SAVE THE DATE! Smoke n’ Cinders - LIGRS · Treasurer (‘16-’17) Bob Sewall ... [email protected] . ... April 16th 2016 Attendees: Tom Rizzo, President. Mike Kmeth, Vice Presi-

Monthly Meeting Sunday May 15, 11:00-3:00 Steve & Nancy Borakowski

15 Whitetail Lane Commack, NY 11725

631-499-0363 11:00-3:00

View From the Cab 3

From The Secretary 4

Chic Chat Corner 7

Golden Spike Nominees 10

Tom’s Picture Puzzle 5

Monthly Photo Contest Winner 10

Inside this issue:

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May 2016

This Months highlights:

Dinner Train p 6

Thanks to volunteers p 9

Summer Picnic Raffle p 9

SAVE THE DATE! The Summer picnic will be held on August 20 at Southaven Park where we will again be the guests of the Long Island Live Steamers. More information and a reservation form will

be published in the June newsletter. Bob Russo will accept reservation checks at his home address and at meetings.

Volunteers are needed and may contact Bob to let him know they can help.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to raffle winner Gregory Piro of Glen Cove who was the winner of the Bachmann Thomas & Friends train set at the Planting Fields Arbor Day celebration.

2016 LIGRS Meetings & Events Schedule

Date Program/Notes Time Place

May 14, 2016 SATURDAY Refurbish layout 10:00 AM RMLI

May 15, 2016 Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Steve Borakowski

June 11, 2016 Club Anniversary Celebration 6:30 PM boarding Essex Dinner Train, CT (see page 7)

June 18, 2016 SATURDAY Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Bob Gibney

July 17, 2016 Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Tom Rizzo

August 20, 2016 Summer Picnic 11:00 AM-3:00 PM LI Live Steamers, SouthHaven Park

August 27-28, 2016 Railfest TBA Riverhead, Railway Museum Of Long Island

September 10, 2016 BOD 10:00 AM Karl Wagner

September 18, 2016 Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Ed Assaf

October 16, 2016 Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Rich McGorty

November 13, 2016 Monthly Meeting 11:00 AM Northport Yacht Club

November 26-27, 2016 Tabletop display TBA Sayville Historical Society

December 4, 2016 Christmas Brunch Save the date Snapper Inn

Editor Louise Sewall (516) 541-4837 [email protected]

Web Master Trish Iannacone (516) 455-9259 [email protected]

Club Contact: Karl Wagner 152 Northern Blvd., St. James, NY 11780 Phone: 631.584-6619 [email protected]

President (‘15-’16) Tom Rizzo (631) 470.2217 [email protected] Vice President (‘16-’17) Mike Kmeth (631) 757-3784 [email protected] Treasurer (‘16-’17) Bob Sewall (516) 541-4837 [email protected] Secretary (’15-’16) Nick Guarino (631) 595-2062 [email protected]

Membership Director(‘16-’17) Karl Wagner (631) 584-6619 [email protected]

Program Director (‘15-’16) Rich McGorty (516) 285-4710 [email protected]

LIGRS Good & Welfare Module Coordinator Quartermaster Video Librarian Club Merchandise Coord.

Eileen Wagner Dan Saporito John Sakal Nick Guarino Georgiana Gaherty

(631) 584-6619 (631) 587-7282 (631) 754-6998 (631) 595-2062 [email protected]

Smoke n’ Cinders Staff LIGRS Officers

Page 2 SMOKE N’ CINDERS

Dir-At-Large Louis Cortese (‘16-’17)) (516) 681.0789 [email protected] Dir.-At-Large (‘15-’16) Rick Bishop (631) 475-5165 [email protected] Dir.-At-Large (’16-’17) Bob Russo (631) 277-1813 [email protected] Dir.-At-Large (‘15-’16) Frank Clemente (631) 838-0890 [email protected]


View From The Cab

Let’s hear it for Spring! It seemed like it was a long time in coming, but it’s here at last.

I have been trying to push participation in club events in most of my columns. I guess maybe members real-ly are reading them, because of the amount of our members that turned out for the Planting Fields show this past weekend. When I was the Membership Di-rector and keeping attendance I don’t ever remember seeing so many members helping setup. It was really nice to see our four newest members show up to help setup this magnificent display.

We were lucky Friday setting up, the weath-er forecast was for rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. It got a little hairy setting up the trestle with the new roadbeds, but after a short while we worked out the kinks enough to get it up and running. We will need to make a couple of modifications for the next time to make it less problematic. But most members thought the roadbeds were well worth the expense. Ed Assaf and Dan Saporito did a great job of coordinating the con-struction of the display with the pond in the center and the lower trestle interwoven around and under the high one. Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday were great, for the weather and public participation.

