You can now reach the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce through the Internet. Executive Director Kathy Wilson thanked Jerritt Gluck for his contribution to the chamber. "Thank you for the countless hours you spent working on the new chamber web site. You saved the organization thousands of dollars by doing it," she said.

The address is www. oyster bay.org. That it works was proven by the response they already received after the article about the Ernestina appeared in the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot. Someone sent her an email saying they have a video of the Ernestina under sail that they would make available to the chamber. Ms. Wilson thanked the Pilot for the front page article announcing the Ernestina coming to Oyster Bay for the Oyster Festival. The ship, an Essex built schooner was a trans-Atlantic Packet Steamer and one of two remaining arctic explorers. It is completely restored. The ship is 156 feet overall with a 40-foot bowsprit and is 110 feet on deck. It has 8,000 sq. ft. of sail. It was going to be in Newport at the Oyster Festival time but they canceled - they are flexible, she said.

She explained that in order to create the Oyster Festival sponsors were needed, and she was delighted that she got responses from last year's participants in only two weeks after sending out the information. The company that decides to sponsor the Ernestina, which will arrive on Oct. 15, will be able to hold an event aboard the ship for about 60 people of their choice.

She said Newsday's sponsorship of the festival is a demonstration of how well thought of it has become. With their contribution of advertising the current sponsor package is worth more than it costs.

She said the New York Lottery is interested in being a sponsor.

Scott Davis of Oyster Bay Dodge said the opportunity to have a full page ad in Newsday's full run - Nassau, Suffolk and Queens at half price - was making their corporation, OB Dodge, interested in becoming a sponsor.

They have two months to line up the sponsors, he said. They are already appointing all the committee chairpeople needed to make the festival tick. Seventy percent are in place, said Scott.

"The focus of the festival," said Ms. Wilson, "is to promote local business and to help the nonprofits. If the chamber ran the festival without them and with outside vendors, it would make about $100,000 or better, but we don't want to forget we are all related to the 18 nonprofits."

Speaking of the Oyster Festival, Ms. Wilson was very gratified to see that previous sponsors responded so quickly to her first mailing.

Rebecca Rhodes-Weinreich of Pleasant Valley Gallery and Gifts was applauded by the chamber members. She was nominated by her employers Claire and Chris Bellerjeau as their employee who most exemplified the four tenets of Rotary. Rebecca will be honored by Rotary of Oyster Bay at a luncheon at the Sagamore Yacht Club at noon on April 28.

All chamber members were invited to attend. Tickets are $15 each; there will be a guest speaker, a great leader in the business world. Please call Rotarian Bob Nathan of Appliance World at 624-0132 if you would like to attend.

Ms. Weinreich is attracting attention for her gingerbread houses. Last year one of her houses was on display at Schneider Children's Hospital. "The Russian Tea Room wants pictures of St. Basil's," she said. The creation was on display during the holiday season but wasn't finished as she wanted, even after 400 hours of work. She is working on it again.

She said when Bob Nathan called, telling her of being chosen, she was astounded. "Chris and Claire didn't tell me they were nominating me," she said.

Ms. Wilson announced several monthly business seminars offered by the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce at Hofstra University. On April 21 the topic is networking; May 19 - strategic planning for chambers; June 16 - marketing.

She attended the North Shore Promotional Alliance, on April 8. The group was instrumental in creating the Heritage Trail - covering the north shore towns from Great Neck to Port Jefferson which were visited by George Washington after the Revolutionary War. Local historic sites, such as Coe Hall, are a part of it. They plan to plant 46 cherry trees along 25A, she said. They are offering a discount card that offers a pay for one/get one free admission to local museums and possible discount arrangements with local restaurants.

Scott Davis is the chair of the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing set for Monday, June 28 at the Woodcrest Country Club. "They did a major renovation. It will be the site of the USGA Amateur Qualifiying Tournament. The USGA is the nationally recognized golf association for tournament play. There is always a national amateur championship held," he said. "Generally it is for college students and guys out of school but who haven't qualified to be professionals as yet."

He said, "Because of the restoration work, they are limiting outings and we are very glad to be able to go back," he said.

John Specce is sending sponsor packets out this week, he said. There are two key elements in the golf outing, Scott said: getting more golfers and getting sponsors. The proceeds all go toward the chamber's Beautification Committee. "Rebecca and Connie have a serious budget," he said. Local interior decorator Connie Gallo is working with Rebecca Weinreich on beautification.

