Turning Back the Clock at Dix Hills Park

            For half a century, preserving open space and maintaining an active park system has been a priority for Huntingtonians. Most recently, the Town purchased the Carpenter Farm in Greenlawn for passive park and educational use, the Meyers Farm in Melville for a community park and the Erb property in Dix Hills for athletic fields.

            These were the latest purchases made possible by three open space and park rehabilitation bond acts approved by the voters since I took office in 1993. They have allowed the Town to preserve more than 250 acres of environmentally sensitive land throughout Huntington.

            Few people those days probably know or remember the first park purchase bond act approved by voters, one that we will note next Saturday as the Town celebrates the 50th anniversary of purchasing the land that became Dix Hills Park, one of the Town’s major recreation destinations.

            That bond act authorized the purchase of nearly 700 acres throughout the Town for parks use, including what became the Crab Meadow Golf Course and 144 acres of the Havemeyer Estate on Vanderbilt Parkway in Dix Hills. The Town paid $510,000 for the Havemeyer property, a real bargain by today’s standards. And following the vision of then-Supervisor Robert Flynn, who wanted to create a summer venue for residents in the southern part of Town so they would not have to drive a half hour to the Town beaches on the north shore, planning began in 1963 for the Town pool.

            The pool opened in July 1965, and the nine-hole Dix Hills Golf course opened a year later. Forty years ago, in 1973, the Town opened three jogging trails and announced plans for what would be the first publicly operated ice skating rink in Suffolk County. Originally, the rink was open-air. Some years later, it was closed in, and three years ago, the Town expanded the rink to add a second sheet of ice and modern amenities.

            Over the years, thousands of town residents have flocked to Dix Hills Park to play golf, skate or swim in the Town pool, and what better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of purchasing the land from the Havemeyer family than to turn back the clock to what it cost to use the park’s facilities a half century ago?

            That’s what we’re doing next Saturday, August 17, as we hold Turn Back the Clock Day at Dix Hills Park. It will cost 50 cents for admission to the pool or to skate at the ice rink (and to rent skates). A round of golf will be $2. And many food items, including hamburgers and hot dogs, will cost $1.

            We’ll have free pony rides for the kids and free clinics for the children and equipment exhibitions at the golf course. The Islanders are bringing their road show exhibit to the ice rink.

            We’ll also be honoring former Supervisor Robert Flynn, for creating the model of public land acquisition that has continued to this day, defining Huntington’s stellar quality of life.

            I’m looking forward to Turn Back the Clock Day, and I hope you will join me there for a day of affordable fun for the whole family.