The Fahys Wood Bridge, built in 1892, connecting Sag Harbor and North Haven, collapsed in the water in 1900 due to the ravages of terado (shipworm). A replacement bridge with a steel trestle and a swing center span was erected in 1900. It was torn down in 1934 and replaced with a steel-reinforced concrete span on concrete piles, which was again reinforced in 1975.

Twenty-one years after the Shinnecock Indians decided to build a museum and cultural center in Southampton, its dream may soon be realized.

But there is one catch: The Native American tribe, whose roots on the East End reach as far back as Shinnecock relics dated at 1043 B.C., needs to raise another $300,000 to complete the project.

Last year, the museum got its first big boost, in the form of a $200,000 donation from the Mashantucket Pequots, the group that operates the Foxwoods Resort Casino on its reservation in Ledyard, Conn.

With that in their bank account, the Shinnecocks were finally able to call in a favor they had been promised seven years before by Beaver Creek Log Homes, a business owned and run by members of the Oneida Nation in upstate New York. Beaver Creek had offered to construct the building for the cost of the materials alone.

Hands-On Exhibits

Now half constructed, on the south side of Montauk Highway on the northern boundary of the reservation, just east of the Southampton College campus, the center will include a permanent museum as well as classrooms where children can learn about Shinnecock culture.

"It's a living museum," Betty Cromwell, vice president of the cultural center board, said on Friday. "There will be hands-on exhibits for children." In 1994, the cultural center was granted an educational charter by the State Board of Regents.

"There will be a reproduction of a native village showing the way the tribe used to live," she said. "There will be gardens with plants and herbs used by our people, and stuffed animals seen in their native habitats," a reminder of the wildlife that once roamed Long Island and that provided sustenance for the tribe.

Mural A Centerpiece

Stone implements, ancient relics, clothing, a birchbark canoe, wigwams, wickiups (conical huts with rough frames covered by reeds, grass, or brushwood), old photographs, and many other artifacts, some donated by members of the tribe, others acquired or borrowed from museums with Shinnecocks' holdings, will be permanently displayed.

"When I was a child," Ms. Cromwell said, "we used something called a scrub to scour dishes and pots. We knew nothing about Brillo." The scrub was made by tribal elders from white oak saplings. Recently, David Bunn Martine and other Shinnecocks took a workshop to learn how to make scrubs and other utensils used by the tribe in earlier days.

Mr. Martine, a painter, is responsible for an 8-foot-high, 20-foot-long mural, depicting the history of the Shinnecocks, which will provide a centerpiece for the museum.

The building is made from white pine logs hand peeled, shaped, sanded, notched, and assembled by Oneida workers with the Beaver Creek company. Even without a roof - more funds must be raised before that can be constructed - it is a simple and elegant structure that evidences superior craftsmanship.

Robbin Obomsawin, who is married to Jules Obomsawin, an Oneida who is the owner of Beaver Creek, is the general contractor for the project.

All Handmade

"The cost for this job would normally be in the range of $1.2 million," Ms. Obomsawin said. "Because of the different Indians who have pitched in, and thanks to donations in time and labor from a number of businesses, we should be able to bring this in at around $600,000, which is extremely low. But you still have to pay for materials."

The price of the log contract, drawn up seven years ago, was honored by Beaver Creek even though costs have gone up since 1991. All of the labor was donated by the company. The crew lived for seven months in a house on the reservation loaned to them by a member of the board of directors.

"Our buildings are all hand-crafted, made the traditional way, as they were 500 years ago," Mr. Obomsawin, whose Indian name is Seven Shirts, said. "I used to come here with my family for pow-wows when I was very small. We're very glad to be doing this for the Shinnecocks."

Others who have donated time and labor to the project include Campion Platt, an architect who designed the layout of the building in collaboration with board members, and Cliff Gibbons, a stone mason who, with his crew, is building retaining walls and a patio for the center.

Ms. Obomsawin noted that Mr. Gibbons's donation of time and materials is worth well over $30,000.

And, numerous members of the Shinnecock Tribe are volunteering their services.

Elizabeth Haile, the board secretary, said funds were still needed to complete the roof, and put in windows, a septic system, plumbing, heat and light.

"We went out on a limb so that people could see that we are serious," she said, "and we hope that the community will see that the center has benefited from it already, with our nature walks and tours for schoolchildren." The Shinnecocks over the past two years have sent a traveling educational troupe of storytellers and dancers to local schools.

Although there is some hope that the board may be able to raise more money by approaching the Mohegans, who, like the Mashantucket Pequots, own a casino in Connecticut, Ms. Haile said that the board now is relying on support from the East End community.

