Jerry Allen, astrophotographer from Oyster Bay, keeps looking up

The Cave Nebula
Photo by Jerry Allen

When Jerry Allen's grandmother complained to young Jerry: "there used to be many more stars before" or "in summer there used to be clouds of stars crossing the sky" it was falling on deaf ears. Then one day, on a camping trip far away from the civilization, Jerry lifted his head to gaze at the stars above him and finally saw the cloud, the Milky Way, of the grandma's tales. He was impressed.

Orion Nebula and NGC 1977
Photo by Jerry Allen

In his 20's Jerry came across a telescope. He attempted to identify various objects in the galaxy, which originally looked to him like a white, blurry blob. Jerry started educating himself in astronomy. Then life, with its own gyrations, took over for some years. In 2007 Jerry returned to astronomy. He joined a local astronomy club Amateur Observers Society of New York where he found a supportive mentor and a group of like-minded colleagues. Jerry bought a good telescope to augment and a camera to record what he saw. This developed into a real passion. Jerry now spends a solid portion of good nights on watching the skies and recording the movements of the celestial bodies.

How does astrophotography differ from regular photo taking? For starters, you need a good refractor telescope with an excellent, special design camera. You will take a series of shots of differing exposure to catch the more or less luminous parts of objects, you will repeat it with different filters. All this while the sky moves above you and forces you to adjust the position of your equipment. You will interpose the images in a photo editing software and eventually produce a final photo.

Jerry Allen at his Oyster Bay observatory Photos by Ewa Rumprecht

What challenges await an astrophotographer? Light pollution is one. Jerry takes various steps to limit its impact. To block off neighborhood lights he built himself a small observatory in the backyard of his house. Ambient light - the light of New York City, Long Island villages, even the water, is a problem, as well. Jerry acquired various filters to block it off. In spite of all the precautions he still has to post-process his images to remove the noise from them - an arduous task that can take up to 20 hours per image.

The Pelican
Photo by Jerry Allen

Another challenge is the scarcity of nights good for star gazing. Every month has really only one potentially perfect night - the new moon; nights closely surrounding it have to do. The coveted new moon night might be cloudy or it may rain prohibiting Jerry from opening the roof of his observatory.

Why go through all this trouble, you may ask? Beauty, serenity in spite of the dramatic events eons away, humility, curiosity, challenge. You can find it all in Jerry's spectacular photographs.

Owl Nebula
Photo by Jerry Allen

Jerry enjoys star gazing in winter as nights are longer and it's cold, the equipment likes cold temperatures. He cherishes summers as many colorful objects parade through the skies, including the Milky Way.

What is on Jerry's wish list? Bigger and better equipment, moving his observatory to a darker place allowing for short exposure, crisp images not marred by passing planes. Jerry would love to observe the skies in the Southern Hemisphere to see the famous Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, chaotic and less rhythmic than our own galaxy. In the meantime, he just loves to live by the iconic advice by Jack Horkheimer of the Star Gazer - he keeps looking up!

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Graphic artist Gerhard Richter passed away

We regret to inform you that Long Island artist, Gerhard Richter, passed away last Saturday.

Our heartfelt sympathy goes to Gerhard's family.

The wake will take place today, Wednesday, 2-4 pm and 7-9:30 pm at the Thomas T. Dalton Funeral Home in Floral Park, NY.

Gerhard was, among other things, an author of beautiful airbrush boat graphics we carry at the store.

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Think Long Island First will present Think Green Award at The Long Island Fair

The Long Island Fair, organized by The Agricultural Society of Queens, Nassau & Suffolk Counties, one of the oldest agricultural societies in the United States, has been taking place almost every fall. This year it is scheduled for September 22 - 25, 10 am to 4 pm Thursday and Friday, 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

We are pleased to announce that we will be giving the Think Green Award. It is the first time in the history of the esteemed organization that this type of prize it awarded. We are truly honored to be chosen to present it.

'Think Green Award' award is granted to a creative, well executed entry that best reflects the principles of sustainability - the entry is made either from reused materials or from local materials obtained with minimum environmental impact.

Our judging criteria are as follows:
Sustainability (40 points) - percentage of local or reused materials
Creativity (20 points) - interesting use of materials, new/recycled
Execution (20 points) - craftsmanship applied in creation of entry
Functionality (20 points) - fully functional as either utilitarian or decorative object

We invite you to participate in the Think Green competition and encourage you to submit your entries to the show in other categories. Best of luck!

For further details please see The Long Island Fair website.

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FIOS1 TV visits Oyster Bay and Think Long Island First

FIOS1 TV released a program Oyster Bay Business Spotlights Uniquely Made Long Island Art about Oyster Bay and Think Long Island First. The program is a part of the Money & Main $treet series devoted to various villages and businesses on Long Island.

First half of the program is about Oyster Bay, its businesses and attractions, and the second about Think Long Island First.

We had a great time with the TV crew in the store. They were curious about everything there, and, as usual, had hard time zeroing in on items to present as there are so many interesting, beautiful pieces.

