Woman happy to trade Nassau for Moriches

We’ve only been here 10 years. We came from Nassau County, and I used to belong to the Rotary there. My husband is not a Rotarian.

My son lived in East Moriches; otherwise, I had no idea it was here. Now, we call it our “best kept secret.”

We used to have a house in Sag Harbor, so we love it out here. I got involved in the Rotary almost right away, and this year I became president. We liked it very much. It was very quiet; that took a lot of getting used to coming from Nassau County. The other thing is I found it very hard to find a store to shop in. But the people were friendly and there’s the Rotary, which became not just my friends but my other family.

I like the idea that there is so much water around; the quietness, the people are very calm. It’s very different from Nassau County; everyone is not in such a hurry. It’s just a nice place to live. I have four grandchildren that go to the schools, and they love it.

Not really. But I’ve saved a lot of money.

We have 26 members. It’s not a very big club, but we do a lot of work. Annually we do the Duck Race and the Octoberfest, and we probably raise about $25,000 from the Octoberfest and the same from the Duck Race. That all goes to the camp [Pa-Qua-Tuck]. We are trying to start a pancake breakfast, and we do a Stuff-A-Bus every month, except during the summer. Around the holidays, we adopt a family. We also have a very active Rotoract, which is for college students, and Interact, which is for high school students. They are very good, and often they are our right arm.

The chamber does a street fair in the spring, there is a great St. Patrick’s Day parade with parties afterward. In winter, there is a light parade, with fire trucks and ambulances. It’s like a great small town you’d find upstate.

It just reminds me of old movies you’ve seen, towns where everybody is nice to each other and just comes together. Everybody tries to help each other out.