DAN’S PAPERS
Page 164 July 5, 2013
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NORTH FORK EVENTS
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So much to see and do this weekend!
Wooten Hootin’ on Stage in Riverhead
J
im Wooten is a hale and hardy fellow who seems to have stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting—capturing the time-honored values, challenges and joys of living on Main Street in small town America and loving it. Wooten is a happy guy! He likes to sing, loves his hometown and enjoys his job as a councilman on the Riverhead Town Board so much that he is running for Supervisor. He has no desire to sing professionally but he’s really good. Once in a while he stops in at Digger
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O’Dell’s, before heading home from a speaking engagement or fundraiser, picks up the microphone, loosens his tie and wows the crowd with his version of “Sweet Caroline” or a Sinatra standard. Wooten sings on the job too! He can be heard humming and singing as he makes his way around Town Hall. At home, where he starts singing at 7 a.m., he’s told to be quiet, according to his daughter Alivia. “My mom tells him to shut up,” Alivia said. Mother and daughter do not sing and sometimes don’t want to listen, but the crowd at the bar is always intrigued and ready to give up a round of applause. Singing, according to the councilman, shows people that he’s
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just a regular guy—but it doesn’t help him get votes. Wooten started singing in the choir at the First Congregational Church on Main Street as a child. His mother took him to church where the pastor’s wife was his Sunday school teacher. One day Wooten made a bet with the pastor’s wife who said she would give him $10 if he would sing a solo. He did and the rest is very colorful history. An anonymous BEST ITALIAN Fresh Stuffed Flounder - Lobster Salad - Prime Rib benefactor heard him that day and offered to pay for lessons, which were pricey back than at $20 a Roast LI Duck - Sauerbraten - Roast Turkey week. Wooten headed up to Madame Nobel’s on Local Wine & Beer - Classic Cocktails Dinner 7 Days from 4 pm Sound Avenue in Baiting Hollow, for six years he Fresh Baked Pies - Children’s Menu took lessons from the retired New York opera coach (call for reservation) We Welcome Take-Outs - Closed Monday Reopening Friday, April 6 and piano instructor, from age 12 to age 18. He never Happy Hour with Complementary Hors d’Oeuvres wanted to sing professionally but did make some Just minutes from 1410 Manhanset avenue in Brewer’s money singing at weddings and funerals on occasion. Serving dinner 4 p.m. till 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday stirling harBor Marina Tanger Outlets, L.I. Aquarium, and Easter Sunday Dinner will be served from 1-8 p.m. “I just look at it as a gift that I like to share. It’s fun,” & North Fork Wine Country Wooten says. Catering or offApremises 1410 Mon ANHANSET VENUE IN BREWER’S STIRLING HARBOR MARINA Catering on or www.portobellonorthfork.com Just 1 mile east Wooten took a job at a shoe store on Main Street off premises of Greenport Village 628 MAIN ROAD - AQUEBOGUEE when he graduated from Riverhead High School. A fax: 477-1511 477-1515 631-722-3655 few years later, with a little encouragement from one of his cousins, he joined the Riverhead Police www.ModernSnackBar.com Since 1950 www.portobellonorthfork.com • 477.1515 Department, where he served for nearly 24 years, retiring in 2005. He still lives on the street where he was born. “I haven’t moved a half a mile from where I was raised,” Wooten said. He can walk to work at Town Hall and he loves to stroll along Main Street where he meets friends at the Riverhead Grill, located just across the street from the First Congregational Church where he still sings in the choir. Wooten plays golf when he has time. Wooten attributed his affinity for police work to his roots in a military family where he was accustomed to structure and discipline. “I came from Come See What All The Excitement Is At Our good stock. We had values and believed in right and wrong,” Wooten said. Like most East End residents who graduated from high school in 1978, Wooten remembers Riverhead as a small town where a kid Open House will be located at the could not get away with much, if anything at all. Your Dorothy P. Flint Nassau County 4-H Camp mother always knew when you were smoking in a 3186 Sound Avenue parking lot or ditching a class. Riverhead, NY 11901 Wooten ran for a seat on the town board six years ago and is now halfway through a second four-year term. He would like to continue to work on the revitalization of Main Street. He describes his approach to local government as non-partisan, practical problem solving. “I don’t have an agenda. I want to do the right thing. We live here, we work here and we have some control over Operated by Cornell Cooperative our lives here,” Wooten said to me as he left the Extension of Nassau County Riverhead Grill with Alivia. They were going to get Accommodations for Persons With Cornell Cooperative Extension in Nassau ice cream. Sometimes life is like a song. Disabilities May Be Requested County Provides Equal Program and By Calling 516-433-7970 ext. 11 www.dpf4hcamp.org Oh happy days. Employment Opportunities
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