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Remembering Barbara Toborg

By preserving and promoting Broad Channel’s history, Barbara Toborg was one of those people who became part of it.

Without the work of Barbara and many others, I don’t know if we would have the richness of detail, the stories and people, that make up the very unique and fascinating story of our past. Because of them and her, the story of Broad Channel is spread out now for us and for future generations to discover, be proud of and delight in.

When my late wife, Liz Guarino, and I moved in, now nearly forty years ago, Barbara and her husband Fred welcomed us into this community and we became friends. Through Barbara we were introduced to a history of this island town that we would never have guessed at!

It was through Barbara that our book, “Images of America: Broad Channel” came about. As head of the Broad Channel Historical Society, when Arcadia Publishing made contact about the possibility, Barbara reached out to my wife, then a freelance writer. Liz said she’d do it if I would, and so a proposal was written, then accepted and contracts were signed. After months of hard work, the first published history of Broad Channel was a cherished reality.

Of course, who else could we ask to write a better foreword, the very first words of the book, summing up BC, than Barbara. Years later that first book would lead to a second for me, on which I relied heavily on Barbara to maintain the accuracy of my work. Over time we were happy to join in on Broad Channel Historical Days, with our book and my BC photos. Always with Barbara’s support. I was honored to work with Barbara on many projects, including the BC calendar.

Barbara also introduced many, many people to BC. Inquiries would come from all over, invitations to come and visit our island home were extended and Barbara welcomed many to our community. Many students, coming over all the way from Europe, could not believe an amazing town like ours existed at all, let alone within New York City. Likewise she welcomed filmmakers and photographers and everyone who had an interest in getting to know BC.

It was a thrill, through her, to see again and again the delight of discovery in their eyes. And through her work preserving our living, rich and often surprising BC story, she has welcomed us into it and invited future generations to discover it for themselves.

In weaving all those colorful strands that have bound our amazing Broad Channel past to our present, and our future, Barbara has become part of that story. In that she will be always a part of our story, our town, our Broad Channel. What better way could there for our friend, our neighbor to be remembered? Bless you, Barbara.

Dan Guarino

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Broad Channel Historical Society

Remembering Barbara Toborg

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