Where You Shop Matters - Support Our Community

Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Market December 6, 2014
Hosted by the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Chamber of Commerce
Photographs Courtesy of the Oyster Bay Main Street Association

With the holiday season upon us, we want to stress the importance of shopping locally to support our local business owners, who are our friends and neighbors, and to support the downtown as a whole.  According to the 3/50 Project for "every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures."  It was encouraging to see the success of American Express' Small Business Saturday as well as that of the Holiday Market set up by our Chamber of Commerce during the Christmas tree lighting last weekend.  We would love to see this trend continue throughout the holiday season!

We do, however, understand that many supporters of Oyster Bay do not live locally and so, we wanted to let you know of an opportunity to give back to our community while shopping online - not only now, but all year long.  Amazon.com has created the AmazonSmile Foundation and has pledged to donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the Oyster Bay Main Street Association so that we can continue our mission of revitalizing the downtown.

To make sure a portion of your purchases go to support the Main Street Association please click the banner to the left and you will be taken to the AmazonSmile website.  

After selecting to support the Oyster Bay Main Street Association, you can continue to shop as normal and Amazon will take care of the rest.  Make sure that upon returning to shop that you visit the AmazonSmile website: smile.amazon.com to ensure your eligible purchases have twice the impact!

Happy shopping!

Hope your holiday season is merry and bright!

Oyster Bay Main Street Association

Celebrate the Holidays in Downtown Oyster Bay!

Oyster Bay is about to have the most active and exciting holiday season in recent memory. Community leaders and public officials will be on-hand to mark completion of the $2.5 million rehabilitation of the Octagon Hotel on Thursday, December 2. This 1850's building, where Theodore Roosevelt conducted his campaign for Governor of New York, will house 6 apartments and 3 retail units. Join us for the Ribbon Cutting & Dedication at 4pm, to be followed by building tours and reception with free food and drink. The Octagon Hotel is located at 67 West Main Street in downtown Oyster Bay.

Late Night Shopping Downtown
Stores will be open late on Thursday, December 2, 9, and 16, to help satisfy all of your shopping needs. Find that unique one-of-a-kind gift. Downtown Oyster Bay has art, anqiues, crafts, collectibles, jewelry, toys, and more.

Free Gift Wrapping
Buckingham's Variety Store at 36 Audrey Avenue will provide free gift wrapping for any item purchased at an Oyster Bay or East Norwich store when a receipt is provided. This will be offerred Thursday, Dec. 2, 9, and 16.

Also enjoy the following special events to be held throughout the month of December.

Wednesday, December 1

Menorah Lighting at the Derby-Hall Bandstand in Townsend Park located at Shore and Audrey Avenues, starting at 5:30pm.

Thursday, December 2


Meet the Maker: Jane Cairns Irvine at Think Long Island First, 5pm-7pm
Renowned glass artist Jane Cairns Irvine will present her glass art at Think Long Island First at 36 Audrey Avenue. Jane runs a successful studio in Glen Head where she creates her own work and introduces students of all ages to the magic of fused glass.

1st Annual Holiday Stroll and Artwalk, 7pm-9pm
Enjoy a stroll through town and visit many of our artists and art galleries that will be open late to satisfy your holiday shopping needs.

Rob Zeller of the Teaching Studios of Art at 115 Audrey Avenue will be conducting a portrait demonstration form a live model, 7pm-9pm. The event is free and open to the public. Artwork of faculty artists Kristin Künc, Bennett Vadnais, Lor Shorin and Jane McGraw Teubner will be on display, as well.

Shangri-la Spa at 63 Audrey Avenue will be hosting a "Meet the Artist Reception" from 7-9pm. A collection of original monotypes and hand-pulled prints, all modern interpretations of the figure, will be on display now through Feb. 18.

Artwork from local area artists will be on display in the Oyster Bay Main Street Association storefront office at 17 Audrey Ave, from 7pm-9pm. Free holiday food and refreshments will be provided.

