(bright music) (bright music continues) - I'm in Manorville at one of the highest peaks on Long Island.

In fact, you can see the Atlantic Ocean way in the distance that way.

But what people from all around the world come here to see is not necessarily that view, but this view.

I'm Doug Geed, "Out East" on Newsday TV.

This is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island, one of Long Island's most beautiful and peaceful places.

It'll be one of the stops on our show.

(birds squawking) We'll also visit a farm in Riverhead where they're harvesting one of their most popular products, horseradish.

Then it's off to another farm where they raise something quite unique, bison.

Then we'll show you some quirky side of the road attractions that you may have driven by during your travels on the East End.

But let's begin at a place that's been providing guidance and solace to Long Islanders for 50 years.

(gentle music) - In the 1950s, two of our men were establishing Montfort Publications, which was based for a number of years in the city of Bayshore here on Long Island.

In Connecticut, in the town of Litchfield, our men had established a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes.

These two men, Father Roger Charest and Father Francis Tomai, had the vision in their own work of a site here on Long Island that would be dedicated as a center for formation in our spirituality.

A local family, the Vigliotta family, donated a significant amount of land toward that project.

That is the bulk of the property upon which the shrine currently rests.

(gentle music continues) A short time later, a smaller parcel of land, but a very important piece, the piece that has the large boulder, the Rock, which we're famous for, was donated by another local family, the Harrison family, and that was in the 1950s.

The project was stalled for a little while.

Then in the early 1970s, the decision was made to move forward.

The name of the shrine changed to Our Lady of the Island dedicated to Mary, Queen of All Hearts, or Our Lady of the Island for short.

And the idea being then that this would be the place where Long Island comes to pray.

That boulder is a deposit from the last Ice Age.

So when people ask, "How did the boulder get there," the answer very simply is, "God put it there."

The statue itself is a single piece of Vermont granite sculpted into shape and then loaded onto a flatbed trailer, brought up the hill.

Then there was an enormous crane that was also on the property that hoisted the statue up so that it could be placed on the rock.

That was really, in a sense, the beginning of the shrine as a public place of pilgrimage and worship.

- [Doug] I see pews there, so obviously that's a place of worship.

Mass is held there.

- [Hugh] It is.

We offer public services six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday at 11:30.

On Sundays, we also have a Spanish mass at 4:00 p.m., and once a month for the Filipino community at 2:00 p.m.

on the first Sunday of the month, we do mass in Tagalog.

- [Doug] So who's coming here for those services?

I mean, for some people, is this their church, or this is just an occasional- - It's both.

We have a good number of people who we would call shrine regulars.

And for them, we really are their primary place of worship and spiritual formation.

And then there are those who come on pilgrimage, and we receive pilgrimage groups from Rhode Island, from New Jersey, Connecticut, other parts of New York State.

Many of them will come and visit us once and perhaps it will be a couple years before they come back again.

Other groups, they regularly come once or maybe several times a year.

(church bell tolling) - [Doug] Where we're sitting now, obviously this is, you know, wintertime, mass is held in here?

- [Hugh] Yes, this is the Shrine Church.

And so obviously, even in the summertime, weather doesn't always allow you to be outside.

So we have this wonderful space which holds a couple hundred people where we can gather for liturgy and special programs, special spiritual programs throughout the year.

(gentle music continues) - [Doug] And the Stations of the Cross, just talk about that.

First of all, for people who aren't familiar, what does that mean?

- The Stations of the Cross is about moving with Jesus, His journey on Good Friday from His condemnation by Pontius Pilate to His death on Calvary to His being placed in the tomb.

So it is literally a walking with Jesus.

The visual and spiritual climax of that trail is climbing our Holy Stairs.

(gentle music continues) In the Catholic tradition, the idea of the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, is about making a spiritual climb or a spiritual ascent into the heart of the mysteries of Jesus, and the great mystery that's connected to the stairs is Calvary, where the Lord saves us by giving His life for us.

- [Doug] Is there a certain number of stairs?

- Typically, there's 33.

The tradition tells us that Jesus' earthly life among us lasted 33 years.

