Walk Keeps Tradition Alive

Wainscott School Students participate in an annual tradition, walking to the chapel for lunch.

Last Friday, in keeping with a tradition that spans at least 100 years, students from Wainscott School walked down Main Street to the Wainscott Chapel, where they enjoyed an annual lunch provided by the Wainscott Sewing Society.

The Wainscott Sewing Society was founded in 1869 and the tradition of providing lunch to the Wainscott School students started with lunch being provided once a month, according to Hilary Osborn Malecki, whose grandmother, Augusta Halsey Osborn was among the early members who provided lunch to the children. Now, students visit just once a year to keep the tradition alive. Students “sang for their supper,” with a rousing rendition of “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

Augusta Osborn wrote in a letter to her daughter at college on June 10, 1949, that one time the members forgot about serving lunch to the students “…Wednesday was supposed to be Society at the chapel. Aunt Isabel and I were the only ones who went, except six school children and Mrs. Mansir. We had to go home and raid our pantries. I had ice cream and brownies for them from the party and Aunt Isabel provided soup and Spam so I think they fared pretty well.”

In the past the Sewing Society met to sew clothes for New York City orphans, and made crafts for its annual fair whose proceeds were used to maintain the chapel or undertake various projects such as installing the first sidewalk on Main Street or buying a fence for the cemetery. The children were invited over to meet up with their mothers and enjoy lunch together.

Nowadays, the sewing needles, have been put down and the Sewing Society supports the Wainscott Chapel through rummage sales and annual historical talks. —East Hampton Press, May 2015