It was rather a disappointment to find that Gordon's in Amagansett no longer requires men to wear a jacket and tie.

It had become part of Hamptons restaurant lore that, even when threatened by a flood tide of Spandex cycling shorts and polo shirts, Gordon's stubbornly insisted on that old-fashioned standard.

Otherwise, apart from a recent exterior facelift, the place is exactly the same as it was the first time I went there in the early 1980s, when it was one of the few spots on the East End where you could get a decent meal.

Into The Past

They say in poker that you should never change a winning game, but there is something bravely individualistic in sticking to a chosen formula while all around you the glitzmongers are firing a gustatory scattershot of Tex-Mex, Pacific Rim, and truffle-stuffed brain of peahen.

For a start, is there any other establishment this side of Paris that still has an imposing lady sitting full-time on a high stool by the cash register? Or where the waitresses are still dressed up as waitresses?

Going into Gordon's, with its black and white striped vinyl banquettes and mismatched Victorian light fixtures, is like stepping into the past. One of our party said he felt he was back in a small hotel he had known in Minneapolis in 1970.

Fine Wine List

It's the sort of place that Garrison Keillor would like, if he visited the Hamptons. They brought individual portions of creamed spinach and rice with each entree, and you got the feeling that most of the patrons had been dining there for years.

The restaurant has only a few wines by the glass but, conversely, a really outstanding wine list, rivaled by very few restaurants of this size out here. We chose a 1994 Muscadet, which was a very good value at $16.

Also worth noting is Gordon's excellent $24 prix-fixe menu, which includes dessert and coffee.

Thoughtful Service

An example of the thoughtful service here: One guest, having ordered an a la carte appetizer, was also entitled to a salad with his prix-fixe entree. So that he would not be eating alone, the other diners were also given salad.

It was a Caesar salad, very nicely seasoned though just a little tired.

Gordon's passed the bread test with flying colors - excellent quality, crusty and hot. But it failed the martini test. It came in a wine glass, quite spoiling all the fun.

Unsinkable Clams

A guest who was craving old-fashioned escargots with lots of garlic butter was delighted with his appetizer, as was he who ordered the stuffed clams.

Stuffed clams are an absolute landmine of an appetizer; when they are overseasoned and too heavy, they can sink your appetite for the rest of the meal.

These were extremely tasty, made with fresh clams, and very light.

The fish chowder was dull.

Oh You Artichokes

Gordon's is known for its roast chicken with mushrooms and artichoke hearts, and indeed this dish was very good, with the artichokes adding a delightful piquancy to the dish.

Artichoke was once considered an aphrodisiac, and Catherine de Medici was notorious for her love of this vegetable, which women were not meant to eat. She would have enjoyed Gordon's roast chicken, even though no amorous aftereffects were noted.

The roast duck was crisp-skinned and tender, with a fine sauce, and the veal scallopine with prosciutto and cheese was snappy and pungently good.

Decaf Cappuccino!

Of the desserts we tried, a light, creamy, chocolate layer cake was the best. The blueberry pie was a disappointment, as was the ice cream with marron glace sauce, which had no taste of chestnuts and was overpoweringly sweet.

Although chestnuts were the food of the poor in Europe before the arrival of the potato, it takes 16 separate operations to make a good marron glace, so anything less than the delectable best is a letdown.

However, they had decaf cappuccino - I just love it when that happens.

A Long Voyage

Returning to that Caesar salad mentioned earlier - nicely seasoned but a little tired - it could act as a metaphor for the restaurant.

Gordon's has an old-fashioned charm that is a relief after the relentless trendiness of some places, well-cooked traditional food, thoughtful service, and it's good value for money. But it feels a little tired: a sailing ship slowed down by the weeds and barnacles clinging to the keel after its long voyage.

Here's hoping for a little keel-hauling, because Gordon's is as much a part of Amagansett as the Farmers Market and Vinnie's barbershop.

The Other Side

Australia

November 23, 1997

To The Editor:

Greetings from the other side of the world! Just to let you know your newspaper is available via the Internet for perusal, way over here in Australia. I found it via an Australian "search engine" called Web Wombat. What a wonderful service!

BRONWYN STURM

Give Thanks

Montauk

November 20, 1997

To The Editor:

The table is set, the sweet aroma fills the room, the golden colors recall the fallen leaves, and fresh baked yams glisten in the soft light. Outside the weather is crisp, inside the heart is warm . . . a celebration has begun.

As we delight our senses, as we rejoice, we can experience fully those heightened moments. The warmth of shared pleasures surrounds us, embraces, us, lifts our spirit, moving us toward lightness and a natural desire to give. This day, when we can freely remember the generosity of a bountiful land, does not end, though, with the long-lasting taste of pumpkin pie. This day can be an opening, an inspiration toward authentic health.