(gentle music continues) About a year ago in February, we had a disaster here in this space.

Trees and branches came down.

The large crucifix that used to be here was destroyed.

Everything has been repaired, repainted, restored.

- [Doug] Now, you were thinking, right?

Of refurbishing this when the trees came down?

- We were.

We'd been talking for a number of years about a renovation of this area.

So when the disaster happened, instead of being upset, we made the choice to say, "Clearly our Lord wants us to stop talking about it and just be about the work."

(bright music) Holy Week is the single busiest extended period of time that we have over the course of the year.

We have our Palm Sunday celebrations.

Our Spanish attendance was on the order of 1,100 people.

On Good Friday, we had approximately 8,000 people total visit the shrine during the day.

- Just that day.

- Just that day.

- [Doug] My goodness.

- [Hugh] So large services in English and in Spanish, and the great shrine-led Stations of the Cross took place at noon on Good Friday in English on the trail.

- [Doug] Talk about the property.

I mean, it's sprawling here and so much to see.

- [Hugh] It is.

We're just under 70 acres total.

Dead center along the length of the property essentially is the dramatic beginning to our Rosary Walk.

The walk itself is literally an enormous rosary that we walk around and the head of that is a cross and the first beads of the rosary carved are cut from bushes.

Behind the buildings is a fairly substantial picnic area.

And then down in that area is our shrine dedicated to our Lady of Guadalupe.

The grounds are open pretty much from very early in the morning, say 5:00 or 6:00 a.m.

The grounds close at 9:00 p.m.

- [Doug] But, you know, a family can pull up in their minivan and just, coolers are okay?

You can have a picnic lunch, whatever?

- Exactly.

We just ask that you have your picnic lunch in the picnic area.

A lot of times what we'll see during the years, they'll join us for mass and then they'll go to the picnic area for lunch afterwards, or some families will come and they'll bring, like, a picnic breakfast.

We have a lot of people who are quite taken by how beautiful the space is, not simply so much just because of natural beauty, but that blending of spiritual natural beauty, which is what really catches their attention.

You know, there are arboretums, there are gardens to visit.

This is not that.

And many people will talk about just feeling the prayerfulness on the grounds, you know, including those who are not Catholic or aren't even sure what they believe.

But they'll talk about just the peacefulness of the property itself, which is a draw for them to come back.

(bright music) We have a good number of people who come simply because they need a quiet place.

And, you know, as long visitors are respectful, we are happy to receive them.

(bright music continues) - [Doug] The shrine is a beautiful spot where you're sure to find a little peace and quiet.

And there's another spot on the East End that's also pretty tranquil, and, in a way, is also kind of a shrine, a shrine to an iconic American animal.

(bright music) - My grandmother's mother was Deborah Hallock.

I was the last person born on the original Hallock homestead, which goes back to 1639.

- [Doug] So you're 14th?

- 14 generations.

- [Doug] So how did the North Quarter Farm come to be?

- [Ed] I was out skiing with a bunch of guys in Aspen, then bought two bison from the park in South Dakota, Custer Park.

They auctioned off the bison every year and I bought two pregnant females and had 'em shipped here.

They were pregnant and they had calves.

It happened to be one was a male, one was a female.

- [Doug] How many do you have today?

- [Ed] About 125.

- [Doug] What was the state of buffalo like?

Were they in danger back then or- - Well, I actually got involved very early in the industry.

You know, Turner was the big factor.

- Ted Turner.

- Ted Turner.

And I got to be very good friends with Ted.

Many of the influential families were intrigued by bison.

My good friend Jim Butler, the Butler family, they were in it from the '40s, and, you know, maybe there was a handful of bison in the United States, maybe a thousand.

(bright music continues) - [Doug] So just tell us about buffalo, the animal, what they're like, their characteristics.

You know, they're fascinating to look at.

- [Ed] They can run faster than a horse.

Their windpipe is seven times the size of a cow.

- [Doug] Wow.

- When the herd was moving, it could get into like a trot and run for days.

You have to treat them with a lot of respect.

I always have.

- [Doug] Don't they face the wind?