Friday, December 3

HPS Network Benefit Christmas Concert, 7:30pm
Free concert featuring traditional, modern, and Christmas favorites. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted to benefit the Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Network. To be held at the Oyster Bay High School Performing Arts Center, 150 East Main Street, Oyster Bay

Sunday, December 5

HPS Network Benefit Christmas Concert, 2:00pm
Free concert featuring traditional, modern, and Christmas favorites. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted to benefit the Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Network. To be held at the Oyster Bay High School Performing Arts Center, 150 East Main Street, Oyster Bay

Holiday Tree Lighting, 4:15pm
At the Derby-Hall Bandstand in Townsend Park located at Shore and Audrey Avenues

Monday, December 6

Holiday Party at Blue Water Spa, 5pm-9pm
To celebrate the holidays we are offering an evening of Fun Fun Fun! Mingle with your friends, Meet the Staff, learn about new services. We are offering the following FREE services: Candy Cane Facials, Clarisonic Facial Cleansing Station, Mini Lactic Facial Peels, Oxygen Eye and Lip Infusion, Make up Make overs. Discounts on all our products. Champagne and hors d'oeuvres. And we are raffling off a Microdermabrasion Series (6 treatments) worth $1000! Please call us to RSVP. 516-584-6800 We hope to see you there!

Thursday, December 9

Many stores will be open late!

Free Gift Wrapping
Buckingham's Variety Store at 36 Audrey Avenue will offer free gift wrapping for any item purchased at an Oyster Bay or East Norwich store.

Friday, December 10

Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park, 6pm
Gates will open at 5:30PM and the tree lighting will take place at 6:00PM sharp. This year, we will light the magnificent thirty-five foot Japanese Umbrella Pine, which is located on the south side of the Camilla Greenhouse. The event will feature several special guests, including Santa and carolers. Guests will have the opportunity to see the holiday decorations on the first floor of Coe Hall. In addition, guests will be able to view the spectacular poinsettia display in the Main Greenhouse. Don’t forget to visit our beautiful café in the Visitor Center and enjoy a great snack. Both the grounds and the building will be open until 8:00PM. Admission is free. For more information, please call 516-922-8600.

Saturday, December 11

Free Horse and Carriage Rides, noon-4pm
Rides will depart every 15 minutes on a first come, first served basis from the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum, 102 Audrey Avenue.

Meet St. Nicholas, 12:30pm-2:30pm
St. Nicholas will make a special trip from the North Pole to greet guests at Raynham Hall Museum, located at 20 West Main Street. Children who come with their families will receive stocking stuffer gifts and holiday refreshments. Admission is $12 per family.

Oyster Bay Historical Society Holiday Open House, 4pm-7pm
A program of gospel and seasonal music will be held at the Hood A.M.E. Zion Church located at 137 South Street. This will be followed by a Holiday Reception at the Oyster Bay Historical Society building, located at 20 Summit Street in Oyster Bay.

The Artist Club Gallery Opening, doors open at 2pm, reception 7pm-9pm
The newly opened Artist Club Gallery at 27 Berry Hill Road will have an exhibition featuring work by artists Michael Cavayero, Kathryn Gardner, Odile Montel, and Peter Weeks. This is a "silent auction" gallery where club memebrs can bid for work in person, by phone, or online.

Sunday, December 12

Free Horse and Carriage Rides, noon-4pm
Rides will depart every 15 minutes on a first come, first served basis from the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum, 102 Audrey Avenue.

Sunday Barn Brunch, 11am-3pm
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park will hold a Sunday Barn Brunch in the Hay Barn. Live music by Mike Mattia & Friends will be provided. Food will be served buffet style with champagne cocktail. Price is $29.95 for adults and $15 for children under 10. Call Periwinkles Catering for more info 516-922-6700.

Thursday, December 16

Stores will be open late!

Free Gift Wrapping
Buckingham's Variety Store at 36 Audrey Avenue will offer free gift wrapping for any item purchased at an Oyster Bay or East Norwich store.

Saturday, December 18

Christmas with the Roosevelts at Sagamore Hill, noon-4pm
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site will host Christmas with the Roosevelts. Activities will include holiday music performed on a harp and flute by Musica Dolce at the park’s Old Orchard Museum and Christmas carols sung by Close Enough around Roosevelt Home. “Theodore Roosevelt,” as portrayed by James Foote, will share his reminiscences of how the Roosevelts celebrated Christmas, both at Sagamore Hill and in the White House. Ranger-guided tours of the Roosevelt Home will feature information about Christmases past and the festivities that the family enjoyed. Behind the Visitor Center, children will have an opportunity to work with a park ranger to make holiday crafts, and everyone is welcome to partake of complimentary hot cider and hot chocolate will be provided by the Friends of Sagamore Hill. 12 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay, New York. For further information, visit our website at www.nps.gov/sahi, or call 516-922-4788. Be sure to follow us on twitter for updates at http://twitter.com/SagamoreHillNHS.

