It was up to Fighting Chance, a free-of-charge cancer counseling center serving the East End, to help a young cancer patient continue on his chosen path as a composer.

    Keith and Donna Tyrer of Riverhead came to the Sag Harbor-based organization, now celebrating its 10th year, because their 20-year-old son, Jonathan, was determined to continue composing music despite his recent surgery to remove a stomach tumor. The Tyrers wanted to support their son, but the Apple computer and special software involved were too expensive for the family, who were burdened with the medical costs accumulated in Jonathan’s fight against cancer.

    It took a team of local nonprofits to get the job done. The leaders of the Southampton Bocce Club, Steve Marciw and Sal Ficara, had been looking to make an end-of-year donation to Fighting Chance, but had wanted the money earmarked for a special cause.

    Margaret Bromberg, an oncology social worker with Fighting Chance, connected with Sean Carmichael at the Ross School, and together they were able to use the $400 donation from the Bocce Club to purchase a lightly-used computer. Charlie Grubb, Fighting Chance’s graphic designer and technology consultant, installed the necessary software, which he had donated, onto the new computer.

    At the end of January, everyone involved gathered in the Fighting Chance offices and donated the computer to Jonathan Tyrer. Mr. Grubb said, “The joyful day came about through the teamwork of many well-intended citizens and their East End nonprofit organizations.”

    “The first thing to make clear is that White’s is going nowhere,” said Hal Zwick, the Devlin McNiff Halstead Properties broker who recently listed the building at 81 Main Street, home to White’s Pharmacy since 1873, for $7.75 million. “The business is going very strong,” Mr. Zwick said.

    Still, it is the first time the building has been for sale since being purchased by Bradley Marmon in 1954. Elise Marmon can still be seen there almost daily — she’s the cosmetics buyer for the store, which was sold to Vincent Alibrandi in the past decade. The Marmon family still owns the building which, in addition to the over 3,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, also boasts 1,600 square feet of basement, and two upstairs apartments. Ms. Marmon had not returned calls as of press time.

    “Vinnie is thinking about possibly relocating,” Mr. Zwick said. “We have a couple of possible spaces for him already.” The listing brochure for the property states it could be delivered empty by this spring.

    There is also an option for someone to rent the space, at $375,000 a year. Taxes for the property are listed as under $13,000.

    But fans of Mr. Alibrandi need not panic, Mr. Zwick said. “Under Vinnie’s ownership, White’s will be in East Hampton for at least another 15 years,” he said.

    Last week for Mardi Gras, the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center was decked out for the occasion, with masks adorning each table and purple, green, and gold streamers hung from the ceiling. There were beads for all, and the kitchen staff had prepared the traditional king cake, a cinnamon roll with multicolored icing that is a New Orleans specialty.

    “Seniors, they have dessert first,” joked Dee Hallock, an assistant chef, who has worked at the center for a year and a half. It took Ms. Hallock and Debra Kulp, who has been at the center for five years, six hours to make the cake. “We were thrilled with ourselves,” Ms. Hallock said. “It came out very good.”

    Visitors to the Springs-Fireplace Road center can enjoy a hearty lunch prepared by a dedicated kitchen staff each weekday for a suggested contribution of $2.50.

    Although there are strict nutritional and dietary guidelines, “We like to do extra stuff that they enjoy. It makes us happy,” said Ms. Kulp.

    The program, which serves about 65 town residents age 60 or older each day, stays afloat with funding from the town, Suffolk County, and federal grants. Food donations from the community also help.

    Overseen by Michelle Posillico, supervisor of the town’s nutritional program, and Tom Lightcap, the chef, the kitchen staff churns out healthy meals that keep their customers coming back for more.

    But people get more than just a hot meal at the center. “For some, we’re the only people they see during the day,” Ms. Posillico said. And for some, Mr. Lightcap added, it may be the only nutritional meal of the day. “We try to make it as close to a home-cooked meal as we can,” he said. They enjoy the camaraderie of a shared meal and may stay all day to play bingo or bridge, or join in a yoga or meditation session. An adult day care group for senior citizens with special needs joins in for lunch, and partakes in music, arts, and crafts, as well.

