'Teddy Roosevelt' Testifies at Oyster Bay Town Hearing

He spoke softly but he left the big stick at home.

When the Oyster Bay Town Council held a hearing on creating a new tree ordinance, the spirit of town's most famous resident was channeled by Theodore Roosevelt impersonator James Foote.

"I'm tempted to call you Colonel," Town Supervisor John Venditto said as he introduced Foote, who's played the hero of San Juan Hill at numerous sites around the country, including the Historic Site.

Foote said he came to the meeting out of concern over erroneous reports that the Town was considering getting rid of their tree ordinance.

At the same time, Foote, a Sea Cliff resident, warned that his village once enacted what he called "an onerous" tree ordinance.

The TR impersonator ended his comments in character, quoting the former president from a speech he gave in Osawatomie, Kansas in 1910.

"Conservation means development as much as it does protection," he said. "I recognize the right and duty of this generation to use and develop and use the natural resources , but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, by future generations. 

Foote said he will be at Sagamore Hill for family day on Oct. 20.