Native American Management

"We are a small group," she said. "We know that our neighbors in Southampton love what we are doing, but we also hope that they will be able to help us. We're hoping for outright donations and we'd also like advice and aid in fund-raising opportunities on the East End."

"I'm sorry to go on about money," she laughed, "but we're so busy trying to raise funds that I feel that I'm not telling you all that we hope to accomplish with the cultural center."

"We traveled to see many other museums of this type," Ms. Cromwell said. "Our museum will be the only one on Long Island operated and managed by Native American people. We're very proud of this project, and we hope the world will be proud with us."

And the world can find out more about the Shinnecocks, including updates on the museum, by logging onto their new Internet home page. The address is www.red-owl.com .

Last week a settlement seemed likely, but this week, days before a $2.7 million grant for runway repaving at East Hampton Airport is to expire, town officials say they doubt a lawsuit brought by residents opposed to the project will be resolved before the grant deadline.

Despite that, at least two Town Board members believe the Town Supervisor will accept the grant money from the Federal Aviation Administration and sign a construction contract for the repaving.

"We'll do the right thing," Councilman Peter Hammerle said Tuesday afternoon. By that, he said, he meant that the town would proceed with the repaving of the airport's main runway, but put other projects on hold pending a new airport master plan.

Public Scrutiny

Richard Cahn of Melville, the town's attorney in various airport-related lawsuits, has met almost weekly with litigants in the suit and their attorney, Pat Trunzo 3d, attempting to reach an agreement that would allow the work to proceed but also satisfy some of the litigants' concerns about airport expansion.

Mr. Trunzo said yesterday afternoon that he still believes a settlement is close and that the Supervisor will ask the F.A.A. for a brief extension of the grant.

Both Republicans and Democrats on the Town Board are willing to insure that future airport projects receive the public scrutiny runway opponents have asked for.

"We will adhere to mitigation measures whether Trunzo wins or loses," Councilwoman Pat Mansir said yesterday. Earlier in the week, however, both she and Mr. Hammerle said several other sticking points between the town and the litigants would likely prevent a settlement this week.

Touchdown

"There is only one major issue left to resolve," Mr. Trunzo said yesterday. If the F.A.A. allowed the town to move the touchdown point on the main runway, shortening the distance available for landing, the suit could be settled, the attorney said.

Moving the touchdown point could effectively limit the size of aircraft using the runway.

"That gets to the basic question - are we going to have a general utility airport, or a basic transport airport?"

Two weeks ago, a third party, the East Hampton Airport Property Owners Association, sought to intervene in the suit on the town's side as "an affected party," according to the East Hampton Aviation Association's announcement of the action.

This group favors the runway project and is concerned that a closed-door agreement between the litigants and the town, before they have a chance to be heard, could affect their investments at the airport.

In a release, Anthony Darienzo, the attorney for the property owners, said "the right thing to do would have been to recognize that [the town] can't negotiate the airport away without acknowledging that there are parties who have made substantial investments in airport property based on prior agreements with the town."

Scores Bonding Lack

Mr. Darienzo urged the town not to ignore the concerns of one affected party while negotiating with another.

He maintained the town was "not committed to defending itself against these litigants." If it had been, he said, it would have insisted they put up a $3 million bond to cover the runway work, in the event they lose in court and the F.A.A. grant expires.

Representatives of Myers Aero Services, Sound Aviation, and East Hampton Aire, who in the past have been on opposite sides in disputes over hangar and terminal space allocations, have joined in condemning the stipulations of the town's "imminent settlement with the plaintiffs," according to a letter sent to The Star and the Town Supervisor.

Negotiating sessions have been held in executive session and the letter does not specify the nature of the stipulations, but among the items apparently under discussion as part of a settlement is a 500 percent increase in landing fees for aircraft not based in East Hampton.

Councilman Hammerle said yesterday afternoon that it was premature to protest the details of a settlement when the town doesn't even know if it will reach one.

The perfect companion to East Hampton's tricentquinquagenary - a map pinpointing and describing the town's important historic sites and landmarks - is on its way to the printer. The map, which depicts everything from the tiny Dominy family cemetery to the 1898 debarkation point for Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, will be ready for distribution in about two weeks.

Streetwise Maps, a worldwide operation with headquarters in Amagansett, drafted the map pro bono, with input from the East Hampton Historical Society and other groups. The Suffolk County National Bank is underwriting the printing.

"It's completely ready to go" to the printer, said Streetwise's president, Michael Brown. "I think we're all pretty happy with it."

The "Historic East Hampton" map resembles Streetwise's popular laminated street map of the town, which was released in 1994. Historic sites are superimposed in the form of icons and even line drawings of landmark buildings. Detailed inlays of East Hampton Village, Springs, and Sag Harbor are included, along with the sites of notable shipwrecks off the town's shores, dating back to the H.M.S Culloden in 1781.