    Nutritional and dietary guidelines are mandated by Suffolk County. These include preparing special meals for diabetics, no salt, and strict portion control — three ounces of meat, four ounces of starch, and up to four ounces of vegetables. So the pulling off the Mardi Gras meal was no small feat.

    The kitchen staff had to request special permission to change the meal of the day to jambalaya. “We made real sweet potatoes today,” said Ms. Hallock. Mr. Lightcap explained that the menu called for canned goods, but they wanted to roast potatoes and use fresh apples instead.

    “It’s different than a restaurant; it’s a different type of challenge,” he said. The chef for the past nine months, he comes from a restaurant background, working most recently at Town Line BBQ and Rowdy Hall.

    Ms. Posillico plans the menu, and then sends it to the county for approval and to ensure that dietary requirements are met. If someone does not like what’s for lunch, he or she can choose an alternative meal from the freezer.

    Under Ms. Posillico’s management, the staff has not only developed a good rapport with the senior citizens, but also with each other. “It’s more like being at home than being at work as far as relationships go,” Mr. Lightcap said.

    “If something’s wrong, we talk,” said Paulina Bahmondes, a food service worker at the center for 15 years.

    “If one of us is off for the day, one of us steps in to do what needs to get done,” said Ms. Hallock. “The chef does dishes.”

    Their hard work, Ms. Kulp said, is motivated by the people they’re cooking for. 

    “They’re fun and wild seniors,” said Ms. Hallock. “I’d want to come if I was a senior. It’s a rare wonder.”

    It’s customary on Valentine’s Day for a husband to give his heart to his wife, but a kidney?

    To a local couple, who underwent a transplant operation on Tuesday, it beats chocolate and flowers any day.

    “It’s sort of surreal,” said Cindy Realmuto, a kindergarten teaching assistant at Springs School and mother of two, who was interviewed on Sunday, two days before the scheduled surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

    Ms. Realmuto has been with her husband, Joe Realmuto, the executive chef of Nick and Toni’s, Rowdy Hall, and the other Honest Man properties on the South Fork, since the two were teenagers. In 2008, she was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, or F.S.G.S.

    “There is scar tissue growing between the veins in my kidney, and it’s collapsing the veins,” Ms. Realmuto explained. At diagnosis, her kidneys were functioning at about 50 percent. “But as my numbers started to drop, I got sicker,” she said. As of her most recent visit, her kidneys were functioning at “below 20 percent.”

    “The doctor said it was like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, and I could fall off that cliff at any time,” she said.

    A visit to a transplant team at Stony Brook made the couple aware of the possibility of finding a living donor. “There are hundreds of thousands of people on the New York waiting list,” Ms. Realmuto said. “It’s simpler if you can find a match from a friend or family member.”

    Mr. Realmuto immediately offered to be the donor, as did a niece. When possible donors are tested, the doctors look for blood-type matches along with an antigen compatibility. Luckily, they were both matches, “but my niece just had a baby, and I wouldn’t put her through that,” Ms. Realmuto said. A friend, Diane Engstrom, also went for testing with Mr. Realmuto, and was found to be a match, but “Joe really wanted to do it,” Ms. Realmuto said.

    “But he had high blood pressure, so he wasn’t a good candidate,” she said. Unperturbed, he went on a fitness program, changing his diet and dropping 25 pounds, and reducing his blood pressure. “He’d go to spin class at 6 a.m. with my girlfriends,” Ms. Realmuto said. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

    Besides her husband, Ms. Realmuto is overwhelmed by the support of the community. When a fuel delivery man was informed of their plight, he offered to donate. “He didn’t even know us,” she said, her voice breaking. “The love has been incredible.”

    After the operation, the couple will stay in the hospital for a few days, under observation, before returning to the South Fork.

    When the Realmutos heard that the date of the operation was Valentine’s Day, Ms. Realmuto said, “It was perfect.”

    “It’s the perfect day,” she said. “It’s the perfect gift from the man I love. He’s saving my life.”

