BELLPORT-NY.COM

I just want to take a minute to wish everyone a Happy New Years Eve. I hope to see you all out tonight partaking in the festivities that our community has to offer. While you are out enjoying yourselves just remember to be safe and responsible. I want to be able to report and incident free holiday come tomorrow morning. So if your going to drink, don’t drive. If you have not made arrangements for a designated driver, now is the time to do so. But we are all responsible adults so I don’t have to tell you that, right?

While we are on the subject of the new year, I want to address the direction this site will be taking in 2009. Members of the community have begun to step forward and give us their input on what they would like to see here, and we are listening. One of the most important things that came up was the expansion of our directory. We feel it is a key part to this site and have decided to work on it much more aggressively.

The first thing you will see is an all inclusive list of local government agencies and civic groups. There will also be a rapid expansion of the local business portion of the directory as well. We want to get everyone in there as soon as possible, so that our readers have that information available to them. You can also expect to see changes in the navigation and layout in the coming days and weeks to accommodate some of the new ideas from our participating members.

So stick with us and keep coming back to see whats new. Give us your input. Let us know how we are doing so far. If you have an idea about how we can better serve you, tell us about it. Got allot of ideas, and want to get more directly involved? There are many ways that you can do so. Just Email us or drop me a note through the contact page. We would be happy to discuss it with you. I personally respond to the emails and messages here in a timely manner. If you contact me today you will hear back from me tomorrow.

We will continue to cover local news and will also be expanding the events section to include more detailed information. We look forward to dealing more directly with those of you sponsoring these local events so that we can provide an even more accurate picture of our fine community and all it has to offer. We plan on making BELLPORT-NY.COM the best community site out there in the coming new year. With everyone’s input and participation, that is exactly what we will do. Now go out there and have a Happy New Year Bellport!

We all love football in Bellport and our Junk Yard Dogs didn’t let us down this year. The Clippers pounded out 7 victories this season and only suffered 4 defeats. Good going guys! Do I see a repeat of 2005 coming next year? We will have to wait and see, but the future is looking good.Can’t wait to see it happen myself, and when it does you can come back and read about it here in our new section devoted entirely to Bellport Sports.

The young women of Bellport did equally well. The Girls Cross Country Team had a great season with members qualifying at state level. You can tell they really put in the time and effort that it takes to be champions and I am sure they will all go far in endeavors. The Girls Volleyball Team finished 3d in county for the league 4 division with a stunning 19 wins and a mere 3 losses. These young ladies were unstoppable this season. You have made us all very proud.

You can look forward to reading much more about all of this in upcoming articles. I also plan on publishing detailed stats and scores for all of the different Bellport Sports teams from little league on up to High School. I would also like to eventually provide detailed information on any programs that are open to the public, such as sign up information and requirements, etc. We still have a little legwork to do in the department of gathering that information, so if you are involved in any local sports programs and want to get the word out, let us know about it and we will get the info out.

Our readership is growing every day here. Our audience has quadrupled in size since our launch last month, and we were amazed at the amount of visitors her from day one. I hope that means you are finding something of value here. I will continue to make my best efforts to provide that to you. We always welcome your input here and are open to new ideas and suggestions. We don’t even mind constructive criticism. So get yourself a membership and let us know whats on your mind. You can contact me directly through the contact page or you can leave a comment below any of the articles on this site.

We are still looking for regular contributors to write for this site as well. If you are interested in writing a weekly or bi-weekly article to be published on this site please contact us for more information about what the position entails. We are specificly looking for local residents from both The Village of Bellport and The North Hamlet to write short about current events on everything from local politics on down to the sports page here. If you have something in particular you would like to write about, we would be open to that as well. Hope to hear from you soon.

Well folks, Christmas is almost upon us, and many of you have already begun to celebrate Hanukkah already. I just want to remind everyone that New Years Eve isn’t far behind, and it’s not too early to start making plans. In fact, if you haven’t already, its a good idea to go ahead and make those dinner reservations in advance. You would be surprised how many restaurants are already fully booked for this big Holiday night. However there are still many places still accepting reservations, so get on it. Just make sure you reserve an extra spot at the table for me.

