Letters

I read with great interest the article about John Melillo and the show of his art at Southampton Cultural Center, and his recollections of happy times at Sea Breeze Boarding House in Sagaponack [“Melillo Reflects On East End Origins, Vietnam War In Solo Show,” Arts & Living, September 16].

In 1946, my mother, who was born and raised in New York City, wanted to find a quiet farming community to which to take her two children for the summer. A friend of hers in Central Park said, “Go to the East End and stay with the Szczepankowskis on their farm.”

Mother liked that advice and took my brother, age 6, and me, age 3, on the Long Island Rail Road to Bridgehampton, where a cab driver took us to Sagaponack to find Sea Breeze Boarding House on Sagg Main Street.

We spent three wonderful summers there and became good friends with the owners, and I became friendly with their oldest daughter and her slightly younger sister, who was just my age. For children who had grown up in an apartment in Manhattan, roaming around that farm and the empty, beautiful stretches of Sagg Main Beach (to which we walked each day, since we didn’t have a car) was sheer bliss.

And, although Mr. Melillo remembers Friday night’s menu as his favorite, I loved Thursday night, when roast duckling, followed by chocolate brownies and ice cream, were served.

Carey Millard

Bridgehampton