When Riverhead’s political junkies tune in to watch their town board meeting being broadcast and re-broadcast this month on the town’s government cable channel, they might just wonder why Harriet Haas is asking “Did they get it right?," and why everyone on the town board seems to be laughing.

But, they won’t get to see the reason why.

Haas, 67, is a tiny lady who had been invited to sing "God Bless America" to open the town board’s meeting on Sept. 5. And, as it turned out, she sang it again and again and again.

The town just couldn’t seem to get it on tape.

She was first asked to come to the town board meeting on Memorial Day and sing. She did. It was not taped. Then she came on the Fourth of July. Same problem.

Finally, Supervisor Phil Cardinale asked her to open the meeting around Labor Day.

The first time she sang, there was no camera. The second time she sang, someone had set up the camera, and someone else turned it off.

But, third time was a charm. She even got to sing an encore of "America the Beautiful." That, too, took three tries to tape.

- MITCHELL FREEDMAN