Often we think of health as a merely physical endeavor, exercising and counting calories. But health is much more than that, if that at all. It is also the inner feeling of enthusiasm, anticipation, interest, a continuous thanks-giving. It is about celebrating every moment. When the autumn light delicately touches a shiny leaf, or a ray of morning sun caresses our awakening faces, when a bird in the distance reminds us of a harmony of sounds, when the ocean's soothing drone quiets a worried thought, when we trust, when we allow the little things of life to touch us like dew, we enter the realm of joy, where laughter and meaningful words delight our ears and thrill our souls. The world is now making sense, because, as we celebrate these moments, we are not alone. In front of us appears a face, a smile, a hand, a touch taking us out of ourselves into a shining place. This is the place of well-being, where we feel surrounded, where we can give and praise. This is the home of joyful health.

So, as you read these lines, lift your eyes and take a look around you. Look at the ocean, the trees, your friends, and watch the little sparks of light. These sparks are everywhere, sparks in smiling eyes, sparks in a child's laugh, sparks in a caring voice. Listen to them, let them dance around you, and you will feel the warmth of your heart opening. This is your health. A celebration. Happy Thanksgiving.

MYRIAM BRAUNSCHVIG

Divisive Issue

East Hampton

November 17, 1997

Dear Helen,

Someone here asked me what my thoughts about "affirmative action" are - with particular reference to California Proposition 209, the anti-affirmative action initiative. It prohibits state institutions from giving any special consideration to blacks and other minorities. It's an issue that divides reasonable people.

Well, I think this. There will be a fall-off in minority enrollment at the universities.

It's happening already.

And that will serve to highlight the flaws in the education that many, many minority group members receive and their inadequate preparation for college.

For as long as these flaws exist, I'm for a strict form of affirmative action.

This relates to the Harbor [the Harbor for Girls and Boys] - for we, or "it," has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that, given proper respect, attention, and education, most members of minority groups (along with most members of "majority" groups) can and do qualify for college in equal numbers. I for one am totally convinced from experience that there are no barriers when it comes to intelligence between peoples, between the advantaged and/or disadvantaged.

It's a question of what individuals are exposed to and what sort of education they receive, and what sort of respect and regard they receive.

There is a current controversy over the imperiled nomination of Korean American Bill Lan Lee's nomination to be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Now, he may or may not have benefited himself from affirmative action, but he's worked to promote it and defend it for others and I admire that. He has come out against Proposition 209.

I read recently what another Korean American wrote about Mr. Bill Lan Lee in The New York Times. I quote:

"Whether Mr. Lee is defeated or ultimately confirmed, his life exemplifies 'ren,' which Confucius describes as the highest virtue." He goes on to say, "A man of ren is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others, and who, desiring attainment for himself, first helps others to attain."

I like that!

And, all things considered, I come down on the side of affirmative action when properly applied.

Always my best,

ANTHONY D. DUKE

Shea And Loewen Expect Appointments

As always, Election Day here carries the potential for change not only on the East Hampton Town Board but among the dozens of appointed officials who serve at the pleasure of the board - attorneys, secretaries, heads of departments, unpaid citizen advisers, and professional consultants.

The new Democratic majority on the Town Board in 1998 is expected to capitalize on that potential, bringing some new blood to Town Hall and returning some familiar faces to positions they held before the Republicans took over last year.

Among the latter are Cynthia Ahlgren Shea, who is expected to be renamed town attorney, and Bradley Loewen, who may get back a seat on the Town Planning Board.

Savage Out

The organizational meeting to set government in motion for the coming year will take place the day after New Year's. While that is more than a month away, ranking Democrats began to undo some of the changes made by the Republican majority on Election Night.

That majority replaced Ms. Shea as town attorney in 1995 with Robert Savage after he lost his first bid for Town Justice.

Republicans cited Ms. Shea's connection to Twomey, Latham, Shea & Kelley, a law firm whose partners include her husband, John Shea, as well as Christopher Kelley, the town Democratic leader, and Thomas Twomey, husband of Judith Hope, the state Democratic chairwoman. Mr. Savage's second attempt this year also was unsuccessful.

Confirmation

Asked on Election Night whether she expected to move back into the office she held under the Democrats for roughly six years, Ms. Shea said the idea was being discussed.

Asked again this week, she was more sure. "Yes, and I am looking forward to it."

Ms. Shea has been quick to point out that she has never worked for her husband's firm but graduated from Harvard Law School and had been on a partnership track with a prestigious Seattle firm before moving east to start a family. She also worked here as executive director of the South Fork Community Health Initiative.

After Mr. Savage's appointment, Ms. Shea took a substantial cut in pay to remain at Town Hall as Supervisor Cathy Lester's executive assistant. The Supervisor said last week that she had not yet chosen her new assistant.

Jilnicki Out

The Star also has learned that the Democrats notified John Jilnicki, a deputy town attorney who was Ms. Shea's deputy before he was Mr. Savage's, some weeks ago that he would be out of a job at the end of the year.

Supervisor Lester called Mr. Jilnicki, who has worked more than 10 years for the town, "very bright," and said "he has a lot of background in municipal law." But she said it was "time for a change."

Eric Brown, who ran for Trustee on the Democratic ticket, was talked of as a likely candidate.

