Coffee & A Good Book - Hallockville Museum Farm

Book Discussions with Topical Food Activities

Explore our historic North Fork region through literature and food. Topics include:

The Jews of Long Island 1705-1918 with Brad Kolodny. Hands-on food preparation class with Susan Babkes.
Rumrunners in Suffolk County: Tales from Liquor Island with Amy Folk. Rum tasting with Six Corners Wine.
Food Sovereignty, Food Sustainability, and Cultural Sustainability with Josephine Smith.
The Lady Lighthouse Keeper with Mary Korpi. Hands-on food preparation class with Susan Babkes.

Books are available at Burton’s Bookstore, Greenport.

Click Here to Register

Hallockville Members

$20 per session, $75 for all sessions

Non-Hallockville Members

$30 per session, $110 for all sessions

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The Jews of Long Island 1705-1918 with Brad Kolodny

January 29 at 2:00 PM

This engaging narrative tells the story of how Jewish communities were established and developed east of New York City. It includes stories of peddlers, farmers and factory workers as well as successful merchants and wealthy industrialists like the Guggenheims. Archival material, including census records, newspaper accounts, never before published photos and personal family histories illuminate Jewish life and experiences during these formative years. With over 4400 names of people who lived in Nassau and Suffolk counties prior to the end of World War 1, The Jews of Long Island is an interesting read on the foundation of what has become the fourth largest Jewish community in the United States.

Reading to culminate with a hands-on food preparation class as well as a book discussion with Mr. Kolodny.

Food Sovereignty, Food Sustainability and Cultural Sustainability with Josephine Smith

April 1 at 11:00 AM

Josephine A. Smith is an enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Indian Nation of eastern Long Island, New York. She resides on the Shinnecock Territory with her family. Josephine began cooking at a young age, watching her mother, grandmother and aunts and uncles. As she became an adult, she continued her interest in learning about the traditional foods and medicines of her people and passes this knowledge on to her children and grandchildren. For over 25 years she developed recipes and sold her foods as a vendor, Taste of Tradition, at powwows. She has given presentations on traditional foods, served on a panel for the Food Lab Conference at Stony Brook Southampton, and has catered special event receptions for museums and cultural organizations. Josephine serves as the Director of Cultural Resources Department for the Shinnecock Nation, and developed her business, Hands of Tradition, as a jewelry, craft and regalia designer and cultural education presenter. She sells the handcrafted work of family and tribal members, especially women and tribal elders at powwows and events in the northeast. Though physically no longer travel to powwows as a food vendor, she still enjoys gathering from the land and sea and cooking for family and friends and tribal gatherings.

This session will take place on April 1, 2023 and concluded with Josephine preparing a three sisters soup of corn, beans, and squash.

Rumrunners in Suffolk County: Tales from Liquor Island with Amy Folk

February 25 at 11:00 AM

Noted Southold historian, Ms. Folk takes us on quite the journey. Nicknamed Liquor Island, Long Island was a rumrunners paradise during Prohibition. With its proximity to major markets and coastal communities, Suffolk County was full up on illegal liquor. Smugglers would bring cases from offshore and would secretly hide the liquor in local sheds and garages. Coded messages often arranged sales and logistics. Quiet towns experienced violence as locals became entangled in dangerous liaisons with bootleggers.

Reading to culminate with a book discussion led by Ms. Folk

The Lady Lighthouse Keeper with Mary Korpi

April 29 at 11:00 AM

Mary Korpi moved to the North Fork in June of 2017 after retiring from a long-term career working with people with special needs. On a mission to get involved and meet local people, she began volunteering as a docent at Horton Point Lighthouse in Southold that August. She was intrigued to learn that one woman, Stella Prince, served as a keeper. Seeking to learn more about Stella’s life, Mrs. Korpi read everything she could find about women lighthouse keepers. She discovered that history had overlooked Stella as she was not included in any published works about women lighthouse keepers. Mrs. Korpi delved into original sources such as local newspaper clippings and obituaries through the Southold Historical Museum, local librarians, and the Suffolk County Museum library. The factual information she gathered became the narrated PowerPoint available at Southoldhistorical.org and is the basis for the book, The Lady Lighthouse Keeper, published in February 2022 from lulu.com.

Justice for Stella is at hand! In November 2022, the Coast Guard historian agreed to add Stella to the official list of women lighthouse keepers based on the documentation Mrs. Korpi gathered regarding her employment from the National Archives. Stella will finally take her proper place in history a mere 119 years after her service.