

Paddy’s back

By June Capossela Kempf

I almost forgot about him. It was exactly one year ago that I first met Paddy, the leprechaun at the site of the old Viking pub.- ranting and raging about the landmark’s demolition and bemoaning last year’s parade cancellation. He had spent the whole year brooding in the bog, but upon hearing that this year, Saint James was going to resume the legendary march down Lake Avenue; he decided to emerge from his lair and make a grand appearance.

I spotted him, stomping on one of the newly created welcoming circles carved into the intercession of Woodlawn and Lake - hopping up and down like a wounded cave cricket. But instead of leaping for joy, he was trying to attract attention by directing a tirade of expletives at anyone who drove by. I parked over by the old Capital One building. 

“What’s the matter Paddy?” I asked.

“Aye, you’re just the one I want to be seeing,” he spoke. 

This can’t be good, I thought. He skipped onto a freshly painted shamrock and beckoned:

 ‘C’mere till I tell you.”

Being well aware of his tricky shenanigans, I cautiously approached him.

“I am deeply troubled by an injustice perpetrated by the officials of this town, and you, darlin’, can bring attention to it in your column.”

“Oh Paddy, I hope you are still not stewing about the Viking…”

“Nay! They’re filling that spot in quite nicely, “he conceded. “It’s the parade itself. The planners made a terrible mistake.”

This piqued my curiosity. 

“How so? 

“Your parade committee showed no good sense when they selected two grand marshals for the parade,” he screamed.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“He drew himself up to his full 36-inch stature - 42, if you count his top hat. He folded his little arms across his puffed-out chest and struck an imposing stance. Tapping one of his clogs on the pavement, the enraged sprite bellowed: “Must I spell it out to ya? “

“I am sure you will,” I said.

“There should be just one grand Marshall and that one dignitary should be none other than Meself!”

“What?”

Ordinarily, I would never intentionally engage in argument with an angry leprechaun, but what was needed to be said, needed to be said. So, I proceeded to tell the agitated elf, as gently as possible that:

Only human ‘people’ who were outstanding contributors to the good of the community were chosen for this honor and that sprites such as himself were indeed perceived as purveyors of mischief and mayhem - leaving them highly unqualified for the position.

“You know that you are not a real person – right?”

He was most agreeable with that assessment – even complimented. But being Paddy, he clung to the claim that he was indeed the perfect contender for the position. 

“Tis true…,” he proudly answered, “… but I can be assuming a human form in the blink of an eye.”

“Why Paddy, that would be deceitful - which brings up another issue: You are assumed to be a troublemaker rather than a pillar of the community.”

With the fury of an enraged Drago, his golden eyes morphed to blood red, he showed jagged flesh piercing teeth and displayed menacing razor sharp claws, making himself appear more hideous than threatening. 

“You’d better be watchin’ your words dearie,” he growled.” …  and remember who you’re dealing with…”

“Exactly” Your reputation precedes you. But to fake your identity only reinforces your bad standing in the community.”

There, I told him right out. He fell uncharacteristically silent. No doubt he was contemplating a suitable consequence for me. But instead of turning me into a toad, he mellowed a bit.

“So yore thinking that I do nothing to help others here? What about last year? I am responsible for resurrecting the theatre on 2^nd Ave. They are puttin’ on some fine shows there now, doncha know.. “

“You are taking credit for that?”

“ I am indeed. I put ideas under human bonnets, and the people I choose, carry out MY plans.”

Obviously, Paddy desperately wished to be recognized for all his unheralded good deeds. He rattled them all off in painful detail going back generations. Then conceded:

“Maybe sometimes I get a little bit worked up, but my intentions are noble.”

This was the moment I seized to suggest that he give up his idea of being Grand Marshall in return for being featured in this column once again. Surprisingly, he agreed. He clicked his heels and turned away, but I swear I heard him whisper- just before he disappeared.

“I got her again!”

