How a Bellport landmark came to be

The iconic Bellport clock arrived at its present location in 1985 with quite a backstory, including a 600-pound base, part of a former gas streetlamp used until the start of the 20th century.

The brass plaque at its bottom, dedicated by the South Country Lions Club that  November, has the names of the club members who all pitched in, proclaiming a dedicated can-do spirit.

“I saw the clock in Sayville and thought, Gee, this looks nice,” said John Albin, South Country Lions Club president at the time and a current 52-year member. Albin was looking for a good project for his club and was returning home to Bieslin Road from lunch when he saw the old Main Street clock.

A principal at Seneca Junior High in the Sachem School District back then, he approached former mayor Frank Trotta.

“He saw the potential of it being a landmark and we didn’t have a village clock,” said Albin. “The board was very enthusiastic after Frank and I talked.”

As Albin tells it, it was all-hands-on-deck, with the members pitching in after getting the green light, tapping who they knew, hunting resources down. First, they went to Niemeyer Sign Co. in Patchogue; they agreed to make the clock face imprinted with South Country Lions. One member suggested a vintage gaslight base, much more decorative than an aluminum one. “One of the guys then tracked down the cast-iron base at a scrap yard in Connecticut,” Albin explained. It was a find because the inner center used for the gas flow was hollow and could now be used for electric wiring. Another owned a used-car lot; a pickup truck was utilized to transport the heavy base back. It was refinished and clear coated.

“We were redoing Main Street with new lighting, sidewalks, brick work and antique lights,” Trotta recalled. “For the Lions Club to take it on was a major commitment.”

Albin said the clock cost at least $5,000, a lot of money back then. Details like the lighting, powered off the nearby liquor store panel, and cementing it in place were village processes that included permits.

The project took about eight months.

“We moved them along,” Trotta said.

Trotta related he was at a recent block party; a lot of the new people who moved in weren’t aware of the area’s history.

The story of the clock, he said, “reminds me that there are some things here we take for granted, and makes me realize all the historic places, events and structures we’ve experienced and are enjoying, there’s a desire of wanting to know how it happened.”