Our History

Establishing governance was one of the essential first steps. A Board of Directors was strategically selected to represent the community, drawing heavily on connections with FIPPOA and the Fire Department. Fenoglio and Robert, and Marilyn Levin agreed to continue their leadership. Joining them from FIPPOA, were Martin, Secretary and Executive Committee member; Jim Cashel, FIPPOA Community Manager and former FIPPOA Treasurer, Joyce Reich and Dorothy Cambern, FIPPOA Directors and Co-Chairpersons of the Community House Committee, Brett Baccus, a FIPPOA Director and leader of the lesbian community, and Emile Riendeau, a former FIPPOA Director and Secretary. Cambern and Riendeau had been named as two defendants in the lawsuit a decade earlier. Dr. Fred Weber, a New York City dentist and the partner of FIPPOA Treasurer David Langer, was added to the Board. In addition, Guyer joined the Board to continue providing legal guidance, along with Robin Jacobsen, a leading New York City interior designer with the Bromley Jacobsen firm.

The first Pines Care Center officers elected were Dr. John Fengolio, President; Dr. Robert Levin, Chairman of the Board; Marilyn Levin, Vice President; and Jim Cashel, Treasurer.

Because eight of the 12 original Directors were volunteer firefighters (Fenoglio, the Levins, Cashel, Martin, Cambern, Reich and Jacobsen) many day-to-day operational decisions were made during Saturday morning fire department drills. It was also a way to partner with the Pines Fire Department to serve the community. Throughout the early years, the PCC Board was characterized by its informal, never contentious meetings – meetings that were often filled with what seemed to be almost non-stop laughter.

With some early fundraising success and FIPPOA’s benevolence as a landlord, PCC began providing doctors in the summer of 1984. The two doctors heading PCC were able to secure some essential medical equipment and used their own sources to find donated medical supplies. In addition to overseeing the finances, Cashel became a critical player since he worked daily at the Community Center and could provide a regular liaison with the doctors and troubleshoot whenever the need arose. Cashel would eventually become the longest-serving of the Founding Directors, continuing on the Board to this date. Reich proved to be a particularly valuable asset because of her daily interaction with the public in the Pines Hardware Store, which she owned with her husband, Walter.

The first addition to the PCC Board of Directors came in 1985 when Ed Karlin, a CPA, was elected with responsibility for filing PCC’s annual tax returns. Karlin later became FIPPOA’s Office Administrator and served PCC until his retirement in 2009. In 1985, James Guyer died and was replaced by Ted Krulwich, another young Manhattan attorney, who served for two years until his death. Following Robin Jacobsen’s death in 1986, he was replaced by another famed interior designer, Michael Schaible.

Martin and Baccus took on the responsibility in 1984 for an annual fundraising drive. That first fundraising season was launched with a cocktail party open to the community on the night of the FIPPOA Spring Membership Meeting. This first social event on the annual Pines calendar, organized each year by Baccus, became a cherished tradition and a highlight of the Pines season. In recent years, the event was moved to Memorial Day Weekend.

An old-fashioned thermometer sign prominently placed in the harbor each year became a Pines icon as it measured weekly progress toward reaching the annual fundraising goal. Residents watched with keen interest each week as the red, from a can of red paint stashed under a nearby boardwalk, inched its way to the top of the thermometer. Throughout the years, the community never failed to ensure that PCC reached its annual fundraising goal.

A memorial program was established early on to help raise additional money and to enable people to make contributions in memory of deceased family members and friends. Hundreds of names have been memorialized or honored in the Book of Memories over the years. Reflecting current times, the Book of Memories is now being incorporated into the PCC website.

PCC’s most crucial early benefactor was Dr. Nicolai Gioscia, a retired physician and long-time Pines resident. Dr. Gioscia underwrote the costs of some of the first medical equipment acquired, including an examining table.

PCC’s early management philosophy was that it was advantageous not to accumulate sizable assets subject to a lawsuit and that the treasury should be built only large enough to provide a one-year cushion for operating expenses. After two summers of successful auction events, the Directors elected to do something almost unprecedented for a not-for-profit group. In the annual spring report to the community, PCC told Pines residents that it had accumulated a two-year cushion and would therefore skip fundraising for a year. Supporters were asked instead to contribute to another worthwhile community organization. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with the community thanking PCC for its honesty and practicality. The following year, financial support returned undiminished to its previous levels.

