Our Holiday Village Tree Lighting is Truly a "Joy to the World"

 

artwork by Julia Drake

 

Our Holiday Village Tree Lighting is truly a ‘Joy to the World’  

Like most people, we are all a little tense these days over ..well about .. a lot of things. Let us submit to you a somewhat rosier thought. This year is the 107th tree lighting at Argyle Park, December 7th, 4 P.M. Now, recall the Village tree lighting of many years past or maybe just last year. Remember the excitement on the kids' faces when Santa arrives on a fire truck? Or recall the tension on the queue line of neighbors controlling their anxious kids waiting to see Santa? Or more recently, listening to the cast members of the Argyle Theatre Shows singing holiday favorites. Then the count down to the lighting and that momentary thought of what happens if it doesn’t light? Thankfully, we have a very capable Public Works Department under the leadership of Scott Glenn. It’s all good..right? See... rosier thoughts. 

To continue with the Holiday outlook, maybe you ventured down to the Historical Society after the tree has been lit for a cup of wassail, while all the time wondering what exactly wassail is?  And yes, there are two versions being offered, one with an adult beverage and the other without while you are sampling cookies by Torta Fina. The tree lighting is an ageless source of good will to all and a guaranteed mood lifter. 

Of course, this blog post is written by the good folks at your Historical Society, so we are compelled to dish up at least one historical fact about a past tree lighting. In 1937, while Hitler and Franco were beginning their atrocities, besides lighting a tree, Mayor Cadman Frederick urged all residents of the Village to have their homes brightly lighted on Christmas Eve. This, he said, would be a fitting contrast to the blacked-out cities and villages of England and the Continent. He also urged a prayer of thanksgiving at this season of Christmas. If you would like to read more on the history of our tree lighting, we will be passing out a brochure the night of the lighting compiled by Mary Cascone, our Town Historian.  

The tree lighting is one of Babylon Village’s oldest and happiest traditions. We hope to see you there. It is a wonderous and magical time for our kids and the kickoff to the Holiday Season! It is a tradition that is truly a ‘Joy to the World’. 

Have a great Thanksgiving and Merry Holiday Season. 

Judy and Wayne and the entire Board of the Historical Society 

 

 

Our Most Frequently Asked Question (hint: he gets no respect)

 

Raise your hand if you think comedian Rodney Dangerfield came from Babylon.

If you raised your hand, you are technically correct (he was born in a house most likely located on what is now the Babylon High School parking lot), but he actually only spent about a total of 2 weeks here in Babylon Village before his family moved back to Queens.

So, when a visitor comes to the Historical Society and asks if Rodney Dangerfield came from Babylon, our reply is a tentative “yes,” but with a verbal asterisk and a bit of an explanation. 

A wall at the Historical Society contains photos and stories about such notable Babylon residents as Robert Moses, Butterfly McQueen, William B. Williams, Bob Keeshan and the Cuban Giants baseball team.  Sorry Rodney, but a 2-week residency while still in diapers just doesn't earn you the respect that comes with a permanent place on the wall.

Come to think of it, maybe this is where his perpetual feeling of being disrespected came from. We hope not.

For a much more comprehensive story about the discovery of Rodney's roots, click here to visit the official blog of the Babylon Town Historian 

Rodney, we still love you and think you're a very funny man - just not one who, since you lived here for less time than it would take to go through a case of Pampers, would qualify as a Babylon Village resident.  

Remembering Sean Goodwin

As we all have heard the saying “It takes a Village.” Through good times and strenuous times, through challenges and achievements, celebrating life and helping each other through another day, that is Babylon Village. We are each other’s cheerleaders and when difficult times occur, we triumph together as one. Unfortunately, this is one of those difficult times for our community.

It is with deep sadness and deep regret that I inform all our Village residents the sudden passing of Village of Babylon Trustee Sean Goodwin early this morning, Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025.

After the New Year, Sean was diagnosed with lung cancer. While going through treatments, Sean continued to be active in Village government, in all his responsibilities, assisting those in need and in loving our Village. He went to ribbon cuttings, attended events and meetings, he was in parades and never missed being around the Village that he truly loved. He was our inspiration.

Less than two weeks ago, Sean was busy with the Babylon Beautification Society in redesigning the Village Gazebo plantings and in welcoming in our newest Village addition, MOMA (Museum of Miniature Art) to both the Historical Society and The Conklin House.

