Having heard rumors that the board of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons would not renew Rabbi David Gelfand's contract when it expires in June, over 200 members of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons gathered on the center's lawn on Sunday morning to affirm their support for the rabbi.

At the meeting, in what they believed to be a binding vote, members voted unanimously to give the rabbi a three-year extension of his contract, voting both in person and by proxy. The unofficial tally, according to Leonard Gordon, a board member and one of the meeting's organizers, was 802 in favor of a contract extension.

"It was a very strong statement by the members that they want the rabbi to have a three-year contract," Mr. Gordon said Tuesday. More than 30 of those attending spoke before the vote was taken. "Many people spoke of what the rabbi had done for their marriage or during their illness or time of trouble; of how he made them understand and be proud of Judaism, of how much they learned from the rabbi," Mr. Gordon wrote in a letter to the board's president, Donald Zucker.

Laura Hoguet, the board's attorney, said yesterday that Sunday's meeting was not "called pursuant to the constitution of the Jewish Center" and that the board has no legal obligation to recognize its outcome.

"Under the state law, the board must recommend or approve and the congregation must approve by a majority the termination of the employment of a rabbi or the hiring of a new rabbi," Ms. Hoguet said. "We're not talking about the termination of the rabbi, we're talking about whether to renew his contract. Under the constitution of the Jewish Center and the law of the state, renewal of an existing contract of the rabbi is a matter for the board to decide."

Mr. Gordon interpreted the law differently. "Our position is that the rabbi has now got a three-year legal and binding contract," he said.

Because there was no qualified representative from the board to count them, the ballots are being stored along with the petitions asking for a meeting and the proxies "in a safe place to await a count with a representative or representatives authorized to do so for the board," Mr. Gordon wrote.

In his letter to Mr. Zucker, Mr. Gordon described the events of the meeting and informed the board that members have signed a petition demanding another meeting on Oct. 9 to ratify and confirm the results of Sunday's meeting, direct the board to execute the contract extension, and take other actions "to reestablish a relationship of respect and good will between the rabbi and the board of trustees."

The Oct. 9 meeting would fall between Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

"We understand that many people went to this meeting looking for information," Barnet Liberman, the chairman of the board's personnel committee, said in a statement issued by Ms. Hoguet. "The board does not want to engage in this controversy before the high holidays, but after the holidays are over the board looks forward to sharing its evaluation [of the rabbi] with the congregation."

"The congregation can't force the board to make a decision on the contract," Ms. Hoguet said. "The people on the board have to act in accordance with their beliefs and their perceptions and their judgment. . . . The board cares about what the congregation thinks. The board cares a great deal about what the congregation thinks, but Mr. Gordon's group of supporters is not representative of the congregation."

The congregation includes about 750 families, Ms. Hoguet said, and generally a family has two votes.

According to Mr. Gordon, the only dispute at Sunday's meeting was whether to get rid of the board or to "convert" its members to "people who would give the rabbi the respect he is entitled to."

"I'm weighted down with the number of olive branches I have extended to the board," he said Tuesday.

Richard Dunn holds a Ph.D. in French literature, taught at the University of Chicago, has published several books and scholarly articles, and spent 25 years in international banking at Credit

Suisse. About a year and a half ago, he embarked on a new career - as a high school Latin teacher.

Mr. Dunn began teaching three Latin classes - two sections of an introduction to the language and a more advanced course - to about 60 students at East Hampton High School last week. Last year, he had just 20 students at East Hampton.

He first taught Latin at the Ross School, where he was a French instructor, in fall 2004, and he still leads classes there. When Scott Farina, the principal of East Hampton High School, heard the news, he decided that his school needed to offer the language of Caesar and Catullus, too.

At the beginning of his new career, Mr. Dunn faced just one problem: He hadn't looked at a line of the language since he was required to study it in college.

"I spent the summer working on my Latin, teaching it to myself," Mr. Dunn said. "I'm the primary student in my classes."

Although classics departments in American universities have been shrinking for years, Mr. Dunn said that Latin teachers are in demand in high schools, mostly because of the perception that it helps with the verbal portion of the SAT.

Dr. Farina agreed. "It's a great foundation for really improving English, and it certainly helps on the SATs," he said. At a school board meeting last week he called the Latin program one of "the real exciting things" offered at the high school.