Mr. Brown said he had gotten an education in the mapmaking process. "I've lived out here for seven years, and there were a lot of things I didn't know about. It was nice looking at the history of East Hampton as opposed to the straight-ahead fact-checking on street names and other things I normally have to do."

Bruce Collins, who chairs the 350th Anniversary Committee, said the map was "something the whole committee thought would be nice to do." Two committee members, Barbara Borsack and Stuart Epstein, took charge of the project.

"I think [Streetwise] did a very nice job," said Mr. Collins. He predicted a long life for the map. "It's a functional thing that people will be able to use for a long time. It's going to be one of those things you can stick in your glove compartment and use as a reference."

Suffolk National's donation of the printing costs "helped us dramatically," Mr. Collins added.

The map will cost $7.95. It will be available at the anniversary committee's headquarters at the East Hampton railroad station and at the Historical Society's offices in the Osborn-Jackson house on Main Street, among other locations.

Culloden Point, at the east side of Fort Pond Bay in Montauk, is named for the H.M.S. Culloden, a British warship that ran aground there on a January day in 1781.

The ship, in its turn, had been named after the 1746 Battle of Culloden Moor, between the English and the Scots, which ended the Jacobite uprising.

In a fierce northeast storm accompanied by snow and gale-force winds, the Culloden, commanded by Capt. George Balfour, lost part of her rudder when she first scraped bottom, either at Gin Beach or Shagwong Reef. The captain managed to steer her into the calmer waters of Fort Pond Bay despite a hole in her side, but there the warship went aground again.

Water seeped in through the hole, filling the holds. Over the next several weeks crew members labored to save the vessel's supplies, cannon, and stores. Much was transferred to other ships; some was thrown overboard.

Then, lest the ship find its way into colonist hands, the crew burned it to the water line.

What was left, however, was largely preserved over the years by salt water and sediment. Some of the objects have been looted, others preserved - a 6,328-pound cannon and other artifacts can be found in the East Hampton Town Marine Museum - and some remain below.

Storms occasionally toss up remnants of the Culloden and other wrecks. In the 1950s, unsuspecting Montauk beachgoers found and burned a 60-foot-long piece of timber that may very well have been from the Culloden. It must have made quite a campfire.

The underwater locale where the Culloden lies is now an official archeological site, listed on the State and Federal Registers of Historic Places. It is illegal to remove anything from such places.

Before the Culloden met her fate, the spit of land there had been known as Will's Point, possibly named after Will Indian, a herder mentioned in early East Hampton Town records. Fifty-eight years after the ship went aground, the Amistad, with her crew of Africans led by Cinque, anchored off the very same spot.

Legislation that would have allowed the East Hampton School District to enter into long-term tuition contracts with districts that send students to East Hampton schools has stalled in the State Senate and Assembly, according to State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.

"It is pending in both houses because of a lack of consensus among the districts," he said.

Montauk and Springs have decided not to support the legislation, which would have allowed contracts lasting as long as 30 years and would have opened two seats on the East Hampton School Board to members of the three largest sending school districts' boards, to be rotated among them. The two board members would have been able to vote on issues concerning East Hampton High School, more than half of whose students come from other school districts.

The abandonment of the state legislation comes at a difficult time for East Hampton, which will ask its taxpayers to approve an $89 million expansion plan in a June 21 referendum. The long-term tuition contract agreement was supposed to guarantee that the five "feeder" districts, Springs, Montauk, Amagansett, Sagaponack, and Wainscott, would continue to send students and tuition payments to East Hampton for as long as it takes East Hampton to repay the bonds for the expansion project.

Without a long-term tuition contract, the feeder districts could send students to another high school, or even build their own high school, thus depriving East Hampton of revenues from tuition, but also alleviating overcrowding at the high school. However, administrators from both Montauk and Springs said they do intend to send students to East Hampton.

"It's a delicate matter," said Tom Lawrence, the president of the Springs School Board. "We don't want to sign a contract encumbering future school boards." Mr. Lawrence said that, as things stand, Springs planned to agree to a new five-year tuition contract when the current one expires in 2008.

In January, all five feeder districts verbally agreed to the 25-year contracts with East Hampton if the state legislation were passed. However, the second part of the legislation, which would have allowed two new seats on the East Hampton School Board, the ones to be rotated, became more controversial.

East Hampton had initially offered each of the two new seats on the school board to Springs and Montauk. Later this winter, however, East Hampton changed the offer so that the two seats would be rotated among the three largest school districts, by population, which would be Springs, Montauk, and Amagansett. That change was included in the proposed legislation.