With the economy as tight as it is, and everyone pinching pennies, many are turning to online retailers this year to save money on gifts. There are many deals to be had on the internet, but dont forget about all the great things you can find locally. We should all play our part in stimulating the local economy as well. I’m sure you have all taken the opportunity to do some of your Christmas shopping in the Village of Bellport. You may also want to take a ride over to the Village of Patchogue. Its very close to Bellport and has a variety of places to shop and eat.

Whatever you end up doing this week, I hope you have a safe, enjoyable and productive time. Me, I will probably scrambling out the door on Christmas Eve, like every year, to pick up that last minute gift I forgot or didn’t know I needed to get. I’m sure many of you have been there. But if you are one of those people whose shopping is all done, and you already have a table on reserve at your favorite hot spot, consider making use of your spare time this Holiday Season by helping someone in need. A donation of your time or money can make real difference for those less fortunate than you. In this day and age we don’t have to look far to find someone who needs a hand.

We will be updating regularly through the Holidays. So if your sitting around the house on vacation time and you get bored, drop on in and give us a read. And if you get bored of reading, head on over to our Video Page, and check out some of the flicks on our custom YouTube channel. We are still fine tuning that, so there are allot of random videos in there right now, plenty to look through. Once again, thanks for stopping by. If your still not a member, go ahead and sign up now. Its free and it allows you to join in discussion here through comments or on our community forum. Stop reading from the shadows. Give us a piece of your mind. We would be thrilled to hear from you.

I just want to take a moment to bring you our regular update of whats happening now in the Bellport Hamlets. The Unitarian Universalist church in the Village of Bellport has an exiting weekend planned, starting on Sunday evening ( December 21/08). Things will kick off around 5PM with a Winter Solstice bonfire to get everyone in the mood for the Bellport Songwriter Series concert to follow.

The concert will include guest performances by two special visitors, John Flor and Rory Kelly,  both local long island musicians who have recorded successful albums. I have heard rave reviews about both of these artists, it’s sure to be a great performance.

The music starts at around 7PM and is free to the public. This event is run by volunteers to help support local songwriters, and they will be accepting donations to the cause. It is recommended (not required) that you make a minimum $5 donation to help support their efforts. Where else can you see a good show for $5. Well worth it if you ask me, and if you enjoy the festivities I would consider donating more to keep the series going for all to enjoy for many years to come.

Know about another hot event going on this weekend? Add it to this article by leaving a comment below. Im sure all our readers will appreciate it. Enjoy your weekend, and get down to the Village of Bellport for a great evening out this Sunday, Just be sure and stop back here on Monday and tell us what you thought of the show.

Its that time again. Time to take a look back at the year that we are about to leave behind, that is. It sure has been an exciting year by all counts, and the antics just keep coming. This is gonna be one for the history books, that’s for sure. But aside from all the big media grabbers like the New York Giants wining the Super Bowl, there have been some other events of notability.

Some events of 2008 we will remember for their shock value, like the sudden death of actor Keith Ledger who overdosed on prescription medication just as his career was beginning to take off in a big way. Then there is Oj Simpson, who finally got convicted this year. That one you have to laugh at. On a more somber note, we are about to end the year still at war in Iraq with no clear end in sight, only promises yet to be kept. Its a good thing information is going digital these days because it would take a heck of a lot of paper to make a book big enough to cover all of the historical events the world has seen in 2008.

There’s been some major changes going on locally as well. In 2008 the village of Bellport elected the first new mayor in 25 years. The former Mayor, Frank Trotta was unseated from his career term by one David Pate, a Brookhaven Research associate who has lived in Bellport for half of a century. We really have yet to see how this will change the way business is done locally, or not. On the uglier side, we have the recent allegations and indictment against long time Village of Bellport Trustee, John Orlando. That’s one we may not want to see in the books, unfortunately I am sure their is more to come with that story.

I would like to make this article an open discussion on all that has happened this year, big or small. If it was of importance to you, we want to hear about it. You are invited to leave your comments below and tell us about your year. Also be sure and stop back for part 3 in this series of articles looking back at the year 2008. Hope you enjoy, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.