Hundreds expected to attend indoor yard sale

Get ready for the Holiday Beach Property Owner’s Association’s 25th annual Indoor Yard Sale, which will take place on Saturday, March 8, at the national historic site of the Masury Estate Ballroom.

The estate is located at 67 Old Neck Road South in Center Moriches and is owned by the Holiday Beach Association. Board member Bill Roache organizes the event. Doors open at 9 a.m. and the sale goes to 3 p.m.; cash only.

Available items, which are all donated by the community and friends of the community, will include household, children’s, small electronics, small pieces of furniture, clothing, books, kitchenware, dishes, pots, pans, handyman tools, jewelry, linens and much more.

All items will be displayed and individually priced throughout the building: the ballroom, bowling alley/billiard area, and sunroom. Larger items are sometimes displayed on the porch. The items range in price from as low as 50 cents and up.

“It’s quite the fundraiser,” said member Kathy Kleinpeter.

The fundraising goal is to meet or beat last year’s about $6,000 raised. This year, though unsure of the possibility, according to Kleinpeter, the members are looking into restoring the ceiling of the ballroom. They also plan to redo the bowling alley in the near future.

“We are a small group of volunteers. We think it’s fun and we love digging through people’s treasures. I think people love coming,” added Lynn Southard, member.

According to Southard, there is always a line out the door of people waiting and loading up boxes with their finds. Typically, she said, they see hundreds of people attending the event.

Over the years, the HBPOA has used the yard sale as a way to raise funds for various construction and restoration projects. The event not only raises money, but also awareness for the Center Moriches historical treasure.

The original residence was destroyed in the ‘38 Hurricane, leaving the ballroom, bowling alley, and sunroom, intact. During the ‘50s, residents in Holiday Beach purchased the structure using monies raised from various fundraisers for restoration.

Funded projects have included roofing, siding, updated bathrooms and kitchen, carpeting, windows, shades, cushions for the sitting areas, painting, a matching stained-glass window that needed replacing, and keeping up the parquet flooring. 

For additional efforts to raise monies, members have organized a golf outing, a Blues and Brews afternoon, wine tasting, and an art expo, to name a few.

However, the yard sale, according to Kleinpeter, is by far the longest-running event, as well as their Victorian tea, both of which started in the late-‘90s.

The event only missed one year in 2020 due to the pandemic, and has since come back in “full force” with a dedicated group of about 30 member volunteers.

For more information about the sale or the estate visit: https://hbpoa.com.

ABOUT THE MASURY ESTATE

The Moriches area used to comprise many large estates. According to “The Illustrated History of the Moriches Bay Area” by Van and Mary Field, the largest in Center Moriches was undoubtedly the Masury Estate located between West Senix (Mud) Creek and the Forge River.

John W. Masury made his fortune manufacturing paint. He invented and patented several paint industry innovations, including a water-cooled method for grinding pigments and the familiar lip closure on paint cans (dripless paint can). In the late 1800s, J. W. Masury bought large areas in and around Center Moriches.

First, a summer cottage was built on the Forge River. Later, the land on Masury Point was developed. Formal gardens, pools and an extensive farm which included a large family home, staff homes, barn, stable, hunting lodge, gate house, stable house and windmill to supply all of the buildings with pumped water through underground pipes.

In 1898, after John Masury’s death, his widow Grace Masury built another large summer house near the mouth of the West Senix (Mud) Creek facing the Moriches Bay. The house had a separate recreation wing which housed a bowling alley, billiard room, card room, solarium and ballroom. After Grace Masury’s death in 1932, the family still used the house as a summer home until the Hurricane of 1938. The main house was ruined and the recreation wing severely damaged. The recreation wing was rebuilt.