June Capossela Kempf: Essayist and  Author of : Yo God! Jay’s Story, a memoir  and Lady of the Dollhouse, a YA mystery

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Nikola Tesla Genius Inventor A Part Of LI History

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

In coming days, structures which were added to Nikola Tesla’s laboratory in Shoreham will be taken down in what is to be a return of the historic laboratory to “its original state when Tesla worked there,” says Jane Alcorn. “Within the next two years,” Alcorn said, her hope is that the laboratory is restored to what it was when Tesla was there.

Alcorn, founder of the project to create a Tesla science center and museum at what was his laboratory, said there are to be exhibits including “replicas of Tesla’s equipment” in the elegant red brick building designed by Tesla’s friend, famed architect Stanford White.

And in Suffolk County, the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe will become a reality.

Nikola Tesla was a genius inventor. 

These days most people when they hear the word Tesla, probably think of the Tesla car—which, indeed, Elon Musk named after him.

But, as Princeton University Press, which published Tesla, Inventor of the Electrical Age, states: “Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the twentieth century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to radio and television.” It is authored by Dr. W. Bernard Carlson, professor of science, technology, and society at the University of Virginia.

The world would adopt alternating current or AC, although Thomas Edison, whom Tesla, of Serbian background, worked for after he came to the U.S., pushed for direct current or DC. There were conflicts between the two over this. 

And Tesla was responsible for far more inventions including hydroelectric power, forms of remote control and the bladeless turbine. As for radio. Guglielmo Marconi is generally credited with originating radio, but the U.S. Supreme Court, after Tesla’s death in 1943, determined that much of Marconi’s work was based on 17 Tesla patents.

Tesla went to Shoreham to pursue his vision of providing wireless electricity—for free—to people around the world. “Tesla was convinced that he could set up stationary waves in the Earth and transmit power and messages,” relates Carlson. Tesla received a $150,000 loan from “the most powerful man on Wall Street, J.P. Morgan…to support his wireless work.”

Why Shoreham?  Tesla “was approached by James S. Warden, a lawyer and banker from Ohio who had relocated to Suffolk County,” bought farmland and “christened his property Wardenclyffe.” He offered Tesla land which is just to the north of Route 25A in Shoreham. 

In addition to the laboratory, a giant tower—187 feet tall—visible from Connecticut, was built. Below the tower a deep “ground connection” was dug. “In many ways, Wardenclyffe was the fulfillment of Tesla’s dreams. For nearly a decade he had been planning in his imagination a system for broadcasting power around the world, and now that system was taking shape in the real world,” writes Swanson. But then Morgan pulled out of the undertaking and Tesla faced huge financial problems. The tower was demolished in 1917. 

“Tesla’s long-held dream was to create a source of inexhaustible, clean energy that was free for everyone. He strongly opposed centralized coal-fired power stations that spewed carbon dioxide into the air that humans breathed,” wrote Stephen Dark in 2020 on the Australia-based website The Fifth Estate. “Tesla was so far ahead of his time.”

There are pieces online about research in modern times based on Tesla’s work at Wardenclyffe. His idea of wireless electricity lives on. 

A decade ago, I presented a TV program from Wardenclyffe for Long Island’s WVVH-TV. You can view it on YouTube by inputting “Saving Nikola Tesla’s Laboratory” and my name. 

Late this summer, the plan is to open a visitor’s center on the 16-acre site, said Alcorn. Nearly $10 million, she said, has been raised since the campaign began in 2012 to save Tesla’s laboratory. This includes $1 million from Musk. The funds have come from all over the world. For further information, visit https://teslasciencecenter.org/

Former New York State Assemblyman Marc Alessi is executive director of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe. He notes the challenge “amid the crisis” of COVID-19 to turn “the site of Nikola Tesla’s last remaining laboratory into a transformative global science center that embraces his bold spirit of invention, provides learning experiences, fosters the advancement of new technologies, and preserves his legacy…” But, says Alessi, support has come from the project’s “global community…now over 150,000 strong.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Smithtown Is Horse Country And The Horsewomen Of Smithtown LOVE IT!!!

Linda Henninger’s horse JoeyBy Stacey Altherr

For some women, an enjoyable day might mean some shopping and lunch with friends. For horse lovers, it’s a day of mucking the stall, filling water and grain buckets, and laying down hay. Although, admittedly, both involve shoe purchases.