    For want of a nail, a shoe was lost. And for want of the exact lumens generated by a light in a parking lot, the plans to break ground on the East Hampton Library’s children’s wing will have to wait another day.

    The room was full to capacity at the East Hampton Village’s Design Review Board meeting on Feb. 15, mostly with supporters — including Tom Twomey, the chairman of the library’s board, and Sheila Rogers, a library trustee — hoping to see a green light at the end of an eight-year tunnel.

    The proposed 6,800-square-foot addition has been on hold for that long, until a landmark Supreme Court decision last May overturned the zoning board’s denial of a special permit, and the library was given the go-ahead to bring a site plan before the design review board for final approval.

    But Carolyn Priesche of the design review board sought “clarity,” especially regarding the lighting plan in the parking lot.

    “This plan shows essentially no light,” she said. “I think this is something that needs to be thought about some more.”

    Although plans have been approved, there have been minor changes in the last few months — even until Feb. 8 — that had not been added to the plan in front of the board that night.

    “We need the manufacturers’ cut sheets for the fixtures to be used,” Ms. Priesche told Dennis Fabiszak, the library’s director, and Jeffrey Butler, an engineer.

    “What we received is what you have,” Mr. Fabiszak said. “These are the exact same lights that are in the parking lot and on the building now.”

    “Well, we need something for the record,” Ms. Priesche said.

    “Is all this over a lightbulb?” asked Dorothy Friedman, a library supporter, from the audience. “This is going to hold it up another two weeks?”

    “Without a plan, we can’t have a determination,” Ms. Priesche answered.

    Mr. Fabiszak, who was joined at the podium by Ben Krupinski, the East Hampton builder who has offered himself gratis as the project’s construction manager, said that the plans would be in next week.

    The disgruntled crowd filed out after only 25 minutes. A hearing during the meeting elicited no comments, but the board agreed to hold it open for written comments until March 7, the date of the next design review board meeting.

    When reached on Tuesday, Mr. Fabiszak said, “We are happy that the public hearing on our site plan was closed without any opposition from the public.” 

    Mr. Twomey had a similar take. “We’re pleased that the public hearing was closed and that there was no opposition,” he said, acknowledging the over two dozen citizens who showed up at the meeting to support the library. “I’m also pleased that the subcommittee of the design review board has worked so hard with the library to come up with a fine site plan review,” he said.

    Neither Mr. Fabiszak nor Mr. Twomey anticipate any more holdups. “We look forward to our site plan being approved and to breaking ground early this spring,” Mr. Fabiszak said

    On Tuesday, Benito Villa, a founder of the Harborfrost festival, was en route to the Sag Harbor fire marshal’s office to request that ice sculptors be granted last-minute permission to set fire to their sculptures, in keeping with this year’s “Fire and Ice” theme. Also freshly added to this weekend’s lineup — which includes a Grucci fireworks display and live music, in addition to the artwork in ice — was an icy ring toss using glow-in-the-dark necklaces that participants will be encouraged to wear into the evening.

    “The town will be glowing,” Mr. Villa said.

    Sag Harbor Village merchants, competing for a prize for the best promotion, will be offering “Fire and Ice” specials and giveaways.

    On Saturday, several restaurants will serve $20.12 meals. The live music options that afternoon will include the Peter Weiss Trio at BookHampton at noon; Robert Bruey at Sylvester & Company at 12:30; Harly Lancia at LifeStyle at 1; the Alfredo Merat Duo at the Grenning Gallery at 1:30; the Vanessa Trouble Quartet at BookHampton at 2; Hopefully Forgiven at Romany Kramoris at 4:30, and Mariann Megna at Page at 63 Main at 4:30.

    Charitable opportunities have been sprinkled throughout the weekend, as well. These include a “frosty plunge” at 3:30 p.m. Saturday to benefit the ambulance corps; a gala benefit on Friday night at Page restaurant for Youth Advocacy Resource Development, which provides recreational activities for students who do not play sports, and a quiz night fund-raiser at B. Smith’s on Saturday to raise money for the Booster Foundation, which supports music and sports programs. There will also be a restaurant crawl to support a local community member or family in need.