But adding an extra course in a crowded building, where classrooms come at a premium, presented a challenge. Proposed high school elective classes often fall to the wayside because of space constraints. Dr. Farina managed to squeeze Mr. Dunn's classes into the chorus room. "The nice thing about Latin is that it doesn't require any special equipment," he said.

Dr. Farina said he hopes to expand the program, and would like East Hampton to offer a three-year Regents sequence in the subject. "Scott is totally committed to the Latin program. He's an enormous support," Mr. Dunn said.

"There's no doubt that Mr. Dunn is a phenomenal teacher," Dr. Farina said.

When he was in grade school, Mr. Dunn never considered taking Latin. "Actually, I took French because my parents spoke French at home as a code," he said.

He earned a bachelor's degree at Dartmouth College, then a Ph.D. in French literature at Yale. He taught French and humanities courses for six years at the University of Chicago, then began a career in international banking. Upon retiring in the late 1990s from a position as a director of Credit Suisse First Boston, he moved to East Hampton full time. In 1999, he saw an advertisement seeking a French teacher at the Ross School.

And although his true expertise is in French, he said he has found Latin more satisfying to teach. French textbooks, he said, focus on mundane, everyday activities. But because Latin is not a spoken language, the language cannot be approached in such a fashion. "In Latin, you have entire textbooks based on the life of Horace. There are components of history and literature and they're much more interesting," Mr. Dunn said.

If enrollment is any indication, East Hampton students also find Latin of interest, and the teacher engaging. Almost everyone who started Latin I last year is continuing with Latin II this semester. Helen Quigley, a senior, is one such student.

"It's probably my favorite class, she said last Thursday, while her field hockey teammates teased her.

"All she talks about is Latin and Mr. Dunn," said Jean Nolan, who is also in Latin II.

"Mr. Dunn is just a great teacher," Helen continued. "He's so nice, and he knows how to teach it so it's really interesting."

The students' appetites for Virgil and Ovid were so voracious that they asked Mr. Dunn to accelerate the class. "We're trying to squeeze two years of Latin into one so we can take the Regents," Helen said. The state exam, which they plan to take in June, is usually given after three years of study.

Mr. Dunn's enthusiasm matches that of his students.

"I taught for six years at the University of Chicago in the mid-'70s and I didn't like teaching for the life of me. I thought that I had enough," Mr. Dunn said. "These kids have such a wonderful attitude. Its just a great group of students."

With fall on the horizon and cooler temperatures in the air, many merchants are breathing a sigh of relief. Oh, what a season, they say, whether theirs was a good or a bad one.

As of Sept. 13, revenue generated by the Suffolk County hotel-motel tax was estimated at $1.6 million for 2005, slightly below the $1.7 million raised last year. Anecdotally, many business owners reported that the volume of traffic was in direct proportion to how sunny the skies were this season - the sunnier the better, in most cases.

Montauk

For Kathi Cogen, the owner of Haven Home Furnishings in Montauk, a foray into ready-to-wear clothing and accessories paid off. Ms. Cogen went to India last winter on a buying trip and added a selection of handbags and exotic jewelry along with an array of colorful saris, embroidered and beaded kurtas (a loose collarless shirt that is very popular in India), fanciful skirts, and sandals.

"Business has been good, better than last year," said Ms. Cogen on Monday afternoon. "There has been much more traffic, but customers were spending less on average. There weren't as many big purchases." Still, vintage furniture pieces such as end tables and dressers were reportedly moving well. "I sell a lot of kitschy things and great gift items - anything shell-related was a big seller this year."

The Air and Speed Surf Shop moved to a new location on Main Street in July and saw a 40-percent increase in business over last year. "It's been a very good summer," said the manager, Phil Jones, on Sunday from underneath a brown corduroy hunting cap. "The weather cooperated toward the end of the season and we've seen a huge increase in foot traffic."

"Excellent. Up significantly. Best year ever," said Bruce Bernacchia, who owns two restaurants, East by Northeast and the Harvest, along with the Stone Lion Inn. "It was a beautiful summer," he said. "Business was up 20 percent at E.N.E. and 15 percent at the Harvest, while the Stone Lion Inn was up a little bit."

Napeague

"I couldn't have asked for a better summer," said Dick Ehrlich, owner of the Clam Bar on Napeague and the Seafood Barge in Southold.