All over Smithtown, women are owning, leasing, and caring for horses, both in their own yards as well as in borrowed barns.

There is no real tally, but the bucolic parklands and the larger lot sizes, as well as the town’s lenient codes for keeping horses on private property, makes Smithtown an easier place to own and ride horses. And there are places to ride as well. Blydenburgh Park, a county park on Veteran’s Highway in Smithtown, allows for extensive bridle paths and practice ring (with permit) as does Sunken Meadow State Park, and it is not unusual to see horseback riders clopping along the streets.

Linda Henninger and JoeyFor Linda Henninger, a Fort Salonga resident, her love of horses started at nine years old, and as a teen, she worked in barns for riding time. But as an adult, raising a family and obligations meant she took a 30-year break from riding.

“I was dating, and about three years ago, I went horseback riding on a date,” three years ago, she said. “I forgot how much I loved it.”

The date may not have been a great success, but she had a new love. She started riding at a nearby barn, and met Joey, who is now a 9-year-old gelding.*

“I fell in love with him,” she says. “And I bought him.”

Keeping a horse is expensive, but many of the women who keep them, either on their property or at a nearby barn, find ways to make it work.  

“You can go to one that has indoor arena, or show barns,” she says. “There are lots of options. Some lease out the horse for a day or two a week to hep pay the bills.”

Costs for leasing a barn for a horse can be expensive; anywhere from $600 to more than $2,000 a month, although Henninger says the average is about $1,000.

Caring for a horse can be expensive; feeding, housing, and the vet bills. For those who compete, the cost can be even higher.

Kristen Latuga, 39, a special education math teacher in Brentwood, moved to Smithtown ten years ago, spurred Kristen Latuga’s horses Miracolo, meaning Miracle, and Presiosa, meaning precious.by her desire to keep her horses, Miracolo and Preziosa, on her property. Sometimes, she will trailer them to Blydenburgh County Park for a ride. She has other horses and a pony she keeps at a friend’s property. Latuga rides either in her backyard or with her neighbor, who also has a horse.

“It’s expensive, it’s time consuming, but at the same time, it’s the most rewarding experience,” she says. “Smithtown is quite amazing. Nobody knows how many barns there are, but there’s a ton. It’s a real horse community.”

Smithtown’s town codes are quite horse-friendly, allowing for one horse per half-acre, two horses per three-quarters acre and three horses per acre.

Sally Lynch, who lives in and owns a small tack shop in St. James, and who is also the President of Old Field Farm, a not-for-profit in nearby Brookhaven Town where many residents of Smithtown ride, says she is always Joey in the snowsurprised by the residents who come in and say they have horses. Lynch says a survey done around 1997 showed horse owning as a billion-dollar business. Old Field Farm holds horse shows with less entry fees than some of the larger ones- think Bridgehampton Horse Show – and doesn’t charge spectators. Many horse people who ride there come from Smithtown, she says.

“You drive down streets in Smithtown and you see the cozy little barns in people’s backyards, and it’s wonderful.”

But the one problem is where to ride.

“What is sorely needed is new equestrian centers,” Lynch says. “How can the open space benefit the public?”

Many are hoping the town includes some of the old Gyrodyne property for equestrian purposes. Lynch believes, with the popularity at the Old Field Farm, it could bring a lot of money from both riders and spectators to the recreational spot. 

Horsewoman Nettie LiburtNettie Liburt, 46, was just about born to be a horsewoman. She was two years old when she would ride a horse of a neighbor in Orient. She says she learned to ride in her friend’s backyard in Orient as well, and in college, she rode for the equestrian team. After working in broadcasting, she decided to follow her heart, and studied animal science focusing on equine exercise psychology. She now works for Buckeye Nutrition, a feed company for horses.

Liburt’s current horse is at a private barn in Nissequogue on the waterfront.

“My horse has a much fancier address than I do,” she says with a laugh.

While riding can be a solitary activity, social circles emerge. 

