Southold Town’s helicopter noise steering committee head Teresa McCaskie of Mattituck was honored last night as the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association’s citizen of the year. She is the second such honoree; last year’s award went to Bill Toedter, former North Fork Environmental Council president.
On the coldest night of the year so far, about two dozen people gathered at the Veterans Beach community room in Mattituck to honor McCaskie’s years of hard work and tenacity fighting for quieter skies over the East End. Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association president Mary Eisentein presented her with a plaque, calling her “our inspiration.”
Supervisor Scott Russell commended McCaskie for galvanizing the community.
“Teresa never gives up, she doesn’t take no for an answer, she presses on. Nothing’s ever intimidated her,” said Russell. “She’s not just fighting for the people of her community. She’s fighting for Cutchogue, East Marion, even the people from the South Fork who are just as put out as we are.”
Russell joked, “To show you what kind of effort she puts in, just a week ago she went outside and started yelling at a flock of Canada geese for flying under 2,500 ft. You can laugh if you want — they elevated.”
Congressman Lee Zeldin’s district director Mark Woolley presented McCaskie with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. “This was well-deserved,” said Woolley. “Teresa needed to be recognized for all her outstanding work for this community.”
County representative John Stype, standing in for Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski, who was unable to attend, presented McCaskie with a proclamation and praised her dedication and persistence.
Southold Town board member Robert Ghosio added, “She has made this fight almost enjoyable.”
An obviously moved McCaskie thanked everyone for their help and the recognition, saying “We live in a beautiful area and I feel very passionate about protecting it. This is our home. What an amazing organization to be recognized by. I am so very grateful for all of your continued support over the years.”
She added, “I’d like to thank my extremely patient husband, for all those times I’m in a middle of a sentence and I’ve grabbed my camera and run outside to take pictures of helicopters.”
SoutholdLOCAL photos by Katharine Schroeder
