January 11, 2001 - Of photographers and first cars• The Suffolk Times • January 11, 2001
Of photographers
AFTER LEAVING THE EAST Cut -
chogue School area we head west to
Eugene's Road and Route 25, where
Marty Doroski once ran a gas station; it
is still in operation today but under dif-
ferent management. Just after you go
through the new light there, at
Eugene's Road and Route
25, the next driveway on your
left (alongside the old ceme-
and first cars
tery, which dates back to Barbara's grandfather, Oscar
1717) would have taken you Silleck, can be seen in a photograph e
down to one of the local pho- a work crew at that old cemetery (the
tographers of those days, Old Burying Ground). It shows how
Linnaeus Allen, a large man things were done in those days when
who was known by everyone everyone pitched in to help. Once a
who needed a picture or por- year everyone got together and
trait. cleaned up the cemetery.
Barbara remembers him taking The car and truck in the
family portraits in their living room background date the photo.
using his big camera with the black
sheet over his head. She said, "We
kids had to go around in back where Fart her a ong Route 25,
he was and check the upside -down in the late '30s and early
image in the big ground -glass back of '40s, was Felix Doroski's gay
the camera." Later another photogra- station on the north side of
pher moved into town from Southold, the road. Here Felix
Charles Meredith, who had his studio reigned supreme. Everyone
up Depot Lane. knew Felix. There was even
a time you could buy a Ford
car from him. He was quite a colorful
guy. Today it is still used as a gas and
FOGUS service station.
On the same side of the street,
ON THE about where the Suffolk County
National Bank now stands, was the old
PAST Cider Mill. As we came home on the
by Paul school bus from Southold, we kids
and Barbara would look to see if the coffee- colored
Stoutenburgh blankets that strained the cider were
hanging out on the racks, and if they
193 1 Model A Ford purchased for $25 In 1941
Photographer Lin Allen, in a 1932
photo he took of the Pequash Club.
were, we'd get to sample the flowing
cider. You were always welcome to a
glass of it from the proprietor, Mr.
Billard.
Just past the King Kullen shopping
center, where Century 21 is opening
now that Napa Auto Parts moved
around to the side of the building
was the Ralph W. Sterling "seed
farm" that I remember. The family
lived down Sterling Lane, the old dirt
road that ran alongside the nursery to
the north where they had their green-
houses. There was a big goldfish pond
there and when you walked into the
seed house there was always that spe-
cial smell.
runner westward along Route 25
on the south side of the street, we
come to Pequash Avenue, where
Elliott Barteau ran a gas station. I can
remember seeing a newspaper clip-
ping on the wall inside telling of. a
prize he won for the "best- looking
garage on Long Island." Some will
remember it later when Ed Fox ran it.
It is now a real estate office.
Mr. Barteau conducted his repair
shop just south of his home on
Pequash Avenue. When I was in high
school I bought a 1931 Model A Ford
for $25 from Mr. Barteau and when I
went into the service in 19411 sold it
back to him for the same price.
If you were to drive all the way
down Pequash Avenue you'd come to
the bay and on your right you'd see a
r , but back in the old days
all used by the Pequash Club
uilding is still there and userbara found a 1932 picture
ndfather Silleck with a great
men standing outside the
ouse back in the old days.
It is still used today as a meeting
place for a group of community men
who gather once a month for a bowl
of good chowder, and their members
use it for family gatherings. Our son -
in -law is a member and we've enjoyed
some good times there. Barbara says,
"I recall Sunday school picnics there
in the '30s. We'd go up in the attic to
change into our swimsuits for a swim
in the ba . After we had eaten a pot-
luck supper the men
would unpack the
Mello -Rolls (vanilla ice
cream rolled up in
paper) from the dry ice
and they'd throw the
dry ice into the water
and we kids would get a
great kick out of watch-
ing the white foam and
bubbles that formed
around the dry ice as it
melted away in the
Water.
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