We all missed Bruce and Catherine Herlich. I planned on purchasing $200.00 worth of plants for our set-up to make up for what the Herlich’s used to bring us. Susan Cortese saved the day with the help of a friend Otto Keil owner of Emma’s Garden Growers. Otto Keil and his son Craig very generously lent us hun-dreds of dollars worth of plants. Thank you so very much, it was really appreciated.

(see more on page 8)

Our Fairy Garden Ladies did a beautiful job on their presentations. They worked twice as hard to make up for the Fairy Garden Ladies that were unable to par-

ticipate. If we do it again at Bayard Cutting this fall I hope we can get some more mem-bers to present their creations.

I want to thank Lou and Sue Cortese, Dan Saporito and Nick Guarino for going to se-lect and pick up and return the plants for the display. I really need to thank Bruce Kropp for volunteering to pick up and return the trailer to Riverhead. Everyone that

showed up pulled their weight to make this show a great success. Thank you all for your ideas, and all the time and labor putting together this great looking layout.

Tom Rizzo


From The Secretary

Long Island Garden Railway Society Inc.

Executive Board of Directors Meeting, April 16th 2016

Attendees: Tom Rizzo, President. Mike Kmeth, Vice Presi-dent. Bob Sewall, Treasurer. Nick Guarino, Secretary. Karl Wagner, Membership Director. Rick Bishop, Lou Cortese, Bob Russo, Directors at Large. Dan Saporito, Past President. Pat Russo, Member.

President Tom Rizzo asked for a motion to open the Board of Directors meeting. A motion was made by Mike Kmeth and seconded by Karl Wagner to open the meeting at 10:16 AM.

Tom asked for a motion to read or accept the minutes from the January 17th Board of Directors meeting. A motion was made by Karl Wagner and seconded by Rick Bishop to ac-cept the January BOD minutes.

Financial Report – given by Bob Sewall. Bob stated that for second quarter (1/1/16 thru 3/31/16) the club had a starting balance of $3948.71, with income of $3927.77 and disburse-ments of $4373.41 resulting in an ending balance of $3503.07. If you have any additional questions please contact Bob directly.

Membership – given by Karl Wagner. Karl stated that current-ly the club has 33 individual members, 20 family members, 2 extended family member (3 in a family) totaling 55 household memberships. The BOD vot-ed to make Ernie and Marie DeCarolis lifetime members because of their years of active participa-tion in the club.

Junior Membership – Ray Shelton will be develop-ing a list of criteria allowing individuals under 18 years of age to become members. There was some preliminary discussion from the board regarding junior mem-bership. A motion was made by Bob Sewall and seconded by Lou Cortese to table the discussion until the next board meet-ing in September.

Meeting Dates – See Richie McGorty to schedule a date to host an outdoor meeting. All outdoor monthly meetings for 2016 have been filled.

Club Insurance – Nick Guarino contacted the insurance agent and advised him that we had a reduction in membership. This resulted in a $140 refund from Nationwide Insurance.

25th Anniversary logo - Club mugs with the 25th anniversary logo need to be ordered before the end of the year. We are also considering placing the logo on hats and pins. Richie McGorty to get pricing on club pins. Georgianna Gaherty to get pricing on club hats.

Green Trailer - The tail lights on the trailer are working. Bob Russo will be installing new tail lights on the fenders of the trailer during the summer.

Red Trailer - President Tom Rizzo asked for a committee to design shelves and containers to more effectively house the supplies in the red trailer. Preliminary volunteers are Lou Cor-tese, Mike Kmeth, Rick Bishop and Bob Russo.

Club Inventory – Frank Clemente gave the BOD a final count of the inventory in the red trailer. The BOD has elected to sell off excess items in the trailer. After the items are listed in

Smoke n Cinders for two months, they will be available for purchase.

Club DVDs – Riverhead Museum has 13, Dan Saporito has 16, and Georgie Gaherty has 10, totaling 39 DVDs remaining in our inventory.

Club Resource Library – Approximately 24 train related books were donated to the club by the Huntington library. Tom Rizzo would like Nick Guarino to keep some of the books and add them to our library collection. The remaining books will be sold off.

Club Computer – Karl Wagner and Tom Rizzo are working on getting the computer dedicated to membership up and run-ning. There is still a problem printing the roster and call back list.

Roadbed Project – Mike Kmeth developed a plan for building roadbeds that attach to the tall trestle bents. The roadbeds provide a level surface for the elevated track. A committee was formed and the construction was done at the home of Frank Clemente. The cost of the project has not been estab-lished.

