A date with history

Historian Bob Sympson

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Several lucky fourth-graders at Lynbrook’s Our Lady of Peace School and Rhame Avenue Elementary School in East Rockaway found out what it would have been like if they lived centuries ago — specifically, if they worked at such historic places like East Rockaway’s Grist Mill (now a museum), or witnessed the famous Bristol, and Mexico shipwrecks in the early 1800’s.

The Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook hosted their fourth annual “Historical Retrospective,” offering facts, figures, photographs, and even memories of those bygone days to the young students. There were subtle, and vivid glimpses into both villages’ histories, focused on the Grist Mill and tragic shipwrecks, presented at Lynbrook Library on June 16. Volunteers offered unique perspectives on those two historic topics, which have left memorable legacies.

“They get a sense of the history of the towns they live in, and they learn, said fourth-grade OLP teacher Kristine Fitzgerald.

Nearly two dozen of OLP fourth-grade students were curious, and others anxious to learn about these historic subjects. There were artifacts, and cardboard cutoffs of famous fashions, and historic figures in the library great room. Walking outside that room, you could find a life-size replica of the memorial of the two shipwrecks that claimed the lives of more than 200 people on Long Island’s south shore in 1836. OLP fourth-grader Ryan Romaine said he found the shipwreck presentation to be very interesting. “I like to learn about it,” he said.

Volunteer Patricia McGivern talked with such passion about the shipwrecks’ tragedy. It was clear that the event was very important to Lynbrook’s history, and should always be remembered. In fact, a memorial of the two American tall ships, Bristol and Mexico, can be found in the village’s Mariner’s burial ground in the Rockville Cemetery on Merrick Road and Ocean Avenue.