People of Sayville: John Wells, lifelong resident

It's the people that make a community come to life. As part of our TOWN FOCUS series this week, Erin Geismar will give you a glimpse of life in Sayville with quick interviews of everyone from community leaders to everyday people on the street.

John Wells

Age: 81

Years living in Sayville: 81

Community associations: Sayville Cabinet for the Sick; Sayville Historical Society; St. Ann’s Episcopal Church Historical Society

Tell me about one of these groups you’re involved with, the Sayville Cabinet; what is it? This is a town-owned building that we use to store medical equipment that we loan to people who need it. We take donations, and we store and repair the equipment here. It’s been around for over 50 years. When we first started getting equipment, we stored them in the two jail cells in the courthouse building. Someone who is sick can come here and borrow what they need. We have enough crutches for probably 100 people right now, more than 50 wheelchairs. All sorts of things for different needs.

You have lived in Sayville for your entire life. What has been one of the biggest changes to the community over the years? There are so many more people here than in the '30s and '40s. Then, a lot of people only lived here in the summer. Even in the summer, the women and the children would stay, and the husbands would take the train into the city for work and come back on the weekends. My father ran a livery service, so he liked the summers because there were so many people to pick up from the train station. He was also in real estate, he helped people find summer cottages. Back then, even if you lived in town, you would go stay with family members for the summer so you could rent out your house and make a little extra money.

How would you describe Sayville? Well, Sayville has a motto, you know -- “The Friendly Town." That’s how I would describe it.