Sean loved our Village history. His true love was The Conklin House and keeping our history alive as well as working with the Conklin House Steering Committee in upgrades and maintenance to the house and gardens. Sean and BBS led the way in July, 2025 for the much enjoyed and successful “Village Soiree,” raising funds for the preservation of our historical Conklin House. It was certainly Sean's second home!

Sean was extremely involved with our Babylon Historical and Preservation Society as a Trustee and active member, thoroughly enjoyed working with the Babylon Beautification Society and their projects. He co-chaired our Drive Safe, Drive Respectful Committee, he was in charge of our Village Bicycle Committee, and most recently, our first “Music on the Porch” Day and initiating the upcoming Community Garage Sale Day. Sean was very instrumental and worked hard with the Babylon Pride Committee.

Sean worked with our Village greenhouse and sat on our Planning Board Committee prior to serving as a Village Trustee. Sean was so very proud of being a Village Trustee. It was not about his ego or impressing anyone. It was about continuing the work he loved to do and in the place he loved the most.

It was not that long ago that Sean reminded me that he continues to “pinch himself” because he still could not believe he was appointed and elected to a Village Trustee position. He felt it was such a honor and somehow an honor that he thought someone else could have been better at it. That was Sean. Never taking credit but always extremely thankful.

Sean loved visiting our downtown restaurants and shops. He loved speaking with the storefront owners and whenever you mentioned “Sean Goodwin,” you were always greeted with a smile about this beloved man.

Being a Village resident for many years along with his mom and two sisters, Village residents were able to know the man behind being a Village Trustee. Sean was always kind. He loved to laugh and he loved to make people feel good about themselves and about life. He attended many Library classes with his Mom and his strong faith was always seen at St. Joseph’s Church.

If someone was feeling ill or having a tough day, it was Sean Goodwin who would reach out to them and make them feel better and sometimes with delicious desserts from Torta Fina.

Sean knew how to dress. He knew how to dance and he knew how to enjoy his life with family and friends. At times, he was just the person you needed to be at your side and you were always happy to see his beautiful face.

Sean was deserving of so much more that life had to offer him and certainly, our Village that he was proud to call “HOME.” Never a day will go by that Sean Goodwin’s imprint will not be in our hearts and will always be seen throughout our Village.

Sean served our Village and our Village residents with dedication, loyalty and love. He was a true friend to all of us and the lives he touched with a simple smile, a hello or a helping hand are countless.

In remembrance of Trustee Sean Goodwin, I have ordered our Village flags to be at half mast and I encourage all our Village residents to keep Sean and his husband, Charles in your prayers as well as his mother and two sisters who still reside in our Village. Further details on services will be made available as soon as received.

May God comfort Charles, Mrs. Goodwin and Sean’s two sisters and family during this time of sorrow and fill their hearts with peace, strength and wonderful memories to carry on. Heaven gained an angel today and the Village of Babylon lost a beautiful soul.

Rest in Peace, Trustee Sean Goodwin.

Forever love,

Mary E. Adams, Mayor

Village of Babylon

A Hero's Welcome: A Status Update of the Heroes Fountain at Hawley's Pond

 She's (almost) here!

Soon...all will be revealed

A Good News Story

A frequent question asked of both Judy and me is “what is happening with the Heroes Fountain at Hawley’s Pond?” I thought the best way to address this good news story is to tell you the tale of the year 2000 construction of the Robert Moses statue that stands in front of the Village Hall. 

The most confounding decision that took over a year and a half to come to agreement on was what should the statue would look like? It took months of public query, involving our diligent community committee members, to finally agree on his look. I remember the night we discussed the cut of his pants. But you know what? I think everyone would agree ..we got it right. That statue is Robert Moses, a community member that changed our world forever. 

We tell this story for one reason: creating a world class fountain is an historic undertaking. To properly salute our everyday heroes, to say thank you to our nurses, Fire Department, our EMTs, our teachers, our morticians, our grocery workers, health care providers, and so many others, it must be done right. This is an extremely ambitious project honoring our everyday heroes in the world, and it has taken some time.

The time has come!

                                                 

We are proud to announce that this time has been put to good use and that the fountain has been fully designed and will soon be ready to be viewed. You will be so proud of this Fountain! 

A scaled working model and maquette (model) of the nurse that will stand proudly atop of the fountain has been completed. The nurse was received last week, and we expect the fountain shortly. Special thanks to resident artists Shawn and Allison Uttendorfer who have been working with the renowned sculptor, Jose Fernandez, in creating the fountain. The nurse maquette will ‘knock your socks off’. 

