SAG HARBOR’S CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR BILOXI

By TJ Clemente

The evergreen Christmas trees are up, and at night, their lights form a corridor through the towns and villages of the Hamptons. Some shops pipe out Christmas carols so that those passing on the street can hear them. But the truest feeling of the spirit of Christmas is to talk to Ellen Stahl and Sag Harbor Elementary School Assistant Principal Matt Malone, who have just returned from Biloxi, Mississippi, the new sister town of Sag Harbor. Last Christmas, groups of Sag Harbor families, businesses, office staffs, concerned individuals and school children donated gifts to complete the Christmas list submitted by 74 less fortunate families in Biloxi so that they might have Christmas after the total devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Having lost money, their homes, even the most basic necessities, the efforts of the Sag Harbor citizens were so very deeply appreciated. Ellen Stahl remembers touring Biloxi after Katrina and having one mother say Biloxi looked liked, “Hiroshima, without the radiation.”

Principal Malone was received like a visiting dignitary when he visited Biloxi this past week. After attending the reopening of Gorenflo Elementary School, he said, “I was truly touched by what I saw. The children, teachers and families have been through so much, so to see them re-enter their school after more than a year was a beautiful sight.” Matt brought with him to Biloxi, a Sag Harbor Elementary School blanket signed by every student in Sag Harbor Elementary School. The presentation was simulcast up to the Sag Harbor school so that all of the children could watch and hear the cheers Matt and Ellen Stahl received from the thankful community of Biloxi. The Blanket is now hanging in the southern school’s gym and will always be a flag of the championship efforts of Sag Harbor and the Christmas it gave the children and families of Biloxi.

Here are the words of Dayna Baker of Biloxi. “I never knew that strangers could open their hearts like the community of Sag Harbor did after Hurricane Katrina. Joe and Ester Ricker opened their hearts and home to me when I was up there this past June...There was one day when the teachers of Sag Harbor took time to meet with us and to give us materials for our children. That meant a lot to us and our children, since we lost everything in our school...I would like to THANK everyone for all they have done and given me. I will treasure the memories always.”

Matt Malone says, “No matter who I met in Biloxi, upon hearing that I was from Sag Harbor they expressed just how grateful they were for all Sag Harbor did to help. One grandfather came up and shook my hand saying, “Last Christmas I really felt as though I was letting my whole family down. We just had nothing. Thanks to your elementary school and your town we had a really wonderful Christmas when we really needed it.”

Once again the Sag Harbor Elementary School children are sending down gifts to Biloxi to help their sister school celebrate Christmas. They are learning the lesson of giving. If you would like to contribute, help or get more information call Ellen Stahl at 631 835 0330.

Ellen Stahl and Matt Malone and so many others in Sag Harbor can hold their heads up high this Christmas season because they understand Christmas’s truest meaning. They will forever be proud of what they did for Americans in a time of need. Once again Ellen Stahl proves how one person can make a difference by caring and taking a first step that others can follow and all arrive at the foothold of doing something special. Americans rally in times of emergency, it is what we do. To those in Sag Harbor who stepped in to make this Christmas Story, the town of Biloxi once again says thank you. Or as Dayna Baker recently said, “My life has been touched by the generosity of the people of Sag Harbor...Thank you.”