"What was going to be two seats for Springs and Montauk, came to be three seats," said Jack Perna, the Montauk superintendent. "One rotating seat on the board is just not good enough."

Mr. Lawrence said that the amended legislation upset the Springs board as well, and Wainscott and Sagaponack representatives expressed discontent at a joint school board meeting on March 1. Since Wainscott and Sagaponack have the lowest enrollment of East Hampton's feeder districts, neither of those would have any representation on the East Hampton School Board, provided that the relative proportions of the population stay as they are.

"I've opposed the legislation from the beginning, because I feel that a 25-year contract would impinge on the right a future school boards," said Dr. Dominic Annacone, Wainscott's superintendent. "Wainscott would like the opportunity to have representation considering that 70 percent of our budget is spent on East Hampton tuition," he added.

Mr. Perna said that he had always favored a centralized high school district, which would give representation to all six school districts.

According to John Ryan, a member of the East Hampton School Board, however, a centralized high school district is unlikely because it would not be financially advantageous for most of the districts. Ultimately it would increase taxes in all the districts except Springs, which has the highest school taxes. The five feeder districts would also have to raise money to pay for a share of East Hampton High School.

"It's not going to happen," Dr. Annacone said of centralization, "because no one found a way to equalize the tax rate."

Another obstacle to a centralized district is a state requirement that the joining districts be contiguous. If Amagansett, the district with the lowest school taxes, does not agree to a centralized high school district, then Montauk would be left out of the equation.

Mr. Lawrence said he hoped that the Springs School's decision not to support the legislation would not hurt the proposed East Hampton school expansion project.

"It's a phenomenal high school with phenomenal teachers with a building that isn't designed for the current population," Mr. Lawrence said. "We're just not enamored with the structure of the legislation."

Dr. Annacone agreed. "I am an East Hampton taxpayer, and I am going to vote for the referendum," he said. "I credit the district and the administration for developing a long-term plan for the schools. I just don't think that Wainscott should commit to a 25-year contract."

Despite what Mr. Thiele said, Dr. Raymond Gualtieri, the East Hampton superintendent, said yesterday that the legislation is indeed moving ahead in the Senate.

Excerpted from the Rev. John T. Ames's 350th anniversary lecture Saturday at Guild Hall.

East Hampton's first four ministers were brilliant. All four were eccentric; all four were men of tireless energy.

East Hampton was served in the first century and a half of its existence by a remarkable trio of ministers - Thomas James, the feisty Puritan pioneer; Nathaniel Huntting, the scholarly frontier pastor, and Samuel Buell, the revivalist, the educator, the political conciliator who would have been on the winning side whoever won the Revolutionary War . . . .

Thomas James . . . came here in 1651 at a salary of 45 pounds a year, plus a house . . . . [He] immediately became an indispensable member of the tiny village of East Hampton. It was normal for the minister, as one of the few educated members of the community, to be the teacher, to be everybody's secretary, to witness wills and arbitrate minor disputes. James repeatedly served as a Trustee of the town, and often as secretary of the board. He also watched over and defended their political rights. He learned the Algonquian language of the Montauketts and was frequently called upon to be an interpreter between the settlers and the indigenous inhabitants of this peninsula.

For the first several years the villagers had no sort of written laws; they simply lived together under the tacit and implied common law with which they were familiar. In 1654 however, Thomas James wrote Governor Winthrop and secured a copy of the Connecticut Combination - or Charter - and in October of that year they adopted a version of that document as the charter of the town. It was their minister, Thomas James, who wrote the copy which the 30 male freeholders in East Hampton signed. The manuscript of this document, in James's handwriting, is one of the treasures of the town's archives.

[In 1686] . . . 11 prominent citizens of East Hampton were ordered arrested on the grounds that a petition they had presented to the governor was libelous. The next Sunday, Oct. 17, 1686, Thomas James preached a fiery sermon supporting his parishioners . . . .

Josiah Hubbert, the Sheriff of Suffolk, described the sermon in a letter to the Royal Council: " . . . . the whole subject of his sermon was to show the evill and pronounce the Curses against those who removed their Neighbor's Land Markers . . . He said that this order for it was noe excuse through it were an Edict from the King himself."

The next morning a warrant for James's arrest was issued on the charge of sedition, and he was taken to jail, where he spent the next three weeks until he petitioned the Governor to release him . . . .

James's final, and well-known, eccentricity was to instruct in his will that he be buried not alongside the other graves in the churchyard, but facing east. Local tradition assumes that the reason for this request is so that at the last trumpet he will rise facing his congregation, in place to preach to them.