For this important project, funding is dependent solely on grants and donations. Plan to join us in September when we will sponsor a ‘Grand Reveal’ fundraiser as we roll out these two extraordinary works of art. Certainly, the Heroes Fountain will have a positive and dramatic effect for both entering Babylon Village or West Islip. Picture traveling along Montauk Highway at night and approaching a beautifully lit fountain. Although it is not going to be easy, we are already nearly halfway to our goal. Stay tuned for more information about the September fundraiser. 

To visualize the project, the Heroes Fountain will stand at seventeen feet tall and twenty feet wide.  This week we met with our Village engineer and Highway Superintendent to scope out an engineering plan. This phase would include soil testing, load bearing and such matters. This process of creating a plan should take us several months. During those months we are going to assemble the best and brightest team to erect our ‘Heroes Fountain’. We already have several builders who have volunteered their expertise. 

Returning to the often-asked question, when will the Heroes Fountain be built? Our goal is to break ground next Spring. When I once asked sculptor Jose Fernandez, how’s it going? He responded...’it will be epic’.  

   

Epic: honoring the deeds of heroic or legendary figures 

Wayne Horsley

                                                                          

 

                                          

A Motto For Babylon Village

 Babylon Village: Where History is Made

Question: why we need a motto? 

Answer: because this motto is true! 

 “We Didn’t Start the Fire” 

Remember the old Billy Joel song, ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’? Billy lists historical events in chronological order bringing us forward, through the decades, to the present. His point: we get to today by layering on those events of our past. 

Now that I have firmly implanted the song in your mind, substitute his words with Babylon Village history. Babylon has had that rich of a history. Literally, the story of Long Island can be told through the history of Babylon Village. With our song in mind substitute Salt Hay, Nathan Conklin, Baymen, Argyle Hotel, Marconi, Cuban Giants, Babylon Railroad station, Robert Moses, Captain Kangaroo, Beatification Society Fair, The Gazebo. As Billy Joel sings those notes, ‘it goes on and on’!   

To drive home a point, just within the last month, Babylon Village was reminded of two historic occurrences that may have slipped from our collective memories. The first, the publishing of a memoir “This is Panther Country”, were Tom McKeon, formally a Babylon High School student, tells the story of growing up in Babylon and witnessing the improbable underdog spirit and Basketball Glory of the 1974-5 Panther team that won the first ever Long Island Championship. Tom recently told his story to a spellbound crowd of over a hundred at the American Legion. Among those in attendance were coach Roy Koebel and star player Glenn Vickers.

Proud Panther Glenn Vickers addresses the crowd

The second historic marker was a surprise to everyone. While removing the facade of the closed Horace and Sylvia's restaurant on Deer Park Avenue, the name of Breitbard's Department Store resurfaced after having been covered over since the 1940s (see previous blog post for more information on this discovery). After a little research, we learned that this store was owned by the parents of Radio Hall of Famer William B. Williams, who was a graduate of the 1940 class at Babylon High School.

It is true that ‘We didn’t Start the Fire’ and it is still ablaze; Babylon Village-Where History is Made! 

 Why a motto? 

A motto will focus a preconceived idea of what our community values while instilling civic pride. If you're looking to buy into a community, whether for a home or business, and you see a motto reflecting the value of its history, it differentially sets apart our south shore community from any other. This is the same concept that drove the repurposing of the Village Historical Society Museum, the erection of the Bayman Statue, the Gazebo, the restoration of the Conklin House and more. It defines what people think of us as a community and will increase the value of Village property. 

A motto as proposed, will also stimulate interest by our residents in our history. This and programs like our Circa Board program for homes over 100 years old, encourages residents to maintain and nurture our older housing stock. Older communities that have a visible history become a place to visit. 

History, good schools and appreciation for the arts are drivers of a successful community. Let’s be sure we capitalize on our good fortune and brag about it to the world by adopting the motto Babylon Village- Where History is Made! 

 - Wayne Horsley

  

 

 

A Babylon History Mystery: The Breitbard Department Store Sign

There’s always something or someone coming and going in the Village. Take, for instance, the building where the old Horace and Sylvia’s restaurant used to be (100 Deer Park Avenue). A new restaurant called The Babylon Social will be opening in that space, but first, a lot of renovation is taking place. As the construction crew worked on the front of the building, an interesting artifact was revealed.

