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Readers Recall Their Wonder Years

We asked our readers to tell us their memories of growing up on Long Island during the Baby Boom. Here is a selection from the many responses we received.

Glenn Sitterley, 4, of Baldwin, shows off a new space helmet, rocket ship and disintegrator pistol at a Manhattan toy fair in 1953. (Corbis-Bettmann Photo)

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Letters have been edited for clarity and brevity.

A Kennedy Moment

In the late '50s and early '60s, I was a carrier for Newsday in Wantagh. The paper was a nickel then, and a quarter tip was considered generous. One damp and drizzling Saturday, instead of getting the papers delivered, I was at the Wantagh train station. (This was before the train was elevated.) It had been announced that the Democratic presidential candidate would make a stop and speak. The scheduled time was early in the afternoon, but as usual, things were delayed. I was around 13 at the time, and the only president I could remember looked like my grandfather. Suddenly the train pulled in and this young man said a few words, shook a few hands, and the train left. I caught hell when I got home because my father and brother had to deliver my route, but seeing John F. Kennedy up close is something I will never forget. It is ironic that I have taught social studies for the last 29 years at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore.

--Alan Fleishman, Seaford

His Paradise Lost

As a young boy in the '50s in South Oceanside, our world was a natural paradise. We were surrounded by vacant waterfront lots, with piers to fish and swim from. The wetlands rolled out from our bedroom window like a lush green carpet, and I could easily see the Jones Beach Tower and Coast Guard station. Our summers were filled with rudimentary raft- and boat-building. There was a watersports-oriented day camp nearby, but we couldn't figure out why anyone would pay for all this; it was available to us for free! The town built Oceanside Park in the early '60s, and it was empty for the first few summers: Why would anyone build an organized place to play amid all this natural splendor! Then we began to hear the incessant thrumming of the dredges and the rap! rap! rap! of the pile drivers, and in rapid fashion overdevelopment killed all these opportunities for the next generation.

--Keith L. Andoos, Baldwin

Old Days in East Northport

I grew up in East Northport during the 1960s and graduated from St. Anthony's grade school in 1971. During this time, East Northport developed tremendously. Potato farms, sod farms and fields disappeared and became housing developments almost overnight. Among the landmarks I remember: the old pickle works, a big, old wood-frame building located next to the railroad tracks where the commuter parking lot is now, and the "old" East Northport library. I was glad to see that our new library has the same steel bicycle rack that we used many years ago.

--Christopher Dee, East Northport

Those Old Houses

My family and I moved to Plainview in 1953 . . . In my mind I can picture Old Country Road with one lane in each direction. There were what we kids would call "haunted houses," which were only abandoned homes that we would trespass through and play and pretend in.

--Lynne Newman Stolls, Bethpage

Navigating by Bicycle

I grew up in the '50s in Carle Place, then Glen Cove. I remember the sonic booms coming from Mitchel Field, picnicking at Salisbury Park and going to the first McDonald's on Old Country Road. We'd ride our bikes from town to town playing pick-up games, and fights would be fought only with fists.

--Larry Eisenoff, Los Angeles

One Year, Three Schools

My freshman year began at Hicksville High in September, 1952. In 1953, after many hours of practice, I was so proud to have been chosen for the varsity cheering squad on my very first tryout. Football season began and I was enjoying my life. About three tofour months into the 1953 school year, boundary lines were changed and our home was suddenly located in Syosset. I was compelled to leave Hicksville High. There was no high school in Syosset then, and I began attending Glen Cove High, transported daily by taxi and bus. A few months passed and I was again relocated into Oyster Bay High -- three schools in one year -- what an experience that was! Luckily, I remained in Oyster Bay and graduated in 1956.

--Barbara Pompa, Woodbury

The Mineola Skating Rink