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For those who would like to add an event to this list, please contact the Oyster Bay Main Street Association at (516) 922-6982 or visit http://www.oysterbaymainstreet.org/.

'Anonymous' Holiday Shopping Letter featured in Newsday

Oyster Bay offers 'stroll' for local shopping
Thursday November 25, 2010 12:45 PM By T.C. McCarthy

Oyster Bay is using a cheeky campaign to encourage its residents to shop locally this holiday season.

In a humorous letter distributed to drum up attention for the hamlet’s first annual Holiday Shopping Stroll, an “unknown shopper” discussed the monotony of rushing to packed shopping malls and encouraged residents to go to local stores throughout the hamlet for their holiday gifts.

The stroll begins Thursday, Dec. 2, when local shops will extend their business hours, according to a news release. Shops will be open longer on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16 as well. Tourist destinations like Raynham Hall and the Oyster Bay Historical Society will also be open until 7 p.m. offering free admission for visitors.

“We’re sending a message to the malls and big box stores that they can’t compete with us for unique gifts and a great shopping experience,” said Michele Browner, Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce president.

The campaign also supplied residents with a convenient and “scientifically accurate” chart that compares a holiday shopping experience at the mall to shopping at local stores. The chart breaks the experience down into the time it takes to shop, the items that would be available at each location and the atmosphere at each venue.

The anonymous shopper's full letter and associated chart are below.

Every year many of us gas up the family car and work our way through traffic, packed parking lots and long lines to do our holiday shopping. Somehow the malls have convinced us that it makes sense to drive passed our own local stores to partake in an annual shopping frenzy. Like bears picking off salmon, they have us blithely swim upstream participating in an unfulfilling, exhausting ritual. Is anyone looking at the gas prices when they leave town or the monotony of the mass marketed gifts in their trunks when they return?….and, by the way, how was that square burger and the dull cacophony of packaged “holiday” music? When did we lose the holiday spirit and succumb to the production line mentality? Here’s my answer. Let’s all put down the cell phone, take off the headphones to the MP3 player, turn off the GPS and drive slowly through the Hamlet….or better yet, walk and take a close look. Yes Dorothy, we do have quite a selection of stores now. Owned and operated by that good old fashioned institution: entrepreneurs. Collectively, it’s actually a brilliant cross section of unique gifts that make you feel like you’re actually passing on the spirit of the holiday versus filling your quota. We have art, antiques, crafts, confections, collectibles, jewelry, toys, etc. etc. etc. and a couple of chain stores to satisfy any lingering sense of guilt for enjoying the old fashioned hamlet shopping experience. We have a great little hamlet….great shops, great restaurants and it’s ours…and don’t forget the historical sites.

So here’s the dilemma. Embark on a journey to the mall (or big box store, for simplicity, we’ll call it the abyss) or shop right around the corner? For the efficiency experts out there, add up the time travelling to the abyss, finding (and possibly waiting) for a parking spot and walking to the entry of the abyss (take a reading on the stopwatch). Now go into the abyss and search out merchant units with the appropriate SKU’s; hope that whatever you’re looking for is there (admit it, you planned ahead) and wait on the line. After you purchased that item, stop the watch. Now multiply that times each merchant unit visit and add the time it took you to get there to begin with (you can drop the decimals for simplicity or round up or down if you’re feeling giddy). Rather daunting. And don’t forget to buy something, otherwise, like in the game of Monopoly, you can get sent back to the beginning and start all over again….and did I mention returns? OK, the fitness crowd will tell you it’s great for your quads…they got me on that one.

You have something in common with Teddy Roosevelt, Billy Joel and all your neighbors…you chose to live in the Oyster Bay area. We know the first two also set up shop in the hamlet. Maybe they know something? Come home to the hamlet this holiday shopping season. You’ll be glad you did. Go to the Chamber of Commerce (www.visitoysterbay.com) or Main Street Association (www.oysterbaymainstreet.org) web sites (or Facebook) to find out what’s going on.

Apologies to Paul Blart and the gas stations.

Signed,
The Unknown Shopper
(Name withheld to protect author from retribution from big box and mall reprisals)