Mr. Jilnicki said Monday he felt he was being punished for having advised the departing Republicans. "That's my job though. I work for the entire board, not just one board member," he said. He noted that he had "a couple of irons in the fire."

Changed Prosecutors?

Supervisor Lester said she was working on a plan to reshape the town attorney's office, perhaps by hiring a full-time deputy to represent the Zoning Board of Appeals and act as special prosecutor on zoning matters. Consolidating those duties, now performed by Nancy Marshall and Scott Allen, who work part-time, could save money, she said.

No decision made at the annual organizational meeting attracts as much public interest as appointments to the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, which are proven springboards to political office.

These boards are structured so that one member's term expires each December. The chairs are appointed during the organizational meeting as well.

Key Boards

This year, Heather Anderson's first term on the Z.B.A. is winding down, as is Councilwoman-elect Pat Mansir's second on the Planning Board. Ms. Mansir was renamed chairwoman of the Planning Board in 1995 when the Republicans took the majority.

Supervisor Lester said she saw no reason to replace Ms. Anderson: "She's been doing a good job."

Ms. Mansir's replacement on the Planning Board will be given a full seven-year term. As for the second seat being vacated on the Planning Board, the appointee will complete the three years remaining in Councilman-elect Job Potter's term.

Supervisor Lester confirmed last week that Bradley Loewen, a bayman who was passed over in 1995 by the Republicans for reappointment, is likely to be given a return engagement. Several others are interested in the second seat and have been asked to put their interest and background down in a letter to the board, she said.

Petitioners

Among them are Henry Clifford, who resigned from the Planning Board after the Republicans replaced him as chairman; Lisa Grenci, a Democrat who barely missed taking a Town Board seat this year, and Barry Leach and Stuart B. Vorpahl Jr., who both made unsuccessful runs for a Trustee seat.

Rick Murphy, a freelance writer and former reporter for The Star, and Harvey Bennett, a Democrat who was just re-elected to a second term as a Trustee, have also asked to be considered.

"It's nice to see there's so much interest," said Supervisor Lester. She added that it was important "in the next year or two" to find a representative for the Planning Board from Sag Harbor, which has not had one on the Planning Board since the early 1980s. None of those mentioned so far lives there.

New Chair?

On the question of who will chair the Planning Board and Z.B.A., Ms. Lester said she was unsure who would lead the Planning Board but that it was likely that Jay Schneiderman would remain as Z.B.A. chairman. "He's experienced and knows how to run a meeting," she said.

Ms. Lester also reiterated a campaign promise last week regarding John Aldred, who had been moved by the Republicans from being the independent head of the Town Shellfish Hatchery to a deputy under Larry Penny, the head of the Natural Resources Department.

"I would like to give John back the flexibility to run the hatchery as he sees fit," she said.

It is hardly surprising when a new owner decides to tear down an old house, especially on the South Fork, where "tear down" has become both noun and verb in recent years. When that house was designed by Charles Gwathmey and Robert Siegel, however, its demise may be one for the history books.

The Cogan house, built on Hook Pond in East Hampton in 1972, this spring became the first Gwathmey Siegel house to succumb to the wrecking ball. Gary Fuhrman, who bought the 3.2-acre property on Terbell Lane for $9.5 million, had the house taken down, leaving a rolling meadow in its place. He has filed plans with the Village of East Hampton for an 1,858-square-foot house on the land, but has yet to begin construction.

Designed for Marshall Cogan and later sold to Joan and Joseph Cullman, the place had six bedrooms and a two-story great room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the pond. A ramp, rather than stairs, connected the first and second floors. It was Mr. Gwathmey's seventh project on the South Fork and Gwathmey Siegel's third large house anywhere.

It earned a residential design award from the American Institute of Architects, a New York State Association of Architects design award, and was named a "record house" by the Architectural Record.

Though the Cogan residence never received as much attention as some of Mr. Gwathmey's other designs, most notably the Amagansett house and studio he designed in 1965 for his parents, Rosalie and Robert Gwathmey, Mr. Gwathmey said last month that it "was a sort of milestone, at a time, for me."

"You do a certain number of buildings and then you do something that's a hit for you and moves you forward," he said from his New York office.

Mr. Gwathmey said he took the design strategies he had developed for his parents to a new level with the place on Terbell Lane, and that it had served as a turning point in his architectural work. He described it last month as "a sculptural building intervened into a larger-scale primary piece."

It represented "a summary and an extended direction that became, for me, a very important reference," he said. "My houses since then have been informed by that dialogue."

He heard through his contractor that the house had been torn down and stopped by the property to see for himself earlier this summer. "It was a very pretty field," he said.

Whether you are a fan of modern architecture or not, there is a certain cachet to having a Gwathmey Siegel house as a neighbor. Marjorie Chester, a design columnist for The East Hampton Star who has lived on Terbell Lane since 1976, said that, while she was not crazy about the Cogan house, "it didn't matter to me at all, it was a Gwathmey house."

She was surprised that Mr. Fuhrman had decided to level it, she said. Mr. Fuhrman declined to comment on the decision or on his future plans for the property, but did say that the house was in bad shape when he bought it.