    Fun-house castle sculpting begins on the Long Wharf at 3 p.m. Saturday. At the other end of Main Street, at the Civil War monument, games will start at 4. Back at the wharf, at 5:45, there will be a performance by the Fiery Sensations. The fireworks are at 6:15.

    Hot soup from Phao, tastings at Sag Harbor Liquors, turkey chili and spiced tea from Brown Harris Stevens, and appetizers and sweets from the soon-to-open Muse restaurant are among the giveaways to be enjoyed. Along with hot showers for the frosty plungers, Hampton Gym Corporation is offering a free candlelight Pilates class at 4 p.m. Among the entries competing for best promotion honors are an art exhibit at Prudential Douglas Elliman; a 50 percent off sale at Satori boutique; 75 percent markdowns at LifeStyle, and Geek Hampton’s offer of “20.12 percent off a Macbook Pro or Ipad case.” Many businesses are also raffling off prizes.

    Events geared toward children include free snowman-puppet making at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, and puppet shows at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., at Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre. The Bay Street Theatre will show cartoons from 3 to 6 p.m., with no charge.

    Brandon Hallman, general manager of the Romany Kramoris Gallery, said there were “lots of crowds” for last year’s Harborfrost festival (as well as the Sag Harbor American Music Festival). This year, the gallery will sponsor live music for the first time, in addition to offering a make-your-own-valentine workshop in the studio behind the gallery from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

    Harborfrost came to life when Mr. Villa joined the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce and came across paperwork for a winter carnival plan that had fallen to the wayside, due to lack of funding. He took charge of securing the founding sponsors — The Sag Harbor Express, Hampton Gym Corporation, Brown, Harris & Stevens, Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Save Sag Harbor — to cover expenses of the ice-sculpting and fireworks. Once the core sponsors were on board, Mr. Villa said, other businesses pitched in to help with advertising, insurance, and the sponsoring of musicians.

    Kelly Connaughton, the co-founder of last September’s inaugural Sag Harbor Music Fest, was asked to help book Harborfrost’s musicians and procure sponsorship from various shops and venues. In an interview on Saturday, she said that these special events are a great way to sustain local businesses. “It is vital to our community to do things outside of the summer season,” she said.

    Off-season attractions, Ms. Connaughton added, are also appreciated by local working people, who are often too pressed for time to attend summer events.

    On his first visit to the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee as its newly appointed town board liaison, East Hampton Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione got an earful of complaints Monday, the majority of them concerning the hamlet’s Surf Lodge restaurant  and 7-Eleven store.

    Committee members were furious and confronted the councilman — at times quite angrily — saying the town board was not being aggressive enough toward the owners of both establishments, especially the Surf Lodge, which was cited with 686 town code violations between May 28 and Sept. 16. The allegations range from problems with a boutique to a lack of a building permit to illegal clearing of wetlands and overcrowding, plus a fire code violation.

    Moreover, the club’s popularity has caused a number of traffic problems, with patrons parking and walking all over Edgemere Road and down Industrial Road, often parking on homeowners’ lawns. Last summer the town posted no-parking signs in various areas on both roads.

    Committee members called for a review of the two establishments by Tom Preiato, the senior building inspector. Of the 7-Eleven, they said, an earlier certificate of occupancy was issued in error by Don Sharkey, a former building inspector, and should have required a site plan review. Marilyn Behan, who recently ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the town board, called the convenience store’s parking lot a mess — dusty, crumbly, and unsafe.

    “I’m really surprised the town hasn’t addressed that,” she said. “It’s an issue the town board has to address.”

    Committee members laughingly recalled a visit from Pete Ferraro, the building’s owner, several years ago. He had promised them a nice landscaping project at the site and even produced plans for that proposal in order to gain their support for the project, without ever mentioning a 7-Eleven, they said. At the time he said he was envisioning a furniture store.

    “We have to get the town to realize the determination was made in error,” John Chimples, a committee member, said.

