It was December 1941.  F.D.R. called America to arms and Oyster Bay answered with more effort and enthusiasm than most small towns.

Perhaps it was in honor of the town's most famous resident, President Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Rider hero of San Juan Hill. Perhaps the tide of response was built on its long seafaring tradition and its proximity to the great Atlantic Coast Navy yards -- the Brooklyn Navy Yard was just a holler and a throw away. Maybe it was motivated by a seawave of second-generation immigrant patriotism. Oyster Bay was home to neighborhoods of Italians, Germans and Irish. Or maybe the enthusiam was nurtured in the cradle of aviation -- almost everybody had a family member who worked at Grumman or Republic. Then, too, it could have been just the fortunate coincidence of a large, youthful population not tied to the land by furrows to plough.

No matter the source, the patriotic response was strong and long-revered and is the subject of the new exhibition, Oyster Bay Goes to War.

Exhibit Contents
Oyster Bay Historical Society Director, Thomas A. Kuehhas, has spent many months interviewing and documenting the memorable experiences of the WWII veterans who call Oyster Bay their Home Town. The exhibit is filled with the dramatic and nostalgic photographs he assembled of those challenging times. A small sample of the images are playing in the slideshow at right.

The exhibit also includes documents, memorabilia and interviews with the Oyster Bay veterans who served during those incredible years. This is a rare compendium of previously un-published oral history that makes the War Years as immediate and compelling as today's front page.

Exhibit Opening
The exhibit opens on Sunday, June 28, 2009 from 2:00-4:00 pm with a Roundtable Discussion at the Oyster Community Center followed by a reception at the Earle-Wightman House Museum.

Refreshments will be served at opening reception. The cost is $20 for Members and $25 otherwise. Proceeds benefit the OBHS Building Fund and will be matched by the Dolan Family Foundation.

To reserve by mail, please make your check payable to Oyster Bay Historical Society and mail before 6/22 to PO Box 297, Oyster Bay, NY 11771. After 6/22, please pay online with your major charge card or PayPal*. Questions: Call 516-922-5022.

This is a wonderful opportunity to show your support for those who have served our Great Country, past and present, and to support the Oyster Bay Historical Society, too.

*MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express payments to the Oyster Bay Historical Society are processed through PayPal to OBHS advisor Louis J. Bruno and do not require a PayPal account.

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