It didn't take her and her lunch companion, Nancy Swett, very long to realize that although the neighboring communities of Jamesport, Flanders, Calverton and Wading River all had their own organizations, there was no group representing the concerns of downtown Riverhead residents.
"What's needed is the continuity of a determined group of citizens who are there for the long haul," Ms. Swett told the News-Review. "From one administration to another, from one year to the next, helping to keep projects and hope alive."
Ms. Swett, who lives in Jamesport and runs iloveriverhead.com and northforkparents.com, soon put the word out on the Web to gauge interest in creating a Downtown Riverhead Civic Association. And although the concept is still in the formative stages, she said it seems to have some legs.
"People seemed very interested, but no one seems ready to take the helm," said Ms. Jacobs, of Cutchogue
She and Ms. Swett said they wouldn't feel comfortable leading the group because neither lives in downtown Riverhead. But they definitely want to help start the conversation.
That talk is set to begin during a brainstorming session at the first "I Love Riverhead" meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. at Vail-Leavitt Music Hall on Peconic Avenue.
While downtown does have the Business Improvement District and the Chamber of Commerce, those groups represent strictly business interests.
Cindy Clifford, who lives and works downtown, said Main Street and the surrounding neighborhoods are ripe for a grass-roots approach to renewal.
"It's been left to business people and politicians and no one has been able to get anything done," she said.
Her goal, she said, would be to see downtown Riverhead become the "vibrant and wonderful" community it was when she first moved there in the early 1980s.
"I want it to reach its potential," Ms. Clifford said. "Not be the ghost town that runs by the river."
Riverhead Councilman James Wooten, the only Town Board member who lives downtown, said not only that he liked the idea, but would like to get involved.
"Civics carry a lot of weight when it comes to public policy," said Mr. Wooten, adding that he would offer the community his help in getting the organization off the ground.
"I'd love to be a part of it," he said, adding that he'd be pleased to see the group continue on long after his political career.
Michael Brewer, who spearheaded the formation of the Flanders, Riverside, Northampton Community Association nearly 10 years ago, said the group has helped those hamlets by providing a conduit between the people and local government. "We were like the stepchild of Southampton," he said. "[Forming a civic group] put us on the map."
Mr. Brewer said that having a collective voice representing the people who live on the south side of the Peconic River has been instrumental in negotiations with Southampton Town. He said the same would undoubtedly be true for the downtown area and Riverhead Town.
"They see you are a power to be reckoned with," he said.
Before his group officially incorporated in 2002, Mr. Brewer said he, his brother and others worked hard to get word out about local issues and gain support for the movement. They then had to apply to New York State to become incorporated and later applied for not-for-profit status.
The entire process took just over a year, Mr. Brewer said.
Although the response to creating a downtown civic association has been mainly positive, Ms. Swett said there is one major question that needs to be answered before moving forward.
"Is anybody going to step up and do it?" she asked.
vchinese@timesreview.com