    “If there is so much trouble there, I’m surprised people are using it,” answered Mr. Stanzione, who was told that the business is mostly frequented by nonresidents and out-of-town visitors.

    As for the Surf Lodge, committee members believe it was required to receive a permit to fill in a pool that was then covered with a deck overlooking Fort Pond. Had they applied for the deck it would have triggered a site plan review, said Richard Kahn, a retired attorney and the chairman of the Concerned Citizens of Montauk’s legal committee.

    “That was a mistake. How could this deck be put on top of a swimming pool without a permit?” he asked. “If this new building inspector would reinspect it, he would find it should never have been permitted. If he says it was a mistake, then the whole Surf Lodge thing goes away.”

    “There is no time limit on any agency of the town to correct a mistake,” he said, referring to past claims that the time to challenge such a determination had expired. “Mr. Preiato can reverse the determination; there is no statute of limitations. If he reverses that decision the problem goes away. The Surf Lodge has demonstrated contempt for the town, which so far has lay down with its legs spread.”

    The committee also thought it was a good idea to tell the State Liquor Authority about the nightclub’s many outstanding violations. The information could be used against the club when its liquor permit is up for renewal, members said.

    Mr. Stanzione told the group of the tactics being used by the Surf Lodge attorneys to stall court-mandated appearances, often by not showing up or being unprepared. “They have excellent lawyers who are playing games. They will litigate until the cows come home,” he said.

    He suggested the committee focus on the club’s proximity to Fort Pond and make it an environmental issue. “That’s the best opportunity; use Fort Pond as leverage,” he said.

    According to Julie Brumm of the C.C.O.M., the pond has already been tested, and the results found that it was highly contaminated.

    The attorneys for the Surf Lodge are expected to be back in town court for a hearing on Monday. A group of committee members are planning to be there. “The fact that we are there in numbers will show the court that Montauk is represented,” Raymond Cortell said.

On Sunday, dressed in a saffron-and-burgundy robe, Gen Kelsang Nordin — with a soothing English-accented voice and inspirational words — emphasized to students the importance of gaining control of their minds.

Gen (meaning Sister) Nordin, a practitioner of meditation in the Tibetan Kadampa tradition, was addressing the opening day of a three-week course at the Vajravarahi Meditation Center, which has just relocated from Hampton Bays to Sag Harbor. Through meditation and other tools, she said, it is possible to attain happiness and a state of general tranquillity.

The center, which opened on Feb. 1 at 112 Hampton Road, is open to anyone interested in daily prayers or guided meditation classes, regardless of religious beliefs.

Sitting beside a 20-foot altar set with flowers, bowls of water, crystals, and statues of the Buddha, Gen Nordin guided about 20 students through stages of prayer, silent concentration, and discussion; they sat shoeless on comfortable chairs, or on pillows on the floor, taking care to straighten their backs and relax their necks and shoulders.

The Vajravarahi space is simply designed and decorated, with clean hardwood floors, 22 chairs, many pillows, and an Asian rug. A small shelf is filled with books and CDs with such titles as “Understanding the Mind” and “Meditation to Make Our Life Happy and Meaningful.” Shoes are left near the door. After class, students are invited to help themselves to cups of tea from a decorative urn set on a table, and join in casual conversation.

Some in attendance on Sunday were regulars at the center’s previous location; others had come in for the first time. The primary goal of this introductory series is to teach them how to deal with anger, frustration, and other agitating states of mind. Gen Norden explained that the practice of patience does not involve the gritting of teeth, or ignoring problems, but facing challenges while remaining calm, accessing inner resources of peace and wisdom. She said that during the next few weeks, students will learn how to cultivate — instead of being victims of — their habit-based mind.

Gen Norden emphasized the value of these techniques in practical terms (with no pressure to believe or accept any religious dogma). So far, she said, the center has been “very well received by the community.”

A Peace of Mind open house will be offered on Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information and a schedule of ongoing events can be found at meditationinthehamptons.org.

    David Conlin of Springs was having his cesspool pumped on Jan. 10 when his dog Mookie ran out the back door and fell some 18 feet into the open cesspool.

