Get Your Halloween Thrills and Chills in Downtown Oyster Bay!

Come visit us in historic downtown Oyster Bay (postcard ca. 1910)

Where better to celebrate Halloween than Oyster Bay, one of the most historic communities on Long Island dating all the way back to 1653?  We've had our fair share of characters pass through from British officers during the Revolutionary War, to the author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving himself - who visited Oyster Bay many times, and modern day figures like Mary Mallon who is better known today as Typhoid Mary. Nothing will prepare you for the fun and exciting events family-friendly events we have in store for you this Halloween! Just a few of these follow.

Ghost Rides, Sunday, October 30, 3-7pm
Hop on the horse drawn carriage at Sweet Tomato (91 Audrey Ave.), and just stay on on for a free half-hour circuit ride, OR, for a fee of $10 for adults, $5 for kids (free if they're under 48 inches) you can hop on and off for ghost tours at the following stops: Oyster Bay Historical Society (20 Summit Street), the famously haunted Raynham Hall (20 West Main Street) and the old Railroad Station, (a VERY spooky place at the end of Audrey Avenue) for ghost stories, paranormal investigations, and other spine tingling fun. For more information, call 516-922-6808 or visit www.oysterbayhistorical.org.                                                        

Raynham Hall Museum with spooky Victorian Gothic tower as it appeared around 1880.

What's Cooking Halloween Spooktacular

Thursday, October 27th & Friday, October 28th, 5-7:00pm

There are no tricks to these treats! What's Cooking (30 East Main Street, Oyster Bay) has brewed a Halloween special for our chefs. From tasty treats to decorative ghoulish cookies and desserts, these recipes are as delicious as they are spooky. Create a craft, a take-home treat, There are no tricks to these treats! What's Cooking? has brewed a Halloween enjoy a main course while they are here, and a yummy treat. Menu to include: 

Haunted Chocolate House, 

Mummy Dogs w/ Homemade Fries, Halloween Sugar Cookies, Ghostly Pumpkin Pudding, and Slime Juice. Please visit the What's Cooking website to register!

Last Oyster Bay Farmers' Market of the Year!

Friday, October 28th, 10am-4pm

Come out and get the finest fall produce, as well as special treats that all of our vendors have to provide from pickles, to baked goods, eggs, nuts, dog treats, soaps, mums, and, yes, we have PUMPKINS!  The market is located in Townsend Park by the Derby-Hall Bandstand. Free cider and donuts will be available at the Oyster Bay Main Street table for ghosts and ghouls who stop by and say hi (or boo!).

Halloween Spooktacular! at Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary & Audubon Center
Sunday, October 30th (various times) - Please Note Day Change from Saturday due to expected inclement weather

Toddlers Only: 11:00am-12:00pm (spooky)Kids 2-10 years: 1:00-2:30pm (spookier)Kids 8+ years: 6:00-7:30pm (spookiest)Held at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary & Audubon Center (134 Cove Road)

Have an up-close encounter with some spooky animals, find and decorate your perfect pumpkin from the patch, and go on a Halloween adventure walk. We'll end each session with Halloween stories around the campfire and prizes for the best costumes. The spookiness increases as the day progresses. Registration Required! $5 members / $8 non-members per child, $2 per adult. For more information, please call (516) 922-3200. Please visit the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary & Audubon Center website for more info!


Fit Fusion Interactive 1st Annual Halloween Costume Party

Sunday, October 30th- 12:00 Noon - 2:00pm

Enjoy free munchies, games, and prizes at Fit Fusion Interactive (67 West Main St.) an interactive fitness studio located in the spooky and historic Octagon Hotel that was built in 1851.

Christ Church in the 19th century, before this building was encased in stone.

Celebration of "All Hallows' Eve" at Christ Church
Sunday, October 30th- 5:00-6:00pm

The Episcopalian congregation in Oyster Bay, dating back to 1705, invites you to Christ Church (61 East Main St.) to hear spooky organ music starting at 5pm, with the sanctuary lit only by candles from Jack-o-lanterns. A ghost and witch straight out of the Bible will make a special appearance. The fun will then continue next door with a festive supper party for the entire community in the Parish Hall with costumes, games and more Jack-o-lanterns, of course! The event will benefit the Episcopal Relief and Development fund. for more information, please call 516-922-6377.

The M-1 Electric Cab Simulator Arriving in Oyster Bay April 12!

On Tuesday morning, April 12, the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum will take delivery of a unique piece of modern Long Island Rail Road history - an M-1 MU Electric Cab Simulator. The one-quarter length model of an MU was used to simulate operating rail conditions for training and certifying Long Island Rail Road engineers.

The simulator will afford the public (and especially youngsters) the opportunity to experience the cab of a modern passenger train, just as an engineer would - a wonderfully educational exercise.