- Yes, you know, cows and horses and stuff, you can tell which way the wind is blowing because their butt is facing to the wind.

But with a bison, it's just the opposite.

They face into the wind.

And, you know, they can smell for 30 miles.

You know, there was no way to find water on the Great Plains other than they'd face the wind.

The wind was telling them what was ahead of them and they could find water that way.

(bright music) - [Doug] Now tell me about the restaurant itself.

Like, when did you start that?

And the decor is very unique and the name, what's the history of all of that?

- [Ed] Okay, Tweeds, I bought it from the Sullivan family and the Sullivans built it in 1896.

Sullivans were big Tammany Hall people.

Tammany was a group of politicians.

It was a political group headed by Tweed.

- Boss Tweed.

- Boss Tweed.

- [Doug] It was the most powerful political organization in the country, right?

- In the country.

(bright music) - [Doug] Talk about the decor.

- I have my family civil war discharge.

The chairs in the restaurant, you know, are from the Stork Club, but if you come in, you can sit in the same chair that maybe the Kennedys sat in or Al Smith or Babe Ruth or... I think people who go there will find, "Oh my God, I'm going to a museum," and that's what I want it to be.

The bar is really unusual.

The bar was from the Chicago Exposition of 1893, but we also have an extensive collection of bourbons and scotches.

I think we have 300 and something bottles of different liquor.

But we have a bottle of Napoleon Brandy 1804 there.

We sell probably more bison burgers than we sell anything.

Our burgers weigh a pound, enormous burgers.

- [Doug] The bison are right on the main road.

I'm sure people pull over and, you know, are you okay with that?

- The bison have been there for 43 years.

For me, it's a opportunity for people to get an education, to see animals living amongst themselves, unmolested, well cared for.

Really, you know, it's a place that children can learn.

I've had people that never saw a cow before who come here.

"Are they cows?"

Not exactly.

So for Long Island, it's a way to see wild animals in their natural state.

(upbeat music) - Our long, cold winter is over, spring is here, and farmers are back out in the field, including this spot, this farm owned by the Schmitt family.

Today they're harvesting their horseradish, a product that is very popular with people all across Long Island.

(bright music) - We've always grown horseradish.

When I was in high school, college, even probably elementary school, we always made it in the barn in the back of a wooden trailer.

We had a hand grinder that we cranked and the whole family would kind of come and help.

And then we'd all make, everybody would take home a few jars and give some of it to the family and friends.

And every year, it's like the friends list just kept growing.

I mean, we'd have like a line of these people waiting for us to give the stuff away.

I kind of said to my grandfather, you know, "Why aren't we trying to sell this?"

And I did.

And I think we had it for about two months that year until I finally ran out of horseradish, and then the next year, I kept more and it kind of kept going like that.

So it did good.

People loved it.

I think we were only growing a quarter acre of horseradish at that point.

Now we're probably doing about 10 to 12 acres of horseradish.

(bright music continues) We bring 'em in first, we wash 'em really good.

We take everything out, we wash the roots good, then we peel it all, kind of rinse it again just in case any dirt or anything gets on it.

And then we put it all through the grinder.

I put vinegar in the bowl first.

I know everybody's got their own ways of doing it, but this way it comes out, goes right in the vinegar, and we mix it, add a little bit of sugar, and then jar it up.

(bright music continues) - Horseradish just in and of itself is an antioxidant.

It's really good for sinus and gut health.

(upbeat music) We offer seven different flavors: our original, mustard, a cranberry, beet, BBQ hot pepper, and cocktail sauce.

The original is definitely number one.

In the summer when people are outside grilling, the mustard is very popular, the BBQ.

Thanksgiving, the cranberry does really well.

People use it on leftover turkey sandwiches and things like that.

It's really good on any type of meat, fish, but I like to put it even on just a salad.

- [Doug] For me, like, eggs is a big thing.

Scrambled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, it's like- - Yep, there's a really fun deviled egg recipe that uses the horseradish.

And now I've been seeing deviled egg salads and things like that.

So people are always finding new things to experiment and try it out with.