     Ray Serva, who happened to be at the house speaking to Jim Quackenbush of Quakenbush Cesspools of East Hampton, immediately ran to the truck to turn off the waste-suctioning pump. In a panic, Mr. Conlin tried to scoop up his swimming dog with a crabbing net, but was unable to reach him. The 20-foot-deep well was close to being empty, with just a couple of feet of methane-fumed liquid left. Mr. Conlin said that he wanted to jump in, but was advised against it by Mr. Serva, who told him, “You will die.”

     Mr. Quackenbush left for about 10 minutes to get an extension ladder and a Tyvec suit. Once he returned, Mr. Quackenbush, also a lieutenant in the Springs Fire Department, climbed down into the hole and rescued the dog.

     In an interview on Tuesday, he said that in his 20 years of pumping cesspools, he has “never had an animal fall in before,” and that he was “surprised he survived the fall.”

     Mr. Conlin said Tuesday that he was “surprised and grateful” that his dog was okay. Mookie was cleaned up and taken to East Hampton Veterinary Group following the incident, where he received a clean bill of health. And on Tuesday, before posing for pictures with his owner and Mr. Quackenbush, he pranced over the covered cesspool as if nothing had happened.   

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An earlier version of this story misidentified Mr. Serva as an employee of Quakenbush Cesspools.

    After more than 15 years of discussion, Sag Harbor’s popular Havens Beach is going to have the remediation required to make it safe for swimmers.

    A plan for the work developed by Inter-Science Associates after extensive testing was approved by the Sag Harbor Village Board unanimously at its meeting on Tuesday. The village’s harbor committee had recommended the village do so after holding a hearing on the plan on Monday. The committee agreed the work was long overdue and would significantly improve the water quality around Havens Beach, as well as protect and restore the ecosystem.

    Rich Warren of Inter-Science said the work is estimated to cost around $200,000, but, since bids have not yet been received, the actual cost is uncertain.

    Questions about pollution in a creek — more correctly a stormwater drainage ditch — that crosses Havens Beach emerged in the 1990s, with reports of skin rashes and eye and ear infections. Fecal coliform and other bacteria were said to be the most likely contaminants. In 2007, Kevin McAllister, the Peconic baykeeper, called the situation a grave problem, and said the public was at risk.

    Inter-Science reported it had found heightened levels of human and animal waste bacteria in the drainage ditch, and in some cases the bathing water itself, especially after intense rainfall. Mr. Warren said stormwater from more than 20 acres runs through the ditch.

    Although many people walk dogs in a field adjacent to the ditch, Mr. Warren said it is properly supplied with cleanup materials, although he assumed that not all owners were diligent at removing their dogs’ waste.

    The program recommended by Inter-Science includes a filtration sponge that processes and cleans water in an enclosed area as well as bio-filtration, which involves planting native species to filter wastes naturally. The  procedures are known to work well together, Mr. Warren said.

    “I think it is a positive step,” Mr. McAllister said yesterday. He said he hoped the village would get the needed funding, and he suggested oversight to ensure the project’s completion. The Peconic Baykeeper organization will help monitor the project.

The first and most lengthy step will be to dredge the ditch, which Mr. Warren said will certainly be “stinky” because the muck in it has sat stagnant for many years. He hoped dredging could begin before winter weather made it difficult, and said that Inter-Science had applied for the necessary permits from the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers.

    Meanwhile, the board and the harbor committee also approved heaping snow plowed from the streets at the beach. Bruce Tait, chairman of the harbor committee, said the relocation of the snow piles to the beach’s gravel parking area, which is pitched away from the water, and fencing and hay bales that have been installed, go “above and beyond” and are a significant improvement over the past. But, he said the committee would revisit the process in the future.

    The benefits of removing snow from Main Street outweigh any risk of placing it on the beach, Mr. Tait said, since Main Street’s storm runoff goes “straight out to the bay” anyway. However, Jeffrey Peters, a committee member who ultimately voted to approve the snow’s placement at the beach, said, “I don’t want to see this pushed under the rug.”