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Summer dance night, August 5th

Dancing in the Street officially took off yesterday. We could not have had a better evening for it. Weather cooperated, moods were high. We had dancers of all ages which made the evening so charming.

DJ, Louis del Prete, played a great mix of Latin and Ballroom music; dance teacher, Lisa Paternoster, of Lisa Sparkles Dance Studio, was quick in teaching us some salsa steps and turns. 

We are looking forward to the next Friday evening. We hope you will join us. Scofflaws, the Huntington ska band, "so hip it's ridiculous" will be playing for us.



We are not sure if this was the first time dancing on the street took place in Oyster Bay. We will ask our town historian, John Hammond, if that was, indeed, the case.

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Dancing in the Street

We have been involved in organizing a new local event - 'Dancing in the Street'. Imagine a cool summer evening in Oyster Bay, with happy folks dancing around the historic bandstand on the no less historic Audrey Avenue. We will be there and we hope you will join us.

PHOTOS from the events are available as follows:

• August 5th, PHOTOS
• August 12th, PHOTOS
• August 19th, PHOTOS
• August 26th, PHOTOS

Dancing will take place every Friday in August, weather permitting, between 7 pm and 9 pm.

Two local dance studios, Bliss Studio and Lisa Sparkles Dance Studio, will give live demos and conduct short dance lessons.

• August 5th, DJ Louis del Prete with a Latin and Ballroom Mix, plus dance instruction, and featuring a demo by Lisa Sparkles Studio
• August 12th, live music by Scofflaws, a Huntington ska band, "so hip it's ridiculous"
• August 19th, DJ Louis del Prete with a Latin and Ballroom Mix plus dance instruction
• August 26th, live music by Scofflaws, dance instructions and demo by Bliss Studio

The event is free; you just bring your dancing shoes, your friends, and general goodwill.

If you live outside of Oyster Bay and along the LIRR Oyster Bay branch, you could be very earth friendly and take the LIRR to the event.

Dancing in the Street is organized under the auspices of the Oyster Bay Main Street Association.
It happens thanks to the generous support of the local businesses:
Bliss Studio
English Country Flowers
New York Islanders
Lisa Sparkles Dance Studio
State Bank of Long Island
State Farm Insurance - John Specce Agency
Think Long Island First.

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Susan Linares, soaps for all seasons

Susan Linares at Farmers' Market
in Oyster Bay, NY
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Susan Linares of Naturally Handmade by Susan makes a wide variety of soaps at her Franklin Square home.

She started the soap making adventure after spending 25 years at various cosmetics manufacturers, like Sally Hansen and Queen Helene, where she was responsible for safety of both finished products and materials used in their production. In those years Susan accumulated a great store of knowledge and experience. She had also managed, rather admirably, to retain a vivid interest in new scents and combinations of ingredients.

Soap by Susan Linares
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

The general process of soap making is relatively straightforward - you add lye (sodium hydroxide) to some type of liquid - water, beer, fruit juice, wine. Then you add some type of oil - olive, coconut, grapeseed, almond, etc. Mix it, cure it (cook or cold cure it), mold it. Cut, trim, and wrap. The individuality of soap making comes from the proportions of the ingredients (Susan measures everything by weight), desirability of lather, stability and hardness of the end product. Plenty of things can go wrong in the process, there is a science to making a good bar of soap.

Soap by Susan Linares
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Susan, an environmentalist at heart, always liked farmers' markets. She still frequents quite a few, but now stands on the other side of the counter. She likes talking about her soaps and soap making in general, and she likes getting input from visitors who inspire her to try different ingredients and aromas.

Let's run through a list of soaps we have/had in the store at various times:
Apple Cinnamon - fall time favorite
Bamboo Exfoliating
Bee Honey Happy - local honey goes into it
Blueberry Bear - uses Blueberry Ale from Long Island's Bluepoint Brewery
Castile Unscented
Cranberry Orange
Cucumber
Gardener's Cleanup - contains coffee grinds which will take care of the 'after chopping garlic' aroma
Gingerbread - Christmas time favorite, popular except for one customer who commented, I don't know if I want my husband to smell like gingerbread
Goat Milk Honey
Green Tea
Honey Carrot - carrots purchased from a farmer at the next stall
Lavender
Lavender Eucalyptus
Lavender Patchouli
Lemon Balm
Lilac
Oatmeal Honey Unscented
Peppermint - great hit at Christmas
Pumpkin Pie - should carry 'not for internal consumption' warning
Purely Patchouli
Rosemary Mint
Sandalwood - popular with men
Succulent Sweet Pear
Sweet Jasmine

Soap by Susan Linares
Photo by Ewa Rumprecht

Susan tries to use as many local, pesticide free ingredients as possible; some, like calendula, she grows herself, some she buys from local producers. She packages her soaps in fabric which can be re-used in craft projects; one of her steady customers made a small quilt out of the fabric wraps. She has recently learned of plantable paper with seeds, she may be using it soon.

We are very happy to carry Susan's beautifully scented soaps, good for body and soul.

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