"If not for the price of gas, it's almost inconceivable how good it could have been. I had the best Fourth of July ever, it was my biggest day and biggest week. The crew was strong and served swiftly."

Midweek business was very strong, though he reported that "day trippers" were a little short. "The North Fork was worse hit by the rise in gas prices, and post-Katrina a lot of B&B's took a large hit on cancellations," he said. "I think it just shows the strength economically of the South Fork - the financial stability of the area."

Amagansett

"Basically, August is its own season, especially the last two weeks," said Mary Schoenlein, the owner of Mary's Marvelous in Amagansett. "This was our fourth summer and the busiest ever. Each year gets better and better."

The food shop expanded its prepared food offerings this summer, but scaled back on pastries - although even so it offered 10 to 12 kinds of muffins, four to six kinds of scones, and two kinds of coffee cakes, all prepared on the premises.

"This season I hired three new full-time counter people, but could have easily added a fourth. The key to surviving was the staff," she said. "We did really well together and I'm very proud of the people that work here."

"The season was super great," said Jolie Parcher, the owner of Mandala Yoga and Dance Studio, on Tuesday. "We've been here for five years now and the base business is really established."

Ms. Parcher hosted a series of Indian-style outdoor bazaars that were held on the grounds of Amagansett Square. "The bazaars introduced the studio and the clothing shop to many new customers," she said. "I doubled my inventory and sold nearly everything and even had to place reorders."

East Hampton

"You'd be surprised what people will buy late at night," said Scott Goldi, a manager of Second Nature in East Hampton. The store extends its in-season hours until 10 p.m. during the week and 11 p.m. on weekends.

Mr. Goldi said the movie theater help contributed to increased traffic. "We'd see a rush every hour," he said. "At closing sometimes, it was difficult to get people to leave."

While other East Hampton retailers also remarked on seeing bursts in foot traffic before and after the movies, according to Mark Stueve, the theater's manager, attendance was down this season.

"Over all, in the movie industry business is down. This summer, we've had a lot more flops," he said mentioning "Stealth" and "Great Raid" as examples. "Yet, of all the Regal Entertainment Cinemas on the East End, this location was by far the busiest." He credits sold-out shows to a lack of entertainment options. "UpIsland there are more attractions," he said.

For Betty Rannazzo, an owner of Shoe Inn on Main Street, business was a little slow, though she said it picked up in July and August. "It's been much busier during the day, and evenings weren't as crazy as they have been in previous seasons," she said.

Of the eight Shoe-Inns scattered around New York, Connecticut, Florida, and New Jersey, Ms. Rannazzo said a healthy percentage of business is conducted at the East Hampton store, where the variety and breadth of selection is deeper.

At Henry Lehr, business was good but not great, said Melissa DeWaters, the store's manager. "We were comparing books. Every holiday weekend this season versus last was sunny. It's definitely bad for business, though the good weather did contribute to more traffic."

A preseason renovation of the store created space for more displays and a better flow for shoppers, she said. "We try to get the big [end-of-season] sale over before Labor Day in order to capitalize on back-to-school and back-to-the-city shopping. Even in August's blistering heat, we sold a ton of cords and cashmere."

"It was a very strong summer," said Mark Smith, an owner of Villa Italian Specialties, Rowdy Hall, and Nick and Toni's in East Hampton and La Fondita in Amagansett. "Over all, business was up 5 to 10 percent. It's too early to tell how fall will pan out, but if the weather holds, it should be good."

Bridgehampton

"We sold more ice cream this season," said Gus Laggis of the Candy Kitchen. "The weather was very hot, but the food business was about the same; the averages from year to year haven't changed that much."

Coloring, snipping, blow-outs, nails, makeup, and related services kept stylists bustling over the summer at the Scott J. Aveda Salon. "We were extremely busy," said the manager, Steve LaBoy, on Tuesday.

The salon, which also caters to a number of high-profile clients, did its best to accommodate walk-ins, even though most days were solidly booked, he said. "Numbers-wise we did better than last year. And most everyone left with a smile on their face."

Sag Harbor

"It was a good season, much busier than last year," said Robert Durkin, owner of New Paradise on Main Street and Robert's in Water Mill. "New Paradise, which is in its third year, is like an old market player now."