The M-1 is being shipped by truck from the LIRR's Upper Holban Yard Training Facility in Hollis, Queens, and will arrive at the OBRM Rail Yard at approximately 9:00 AM. It will then be hoisted by crane, and will reside at the front of the yard. This simulator represents an important addition to the OBRM's collection of rolling stock.

The M-1 was acquired by the LIRR in 1995 and saw usage up until a few years ago, when the carrier began using the current Model M-7 cars, and phased out all M-1 equipment.

The Model M-1 weighs approximately 5,000 lbs. It is 10'8" wide, 11'6" high and 12'3" long.

Classics Day Gives Free Admission to Attractions in Oyster Bay, Sunday, May 15, noon to 4pm

Classic Boats, Cars, Trains, and Cycles Too


A new exciting event "Classics Day in Oyster Bay " on Sunday, May 15, 2011, will take place at various locations in the hamlet from noon to 4pm. There will be a walking map with points of interest throughout the hamlet for the event.

Classics Day in Oyster Bay combines classic boats, classic trains, classic cars, and Billy Joel's classic motorcycles. It will be a nice day for people to walk around the town to relax; the kids can climb onboard a train; they can come to the water, see the boats and relax and have a drink. There will be no charge at any of the venues, and a great day to enjoy historic Oyster Bay.



Visitors will start at Sagamore Yacht Club where various classic boats will be on display, courtesy of Oakcliff Sailing Center and The Waterfront Center of Oyster Bay. Sagamore Yacht Club's decks provide breath-taking views of Oyster Bay Harbor.



From there, it is a short walk to the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum train yard, where guests may climb aboard restored cabooses and view several other types of train equipment.



Just around the corner is Oakcliff Sailing Center dedicated to training sailors, boat workers, owners and teams in order to raise the level of sailors and sailing in the United States.




Next stop, after walking through the downtown area of Oyster Bay, is Billy Joel's 20th Century Cycles. On display are a collection of some 60 bikes lined up in neat rows, each a story on its own, where the important icons of their day are well represented with names like Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Royal Enfield, BSA, Triumph, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi and others.



Just across the street is the home of the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum, and then through Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park back to Sagamore Yacht Club. The Sagamore Yacht Club will have steel drum entertainment providing live music the day of the event!



Participating restaurants will be offering Classics Day discounts throughout the day for those wishing to have lunch or dinner. For a full list of Dining and Shopping in Oyster Bay, visit the Oyster Bay Main Street Association website. Also follow us on Facebook at "Historic Oyster Bay" and on Twitter @oysterbayny.

LIRR's wee workhorses to be big museum stars

BY Nicholas Hirshon

Tuesday, April 14th 2009, 10:47 AM

TWO LITTLE engines that could are landing the recognition they should.

To mark its 175th anniversary, the Long Island Rail Road is loaning two diminutive locomotives from a Queens repair yard - where they moved massive passenger and freight cars - for display at a Nassau County museum.

Built by General Electric in 1958, the pair of 51,000-pound workhorses - which often pushed or pulled train cars nearly six times their weight - will be on view at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum starting in May.

"We're really excited," said museum President John Specce, describing the miniature locomotives as "another aspect of the railroad that many people may not have been aware of."

Rick Williams, a railroad expert at the Historic Railpark and Train Museum in Bowling Green, Ky., marveled at how the "little guys" moved large locomotives up to 300,000 pounds for repairs and maintenance.

"Bigger isn't always better," he quipped.

Officially known as No. 397 and No. 398, the 150-horsepower tiny tuggers - which measure about 18 feet 2 inches long and 10 feet 4 inches high - are called "dinkies" because of their small size.

Ahead of their five-year loan to the museum, the LIRR is running a renaming contest. "We didn't think it was right to send them off without a proper name," said LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone.

Commuters can submit potential names at www.mta.info/lirr through tomorrow. The winner gets four tickets to the new Cirque du Soleil show "Kooza" this spring at Randalls Island.

Once shipped to the museum's display of rolling stock on Bay Ave., the dinkies will sit beside a pair of antique cabooses and a locomotive cab that was featured at the 1964 World's Fair in Queens, Specce said.

"They represent part of the history of the railroad," Specce said. "They were the workhorses of the yard."

Officials at the fledgling museum - which opened a preview center last year on Audrey Ave. - hope the exhibit will help them escape the shadow of a competing attraction, ex-President Theodore Roosevelt's home at Sagamore Hill.

"We're working in tandem with the Long Island Rail Road," said museum co-founder Gary Farkash, 47, of Baldwin, L.I. "It does add an air of credibility."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/04/14/2009-04-14_lirrs_wee_workhorses_to_be_big_museum_stars.html