It was known to neighbors as the Cullman house, Ms. Chester said. "It was always the site of one fund-raiser after another. . . . You went to the Cullman house for galas and cocktail parties."

Mr. Cullman was the head of Philip Morris. The New York Social Diary Web site described the Cullmans, both of whom died last year, as "a very prominent couple in the New York cultural, philanthropic, theatrical, and social circles."

Despite those fancy affairs, Terbell Lane was always a quiet, low-key road in the midst of East Hampton's estate section. "It's one of those lanes where nothing has changed," Ms. Chester said.

Whether its character will endure is anyone's guess. When the Gwathmey Siegel house was torn down, she said, Mr. Fuhrman put a "don't-come-near-me gate" across the driveway.

"I don't so much mind that the house was taken down, I mind the big white fence," she said.

Mr. Gwathmey seemed unperturbed by the destruction of the Cogan house. "People have different perceptions and different needs," he said. "We have a couple of houses in Bridgehampton that were renovated by other architects. For me that's more difficult."

Three years ago, he renovated his parents' house in Amagansett, which is now his own. "Those houses were very basic. They weren't elaborate," he said of his earlier designs. "There's a lot that's happened technologically in the world since then."

While the house is gone, "I still have it published. I have the photographs," he said. "As a creative person, you move on, your work develops. You did it, and that's forever."

In a nationwide count of multigifted, superprolific, honors-bedecked young writers, 29-year-old Jenny Lyn Bader would have to be among the top 10.

Wannabe creative types lallygagging around with your writer's block and your rejection slips: Read her bio and weep.

For openers, her short essays have been included in such acclaimed anthologies as "Next: Young American Writers on the New Generation," "Ethics," "American Voices," "The Blair Reader," "Signs of Life in the U.S.A.," and "Who We Are." Early dramatic works have been produced at Primary Stages, The New Group, Center Stage, John Houseman Studio Theatre, Village Gate, West Bank Cafe, New Georges, and the HERE performance space.

Nantucket Prizewinner

Last year, an excerpt from a historical drama, "Petticoat Government," was done by the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab.

This summer, "Miss America," about a politically correct beauty pageant contestant, was produced at the first New York International Fringe Festival, while another drama, "Artists," won first prize at the Nantucket Short Play Festival. It features a homeless girl who lives inside an installation in an art gallery.

Ms. Bader has two short plays running simultaneously in Manhattan the moment: "Past Lives," at the Pulse Ensemble Theatre's Discovery Project, and "Love Scene," at the Trading Fours company's Center Stage.

Two Plays At Once

"Yes, it is possible to be in two places at once - I just spent a week playing down the street from myself," she said during a recent interview at the East Hampton house owned by her stepfather, the musical-writer Joseph Stein ("Fiddler on the Roof"), and her mother, the actress-turned-psychotherapist Elisa Loti.

Ms. Bader is, in addition, the creator and author of "@ Watercooler," the Internet's first soap opera serial, now in its second season on the Microsoft Network.

What else? Well, she hosts live chats for The New York Times's theater forum on America Online, and teaches a class on new-media writing at the New School.

Wait - here's the kicker. Her first book is being published by Warner Books on Monday.

Gap Between The Sexes

Written with Bill Brazell, an old friend who lives in California, the book, "He Meant/She Meant: The Definitive Male-Female Dictionary," purports to bridge the communication gap between the sexes through penetrating, gender-specific vocabulary analysis.

It is subtitled "What Men Think They're Saying; What Women Really Mean."

"If Samuel Johnson and Erma Bombeck were locked in a hotel room with a laptop and a bottle of bourbon, the comic result might be 'He Meant/She Meant' . . . or one funny baby," says a jacket blurb.

"It's only $5.99, and makes an excellent holiday gift," the author observed.

Such multifarious accomplishment boggles the mind; one can scarcely imagine the driving intelligence purring inside this charming, articulate, slightly exotic-looking young woman flipping her long black hair around and occasionally giggling with just a vestige of youthful vulnerability.

" 'Past Lives' is about an alternate-modality, past-life regression therapist who's good at dealing with the dead but not with her own life problems," Ms. Bader said of her most recent play. "It's also about the whole New Age community."

"It's funny - maybe it's because my hair's longer now and I'm wearing more bohemian clothes - but when I tell people I wrote a play about past-life regression, they think I'm some kind of freak."

Millennial Anxiety

The play is both a comedy/parody of the New Age world and an exploration of its emotional validity and ramifications, she said, adding, "I actually know someone who's inviting Mae West to a seance this weekend in the hope of obtaining the rights to one of her plays."

In a theme-related essay called "Apocalypse Momentarily," she deplores the fantastical spiritual anxiety and the scientific millennial theories that are polarizing a society incapable of embracing intuitive experience and rational skepticism simultaneously.

"It's so divisive that it's really a fertile topic," she said.