Golden Spike Awards – BOD to consider several members.

Shows and Events:

Planting Fields Arbor Day Setup – April 23rd and 24th. Setup April 22nd at 8:30 AM. We will be suppling our own plants for the setup. A motion was made by Karl Wagner and seconded by Bob Russo to spend $200 to purchase plants and flowers. Tom also suggested that we use the Fantasy Gardens as a theme for the display.

Freeman Railroad Cleanup – May 14th at 10:00 AM, at the Long Island Railroad Museum, Riverhead.

25th Anniversary Dinner Train, Essex Ct – June 11th, boarding at 6:30 PM. Dan Saporito reported that 33 people have regis-tered for the trip.

Club Picnic – August 20th, 11:00 – 3:00, held at the Long Is-land Live Steamers. Bob Russo is the chairperson. The com-mittee consists of Pat Russo, Bob Sewall, Mike Kmeth, Tom Rizzo, Paul Tobin, Bruce Kropp, and Richie McGorty. If you would like to volunteer please contact Bob Russo. There will be a meeting at Bob’s house before the picnic to discuss the arrangements.

Railfest – August 27th and 28th, at the Riverhead Railroad Museum of Long Island. We will be running trains at the Free-man Railroad.

Bayard Cutting Arboretum Fall Festival – TBA.

Sayville Historical Society Thanksgiving Setup – November 26th and 27th. This is a new venue for our club. It will be a large table top display to usher in the Christmas season. The event is advertised locally and attracts a large group of peo-ple.

Christmas Brunch – December 4th, 11:30-2:30. Mike Kmeth will be the new chairperson this year. The BOD is considering the Sunday Brunch at the Snapper Inn located in Oakdale. Final details have not been established. (go to page 6)


Tom’s Picture Puzzle (10 solutions on next page)


Solutions to picture puzzle

Club Anniversary Dinner Train

Join us as we celebrate our 25th year on board the Essex Dinner Train Saturday June 11th 2016. The train boards at 6:30 pm and departs at 7 pm, returns at 9:30 $80. per person includes meal, tax and meal service gratuity and train fare. Alcoholic beverages and soda are a separate cost and payable onboard, a gratuity for these beverages is customary (tea, coffee and glasses of water are included with dessert). This is a self-drive trip is about 3 hours driving time to Essex. Please mail your reser-vation check for $80. Check payable to Long Island Garden Railway Society, Inc. to Dan Saporito, 104 Sheffield Ave. West Babylon, NY 11704 (Checks must be received by May 25th) (Please include your dinner choices.)

Cradle of Aviation – TBA.

New Business:

Hechscher State Parks Fair – June 18th. Dan Saporito was contacted by Don Fischer regarding the possibility of doing a one day step up at Hechscher State Park. The set up would have to illustrate how our club positively impacts the environ-ment. There would be no electricity available to us. The BOD decided that our club would not be able to participate in this event.

Smithtown Historical Society Setup - September 18th. Several members met with the director of the Historical Society to dis-cuss the possibility of a ground display. The BOD elected not to participate in this event due to lack of security. Our equip-ment would not be protected.

Planting Fields Arbor Day Event – Several members noticed that LIGRS was not mentioned as an attraction in any of the advertising for this event. Lou Cortese made the suggestion

that our contact person for this display meets with the public relations person at the arboretum to insure that our club is mentioned. The BOD accepted this suggestion.

There was a suggestion made that the club purchase a “G” scale starter set to be auctioned off at the Planting Fields ground display. Bob Sewall suggested that special auction tickets be printed to avoid confusion at the time of the drawing. The ticket would cost $5 each or 3 for $10.

A motion was made by Bob Russo and seconded by Mike Kmeth to purchase the starter set. Motion accepted.

The next BOD meeting is tentatively set for September 10th at the home of Karl Wagner.

President Tom Rizzo asked for a motion to close the BOD meeting at 12:45 PM. A motion was made by Bob Russo and seconded by Mike Kmeth to end the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted, Nick Guarino, Secretary.

From the Secretary (continued)


Our beautiful Fairy Gardens from the Arbor Day Display, accompanied by Brittany Sparkles, a fairy from the circus appearing that weekend.

Chic Chat Corner


Plants Donated for Arbor Day Display

Otto Keil Florist/Emma's Garden Growers is a whole-sale plant supplier with a long tradition in the service of Landscape and Garden Center customers. Otto Keil came from Germany in the 1930's with his broth-er Henry and together they began Keil Brothers Nursery in Bayside, Queens. Otto eventually married Emma Schwaner another German immigrant from his home town in Frankenberg, Germany. In 1942 Emma and Otto rented in Huntington Long Island, what was formerly the estate greenhouses of Otto Kahn the fa-mous (at that time) industrialist and symbol of fantas-tic wealth and began Otto Keil Florist. Several years later Otto and Emma were able to purchase the

greenhouses and several acres surrounding them. (The original greenhouses they purchased are still in use and are now approaching100 years in age.) In the beginning Otto and Emma grew cut flowers which they sold to the local and NYC trade. Later they add-ed potted plants and spring annuals.