James died June 6, 1696. In his last years he was quite infirm, and ministers were engaged on a temporary basis to relieve him, but he preached, at least occasionally, until the year of his death. As Henry Hedges, the first historian of East Hampton, wrote in 1849: "East Hampton was happy in its choice of minister . . . ."

One of the interim [ministers] engaged during James's infirmity was Nathaniel Huntting [who] came to East Hampton with his bride, Mary, and occupied the house which the town "by unanimous vote: Doe freely give and grant unto him . . . and his heirs . . . forever."

This house, as you know, was operated after his death by the Huntting family as "a common publick house," as it was derisively called, until quite recent times.

East Hampton genealogists and historians can be eternally grateful to Nathaniel Huntting for his meticulous habits of record-keeping. His book of baptisms, marriages, and deaths is an invaluable source, and the oldest such record in the town . . . and there are hundreds and hundreds of his sermon manuscripts in the East Hampton Library. Anyone who reads these - and I have, at least, glanced at a few of them - would be impressed with the accuracy of Huntting's reputation as a man of profound scholarship . . . .

The local historians record that there was a great religious revival in the winter of 1740-41 and mention that, owing to Huntting's advanced age and infirmity, "the controversial [John] Davenport" was the preacher. What undoubtedly happened was that the itinerant revivalist came to town and the minister was torn between a wish to prevent the unseemly excesses which had accompanied Davenport's preaching elsewhere and the fact that the fiery young preacher was both very popular and very effective.

My guess is that Huntting would have tried, unsuccessfully, it turned out, to prevent Davenport from preaching in the East Hampton Church. It is apparent that at least some of the congregation liked the radicalism of the itinerant revivalist and began to attend the services he conducted rather than those conducted by Mr. Huntting . . . it must certainly have caused grief for the elderly and somewhat old-fashioned minister. This kind of thing, especially as it was apparently supported by at least some of the congregation, must have torn the church apart.

In 1745, with the congregation seriously divided, some in East Hampton began to look around for another minister to assist Mr. Huntting and to succeed him after his death . . . . Just at that time, as the Town Council was lamenting the cost of searching for another minister, Samuel Buell appeared in East Hampton. All the available local records indicate that Mr. Huntting retired voluntarily, owing to his advanced age and infirmity. But I cannot help but wonder if the old gentleman was perhaps eased into retirement by the controversy in the church stirred up by John Davenport and by the availability of a much younger and more dynamic successor. In any case, he did retire in 1746, at the age of 71, after serving as the minister in East Hampton for 49 years. He lived in retirement for seven years and died in 1753.

Samuel Buell was, in fact, an excellent choice as the third minister in East Hampton, a worthy advocate of the revival who exhibited none of the excessive emotionalism which had characterized the extremists such as Davenport . . . it is evident that the church did experience a renewal and revitalization in his early ministry.

Buell was ordained in East Hampton on Sept. 19, 1746. His ordination sermon was preached by the greatest and most renowned minister in America, Jonathan Edwards. Edwards, like Buell, is typical of the best of the revival ministers. These were not ranting TV preachers or sawdust hucksters who in this century have demeaned the name revivalist; these were fervent, effective, and scholarly evangelical ministers who were always dignified and sober in demeanor.

Like both his predecessors, Buell was actively involved in the public affairs of this community. In May 1756 a large contingent of Suffolk County men assembled in East Hampton before leaving for Lake George, N.Y., to fight in the French and Indian Wars. The day before they left, the church service was devoted to their sendoff:

". . . . 'Tis so notorious a cause that we wage in war at this time, none need scruple the lawfulness of it - 'tis in defence of our own people, and the cities of our God - 'tis for a land that is ours by the first discovery and priority of possession . . . . We learn by experience 'tis impossible to live by such blood thirsty neighbors as the French and their allies in America. They have broken the most solemn treaties, made most injust encroachments, and committed the most horrid barbarities in a time of professed peace . . . .

During the war and the British occupation of eastern Long Island, Buell conducted a regular correspondence with leaders of both sides, especially the Patriot Governor Trumbull of Connecticut and the Royal Governor, Lord Tryon, who for at least part of the war maintained his headquarters in Southampton . . . . Though he protested to each his loyalty to their cause, he also fearlessly condemned soldiers of both sides who came here to steal cattle - as evidently both sides did.

There is no doubt that under a military occupation, Buell, as a faithful pastor, did the best he could to preserve as much of normal life as was possible under extremely difficult circumstances. There is also no doubt that no matter who won the war, the minister would have been on the winning side. Perhaps those of us who have never lived under military occupation should refrain from criticizing the conduct of those who do.