Highest Harvard Honors

Born in New York City, Ms. Bader attended the Dalton School for 15 years, starting out in the nursery school before it was eliminated as being too competitive. She majored in English literature at Harvard, "where," she said, "nothing is eliminated for being too competitive."

She was fiction editor of the Harvard Advocate, acted in nine plays and directed five, and graduated summa cum laude in 1990.

Among her honors were the Whitehill Prize, "for the junior who best represents the tradition of humane letters and arts," and the Caroline Isenberg Award "for outstanding contribution to the performing arts."

Never A Blocked Moment

As an undergraduate, studying fiction writing with Michael Martone and poetry with Seamus Heaney, Ms. Bader embraced the Bertolt Brecht doctrine that calls for "keeping your butt on a chair for 10 years until you become fluent," to paraphrase loosely.

"I've always been a dynamo. By kindergarten, I was an impresario," she laughed. "But now I really have my discipline act together: never a moment of writer's block."

"I think the more things you do, the more incentives you have to do more. Of course, checks and deadlines help."

She Means

Amid all this busy productivity, are there pauses for personal moments? "Oh, yes! I have plenty of time for a lot of kooky friends and a great boyfriend. Read my definitions of 'busy' in my new book," she advised.

Here they are:

SHE MEANS: Utterly swamped unless someone special calls.

HE MEANS: Utterly swamped unless someone special dies.

"He Meant/She Meant" had its roots in a magazine article called "The Everlasting Yes, No, Maybe" in which Ms. Bader asserts that when women say yes they mean no, and when men say no, they mean maybe.

An editor suggested she expand the concept into a book, in collaboration with a man to insure sexual equality.

"I made a list of all the male writers I knew, crossed out the ones who didn't meet deadlines or were androgynous, circled the ones who were funny, and ended up with Bill, who rowed on the crew in college, plays pickup basketball, and is really guyish, even though he had a rather feminine literary style until he learned to channel his masculinity into his writing."

@ Watercooler

The collaborators selected their list of debatable words, then set about defining them in a seriously joking way. "We wanted our jokes to be helpful," Ms. Bader explained.

Her Web soap "@ Watercooler," is an office drama based on a 13-week, 26-episode television format. It opens with a 250-word dramatic monologue about a recent happening that creates a career-related dilemma: "The boss came on to me," or "A client just asked me to procure a call girl for him."

Three solutions to the dilemma, or "trilemma," are presented. For example: A) Get the call girl, B) Never speak to this client again, C) Ask a male colleague to get the call girl.

Office Dilemmas

The audience comments and also votes, logging on later to hear the outcome and what the character actually does. "Characters don't always follow advice," Ms. Bader said. "I can make them do the wrong or stupid thing, as people will."

Users can also go into a chat room to discuss the dilemma with experts. People like Lillian Vernon, the catalogue entrepreneur, Linda Obst, the film producer, or anyone who's written a book on career or success is considered an expert, and will suggest ways to handle similar problems.

"The fun part is that the story occupies a really unique space on the fiction/reality continuum, specifically informing your life with the amazingly passionate involvement of an interactive audience," said Ms. Bader.

Speedy Gratification

"We used to call it a Web soap, but that sounded much too passive and trivial. It's an interactive serial drama attached to a serious career site."

"I think a formative traumatic experience may account for my obsession with narrative continuity," she said. As a child her baby-sitter lured her into watching a daytime soap in which a will was read while its supposedly deceased writer hid in a closet.

Young Jenny spent days waiting for the character to emerge, but eventually lost interest when, in old soap tradition, the outing of the woman was delayed beyond her attention span.

"That's why I'm hooked on plot," she said. "On '@ Watercooler,' gratification always occurs within a half-hour."

Theater Is Life

Having grown up with parents who took her to the theater almost every night, even in foreign countries, Ms. Bader is, she says, hopelessly drama-oriented. For her, a theater is a place to hang out.

She is currently working on a three-act comedy, "Manhattan Casanova," about a serial seducer.

"I haven't seen a lot of sights - I was always sitting in the dark - but being a playwright has become a natural way for me to live."

"It's a weird life, because it's abnormal to think that theater is more normal than life, but to me, that's the way it is," she concluded.

It's been a year since two Amagansetters, Mark Crandall and Anthony Allison, spoke of their hopes for an organization Mr. Crandall had begun in southern Africa called Hoops for Hope, a nonprofit, community-based effort that seeks to build self-esteem through the sport of basketball and to nurture leadership among the youth of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

"Today's [South African] youth now realize," Mr. Crandall and Mr. Allison have written in the Hoops for Hope's mission statement, "that health and sport are not just for the privileged few, but can be a prelude to a productive future. Many communities are still deprived of any recreational facilities. The building of just one basketball court in a community can create a spiral of positive change that can affect an entire community."

New Web Site

"I think the biggest thing that's happened for us in the past year," said Mr. Crandall during a recent conversation, before he left for Zimbabwe, where he runs a sports camp modeled after the East Hampton Sports Camp he oversees at the East Hampton Neighborhood House in the summer, "is that our new interactive Web site is up and running. Now, kids here can talk with kids over there."

