CHRISTMAS IN BABYLON VILLAGE. There’s so much going on and the Village looks like a picture right out of the Christmas Carol — the decorations, the stores, the lighting, etc. are so beautiful. So many involved — what a community! We’ll start with the Wassail Bowl at the Historical Society last week. This year over a hundred people made the scene, enjoyed the wassail, the delicious refreshments, and most of all seeing all of their neighbors and friends in such a beautiful setting. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the readings of "Mac" and Marge (Dorothy Beyers and Marge Voorhies). "Mac" read "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", and Marge "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and you could hear a pin drop — they were terrific! And the big moment came when Mayor Don Conroy pulled the winning raffle ticket for the beautiful Heritage Quilt — the winner was Donna Henry, wife of our newly-elected Town Councilman Lindsay Henry. All of the Village Board members Mary Gallagher, Alice Vanderveldt, Kevin Muldowny, and Ralph Scordino were on hand. Kudos to Alice Zaruka and her very hard working committee — call this one a huge success.

THEY WERE WAITING ON LINE to get in to the Conklin House Candlelight Tea last Friday where the committee welcomed the largest crowd to ever attend the popular event. Eight pages of names filled the guest registry book, and all of the Friday night shoppers who walked in raved about the beauty of each of the decorated rooms. And the delicious refreshments were all homemade and beautifully presented. The 2nd annual cookie bake contest had twice as many entries as last year. Keely Harris, Kelly Lockwood, and Christine Repetto did a fine job on this one (all of the cookies looked delicious). The committee members who started working on the evening in September deserve high praise. And something new has been added" a plaque containing the names of those volunteers who were named "Nathaniel" winners over the years, and they were": Stu Aldrich, Isabel Gallagher, Betty Siegel, Rogers Howell, Rosalind Rohl, Bob Pasch, Joy Torrey, and Alice Zaruka. All of these people helped make our community what it is today. Spotted Lucy Trumble, Mary Freund, Anita North, Linn Rohl, "Mac" Beyers, Miriam Shorr, and many, many others. It was an exciting evening to remember in our Village.

AND LOTS OF THANKSGIVING VISITS: These Babylonians aren’t afraid to fly, and all said their recent trips to visit family went off very smoothly, with no problems. Fran and Bob Pasch flew to California for the christening of their great granddaughter Grace Boudreaux and also visited with their daughters Robin Maya and Leslie Woods; Shirley Skeffington had a great time in Houston, Texas with her son Ted and his family — they were joined there by Shirley’s daughter and son-in-law Cynthia and Ronald La Valle; Libby Orr flew to Ft. Meyers to visit her son Nick and his family; Joan and Bud St. John visited with their daughter Barbara Auer and her family in California; and Sue Howell is back from a great visit in Georgia with her daughters, Susan Moore and her husband Dr. Jim Moore and family, and Betsey and Donald Hampton.

HIS LEGION OF FRIENDS will be glad to learn that former longtime Mayor Gil Hanse is doing very well and recuperating nicely from recent surgery at the Southside Hospital. Gil, the whole community wishes you a very speedy recovery.

COUPLE OF DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS to tell you about. Dr. "Mitty" Beyers picked up the check at the Sewer Society breakfast at the Delphi Diner several weeks ago on his birthday and then it was John Rinklin’s turn last week. Many happy returns "Mitty" and John.

WAS SORRY TO HEAR that Beverly Freeman passed away after a long illness several weeks ago. Beverly’s late husband Frank was raised in Babylon and the couple were very well known in our community.

WEDDING BELLS RANG recently for Dorothy Max and Albert Salerno. The ceremony was held at Dorothy’s sister’s home overlooking the ocean in Florida, and Dorothy’s son was on hand for the happy occasion. Dorothy has been active in the Fred Shores Association, is a Trustee of the Historical Society, and is the Past President of the Home Unit. Congratulations and best wishes to a wonderful couple.

AND A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL at the Annual Rotary Christmas party last Friday hosted by Suzanne and Paul Steinberg. Some eighty guests enjoyed the delicious food and the music of the Rotarians; Paul Steinberg on piano, Dr. Howard Tischler on the sax, Dr. Peter Rosenthal, guitar, Dr. Chris Proto, bass, Tom Colabrella, drummer, and Steve Markham, singer. There was a special Mrs. Santa Claus, Marian DeGennaro, and a special guest, Ken Gibson, Commanding Officer of the Fire Island Coast Guard Station. And a generous donation was presented for the Fire Island Coast Guard Morale Fund. This annual event is always an evening of good cheer for all. And best of all, Saturday morning, all of the surplus food was picked up and delivered to the