In 1783, with the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, the British evacuated New York City and Long Island . . . . Almost immediately Buell turned his attention to the establishment of a school in East Hampton, and on Dec. 28, 1784, the "East Hampton Academy" was incorporated. Five days later the school opened in the Presbyterian Church, where it met until the building now known as Clinton Academy was constructed, at a cost of $5,000. Buell died on July 19, 1798.

For the third time in a row East Hampton called a very young minister, straight from the university, to succeed its elderly, venerable, but perhaps tired and feeble pastor. This time they may well have gotten more than they bargained for, for although the people must by now have become tolerant of ministerial eccentricities, peculiarities, and outspoken involvement in public affairs, they were probably not prepared for Lyman Beecher, the only East Hampton minister who ever had a national reputation.

Beecher . . . blamed two faculty members at Clinton Academy for introducing "infidelity and French rationalism" into East Hampton . . . .

In his own words: "I always preached right to the conscience. Every sermon with my eye on the gun to hit somebody. Went through the doctrines; showed what they didn't mean; what they did. At first there was winking and blinking from below to gallery, forty or fifty exchanging glances, smiling and watching. But when it was over, infidelity was ended."

It is obvious that Beecher appealed to at least some of the younger, more zealous members of the congregation. Equally obvious, he was an embarrassment to the older, more established, perhaps more dignified - shall we say stuffy? - parishioners . . .

In the midst of the intense national uproar [over the duel between two of the most famous statesmen in America, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, in which . . . . Hamilton lost his life, and Burr his reputation . . . Beecher preached a sermon which, because of its wide circulation, became sensational:

"There is no way to deal with these men . . . but to take the punishment of their crimes into our own hands. Our conscience must be the judge, and we must ourselves convict, and fine, and disgrace them at the polls."

The anti-dueling movement became a national crusade, with Beecher as one of its main leaders. .

These four ministers were a truly remarkable quartet; the first three by virtue of their long tenure, and all four by the fervor and vigor of their ministry here. All four were brilliant, all four were eccentric, all four were men of tireless energy. All four engaged the issues of the day and thus stand in the best and most noble tradition of the Reformed branch of Christianity.

The Rev. John T. Ames, the 19th minister of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in American Church History from Duke University.

The full text of Mr. Ames's lecture (underwritten by Amagansett Building Material) may be found online at http://www.350theasthampton.org .

When Robert Fairbrother moved to the East End a year or so ago to become general manager of the Laundry, he was surprised to find there was no local chapter of the Sommelier Society of America.

He asked around and found that others were interested in the trade organization as well, and in November a Long Island chapter was formed, quietly perhaps, except to those in the restaurant and wine businesses.

The local chapter's first activity was to organize a 21-week course leading to a sommelier's certificate. It began last month at SagPond Vineyards in Sagaponack.

Big Turnout

Mr. Fairbrother expected perhaps a dozen students. In fact, 26 restaurant owners, wait staff, and winery personnel, all but one of them from East End businesses, have signed up.

The course covers such topics as viticulture and winemaking, the various growing regions of the world, different varietals and styles of wine, how to pair food and wine, other beverages, and the practical sides of purchasing and storage.

It is intended to give "a good strong foundation" to restaurant personnel and others involved with the world of wine, Mr. Fairbrother said.

"It really broadens their horizons and makes them a bit more educated about their products."

Sommelier's Credentials

The course is a prerequisite for certification as an advanced sommelier and, finally, a master sommelier. The instructors include local winemakers and members of the national organization.

Mr. Fairbrother taught the first session, on purchasing and storage, sales and service, and cigars. Roman Roth, the winemaker at SagPond Vineyards, helped give students an introduction to viniculture and viticulture, and will return as a teacher to discuss wines from Germany and the Southern Hemisphere and to give a vineyard and winery tour.

Larry Perrine, the winemaker at the new Channing's Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton, has taught a session on the wines of Burgundy and will also explore those of Loire, Alsace, and other regions including the American Northeast.

International Master

Last March at Pellegrini Vineyards in Cutchogue, master sommelier members of the society competed to represent this country in an international wine-tasting event. The winner, Andrea Immer, at the time one of only three women in America to hold the title of master sommelier, is also volunteering her time for the East End class.

She is teaching the wines of Bordeaux, Spain, Portugal, and emerging regions. Roger Dagorn, a master sommelier who is chairman of the national society, will teach champagne and sparkling wine and port, sherry, and Madeira.

Students in the East End course will receive their sommelier certificates on June 29.

Having consumed many pounds of mediocre food at exaggerated prices over the last couple of years, it is downright exhilarating to be able to report on a really enjoyable and inexpensive meal.

Stand up and take a bow, Chinda's!

Photo by Morgan McGivern

Some diners may have trouble finding it, located as it is in the dark hinterland of Noyac Road, but it's really worth getting out a compass and making the trek. (It's a little west of Cromer's Market, on the opposite side of Noyac Road.)

