Saturday, May 19, 2012 is the sixty second commemoration of the unified Armed Forces Day, which replaced the separate U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force days prior to May 20, 1950.  As the OURMILITARY.MIL  home page states:

Representing only one percent of our population in the United States, our military willingly takes on the ultimate responsibility of protecting our entire nation.  Missing small moments of each day that we often take for granted here at home, as well as irreplaceable milestones like birthdays, anniversaries, graduations with the people they love, our Service members make incredible sacrifices and put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of us all.

On Saturday, May 19th, the U.S. Coast Guard Station/Eaton’s Neck  will be open to the public from 9 AM to 4 PM.  The Coast Guard Station is located at the northern tip of Eaton’s Neck in Northport.  The Lighthouse is the second oldest on Long Island, and the sixth oldest in the United States. Take this once a year opportunity, and bring your family to see this special part of Long Island history.

Posted by S. McGuire

The library has added the American Airpower Museum to its free Museum Pass Program.  Check out their Memorial Day events and much more. If you like aviation, you will also be interested in the INTREPID Sea, Air and Space Museum and the Cradle of Aviation Museum.  Our pass program is popular, so please reserve your museum passes in advance by clicking the museum pass program link above, on the library’s home page link, by phone or in person.

Posted by Ray Arroyo

Milebreakers  On This Date in History:  May 6^th.

On This Date in History:  May 6^th   1954:  Roger Bannister breaks the 4 minute mile.

                For runners, breaking the 4 minute had long been the Holy Grail of racing. When in 1865, an English runner, Richard Webster, ran the mile in 4:36.5, racing historians began to take serious notice of the 4 minute mile. As it turned out, attempts to shave off that meager half-minute proved to be agonizing and heartbreaking. By the turn of the century in that glorious year of 1900, when men seriously strove to fly above the ground in precarious wood and cloth air craft , and when Britannia’s empire still stretched across the terrestrial world, having bridged mighty oceans and surmounted fearsome mountain ranges,  the runners’ record for the mile stood at 4:15.4; 21 seconds-  closer and tantalizingly  near to the 4 minute mile, but apparently still unattainable.

Supermoon Tonight!    Saturday May 5^th

Check the sky tonight. 

The moon, by our calendar time, will feature the closest and largest full moon of the year. 

Astronomers call a close moon of this sort a perigee full moon. By perigee, astronomers signify the period at which a moon is closest to Earth for a particular month. But there is always one time when it is at its absolute closest- and tonight is that time.  Last year, for instance, the  perigee full moon occurred on March 19, 2011.

• America: a tribute to heroes  2001
• America the beautiful  1996
• American patriot  1992
• Fennell conducts Sousa  1992
• God bless America  2001
• It’s a grand old flag  1991
• Let’s dance / The United States Air Force Airmen of Note  2000
• Sing 1999
• Sing America  1999
• Sousa legacy, Vols. I & II  1983
• Sousa spectacular  1982

Posted by Ray Arroyo

Stop by a participating comic book store to pick up your free comic. Fourth World Comics, located at 33 Route 111 in Smithtown is the closest shop in the vicinity that is participating in the event. For a list of the comic books available for free on Saturday, click here.

Posted by M. Rorke

Designed by Christine Kong, 9 – “I love the CPL because the staff there is so nice and the crafts are so fun!”

Posted by M. Rorke

To All Veterans in Need:

On Friday, April 27, 2012, from 10am to 2pm, the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency will be hosting its 6^th annual county-wide Veterans Stand Down at the Health, Sports, & Education Center on the Brentwood Campus of Suffolk Community college.

Federal, State, County and Private Agencies will be present to assist veterans in need of health, employment, financial, housing, educational, and VA benefit services.

   *Other Services Offered:   Meal Station;  Hair Cut Station;   Food Pantry;  Clothing Closet.

Directions  By  Automobile:         

From the east or west take the Long Island Expressway to exit 53.

Check out the 1940 Census for your relatives and then continue your genealogical explorations by checking the other sources included in the Ancestry.com link from our homepage.   Also, peruse our Historic Newspaper databases.

Posted by Ray Arroyo