Ten-Year Hamlet Green Anniversary Celebration In the Works

The East Quogue Civic Association, headed up by Al Algieri, is poised to hold a ten-year anniversary celebration of the East Quogue Village Green, a day after its official anniversary.

The civic, said Algieri, is in the beginning stages of planning for the event, which will take place on May 25.

"We intend to have a big affair that day," said Algieri, whose wife, Nancy, was instrumental in bringing the park to fruition ten yeas ago as the civic's president.

At the time, the three-acre property where the park now sits was for sale and a tentative contract was in place to build a strip mall; however, a zone change was required.

Algieri said the civic banded together, went to town hall with a petition and worked to get the town to agree to use community preservation funds to purchase the land and create a park for the community.

The civic didn't stop there. To make the park a park, compete with benches, a gazebos, stage, bathroom and playground, they raised over $260,000 in donations to design and build it.

Aside from celebrating the park's anniversary, Agieri hopes the event will bring interest to the park, where the civic holds a summer concert series.

"The park, in our opinion, has not been very well taken care of by the town — the town has cried poverty," said Algieri. "We'd like to get more interest in the park and raise some funds for some improvements."

Patch wants to know: What memories do you have of the park? Post a comment below.

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