Enough For Two

The small dining room, adjoining a busy bar and takeout area, is brightly lit and no-nonsense while managing at the same time to be cozy and welcoming. This is partly because the Thai owner spreads an irresistible warmth and cheer that is guaranteed to put you in a good mood.

The prices are a little hard to state concretely since so many of the dishes are enough for two, but basically they run from $5.50 to $13.95. Only the whole fish, according to what is in season, may be more expensive.

The menu is divided into appetizers and soups and then into chicken, beef, pork, seafood, rice, and noodle dishes. (There are also hamburgers, chicken pot pie, steak, etc. for those few remaining stick-in-the-muds who won't try anything with a foreign name.)

Outstanding Appetizers

Let's start with the spring rolls. The spring roll does not translate well to the East End. Maybe it's the salt in the air, but as a rule of thumb they are sodden lumps of anonymous substances wrapped in deep-fried leather.

Chinda's spring rolls don't deserve to be mentioned on the same page - they're bright, crisp, fresh, and outstandingly good.

And the same could be said for the other appetizers we ordered. The kai satay, slivers of marinated chicken breast grilled and served on a skewer with peanut sauce, were tender and tasty. The tom yum koong soup was wonderful - a hot, spicy bowlful of shrimp, mushrooms, and broth flavored with lemon grass, lime, and peppers that was enough for four of us.

Another Rave

Last, and brought to us consecutively as were most of the dishes, was a platterful of featherlight fried pork-and-garlic wontons. Fattening, may be; delicious, undoubtedly.

The whole fish on Sunday evening was striped bass, which we chose to have steamed with fresh ginger, lemon grass, extra garlic, and a variety of vegetables. Here we go again - another rave.

Excellent also was Chinda's specialty, pad Thai, the national dish of rice noodles sauteed with shrimp, egg, bean curd, bean sprouts, and a lovely coating of ground peanuts, which was divinely comforting.

Heavenly

The stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts and green onion was a little less exciting, but mainly because everything else was so good.

And this time I'm not going to add that word "unfortunately" to the description of the dessert course, because the sticky rice with fresh mango, which was all we had room for, was heaven.

From the excellent martini at the beginning to the showers of jellybeans we were given at the end, Chinda's was a laid-back, entirely comfortable, delightful experience.

Among the rehabilitated foods recently exonerated by the Food Police, eggs are my favorite ex-culprits. They are among the finest, cheapest, most versatile foods in the kitchen and an invaluable source of protein as well.

Few foods were so thoroughly exiled from the American diet, so vilified as a card-carrying cholesterol-killer, as the simple, delicious, fresh egg.

"Oops! Our mistake!" asserts a new study by experts: Eggs don't contain nearly the amount of "bad" cholesterol that had been thought.

The subject has always been confusing. Since most of the populace never could define the difference between H.D.L. (good) and L.D.L. (bad) cholesterol and relied only on total numbers in tests, many decided to just give up eggs and be done with it.

I was never among them. However, I was intimidated enough to cut down on my consumption - the two a day (considered essential to start the day in my parental household) reduced to not more than one omelette or egg dish a week.

But I refused to count the couple of eggs among the ingredients in various recipes designed to feed six or eight people.

I often wonder what happens to the kind of client who, when traveling in other countries, grills the waiter about the egg, cream, or butter content of the dish he's just ordered. I rather imagine the reply to be an icy "I do not know, sir" or madame.

New Yorkers and Californians, particularly, are considered wackos about food not only abroad but in the rest of our own country.

Maybe with the easing of the egg embargo, we can all repair our tattered consciences about the state of our arteries and unlax with some of the tasty, nutritious omelettes, souffles, and puddings so long on the X list.

Elemental, My Dear

Whenever I am tired, or need a quick supper after a cocktail party, the first thing that comes to mind is always an omelette. An omelette plain or herbed or filled with a bit of cheese or some quickly sauteed vegetable from the fridge.

What could be easier or rest more lightly on the stomach or be more pleasing to the eye than a plump yellow omelette? With a glass of wine it makes, in Elizabeth David's inimitable words, "an almost primitive and elemental meal."

It's probably coincidental, but my favorite of Mrs. David's great body of gastronomic works is one of her last, "An Omelette and a Glass of Wine."

Anchovy Hath Charms

Despite the countless times I've watched the mouths of otherwise knowledgeable people curve down with distaste at the mention of anchovies, I'll never give up my efforts to enlighten all to their charm.

And olives: strong, sharp, imported ripe black olives from Greece, Italy, France (or just about anywhere but California, home of the inexplicably tasteless behemoths).

