East Northport street renamed for Fred Hughes, the 'Orange Hat' man, known for his village walks
Shirley Hughes, left, wife of Fred Hughes, and his granddaughter Jessica Greenbaum, during the unveiling of street sign in his honor Friday. Fred Hughes, a plumber for the Town of Huntington and a longtime firefighter, was known as "Orange Hat Man" to the community for his daily walks while wearing an orange hat. Credit: John Roca
Shirley Hughes started to panic. Her husband was an avid walker, looping around their East Northport community for at least 45 minutes a day, but this time he was gone for longer than usual.
She drove around and looked for him, until she pulled up to a man who resembled her husband.
“It was not her husband, but a complete stranger whom she invited into her car,” said their granddaughter, Jessica Greenbaum. “Who so, thank goodness, generously declined her offer as he probably thought he was being kidnapped by a grandmother.”
Hughes finally found “her Freddy” that day, so many years ago. And from then on, she said, he vowed to wear a bright orange hat so that everyone would know that was “our Fred.”
“It was kind of like playing [Where's] Waldo,” said Greenbaum. “You'd be driving home and see an orange hat gawking in the wind, striding home and you would know who that was.”
Fred Hughes, who forever became known as the “Orange Hat Man,” was a familiar figure in the East Northport community. The longtime town plumber and volunteer firefighter was honored Friday with a street renamed for him in a ceremony attended by friends and family, the East Northport Fire Department, Commack EMS, and elected officials on Friday.
“When you live in East Northport for over 20 years like I have, you’re bound to run into Fred and the hat,” said Town Clerk Andrew Raia.
Shirley Hughes (left) and her late husband Fred Hughes (right). Huntington is renaming a street for Fred Hughes, known as the "orange hat man" because of what he wore on his daily walks around the East Northport village where he served as a plumber and a longtime firefighter. Credit: Lynn Hughes
The intersection of 7th Street and 4th Avenue now known as “Fred Hughes Way,” was the last street he walked at the end of his life, when he suffered from cancer and no longer could do his normal loop.
He died on July 15, 2022, about one month after his 94th birthday.
Friday, arm in arm, Shirley, 90, and Greenbaum pulled down the black cloth covering the street sign, following a count down from the crowd. Shirley, who wore a corsage of orange roses, was at a loss for words, wiping her tears at the sight.
Greenbaum, 22, of East Northport, said that she felt compelled to ask Huntington town to rename a street for her grandfather in October 2022.
The nursing student said she wrote a letter showcasing his life and impact on his community: how he served in the Navy, met Shirley on a blind date and got married in 1951; how he then worked as a plumber for the Town and volunteered for the East Northport Fire Department and raised six children in his 4th Avenue house.
But above all, Greenbaum wrote about how he made people feel.
Fred Hughes always had a smile, even when he was ill, she wrote. He was a generous and humble man who enjoyed playing horseshoes and loved his family and family occasions.
“Our Christmas tree always looked like you had gone to the mall and bought everything out,” said Lynn Hughes, the couple's eldest daughter.
Spotting the Orange Hat Man was also a highlight of the day for village residents, Lynn Hughes said, as people would take candid pictures of him and send them to the family.
“No matter what he did, he would stop, and he would talk to people,” she said. “He just loved the community.”