"They can find out about the lives of the kids in South Africa, how they compare, how they're different," he continued. "I can see pen pals happening this year. I'd love to get East Hampton High School involved. From there, it's endless. You could do a variety of different things. The world can get very small at times."

East Hampton High, noted Mr. Crandall and Mr. Allison, has already played a part in furthering Hoops for Hope's mission, which in South Africa is to provide sturdy portable hoops and other basketball equipment, as well as coaching books and videos, in the country's high-density, gang-infested suburbs.

High School's Donation

"Anthony was running at the track last summer and Mike Burns [a physical education instructor at the high school] asked him if he were still involved in Hoops for Hope," Mr. Crandall began. "'You're in luck,' said Mr. Burns, who was our coach. 'Be here on Monday.'"

"I pulled up on Monday with a van, and the high school gave us a mother lode of old East Hampton uniforms and basketball cheerleading practice jerseys. It was a great thing."

"Working with Inkamva Labantu, a Cape Town nonprofit organization which has an office in New York, we filled a crate donated by a marine company full of the sporting equipment East Hampton had given us and for basketballs and shoes that William [Hartwell, a former Hoops for Hope board member] had collected from the Montauk School. It should be there by now."

"One thing we want to stress," said Mr. Allison, "is that we're community-based and we intend to stay that way. South Africa's history does not lend itself to two white American men telling them how to run something, even if it's sports. What the country lends itself to is showing compassion and understanding for the very difficult transition that's going on. We think sport can help in the post-apartheid period, but we need to get as much input as we can from the people who live there."

New Hoops

"From last December to May," said Mr. Crandall, "I connected with youth groups on that side. Our main purpose is to support these groups that have structures in place. There are six major organizations we deal with, organizations that have their fingers on the pulses of their communities. They know what's needed where."

Acting on the advice of youth group leaders in southern Africa, Hoops for Hope in March provided the John Pama Primary School in the high-density Cape Town suburb of Nyanga with a set of $500 hoops, made by local craftsmen, and in May, did the same in Kuwadzana, Zimbabwe.

"In Zimbabwe," said Mr. Crandall, "they had been playing in a parking lot with very dangerous homemade hoops with the poles stuck into cement-filled tires that would come crashing down when they were bumped. There, we put up the baskets in a central community spot, at the end of a tennis court. A real professional setup in cement - there to stay."

Dream Answered

The hoops at the John Pama school answered a dream of its basketball coach, Monwabisi Planga, who had for more than a year pleaded for a set of hoops so that his players could shoot as well as pass and dribble.

"They had a team, but no court," said Mr. Crandall. After talking with Liz Bester, a former provincial player, who has had great success with the Hout Bay Dolphins, "I went to the school and met the kids. They were very deserving. All the kids helped to put the baskets up. It was part of a big celebration."

"A school from a neighboring township, Khayalitsha, came over to play the day we christened the hoops. It was amazing. The very next day Mr. Planga's team doubled. Now, a high school and another school come to play there. The hoops are not just for the primary school. We're pretty proud that that $500 investment has gone so far."

Teen's Testimonial

Mr. Crandall has gathered a number of testimonials from the young African players to the power of basketball to inspire self-confidence and hope for a better life. One, by 13-year-old Sindiswa Nyaba of Nyanga, says, "I like basketball because they save me from being on the street and being in fights in the afternoon. But now I don't fight in the afternoon because I go to school and play basketball and stretch my muscles."

Mr. Allison and Mr. Crandall hope that the new Web site (www.hoopsafrica.org) will, among other things, enable the nonprofit organization to provide more hoops, sneakers, uniforms, and balls to southern Africa's at-risk youth, and to provide their mentors with coaching books and videos.

"To provide a child with a team jersey or sneakers brings tears of joy, self-esteem, and a sense of belonging," the two have written in their mission statement. "It's helping South Africa's youth reach their full potential by providing self-sufficiency, an opportunity to empower themselves, to trust each other, and to solve conflicts in a healthy and peaceful manner."

T-Shirts, Tourney

"This year," said Mr. Allison, "we're going to sell T-shirts with logos designed by Jeff Gamble, a graphic artist, wherever we can. All the money will go to Hoops for Hope. And I'm working on a form letter to send to prospective donors, and also a form letter for high school and college athletic directors asking them for any used equipment so we can solidify that part of the program. Then, we plan to have a three-on-three basketball tournament here next summer."

"I know I'm being redundant," he continued, "but keeping this community-based is the only way for things like this to work - even in our own country."

Mr. Allison added, "There's a very fine line between assisting and taking a step back. We're trying to work with others - we're not trying to impose ourselves. It's been very exciting for us because it's been so much of a shared experience."

Petrie's Books

"And it follows that if we can do it, maybe somebody else will say, 'We can do it too,' with a little time and a little groundwork. Whatever it might be. And I must say, helping others does feel good."

