Dan's Papers - July 3, 2009 - This Is the House that Ray Built

In the Hamptons there are people who have left their mark both in the world and in this unique place. Such a man is 78-year old Ray Hartjen, who has watched the sun set beyond Old Springs Fireplace Drive, (Gerard Drive) since his very first summer on this earth in 1931. Now living just two homes away from the one his parents bought in 1937, in the home his parents built in 1960, Brooklyn born Hartjen spoke about his two lives. One was as a pioneer in education after he received both his Masters and Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, with a thesis titled, "A Methodological Analysis for the Identification and Assessment of Teaching Behavior in Oral Story Reading." His thesis had a profound affect on teaching in this country, with the many cutting edge reforms centering on the use of "manipulatives," props ranging from cubes to (the very first) computer touch screens. His second life has been as both President of The East End Classic Boat Society and also Special Projects Coordinator for the Trails Preservation Society in East Hampton.

After a distinguished career in education (from being a headmaster to being a president of a college that had the very first library to use bar codes to identify books in this country), Hartjen said he is most proud of his book, Empowering the Child; Nurturing the Hungry Mind - which influenced educational reform using the principals of self discipline and enhancing confidence of the child. But there's another side of Hartjen that can be tracked down to 1947, when, at the age of 16, he built a boat dock behind his home on Gardiner's Bay looking out onto Cherry Harbor. That's where he tied up his boats, including an 18' Lyman Islander, and swam with his friends. To this day he credits Nelson Van Valkenberg, a resident of Old Springs Fireplace Drive during the 1920s and '30s, for giving him basic skills in building docks and bridges. Hartjen said he had he used "observational learning" to acquire these skills.

In the U.S. Army, Hartjen served in Yokohama, Japan mostly captaining General Mark Clark's fishing yacht, which was used to drive Japanese engineers around the harbor to survey. "We never caught a single fish," he laughed.

In 1996-97, Hartjen began the process of getting a grant to build the wonderful Tanbark Creek Bridge off Three Mile Harbor. Completed in 2000, it was the first of many bridges Hartjen helped construct for the Trail Society. He also pioneered another major initiative: If you like to hike, and you are grateful for the informative kiosks that now stand at the trailheads, you have Ray Hartjen to thank. He was instrumental in getting these kiosks, which provide easily readable history, maps and points of interest for each trail. (The Trail Society has 600 members and offers organized hikes Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays.)

Recently, Hartjen chaired the annual meeting of the East End Classic Boat Society (EECBS) in which he announced that the Society had money in the bank and was very viable and healthy. The EECBS, formed in 1999, has a 10-year history of helping maintain, "The skills and traditions of boat building."

At first, EECBS projects happened in driveways and other such locations until 2004, when Louis Makall designed, on his own dime, a boathouse. Hartjen smiles when he talks about raising the money (over $400,000) to get the project off the ground, with stories of anonymous donors and coming up with $20,000 donations quietly. "Many romantics" helped Hartjen achieve his goal.

The modern tradition of boat building goes back to the 1980s when the Town of East Hampton paid John Collins to build boats using traditional skills. The town had acquired the Taber Lobster Shed on Gann Road, but that situation did not endure. So in 1999, the EECBS attempted a fusion with the Marine Museum. The end result was not a fusion, but a site with a very generous lease on which the present boathouse sits. Hartjen mentioned that the EECBS looks forward "to establishing an endowment to carry us over future hard times."

It's not possible to talk about Ray Hartjen without mentioning his efforts and success in bringing town water (actually Suffolk County Water Authority water) to Gerard Drive and Old Springs Fireplace Drive. Hartjen said it took him three years - including getting a petition and checks in hand from over 50% of the residents along the route. He convinced 95 households to sign contracts pay the Suffolk County Water Authority before county water was brought to the area.

Hartjen showed me photos taken at Old Springs Fireplace during various stages of his life. His eyes gently studied a photo of his mother playing with him in a tub at the edge of the bay some 78 years ago. The smile on baby Ray's face in that photo is priceless, and shows the joie de vivre this Hamptons original still radiates today.