(upbeat music continues) - All the things that we made today is what we have now available on our farm and we're selling at the farm stand.

We made three things today.

We made two different kinds of quiches and then we made a hummus, which was parsley with scallions and we put a little bit of horseradish on top.

Weekly, we're making our macaroni salads and our potato salad, our coleslaw.

We do all kinds of different jams.

The favorites is my carrot cake jam.

Everybody likes that one.

The strawberry.

When the strawberry season comes out, we have, you know, wonderful strawberry jam.

And then we have varieties from blueberry to raspberry to fig.

(bright music) - [Doug] So I know your family, for decades, was wholesale only.

You kinda made this switch.

You know, did you ever envision yourself, it becoming this, so intense?

Like, not just selling your produce directly to people, but now creating things out of it?

- Right, no, not really.

I didn't know.

But it evolves.

We just needed to have another outlet, and basically I started doing farmers' markets.

That was the beginning.

- [Doug] Not everyone expects to see what they see here, and other farm stands that do the same thing, all the prepared stuff.

They probably get excited and then you tell 'em that, "Well, we grow this stuff that's in our jars."

I mean, I'm sure that leads to conversations, right?

- Oh, definitely, you know.

Well, conversations like, "Oh, my grandmother or my mother used to make pickled beets," or, you know, "I used to make sauerkraut."

So there's lots of conversation that comes from that, and appreciation.

They appreciate that we're still here and we're still growing fresh vegetables and, you know, trying to think out of the box a little bit and things that they might like.

(bright music continues) - Our next story is kind of fun.

It involves three roadside attractions on the East End that you may have driven by many times and kind of wondered what their backstory is.

We begin here on the Manorville-Eastport border on the way to the Hamptons.

This 50-foot-tall sculpture is called Stargazer.

(bright music) - Worked with Linda Scott as a team for, like, 20-plus years.

I started probably building way back in '88.

We needed a place to place the sculpture and this was the ideal place.

This is the bypass from the LIE over to Sunrise and it's situated, the Stargazer, on a sod farm.

The town agreed, everyone agreed, the owners, the town, and they just said, "Set it up back enough so if it fell over, it wouldn't hit a car."

(bright music continues) Linda's main thing, they ask her, "What does it really mean?"

She says, "As above, so below."

And what that, look, it's a stargazer.

So looking at the stars, just remember every element on earth is made from an exploding star, a supernova.

So basically we're all stardust.

And she wanted people to realize that and look for the stars and see your greatness and your brightness, and the antler is like a trophy.

It's not a twig.

It's an antler in the mouth, and it's, like, deer shed their antlers and this one is grabbing an antler.

And it's success, going for what you believe in, at least taking the chance and making that leap.

Whether you're an artist, musician, go for it, you know?

If you don't try, you'll never know.

(bright music continues) Originally, we only made it to last for seven years, and after 30 years, it started falling apart, so we rebuilt it.

They totally took it apart all the way down to the steel and rebuilt it.

We got a lot of donations.

Everybody that went on the GoFundMe that gave money, it's really your piece.

You know, just feel like you own it.

It belongs to everyone, the whole public, you know?

If you enjoy it, great.

That's what it's about.

So many people, they were young, maybe kids, you know, four years old, five years old.

So it was a big deal coming out, driving down there.

See, the Stargazer is a stargazer.

For them it's fantasy.

It's, like, magical, out in the field.

And so many people donated so much money to go rebuild it and they're part of it.

You know, it's their legacy too.

And, you know, when they see it, it makes them happy, and their kids will see it and it'll go forward.

(bright music continues) - [Doug] Our next roadside attraction features something that doesn't look toward the sky, but something that flew in the sky in defense of our country.

This is Grumman Memorial Park in Calverton.

(bright music) - This park really flourished, especially during the pandemic when so many indoor activities were closed and then people were coming here on a regular basis and looking for those outdoor things to do.

And we have a nine-mile trail that surrounds, you know, the entire old Grumman site here.

It's been just a great way to honor all those that served here and worked on these grounds and I always say keeps history alive here.