“You put a couple of horse people in the room, and they will talk about horses non-stop,” she says. Nettie Liburt rides one of her horses she keeps in her property

  While horse care can be expensive, there are ways to ease the burden. Many lease their horses a few days a week for other riders who don’t want to own a horse but want to ride. Others take on second jobs. But it’s clear that the love of horses in Smithtown is here to stay.

“You need to do things you love, right?” says Henninger. “It’s a real passion for people who love their horses.”

*Edited to gelding from stallion

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Redistricting To Benefit Political Parties A Sorry U.S. Tradition

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Back 15 years ago Suffolk County became the first county in New York State to enact a law to have reapportionment—the word redistricting is now favored—done in a non-partisan manner. “A Local Law to Ensure a Non-Partisan, Fair and Objective Process by Which Legislative Districts are Reapportioned,” was the title of the 2007 measure.

It was authored by then Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy who in his prior positions as county legislator and State Assembly member was familiar with—and long-bothered by—redistricting being a highly partisan undertaking. 

Congressional districts and state and county legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years following the decennial national census which produces new population figures.

Redistricting done to favor a political party is a sorry U.S. tradition first given the name gerrymandering in 1812. The word was coined by the Boston-Gazette to describe reapportionment under a Massachusetts governor named Elbridge Gerry. The “mandering” part came from a State Senate district that looked like a salamander.

In gerrymandering, a district gets packed with voters of one party—even if geographic contortions make it look like a salamander. 

Under the Suffolk law, following the national census a Reapportionment Commission is to be established. The majority and minority leaders of the Suffolk Legislature are to evenly divide filling it with four retired judges, two representatives from groups “committed to the principles of voters’ rights” and two from “publicly recognized minority organizations.” (A component historically of gerrymandering has been racial and ethnic minorities being spread among districts to preclude election of a minority person.)

Levy tried while a county legislator a decade earlier to get a similar measure passed but it got nowhere. With clout as Suffolk County executive, he was able to resurrect it and seek a bipartisan coalition on the legislature to pass it.

He held a press conference in 2011, the year the Suffolk law took effect, along with then New York City Mayor Ed Koch who had been crusading for non-partisan redistricting statewide. Both emphasized a need for redistricting reform statewide. Levy commented that the 150 districts of the State Assembly had been “so gerrymandered over the years to be so Republican or so Democrat [that] only 11 percent are considered competitive.” With “wink-with-nods,” he said, politicians had “rigged” the system to make it extremely difficult for newcomers to challenge incumbents. That’s another component of gerrymandering—continuing throughout the U.S. 

Indeed, a lead story on Page 1 of The New York Times last week was headlined: “New Voting Maps Erase Competitive House Seats.” The February 7^th article began: “The number of competitive congressional districts is on track to dive near—and possibly below—the lowest level in at least three decades, as Republicans and Democrats draw new political maps designed to ensure that the vast majority of House races are over before the general election starts.” It said “mapmakers are on pace to draw fewer than 40 seats—out of 435—that are considered competitive.” This is a reason cited in the push for term limits. 

In 2014, voters in New York passed a constitutional amendment creating a 10-member New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. But the commission failed to achieve a consensus in 2021 on new districts. So, the Democratic majorities in the State Assembly and Senate moved ahead with their own plan.  

In Suffolk last year, the deadline for the appointment of a full complement of members of its Reapportionment Commission was missed, said the legislature’s presiding officer, Democrat Rob Calarco. So, its Democratic majority passed its own redistricting plan.

Thus, in Suffolk and the state, both redistricting commission initiatives failed last year. 

This year, following a Republican majority taking control of the Suffolk Legislature, a deal was struck between Democratic County Executive Steve Bellone and the legislature’s new presiding officer, GOPer Kevin McCaffrey, to revive Suffolk’s Reapportionment Commission and have it come up with a plan for the 18 county legislative districts in coming months.

Meanwhile, the new state redistricting map is moving forward although there’s a Republican lawsuit challenging it. 

And for Suffolk County, it’s salamander time for House seats. 

Details on that next week.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.