Isabel Gallagher Last Friday, June 11th, Isabel Gallagher celebrated her 95th birthday at home with a dinner party that included her children: Isabel Freeman and her husband, Dick of Babylon; Janet Gallagher of Brooklyn; Bob Gallagher, Laura Gallagher, and myself, Mary Gallagher, all of Babylon. Two of her seven grandchildren were also present: Isabel Freeman Vogelsson of Queens, and Conor Freeman of Babylon. Several friends stopped in on Sunday afternoon to wish Isabel a happy birthday.

Over the past forty years, Isabel Gallagher has had a profound effect on Babylon Village. After living in many different homes as a child, when Isabel and her late husband, Frank Gallagher moved to Babylon after World War II, she declared that their home in Babylon would be her last. The first couple of decades in Babylon were spent rearing their six children and planning a project that would not take shape until the early 1970’s. In the late summer of 1972, Isabel and some carefully chosen friends finally saw the project come alive by founding the Babylon Beautification Society. That first year the only attempt at fundraising was a garage sale at the high school. The following year, hanging baskets were placed on some of the telephone poles in the business district and merchants were encouraged to use flower boxes outside of their shops. A White Elephant sale was held at Argyle Park to raise additional funds, and thus was born the annual Beautification Society Country Fair.

The ever-popular Beautification Society Fair, which Isabel Gallagher helped to found in 1973. With the cooperation of Mayor Gil Hanse, the Village of Babylon and the Beautification Society worked together to construct gardens at Argyle Park and place planters throughout the business district. Initially, vandalism was a problem, including one incident involving a middle-aged woman standing up in the back of a pick-up truck and stealing a large number of flower baskets from the light poles. A special corps of village residents shouldered on, including Pat and Ferris Mack, Wayne Horsley, Connie and Peter LoCassion, and Susan and Carl Harris, and the Beautification Society began to solicit membership and aid from village residents. Over the years, the BBS Country Fair grew larger and larger with local service organizations joining in to run various food and entertainment booths.

With the expansion of the fair came some larger projects. The old band shell at Argyle Park, on the south side of Main Street, was too rickety to continue to host the free Friday night summer concerts, so the BBS, with input from Babylon Village officials, built the Gazebo that now sits in the center of the same property. The Gazebo serves as home to the Friday night concerts and numerous other events, including the finale of the Memorial Day Parade, and the fabulous acts that perform every September at the Annual Country Fair. Other projects that the BBS has created include the clock at the corner of Deer Park Avenue and Grove Place, as well as the old-fashioned light poles that began in the business district and have spread to main thoroughfares within the Village.

Babylon Village, as well as Town, County, and State governments have always been strong supporters of the Beautification Society. While the BBS continues to help fund projects such as the light poles, the hanging baskets, planters, and public gardens throughout the Village, a large amount of money is contributed to the various projects from your tax dollars at work. Additionally, local service clubs and residents continue to support the Beautification Society and its efforts.

After a number of years as President of the Beautification Society, Isabel Gallagher stepped down as president, believing

that new, younger blood had to have its say in the BBS. A grand “fete” was held at Southward Ho in her honor, and Shelter Island’s renowned sculptor, Peggy Mach, was engaged to create a sculpture in honor of Isabel Gallagher’s contribution to Babylon. Her work, “Sea Dreams”, sits in a place of honor in front of the Babylon Public Library.

At a time when neighboring villages and hamlets were deteriorating due to failed businesses as a result of the sudden creation of area malls that destroyed many formerly successful downtown areas throughout the country, Babylon was able to stay viable. A good deal of the reason for this viability is the success of the Beautification Society in making the village such an attractive place to live and shop. In my opinion, the Beautification Society and its supporters continues to allow Babylon businesses to thrive and to engage area residents in the effort to make this village successful on every level. And all of this began with a local housewife with a plan to make Babylon more beautiful.

Happy birthday, Mom! And thanks for everything you’ve done to make Babylon a lovely place.