Coffee talk in Mattituck
Retirees seize each day, starting at the Village Market
3 comments below
Jerry Zuhoski (from left), Tom Flurry and Ray Thilberg share a laugh at Mattituck Village Market on Love Lane. They're members of a coffee klatsch that hangs out there every morning to discuss the news of the world, or at least the North Fork.
Every weekday around 6:45 a.m., before parking spots fill on Love Lane and the retail world starts to turn on the North Fork, this core group of local guys order their morning Joe and take their window seats at the Mattituck Village Market.
And the stories fly.
"We don't even need to read the paper," said Dave Scanlan, a former employee of Orlowski Hardware down the street and fairly new member of the club. "We just come in here and hang out to get the news. Everybody knows everybody. There's no other place like this on the North Fork."
Last Tuesday morning, topics up for discussion among the jovial men -- all of whom are retired from various professions, some more recently than others -- included how they heard the Citgo gas station on Factory Avenue is shutting its pumps down and 7-Eleven will soon take its place in Mattituck. They talked about a new traffic light over Route 58 in Riverhead and whether or not expanding the traffic circle is a good idea. They shared memories about when Four Doors Down restaurant in Mattituck was The Apple Tree and how soul bands The Drifters and The Young Rascals used to play there. And throughout the lively conversation, members of the coffee klatsch made sure to wave and say hi to almost everyone who came into the market.
"We're the welcome mat," said Ed Adams. "This is where we settle the town's problems."
"Between this and the corner beauty parlor, you can find out about anything going on around here," he said.
"And we get to check out all the women that walk by," he joked, referring to the prime place for people-watching behind the store's huge front window.
Not missing a beat, Mattituck resident Ray Thilberg launched into a story about when he lived for four months in Hollywood just to visit some girls who had spent some time in Southold back in the summer of '65. He met them at Jim's Diner on Route 25 in Mattituck, where he used to hang with the guys and where the law offices of Goggins and Palumbo are today.
"And I've been hanging out here for 30 years," Mr. Thilberg said of his morning haunt. A 63-year-old avid fisherman who retired from a career in construction, Mr. Thilberg is married to longtime Village Market employee Judy Thilberg -- another endless source for local gossip and a big draw for coffee club members.
"She knows everything that goes on," Mr. Thilberg said, adding that he's usually the first customer in the store every day, helping to pile newspapers or shovel snow. "I'm always the first or second person here at 6:30 a.m. or so. I'm just so used to getting up that early. But it's nice to discuss what we're going to do for the day."
Mr. Thilberg said the club used to consist of only three or four guys, but membership has grown with recent inductees like 56-year-old Jerry Zuhoski, newly retired from the Suffolk County Highway Department. Mr. Zuhoski said that the morning coffee and conversation is a nice way to start each day, filled with nothing but time.
"When you're retired, you suddenly have time to do all the things you want to do," he said, describing how he'll keep himself busy by fixing up his house in Mattituck and helping his son and daughter cart their children to and from school. "I love being more involved in their lives."
By about 8 a.m., the coffee klatsch disperses to make room for a second wave of retired coffee drinkers, mostly elderly men who used to hang out earlier but have decided to sleep in a little more as they got older, said the market's co-owner Michael Bourguignon.
Before the early birds left last Tuesday, they got a nod from DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home owner Joe Grattan, referred to by the guys as one of the many "local celebrities" who are welcome to hang out with them any time.
"My wife was Jerry's baby sitter," Mr. Grattan said, grabbing a cup of coffee to go. "There's a lot of history here."
eschultz@timesreview.com
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3 comments found
: 3/10/2010
"56-year-old Jerry Zuhoski, newly retired from the Suffolk County Highway Department."
Fifty-six years old is too young to be retired.
Still, it's good to see a group of men so out and proud. The North Fork has grown in tolerance.
How about no : 3/10/2010
Not everyone can afford to go to the gym you twit. This is what retirement is about, how about you do something productive and keep your stupid, irrelevant comments to yourself.
how about : 3/9/2010
something productive, like go to the gym instead of hanging out at a coffee shop
just saying