Just before he left for Zimbabwe last week, Mr. Crandall added that Ed Petrie, the veteran East Hampton High School boys basketball coach, had jump-started Hoops for Hope's coaching library with "35 years of books," that Craig Scott, formerly of Amagansett, who now teaches and coaches in Glens Falls, added more, and that the East Hampton Rotary Club had made a $500 donation.

Hoops for Hope's address is P.O. Box 895, East Hampton, N.Y., 11937.

If you had happened to be in Penn Station last weekend, you might have seen, among the swirling crowds, 11 practitioners of a dying art competing against each other under the glare of TV cameras and the pressure of the clock for a singular title - America's Champion Gift-Wrapper.

The contestants were not your everyday temps hired for the holidays to pack pedestrian parcels. These were artists of their calling, nominated by department stores, mall marts, or specialty shops to vie for the honor of Most Gifted Wrapper.

The winner, on technique, speed, and appearance, was a woman from California who owns a store that does nothing but create gorgeously wrapped gifts. Her prize included $10,000 and an appearance Sunday on "Good Morning, America." The sponsor, not surprisingly, was Scotch Brand tape.

It must have been something to watch. No boxes were used - that was the catch. The competitors had to wrap the oddest-shaped objects the Scotch tape company could conceive of: hockey sticks, footballs, globes, guitars, and, for the two finalists, an oversized hairy gorilla.

There could be no better time to hold such a contest, as the sponsor surely understood. Tomorrow, the day after Thanksgiving, is the traditional start of the holiday crush, when harried wrappers come face to face with hurried shoppers and try to fulfill their often unreasonable expectations.

We are a nation of gift-givers, but how many wrappers do you know who do it for a living? Spare a small smile this season for them, and also for the ones who toss the tissue paper and a flattened box into the shopping bag. And don't forget the Scotch tape and ribbon on your way out.

At one of East Hampton's most visible houses, the former Edmund Tillinghast residence at 17 Woods Lane, renovations have been in progress for two years, and many passersby may think the 260-year-old house has been doubled or tripled in size.

They will find, if they take the trouble to walk around the back, that they are mistaken.

The last family member to live in the house was Caroline Collins Tillinghast, the widow of Frank Henry Tillinghast Sr. In 1995, after she died, her son, Frank Henry Jr., sold it to Lynne Breslin, a Manhattan architect who specializes in gallery and museum exhibits and teaches at Columbia University.

Lifted And Turned

Ms. Breslin has done extensive renovations on the old house - in fact, she said last week, she has spent so much that she cannot afford to keep it. It is on the market for $1.7 million.

She had the house lifted from its rubble foundation, which had settled several feet, and rotated 90 degrees to make room for a swimming pool and garden in a triangular space between the two ells. An underground garage was built and the lawn regraded.

The view from Woods Lane, formerly of the front face alone, now is of a dramatic sweep that takes in the front and one side. But it is the back that may make purists catch their breath.

There, three additions, two put on in the 19th century and one early in this century, have been removed. Where there once were shingles and gables and small windows, there is now a wall of glass.

"I very much love old houses but I also like aspects of modern architecture," said Ms. Breslin, "particularly the proximity to the outside. I don't like old houses that are dark."

"So, I kept the proportion and character of the old spaces and built a glass membrane that feels seamless and brings in light."

Almost A Replica

Surprisingly, despite all the work, the front of the house is almost a replica of what it looked like 100 years or so ago. In fact, it is almost identical to an 1890s photograph in the East Hampton Library's Long Island Collection.

The shutters have been deleted, a sloping overhang over the front door has become a balcony for the master bedroom, and the main chimney has been shifted an unnoticeable 18 inches.

A stone bearing the date the house was built, 1736, remains at the front door.

Ms. Breslin's is believed to be the most extensive reconstruction the historic house has ever undergone.

Its first two-story addition was in 1884. Four years later, The Star noted that Henry Tillinghast, the great-grandfather of Frank Henry Jr., had commissioned another two-story addition with a bow window, which Ms. Breslin has reproduced.

Those additions were probably built to enable the introduction of indoor plumbing in the kitchen, pantry, and bathrooms, all in one corner of the house. But in terms of traffic flow, Ms. Breslin said, they made little sense.

Interior Alterations

She made drastic alterations to the interior. "You had to walk through one bedroom to get to another," she explained, "so I ran a corridor down each ell. I really simplified the plans very much."

A bedroom over what is now the formal sitting room was eliminated, giving the sitting room a lofty ceiling. A small staircase in the master bedroom had led to three tiny warrens; that space is now an open loft.

Brand-New Masonry

The support structure throughout the house was exposed, the old ceiling beams one at a time, as "in an archeological excavation."

The masonry is all new. The original fireplaces, Ms. Breslin said, were too precarious to be preserved.

The architect is married to a descendant of Job Sayre, an early settler of Southampton, which, she said, partly inspired her ambitious project. She consulted many books on local history in the process, she said.

The property was owned in the 17th century by John Miller and later by Roger Smith. It is unclear who built the first house there but, in 1828, Abraham and Puah Barnes signed the deed to the house, the farm, the livestock, and the farming utensils over to the first Tillinghast to live there, Edmund, an orphan they had taken in as a young boy.