Those auctions, in the summers of 1986 and 1987, were social highlights for the Pines. The old Community Center was not large enough to accommodate the large crowds attending the events, so John Whyte hosted the auctions on the dance floor of the old Pavilion under the famed chandelier. Five-foot-tall Pine trees, auctioned at the end, were the only décor along with the disco lighting. David Forrest, a gregarious homeowner on Shady Walk, served as auctioneer at both events, bringing the humor for which he was widely known. The dazzling array of merchandise and services, all donated by Pines people and friends, ranged from fur coats and Baccarat crystal to walk-on roles on television. With an open bar flowing throughout the evening, bidding became lively and competitive, with more than a few scratching their heads the next day and wondering what had made them acquire expensive things they really didn’t need.

For the first few years, the PCC Board prioritized renovating the facilities it rented from FIPPOA. Jacobsen’s designated role as a Director was to oversee this work. Following Jacobsen’s death, Schaible led the effort for the next 18 years. The doctor’s office was located in the basement and was accessible from the ground level on the east end of the building. A large area was set aside for the waiting room so the Pines AA group could hold regular meetings there. Jacobsen had platforms built and carpeted on a number of levels to accommodate a crowd that often rose to almost 100, and this proved functional as an intimate meeting space for almost 25 years.

Much effort was directed to renovation of the doctor’s apartment on the top level of the community center, accessed by some shaky, old wooden exterior stairs on the west side of the building. The shabby old apartment had spectacular ocean views and a wonderful ocean breeze, but it had been furnished with a motely collection of cast-off furniture from the Pines’ first generation of beach shacks. A new kitchen and all new appliances were acquired and installed. And Jacobsen developed a modular plan for the large living area, again with carpeted platforms and large seating cushions.

The camaraderie of the early PCC Board was never more evident than on the Saturdays when all Directors gathered to work together in sprucing up the doctor’s apartment. At one point, Jacobsen had secured a donation of carpeting from a carpet manufacturer for the living area and platforms. The Directors showed up with hammers and tools, and when the carpeting was unwrapped, everyone was aghast at its green color. But it was decided that the green was appropriate for the Pines, and it had cost nothing. So the Board of Directors, in its best self-help tradition, became carpet layers for an afternoon.

In the beginning, PCC doctors were contracted through an emergency medical service company that provided the necessary malpractice insurance coverage. As many physicians discovered the special joys of Fire Island Pines, they often planned their summer vacations so they could return each year for one or two weeks, often accompanied by family or partners. As the years went by, Pines residents visiting the Care Center often developed close doctor/patient relationships with doctors who cared for them each summer.

While the PCC Board encouraged the doctors to assimilate into the community and had a hands-off policy regarding how they enjoyed their time in the Pines, there were times when a doctor would generate concern. When one particular doctor, a straight man with a family, became a full participant in the nudity on the beach, some eyebrows were raised. However, it was decided the Pines were the Pines, so it should be irrelevant. And since the doctor had very good reason to display all his assets on the beach – and again, the Pines being the Pines — the number of patients he began seeing increased noticeably. The feedback on this doctor’s professionalism was very positive during the years he came to the Pines.

One particularly handsome doctor cut a relatively broad swath through the Pines in the late 1980s, but his living situation became a matter of Board discussion. While it was widely assumed that he was straight, he had nonetheless moved a spectacular, very popular Brazilian houseboy into a closet in the apartment. The Directors decided that the doctor’s private life should be kept private. Plus, it was a large walk-in closet to accommodate a small bed.

No history of the Pines Care Center would be complete without acknowledging the tremendous role played by Dr. Arlo Pitcher, a genuinely caring and compassionate physician and a wonderful gentleman. A Pines homeowner on Cedar Walk with his wife Elsie for more than 50 years, Dr. Pitcher, was retired from his practice and was a PCC doctor during the organization’s first 25 years. In the beginning, he would work as a doctor on cruise ships for part of the summer but always was available for the Care Center’s harder-to-

fill weekly slots in the early season and after Labor Day. Later, throughout the season, he would always fill in without hesitation whenever there was a vacancy or a cancellation. The untold number of patients he saw through the years appreciated his dedication and were grateful for the compassionate care he always provided. The Pines regarded Dr. Pitcher as the community’s own, much-loved doctor.

Another doctor who made an indelible imprint was Dr. Juanita Evereteze, who served as a PCC doctor for many years and was widely popular within the community and among all the patients she saw. Dr. Everteze went above and beyond the call of duty in serving the Pines and eventually built a home in the community and became a PCC Director for a period.