Introduction to Moriches Bay View and Moriches Bay Tide Indexes

INDEX OF THE MORICHES BAY VIEW from 1955 – 1967 and THE MORICHES BAY TIDE from 1961 – 1992

by Maurine R. Donnelly

Computer assistance by Mrs. Nan Peel, Director
of the
Center Moriches Free Public Library

Copyright 1998

The Moriches Bay View and the Moriches Bay Tide Index was conceived and developed in 1979 by Mr. C. Gerard Donnelly, Director of the Center Moriches Free Public Library from 1964 to 1990. The first volume was compiled by Keith McLaughlin and Donna Collins, and was published in 1981 in cooperation with the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in Bellport, N.Y. This volume included The Moriches Bay View for the years 1955 – 1967, and The Moriches Bay Tide for the years 1961 to 1980.

Each year following this initial publication, an index was compiled for the previous month’s issues and the newspaper was microfilmed for the library’s collection. The indexes were compiled by various employees of the library, including Mr. Donnelly, Kathleen A. Irish, Lisa Baldwin, Rose Biamonte, Alice Mabry, and Maurine R. Donnelly.

The preface to the original index was written in 1980 by Mr. Donnelly. He wrote, “This index was created to meet the needs of library patrons and researchers seeking specific information about the Moriches Bay Area, and to assist readers whose general interest lies in recapturing the ambience of the vicinity. The index includes each edition of the Moriches Bay View and the Moriches Bay Tide newspapers from August, 1955, when the View began publication, through December, 1980. Only the following missing issues have not been included: The View, June, 1961; January, 1963; January, 1964 and the Tide August 4, 1961, June 4, 1964, and May 1, 8 and 15 of 1975. The Moriches Bay Tide first appeared in print in 1961, and remains in publication to this day. The Moriches Bay View ceased publication in 1972, having been absorbed in a supplement to the Moriches Bay Tide ten years earlier. All of the issues of both newspapers included in this index were microfilmed in 1979.

“The index is limited to the following subjects: Political events in the Moriches Bay area, prominent local residents, major accidents, crimes, storms, obituaries and persons, places and events of local importance.”

It was discovered that the microfilm of The Moriches Bay Tide for January through October 13th, 1988 is missing. Since the index for these issues had been printed, it was decided to include them in the present index for the information value in the entries.

Obituary Notices from all the issues of the Moriches Bay Tide have been included in the present index.

After 1992, The Moriches Bay Tide ceased local publication when the printing offices were moved upstate with the stated intention of less costly printing of the paper. But publication of the newspaper was soon discontinued.

The weekly newspaper had proven itself, over time, to be a cohesive element in the community daily life and served the informational needs of the people. It had been the focus point in days past wherein the community shared personal and business interests. The attempt to serve these needs by other media forms of communication such as the Internet, local TV and radio news programming have not been able to successfully replace the weekly newspaper.