CLAYTON — Town officials were in for a rare treat of sincere gratitude and homemade dinner fresh out of the oven Wednesday night at the Grindstone Island Community House.

Supervisor Justin A. Taylor opened the annual meeting by greeting Brenda, Irma, Doreen — who was still in the kitchen and probably didn’t hear him — and every other seasonal and year-round Grindstone Islander who came to spend the evening with their local representatives.

“FYI: Grindstone Island Schoolhouse was nominated to the state registry of historical places and that was granted. And the state has forwarded that nomination on to the federal government to be listed both on the state registry and also the federal registry,” Mr. Taylor said. “That’s an exciting thing for us. And we hope that it opens some doors for some grant opportunities.”

The “upper schoolhouse” on Cross Island Road was the last operating one-room schoolhouse in New York when it closed June 19, 1989. It now is occupied by the Grindstone Island Research and Heritage Center, which hosts several recreation programs and classes for island children during the summer. The structure still requires some minor masonry repairs, and preliminary plans are in place to turn the bathroom into a “research room” with a computer and bookshelves for documents.

Mr. Taylor said the town also hopes to secure state funding for a helipad next to the Clayton fire station for better emergency response to not only “mainland residents” but also the town’s many islanders.

Kenneth Deedy, Grindstone Island, said this year is his 50th anniversary as a taxpayer of Clayton and he gave a big tip of the hat to the Town Council members.

“I just want to say how proud I am to have been a resident of the town of Clayton,” he said. “If there were awards for excellence in governance, I believe all of you deserve to get it.”

Clayton has a good zoning law that is enforced well, Mr. Deedy said, and although the proposed luxury hotel on the former Frink America site has drawn some criticism, the town’s effort to secure grants for community development and its inspiration is worthy of applause.

“Your whole project on the development of a hotel — some of us don’t like it because we don’t want Clayton to have any more people in it. Let’s face it, just yesterday I was astounded by the number of people. But it’s good for the economy and it’s good for the public and good for the people who live here year-round as well as the summer people,” he said.

Unfortunately, Councilman Lance L. Peterson and Highway Superintendent Robert A. Bolton could not make it to Wednesday’s meeting because of “a mechanical failure” and a golf match, respectively.

But the other elected members of Clayton’s town government were fed well — as per Grindstone tradition — and made their bumpy ride back to the public docks in the island’s rusty old school bus.

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