A check for history’s sake

The Wantagh Preservation Society’s project for the year is restoring the inside of the Jamaica parlor car that sits next to its local history museum on Wantagh Avenue.

Thanks to a $2,500 donation, Preservation Society leaders are confident the work can now be completed this year, and the train car can reopen to the public in 2016, in time for the organization’s 50th anniversary.

Wantagh Inn owner Mike Dunphy presented a check to Preservation Society members on May 14 at the restaurant on Railroad Avenue. The Inn is across the street from the Wantagh Long Island Rail Road station, and the funds will be used to repair the car, which was not only once part of the LIRR’s fleet, but now rests next to the building that served as the community’s first train station.

Accepting the donation were Preservation Society President Karen Chowske, Vice President Bob Meagher and Trustees Carol Poulos and Claire Reisert. Meagher is spearheading the effort to restore the train car, and plans to spend much of the summer volunteering his time to complete the work.

“It’s going to help a lot,” he said of the donation. “We have limited funds, and we have other things besides the train.”

The funds will help purchase materials such as paint, wood and carpeting. Meagher said the money would also allow him to get some of the car’s furniture refinished. The car dates back to 1912, and was donated to the Preservation Society in 1972.

“This will go a long way toward letting us buy what we need,” Chowske said, adding that it wiil also ensure that Meagher will never have to stop work, because there are now guaranteed funds for the necessary materials, and perhaps a little extra to do some fixes that weren’t initially planned.

On May 4, a group of bar owners from Nassau County held a golf outing, according to Herbie Behan, who works at the Wantagh Inn. This year, close to 20 bars participated. After the event, the golfers went back to the Inn for food and drinks.

Each year, the bar that hosts the after-party gets to donate the proceeds of the golf outing to a cause of its choice. After reading about the planned train car restorations in the April 30-May 6 issue of the Herald, Dunphy decided that the Preservation Society would be a worthy recipient, and reached out to Resiert, who brought the idea to the board of directors.

Dunphy, whose restaurant is in a building that dates back to the early 1900s and was once a German butcher shop, Adel’s Wantagh Meat Market, has an appreciation for the history of the community. He said it is important to preserve history for the next generation, and hopes his donation will make that possible.

When diners walk into the Wantagh Inn, they are immediately met by a painting of the old Wantagh train station. There is also an enlarged historic photo of the restaurant, when it was the meat market, hanging across from the bar, which was provided by the Preservation Society.

The organization relies mostly on donations and its two annual community yard sales to raise money. Chowske said that with its various expenses, there usually isn’t much left over for the big projects, so Dunphy’s donation makes a big difference.

“We’re just thrilled,” she said. “We’re so honored and so fortunate. They could have given the money anywhere.”

Chowske said that, because of safety issues, the museum car cannot be opened to the public. She said she and other Preservation Society members get frequent requests from people who want to go inside, so getting the interior of the Jamaica back in shape is a priority. “It’s the unknown,” she said. “People just want to get in there and see.”