"We started last spring, by clearing a 50- by 100-foot plot" on the 11-acre Hobbs Farm in Centereach, said Ann Jimenez-Pellegrino of the facelift the abandoned property is now undergoing. She and other residents have been working hard to transform the land and are now seeing a return on their investment of time and labor. "Late in the summer," she said, "we planted fruits and vegetables and gave them away to the less fortunate in the community."

The land is owned by the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Setauket. When Alfred Hobbs died in 1996, his wife already had passed away and they had no children, so he left the farm to his church. Gregory Leonard, who has been the pastor of Bethel AME in Setauket for 14 years, said that Hobbs "had been a member of the church all his life, since he was a little boy. His family originally came up here from Georgia and he had quite a few acres of land in this part of Suffolk. Now these 11 acres are what's left of his holdings. He wanted to see it preserved, so that's what we're going to try to do. Last summer and fall we gave away eggplants, tomatoes and herbs from our little garden. This spring we're going to try planting peppers, because Hobbs was well noted for his peppers."
Leonard hopes to sell the land's development rights to the town or county to ensure that it will be preserved. "That would be a great help to the church," he said. "We would still own the land and be able to keep it a farm."
Saying that the church does not have a lot of funds, Jimenez-Pellegrino noted that, over the years, the farm became a dumping ground and the church was getting fined.
"They [the church] also had to pay all the back taxes on the land. If they can sell the development rights, that would help them a lot," she explained.
Brookhaven Town Third District Councilwoman Kathy Walsh said that the town is looking into purchasing the development rights for the property. "We're working on trying to come to an agreement," she stated. "Building homes on the property is not on the table. We are very interested in keeping it a working farm."
A close neighbor of the Hobbs Farm, Jimenez-Pellegrino said, "I used to work full-time and didn't really pay attention to what was going on in the neighborhood, but then my mom got sick with cancer and I had to quit my job to stay home and take care of her. While I was sitting home, I saw the property just sitting there. I saw that it was becoming an eyesore. I didn't know who owned it or why it was abandoned." Doing a little research and looking into the matter, "I found out that the church owned it but didn't really have the money to keep it up. I decided that something had to be done. Mr. Hobbs had been such a wonderful man."
Hobbs was known for helping those less fortunate than he was. One couple he aided was Herman and Maryann Walker. "I'm 65 years old now and I knew him since I was a little girl in knee socks," recalled Maryann. "He was a helpful, kindhearted, hard-working man. He grew the most delicious fruit and vegetables you've ever seen. Strawberries, watermelons ... Nothing tastes like that anymore. He farmed for 80 years on that property. He and his wife were like grandparents to me." She noted that when she and her husband "got married, he gave us a cash loan to buy our first property, back in 1969. At that time, it was hard to get loans from banks. He [helped get] us on our feet. And then when I had my kids, he would help me take care of them, even when they were sick. Whenever I needed anything, Mr. Hobbs was always the person I called. He loved children, but he never had any of his own. My children were blessed to have had him in their life."
The residents' and church's goal is to continue in this spirit. "Hobbs would always help the less fortunate - give them vegetables, give them work. Now we want to continue Mr. Hobbs's legacy, get the farm going again," said Jimenez-Pellegrino. "We hope this year to clear the rest of the land so that we can plant on it and really help people. But we need help. The house [on the property] had been vandalized, the lawn needs to be cleared and mowed."
Companies that have already stepped up to the plate include North Shore Fence, which has pledged to donate materials, and Jimenez-Pellegrino's family has even gotten into the act, with her husband's company, Pellegrino Blacktop, donating materials and time for the construction of a parking lot.
Arlien Cohen, a member of the Centereach Civic Association, said that the group talked about the Hobbs Farm project at their last meeting on January 31 and it's already paying off; officials from Dart Fuel Oil of Centereach said that they would donate an oil burner and a new fuel tank and Your Floor Store, also based in Centereach, wants to donate flooring. "What we really need is 35 to 45 tons of gravel," Cohen said. "People are sewing curtains. It's a complete community effort. There are a lot of people now really working hard on this."
Civic association members, such as Theresa Sperduto, hope that high school students, as well as Boy and Girl Scouts, can one day volunteer at the farm for community service. "Hobbs Farm is just an example of how we can come together," Sperduto stated. One idea that Cohen had was for elementary school students to begin planting things in their classrooms and then come down and transplant the seedlings at the farm. "It would be a great educational experience," she said.
The civic association's next meeting is on March 10 at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach. In addition, Cohen said that "anyone who wants to volunteer to help with Hobbs Farm can call me at 732-1849." Jimenez-Pellegrino noted that the public can contact her about efforts to revitalize the farm via email at hobbsfarmfriends@aol.com
"This farm can be a blessing to the neighborhood," noted Jimenez-Pellegrino. "A lot of prayers have gone into this place and they are starting to be answered."