"I try to give away Robbie's car every time," said Les Marbles. It can be won with a hole-in-one!

The tournament will start with a brunch at about 10 a.m. and then after a warm-up on the driving range, it will get off at noon with a shotgun start. The day will end with cocktails and an awards dinner. There is an open bar.

There will be prizes and awards for all.

"Because of the quality of the course, Woodcrest is providing caddies for all the foursomes. They don't carry the bags. They let you know where your ball went. It helps to speed up the play and makes for an enjoyable day," said Scott Davis.

Rebecca asked for golf fliers to display at Pleasant Valley Gallery and Gifts. "Most of my customers are golfers," she said.

Dr. Jill Sweig, and her staff volunteered to help at the tournament. The chamber needs people to sit at the holes during the tournament.

Dave Relyea of Frank M. Flowers and Sons, Inc. shellfishers, is on the board of the Christeen Oyster Sloop Preservation Foundation. He said the Christeen will be a floating museum and a research vessel for the Western Waterfront. He introduced Denise Woodin, the new executive director of Friends of the Bay. Mike Deering, who is now working for Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, is also acting as a consultant to FOB. Mr. Deering is working with both the town and the state as they write their memorandum of understanding for the Western Waterfront to decide who is responsible for what part of running the facility. He is making sure that the plans conform to what the public comments indicated.

Rebecca Rhodes-Weinreich has set Sunday, May 23 for Operation Cleanup to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. She will have local Scouting groups helping with plantings. The town will be picking up the trash. She hopes to have the Scouts earn a badge by taking on a cleanup project to be done over a few weeks.

Councilwoman Christine Preston is trying to get a power washer to clean the sidewalks, she said.

The plan includes hanging baskets, benches and lights and she hopes to have both the town and Rotary help with the project. Jerritt Gluck suggested that the highway department would have information on what permits might be needed and what regulations must be adhered to in putting benches on the street.

Keeping the hamlet clean includes getting volunteers to water the plantings and reminding everyone that the town ordinance states that the sidewalk in front of a business is their responsibility to keep clean.

Jerritt Gluck suggested the chamber start in their own backyard, cleaning up the path from the parking lot to their office. At one time it was a well maintained garden.

Barbara Hadel, chair of the Business After Hours event said businesses can display their products at the Doubleday Babcock Senior Center between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at a date to be set sometime in September.

Jerritt Gluck suggested the hamlet take the example of Saratoga Springs, NY, where they have parking signs with a carriage logo to give a sense of the historic nature of their town. Mr. Gluck and Les Marbles presented several sketches of signs and decided to hold a contest to find the best design.

Mr. Marbles explained that there are several parking lots in town that aren't used and that if people were aware of where they were, they could take advantage of them.

Mr. Gluck said the town highway department has offered to make whatever signs the chamber and the community decide they would like. They have already done so for the Massapequa Chamber of Commerce. Look for more information about the sign program in the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot.

Andrew Batten, director of Raynham Hall Museum was the guest speaker at the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce meeting, April 8. His topic was Upstairs, Downstairs in Oyster Bay: the history of servants in Oyster Bay.

Interestingly, Mr. Batten asked who the two most famous people to come from Oyster Bay were. The answer was Theodore Roosevelt and a servant - Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary.

While she lived in Oyster Bay, she, as all the servants who worked here, was "invisible." She worked in a house that was located on what is now the property of the Oyster Bay High School, where she infected four people with Typhoid Fever. In all, she infected 1,400 people with the illness out of which 40 died. She was born in Ireland and made her name here - while she remained invisible.

She became famous after she left. She changed her name and went on to infect others.

Mr. Batten's theme was that servants were invisible.

In most historic houses, the visitor does not see the servants quarters, he said. The exception is Sagamore Hill, today, and Raynham Hall tomorrow, when the restoration of their Victorian kitchen is complete.

He said the Roosevelts had an unusual attitude for their time, toward their servants. While others kept the barrier between the classes up high - the Roosevelts' attitude was more liberal. The Roosevelt children shared the same floor of the house as the servants. TR's study was on the same floor.

In Raynham Hall a more common procedure was followed. There was a servant's wing with a door between the two; it was closed.

The servants quarters were small. Small rooms, small staircase and small doorways as compared to the rest of the house. Mrs. Townsend wore hoop skirts as she climbed the stairs to the second floor.

His talk was informative, and made the history of the Townsends and their servants - whose names they know - come very much alive.

It was a wonderful way to end the meeting - fully refreshed with the history of Oyster Bay as the chamber plans for its future.