Lifetime Arrangement

That year, when he was 28, Edmund and his wife, Mary Petty Tillinghast, agreed in writing to care for Mr. and Mrs. Barnes for the rest of their lives in return for the inheritance.

In "Up and Down Main Street," Jeannette Edwards Rattray notes that such arrangements were not uncommon. There were no nursing homes in those days.

Altogether, there are three houses associated with the Tillinghast family in the village, all in a line.

Tillinghast Houses

Thomas Tillinghast still lives on the corner of Woods Lane and Georgica Road, in the newest of the three, on property that includes a large barn.

To the east, a house built by Stafford Tillinghast in 1876 is preserved in its original condition, though it is now the Centennial House bed and breakfast.

Between them is 17 Woods Lane. It is about 5,000 square feet, not counting the garage.

Despite the age of the buildings and their family associations, the three Tillinghast properties were not included in the village's historic district, which stops across Woods Lane, at the corner of Main Street. A 1991 attempt to expand the district by some 200 properties was opposed by many of their owners.

With little vacant buildable land left in the village, Robert Hefner, the historic-preservation expert and consultant, said more and more property owners are, like Ms. Breslin, opting to renovate and modernize.

"What is unusual about this one," said Mr. Hefner, "is that it's so close to the historic district, and on Woods Lane."

You would think from recent news releases that the Internal Revenue Service, ordinarily viewed as the Grinch who stole Christmas, has had a Scrooge-like epiphany.

All of a sudden, the I.R.S. has begun to sound like one's canny estate planner rather than John Q. Public's bete noire. Here are some of its suggestions.

We should consider, for instance, postponing gains until 1998, when the capital gains tax dips from 28 to 20 percent; we should remember that "losses from the sale of stocks or bonds can be helpful in reducing or even in eliminating capital gains taxes"; we should consider putting off until '98 the receipt of year-end bonuses; we should "accelerate deductions" by perhaps paying all of our state and property taxes in December, and by donating cash, old clothes, household items, or unsalable inventory from small businesses before hailing the New Year; we should, if it's feasible, put off that coronary bypass or appendectomy until after Dec. 31.

Or, if we think we'll be in a much higher bracket next year, the I.R.S. suggests reversing the strategy by accelerating income as much as possible this year and deferring deductions until 1998.

No sooner did this avuncular advice arrive than we were told that "Suffolk County residents have a special opportunity to resolve any Federal tax problems, whether of long-standing vintage or recent origin" at the I.R.S. office in Hauppauge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13. . . .

"Opening the office in Hauppauge on a Saturday serves to emphasize our year-round commitment to work with taxpayers. . . ." Appointments were advised, but, the release said, "taxpayers who stop in without an appointment will not be turned away. 'We are accessible - that's what this day is all about,' District Director [Herbert J.] Huff emphasized."

So, get on down there on Problem Solving Day, thank the staff for the tips, and ask if, by following them, we, too, like many of the country's wealthiest filers, will be able to avoid income taxes entirely. Who knows? Maybe, given the recent makeover - prompted presumably by the House of Representatives' reform bill - the I.R.S. will tell you.

Local Democrats scoffed in 1995 when the Republican majority on the East Hampton Town Board appointed Robert Savage as town attorney. "Since when is a job with the town the reward for losing an election?" asked one Democrat, referring to Mr. Savage's first unsuccessful bid to be Town Justice the month prior.

Now, with the Town Board majority back in Democratic hands, the victors are scanning a list of their candidates who lost at the polls to find nominees for appointed positions.

It is inevitable that changes in party control result in new political appointments. Appointments made to implement a majority party's policies make good sense. Those made simply to fulfill political obligations are less attractive.

As the new year approaches and, with it, openings on the Planning Board, for example, Supervisor Cathy Lester and her advisers, not the least of which are Councilman Peter Hammerle and Councilman-elect Job Potter, should hold their appointees up to the same light they shined on Republican appointees two years ago.

Some nominees among the Democratic candidates who lost this year's election will be worthy of important positions. Others may not be the best choices.

Two years ago, the Republicans were clearly partisan when they declined to reappoint Bradley Loewen to the Planning Board; Mr. Loewen had proven himself a dedicated and conscientious member during his first term and deserved a second. He could get it now. Henry Clifford, the former chairman of the Planning Board, who resigned rather than serve as a board member when the Republican majority replaced him as chairman, may have forfeited his future on the board.

The 1998 appointments won't be made until the entire board votes on Jan. 2 to set government in motion for another year. However, it has been confirmed that John Jilnicki, a deputy town attorney, has been given his walking papers.

Mr. Jilnicki has served in the town attorney's office in Democratic and Republican administrations and is credited with carrying its heaviest workload. His ability to work with both parties is praiseworthy. Word has it that he is being let go to make way for one of two lawyers who sought office unsuccessfully this year as Democrats. Mr. Jilnicki's departure from town government will be as regrettable as was Mr. Loewen's.

Can we ask the victors to think carefully before taking all the spoils?