 

Obviously, this sign was a remnant of a long-ago retail establishment. Now, if you are a long-time resident of Babylon Village, you know that there are folks who have lived here for generations and know just about everything about everything that took place here. But no one seemed to remember Breitbard’s Department Store. It wasn’t The Necessary Store or H.C. Grand’s 5 and 10 Cent Store that many remembered. It was a mystery.

Here’s where the power of social media comes in. Someone knew that Breitbard was the birth name of famous NY radio personality William B. Williams. His online biography states that he was born in 1923 in Babylon. That’s all we needed. The Historical Society was able to locate his 1940 year book and a few other tidbits of information. Among the comments on the Historical Society’s Facebook page were some additional pieces of information provided by residents and – best of all- a message from William B. Willams’ son, Jeffrey.

We were able to connect with Jeffrey and give him a tour of his dad’s home town and, with the help of Babylon Town Historian Mary Cascone, fill in a lot of blanks in the story of his father and grandparents. The Historical Society wants to find a proper way to honor him as a Babylon Notable and will be working with Jeffrey to plan an event.

And just in case you’re too young to remember, William B. Williams was the host of WNEW radio’s “Make Believe Ballroom.” He was a connoisseur of the great American songbook and holds the distinction of bestowing on Frank Sinatra the nickname “The Chairman of the Board.”

As for future developments – as William B. Willams might say – stay tuned!

 - submitted by guest poster Marsha Collock

BABYLON VILLAGE: THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS

While driving through the Village it occurred to me just how much the downtown has improved over the last several decades. It is human nature to long for and recall the past only in glowing terms. In the mind's eye the economy and a community culture were always better back when we were younger. However, when it comes to Babylon Village, we have never looked better than we do now.

When I returned from college in 1972, I was upset over the appearance and economic viability of the Village. Everyone knows that a community is judged by the success of its downtown and schools. There were few who clamored, like now, “I would love to move to Babylon Village.” Back in the 70s Long Island’s south shore was caught up in the fever that bigger was better. Malls and large supermarkets defined suburban culture. As a result, markets like Bohack, A&P, and Big Ben left the Village.

Main Street in the 1970s was in need of some TLC

Like falling dominos, stores began closing due to the loss of foot traffic. Up to the late sixties Babylon Village was always a thriving economic south shore community, but starting in the 70s, all of that changed. Sadly, we watched our beloved community grow tired. 

Concerned Citizens

With this “These are the Good Old Days’ blog in mind, I searched out an old file on a short-lived group that I worked with who were called the Babylon Promotional Council. The Council was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Hanse and the Village Board, Babylon High School technology classes and a number of concerned folks from the community. If nothing else was achieved by the Council, we brought attention to the state of the downtown. The one concrete achievement was that we produced a survey of the residents and existing businesses. The entire Village and business community was surveyed to measure the level of community concern and what if anything we should do about our downtown. We received 325 respondents who had to return their extensive surveys to a local store. We thought that was pretty good, and the bottom line was that the community was ready to involve themselves in the rescuing of their Village. As quoted in a Promotional Council article in the Beacon, “Since we live in a quaint, convenient, old-fashioned village, let us seek out enterprises that will accentuate our positive qualities.”

We Had a Movement

The story has been told many times about the newly formed Babylon Beautification Society placing flower barrels on the street corners of our downtown. They were wooden beer barrels cut in half and tended to by volunteers (including watering). By the way, the flower baskets that we see throughout the downtown, now attached to the BBS inspired and donated antique lights, are direct descendants of those original barrels. It was at this same time that the Historical Society was created. These two organizations alone created the BBS fair, the Gazebo, The Historical Society Fountain, Downtown Tree Plantings, the Robert Moses Statue, and the Bayman Plaza, to name a few. Layer on the good works of the Rotary, Lions, Fire Department, Village Arts Council, Babylon Business and Professional Women’s Association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Pilot Club and so many others and the list of accomplishments and contributions becomes endless. It wasn’t long before it became evident that this community was a good financial bet, particularly for the restaurant business. 

 

Downtown today looking good

The point of this reflection is for you to take a second look at our downtown. As you do, factor in the Railroad Station re-do, the new construction of store fronts and apartments, The Argyle Theatre and the growth of our arts community, street fairs, etc.  Change is necessary for growth. We and our Village can never look like we did in the 60s and before. The important thing is that Babylon Village is experiencing positive growth while still retaining the vibrancy and charm of a traditional south shore community. These are truly the Good Old Days in Babylon Village - Where History is Made! 

Wayne Horsley

Village Historian