How Roy DeMeo and Ron Dobert Mapped The NF From The Sky

By Phyllis Lombardi

He's seen it all. Roy DeMeo has. Oh, not necessarily the Great Barrier Reef or the Great Wall of China, but certainly the Great North Fork.

Guess you're thinking what's to see on a limb of land fewer that 50 miles long and, at its widest, under 10 miles. Well, there's plenty to see when you're seeing from up there in the air - like in airplane.

Now Roy is a Cutchogue guy who usually has his feet firmly planted on North Fork ground. It wasn't always that way. In the United States Coast Guard from 1941-1945, Roy felt salt spray from both the Atlantic and Pacific. How he wound up on the North Fork is a story not to be told here. Just know that as a Coast Guard Auxiliary member, Roy now teaches boating safety courses and that's why we're talking airplanes.

It seems Roy thought it would be helpful for North Fork boaters to have an aerial view of all our fork's waterways. So photographer Roy joined Mattituck pilot Ron Dobert. Then they rented a Cessna 172 and up, up, and away they went.

Actually it wasn't that easy. Months of planning went into the project and months of editing followed the flying photos.

I sat in on a showing of the resulting film at Cutchogue United Methodist Church a couple of weeks ago. Wow. From Riverhead to Orient, air-mile by air-mile. Each mile a treasure.

I'll tell you this. If trees are treasure, then we're rich, rich. Except for the farmland, there are trees all over our fork. Even in a metropolis like Riverhead, trees seem to grow right up to Atlantis Marine World Aquarium, for example.

And out at Aquebogue's Reeves Creek, I could see the progress of clam aquaculture. Right there under the wings of the Cessna.

East a bit, the camera lingered along New Suffolk shoreline and the first submarine base in the U.S. That's special. My home is within a few miles of the base so I checked carefully. My husband is usually outside working and I thought maybe Roy would catch him on camera. No luck.

Then Robins Island, that small Peconic Bay "teardrop-shape" island. Roy's words, not mine. But a good choice, I think. A teardrop of joy at the beauty of it all.

On to Southold. Look down there. That's Cedar Point and the Marine Environmental Learning Center. You can't see 'em but lots of school kids have learned the secrets of our precious waters in summer classes at the center.

Check out all those sandbars. No wonder we have a few folks stranded each boating season. You have to "pay attention to all the buoys," said Roy. But it's hard, Roy, when there's so much else to see.

Like Greenport waterfront from the air. Look. There's the carousel, the Greenport water tower, Eastern Long Island Hospital, Greenport School. Did I mention the carousel? Round and round it goes, in and out go the tides, up and down the Cessna. Roy's giving us a workout!

About this point, Roy let up have an air-peek at Shelter Island and the South Fork. O.K., I'll say it. Those two places didn't look too bad.

But back to the North Fork. There's Bug Light and look - Hallock Bay. A bit too early for the ice-boating. Another month, maybe.

Then stop for a bit and have lunch at Orient Beach State Park. Don't let those pesky gulls see your sandwich. Refreshed, we're ready for something special. Roy flew over Plum Island years after 9-11, taking pictures. I asked him if he needed permission. "Not at all," was the brave reply.

I was still uneasy. Every now and then I looked over my shoulder to check whether Homeland Security was approaching the church. I had to think of some excuse for being in the same room as Roy, the roving Plum photographer.

Too soon our air journey ended and back to North Fork earth we came. I urge you to look out for Roy's next program and by all means GO. See silvery waters caress our North Fork, nourishing it, nurturing it. Seeking only acknowledgement in return.

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