Today Otto Keil Florist/Emma's Garden Growers con-sists of four locations spread between Huntington and the North Fork of Long Island and is run by Otto Jr and his four sons Eric, Jeff, Greg and Scott.

We would like to again thank the Herlicks for all the years that they donated the use of plants to beautify our Arbor Day displays as well as the man hours they and their crew spent assisting with the installation of the plants.

As mentioned in the View from the Cab column, we were fortunate to have friends of the Corteses that are also in the business. Emma’s Garden Growers donated the use of plants to enhance this year’s display. Below, see a brief history of their business taken from their online blog.


Many Thanks To Our 2016 Arbor Day Volunteers

For This Year’s Summer Picnic Raffle

These attractive structures, barn and gas/service station, do-nated and built by Steve Borakowski are this year’s Summer Picnic raffle prizes. Tickets may be purchased from Richie McGorty.

William Arndt Linda Dunn John Hagedorn John Pizzulli Edward Assaf Tom Dunn Fred Holzkamp Walter Poppe Richard Bishop Georgiana Gaherty Michael Kmeth Barbara Poppe Babette Bishop Steve Gaherty Bruce Kropp Thomas Rizzo Steve Borakowski Robert Garruba Jack Lane Judy Rizzo Frank Clemente Roseann Garruba Joseph Luginsland Robert Russo Louis Cortese Geraldine Coney Kevin Mahon Pat Russo Susan Cortese Bob Gibney Dorothy Mahon Danny Saporito Ernie DeCarolis Paul Giorrdano Richard McGorty Bob Sewall Joe DiBenedetto Nick Guarino Helen Nelson Louise Sewall Karl Wagner

See more pictures on Shutterfly at https://ligrs2016events.shutterfly.com/102


Golden Spike Nominations?

This month's winning photo was taken by tom Rizzo of an old bridge on his Sandy River & Penny Copper Railroad

Golden Spike awards are now being considered by our BOD. Share your nominations of club members with any of our directors or other club officers. (Their names and contact information are listed on page 2 of this month's newsletter.)

See our distribution policy on the home page of LIGRS.org

Can’t Make A Meeting?

To ensure that a voting quorum is reached, and an official meeting held, pleas send a signed proxy form to any of the club officers or the Board of Directors.

A link to a printable copy of the proxy form can be found on the home page of the LIGRS website.

Monthly Photo Contest Winner

SMOKE N’ CINDERS Page 11

Monthly Meeting May 15, 2016

Steve & Nancy Borakowski 15 Whitetail Lane

Commack, NY 11725 631-499-0363

11:00-3:00

Take the LIE or Northern State Parkway to Deer Park Ave (Rte. 231) north. Bear right onto Deer Park Road East. Merge onto Jericho Tpke. (Rte. 25) Travel on Rte 25 for ap-proximately 1.5 miles. Turn RIGHT onto CALVERT AVE. (Hess station on left, fabric store on right) Turn LEFT onto SPINNER Lane. Turn RIGHT onto WHITE-TAIL Lane.

Trains, Mother’s Love and Apple Pie

Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Memorial Day!

Visit us on the web @ www.ligrs.org

Smoke N’ Cinders at P.O. Box 2002, No. Massapequa, NY 11758-

2002

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LONG ISLAND GARDEN RAILWAY SOCIETY INC

Newsletter of the Long Island Garden Railway Society Inc

Advertising Policy Advertisement shall in no way be construed as an endorsement of any product, manufacturer, product or reseller by The Long Island Garden Railway Society. Inc. Commercial Ads or Ads from Non-members for large scale or garden railway products are at a rate of $35.00/ full page, or $20.00/half page/issue. Artwork is the responsibility of the advertiser, at the discretion of the editor. Ads From Members for large scale or garden railway items are accepted at no charge and will run once. Ads may be repeated at the advertiser’s request, space permitting. Ads should be submitted by e-mail to the editor. The deadline for ads will be the meeting prior to the next issue.

SAVE THE DATE! Smoke n’ Cinders - LIGRS · Treasurer (‘16-’17) Bob Sewall ... [email protected] . ... April 16th 2016 Attendees: Tom Rizzo, President. Mike Kmeth, Vice Presi-

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