- I worked there from 1973 to 1993, 20 years.

Job title was a plane captain.

- [Doug] Which means what?

What does that mean?

- Aircraft mechanic.

I was a steward for the aircraft from the time it come off the assembly line 'til it left.

- [Doug] Tell me about the plane.

What was their specialty?

You know, what made them different from the other aircraft that Grumman was making?

- [Rich] The 14, as you see, the wings are back at 68 degrees now, but they could bring 'em forward to 20 degrees so they could land on a carrier at a slower speed.

They were supersonic.

- [Doug] So that was the main thing, was just protecting the fleet out at- - [Rich] Main thing, but they did go on missions too, for bombing missions.

- [Doug] Did you ever get to ride in one?

- No, no.

Just on the ground taxiing, yeah.

- [Doug] Hey, that's better than most people.

- Oh, hey, that was exciting in itself.

- And we have a contract.

So the planes are owned by the US Navy and we're responsible for the maintenance.

So just two years ago, we used community preservation funds and we invested $67,000 to repaint the planes.

We're proud to always get high comments and remarks from the US Navy.

They said that this site is one of the best in the country.

(bright music continues) - I love to see this airplane.

It was a good group.

It was a very talented group.

Most of the guys had military experience on aircraft and they didn't have to be taught much.

Everybody knew what to do.

It was a very interesting job, rewarding job.

This park means, it's the pride that we have in the work that we turned out here and it's a part of Long Island history.

(bright music continues) - And for our final roadside attraction, we take you to a personal favorite of mine.

I've been obsessed with it ever since I first saw it many years ago.

It's on Route 25 in Aquebogue and it's aptly named the Witch's Hat.

(bright music) - It's an interesting place 'cause the Witch's Hat was really built as a roadside attraction.

It was built in 1927 we think.

That was back when Main Road was just beginning to be heavily trafficked by cars.

It was the beginning of the automobile age.

The couple who built it were actually from Brooklyn, so they were probably used to driving out here to the East End of Long Island.

And they realized that you put something up like this and maybe people will notice it and stop.

So it was sort of their retirement project.

The Flemings were the, who built it, they used this place to sell cigarettes, ice cream, and there was a gas pump next door.

So the sole purpose was to attract people driving out to the East End, the beautiful East End of Long Island.

(bright music continues) - [Doug] What was going on architecturally in the '20s in the United States?

I mean, I think of the Flanders duck and all that.

Was that that era?

I realize they're not- - Absolutely that era.

People were just beginning to, you know, drive around a lot in their automobiles.

And the way to attract attention is to put up something that's a different shape, a different color, that will get people to stop.

And, I mean, we call this the Witch's Hat now, but they never called it that back then.

I think they intended it to be more like a lighthouse.

And if you look up from the top, you can see there's indeed little windows up in the top and there was a light bulb up there.

And so that would attract some attention at night.

(bright music continues) - [Shamoon] We love this building so much, this whole area, that every moment, some of my friends, they bought a couple of things, and during the Halloween, we decorated with the Halloween stuff and some witches inside.

During the Christmas, we decorate.

Even recently, some of the people took pictures and they start posting on Facebook.

- [Doug] What's, like, the charm of it for you?

- It's like the way they make it.

Like, you can see the top and everything architecture of that is amazing.

Even though it's saying a Witch's Hat or something, but it's just, like, some positive vibes.

Two or three people even were, one of them was asking me if I'm selling and he wanted to take it to his home and stuff, like, to put it on.

Many, many, many time during summer, especially during the season of apple picking, people come here, go around, take their pictures inside, outside.

So they definitely, I have lot of people during summer and near Halloween are when we decorate to have pictures in this building or around that area.

(bright music continues) - For the contact information for all the places we showed you and to see more of my East End segments, go to newsday.com/outeast.

Well, that'll wrap things up, but especially with farms coming back to life, there's plenty of more things to show you in the months ahead, including on our next show, a visit to a chicken ranch in Mattituck.

I hope you'll join me.

I'm Doug Geed.

Thanks for watching "Out East" on Newsday TV.

(bright music) (bright music continues)