These voluptuous stuffed eggs, at once velvety and salty, disappear first on any hors d'oeuvres tray. A pastry bag makes short work of filling the halves.

Choose small, medium, or at most "large" eggs, so that they aren't unwieldy to eat out of hand.

Stuffed Eggs

Makes two dozen halves.

12 hard-boiled eggs

3 Tbsp. light mayonnaise

6-8 calamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and minced

1/2 tsp. anchovy paste

salt and cayenne pepper to taste

2 to 3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley leaves

Various garnishes: black-olive slivers, or chopped parsley, or bits of anchovy fillet, about 8 of each kind

To boil eggs properly: Pierce the large end of each one with a heavy needle or egg-piercer and place in a pot of cool water to cover by two inches. Gently swirl in a tablespoon of plain white vinegar, bring the eggs gently to the boil, reduce heat and cook, occasionally moving them around with a spoon handle to center the yolks.

Simmer about 10 minutes, cool immediately in cold running water, roll the eggs on the counter gently to crack the shells and slip them off. Rinse and dry them.

Through A Sieve

Cut a paper-thin slice off both ends of eggs and halve eggs crosswise. Force yolks through a sieve or ricer into a bowl (or mash with a fork) and stir in remaining ingredients, except garnishes.

Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain or decorative tip and pipe into whites, mounding it.

The stuffed eggs may be made six hours ahead, arranged, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated.

Just before serving, garnish the eggs and permit them to come to cool room temperature.

Pear Clafoutis

Everywhere I've ever seen this French country dessert, it's been made with fresh cherries. However, there's no earthly reason not to make it with any fresh fruit, or even soaked dried fruit, you fancy. Simplicity itself, there are few desserts that offer a bigger round of applause for so little effort.

Serves six.

4 extra-large eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

Pinch of salt

1/3 cup unbleached flour

1 cup milk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. grated lemon peel

3 large pears, peeled, cored, sliced

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup light brown or raw, unrefined sugar

Confectioner's sugar

Heavy cream, whipped cream, or custard sauce (opt.)

A Warm Softy

Preheat oven to 325 F. Generously butter a nine-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie plate. Whisk the eggs with the half-cup sugar and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in flour. Add milk, butter, vanilla, and lemon peel, and whisk until smooth. Toss the sliced pears with the lemon juice and brown sugar. Arrange pears in bottom of buttered pie plate. Pour the batter over the pears.

Bake until the clafoutis is just set in center and golden on top, about 55 minutes. Do not overcook, as the pudding will continue to cook as it rests at room temperature for 15 minutes or so. Sift powdered sugar over the clafoutis and serve very warm, with or without whipped cream or a simple custard sauce, passed separately.

Breadcrumb-Cheese Souffle

A distaste for any but the freshest bread around my house results in a huge bread surplus. This gets spun into crumbs in the food processor and frozen to use in future recipes. This is the world's easiest souffle, quick to make and untemperamental, and it uses up a lot of breadcrumbs. In addition, in costs almost nothing to make and feeds four handsomely. Add a salad dressed with walnut oil and lemon juice, a fruit dessert, and there's money left over for a decent bottle of wine. A meal fit for a prince or a pauper.

Four servings.

31/2 cups white bread crumbs from a firm loaf

Softened butter

3 cups milk (not skim)

2 cups shredded Gruyere or Cheddar cheese

1 Tbsp. Dijon style mustard

1/8 tsp. or more cayenne

1 tsp. coarse salt

4 extra-large eggs, separated

cream of tartar

3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

If you haven't any on hand, make the crumbs in a food processor or grate them on the larger holes of a box grater. Butter a two-and-a-half quart souffle dish and coat it with some of the crumbs. Shake them all around the dish and dump the excess back into the dish of crumbs. Heat the milk to just under the simmer and pour it over the crumbs.

Don't Overbake

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Stir the Gruyere or Cheddar, mustard, ca yenne, salt, and the egg yolks into the breadcrumbs.

Beat the whites with the cream of tartar until firm and glossy but not dry. Fold a third of them into the breadcrumbs, add the parsley, then fold the crumb mixture back into the beaten whites as lightly and quickly as possible. Pour the mixture into the souffle dish and lightly smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and set the dish in the center of the oven. It will be puffed and light golden brown in about 20 to 25 minutes - undercook rather than overbake, which makes the souffle too dry.

The breadcrumbs seem to hold their own against gravity better than the conventional Bechamel-based souffle, but the souffle still deflates when cut into. Use a large flat serving fork and a spoon to serve at table.

A few fresh green beans or some new asparagus would be nice with the souffle, or just serve a salad alongside, family style. It's a family dish, after all, and a very good one to make when you need only half a recipe to serve two.