Mr. Durkin said nearly 90 percent of the patrons at either location were familiar faces to him as well as staff members. "It's a nice thing to be able to say."

Like most business owners, he said Mother Nature plays a hand in his business. "Weather at the start of the season came on less than fabulous and last winter's difficult weather pattern limited trips for second-home owners. But this summer has been upbeat - dinner business started early and ended late."

At Back to Bali, a co-owner, Stacey Campsey, said, "Business has been unbelievable. It's been very busy." The store, like several on Main Street, is open until midnight during the season.

"It's not new for us," she said. "We've been doing it since we opened 27 years ago. Sag Harbor is pretty much the only place on the East End where you can walk around until midnight and find stores open. People like that."

According to Ms. Campsey, late-night business generates 50 percent of total revenues. "Retailers who say business isn't good are the ones that are closing early," she said.

ses may be the currency all politicians deal in, but this year, the Democratic candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor and town board say they aren't promising anything they do not have the means to achieve.

"We will deliver on this. We don't make empty promises," Supervisor Bill McGintee said on Friday, after the Democrats presented their 2006 platform.

Mr. McGintee is running for his second two-year term. He is joined at the top of the Democratic ticket by Councilwoman Pat Mansir, who switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat earlier this year, and Brad Loewen, chairman of the town planning board for two years and a member for 16. Before Ms. Mansir changed parties, she was the only Republican on the five-member town board.

In looking to retain their majority, the Democrats are focusing on the town board's accomplishments since the 2003 election. Foremost among them, they say, is completion of the town comprehensive plan.

The Democrat controlled board "had the political backbone and the political courage" to pass a comprehensive plan "that had languished," Mr. McGintee said. The town first began to revise the plan during Jay Schneiderman's first administration in 1999.

In a top 10 list of achievements, the Democrats also point to the passing of a vegetation law limiting the amount of clearing allowed on residential properties and a buried fuel tank removal law that offered monetary incentives for getting old tanks out of the ground. They tout their commitment to build 10 units of affordable housing, which are under construction now, as well as another 35 units that are "nearing the go-ahead," and praise the board's efforts to help preserve over 400 acres of land.

"In 20 short months," Mr. McGintee said, the board has also revised the town zoning code; strengthened the Code Enforcement Department by hiring more personnel, increasing investigations by 27 percent; created two historic districts "to preserve our local heritage," and upgraded the town's computer systems "to streamline government and give the public greater access to government information."

In a second term, Mr. McGintee said he would "continue to produce honestly balanced town budgets. . . . There will be no maneuvering of numbers . . . to make things look good or bad." The Democrats were harshly criticized for their 2005 budget, which brought a nearly 9-percent tax increase for most town residents. Democrats claimed the increase was necessary because of poor financial management on the part of the previous Republican administration and pointed to an auditor's report stating that the town had not used its operating budget effectively to control expenditures.

Mr. McGintee pledged Friday to correct any auditing and budgeting errors found in that report, to pay bills on time and keep capital spending in check and below debt service, and to create the position of internal auditor to review town assets and financial paperwork from all town departments.

More effective code enforcement was a cornerstone of his previous campaigns. While he had praise for his administrations' efforts in that direction, the Democrats' 2006 platform calls for hiring still more code enforcement officers "to combat overcrowding and noise." The Democrats also want to start a comprehensive review of permitting and licensing processes that would include revising contractor licensing procedures. The goal, said Mr. McGintee, would be to "prevent our local contractors and landscapers from being undercut by people who are not following the rules."

To reduce density in the town, the town board has upzoned a number of areas in the past year - a move often met with harsh criticism and even lawsuits. In the next two years, the Democrats plan to "substantially increase" the town's purchase of small lots in densely populated areas, such as Springs. "People in their community deserve some green space, some open space," Mr. McGintee said.

The Democrats want to continue buying open space in general, but plan to look specifically for wetlands and wet lots.

"Open space is the key for protecting our heritage and it's an important part of the economy," Mr. Loewen said.

The Democrats also want to identify and preserve historic buildings in town and find ways to support what is left of the fishing and agricultural industries.

"We need to preserve fishing and farming not only as an economic mainstay of our town, but we need to preserve them as the cultural heritage of our town," said Mr. Loewen, who is a commercial fisherman and the president of the East Hampton Town Baymen's Association.

Mr. Loewen has proposed a townwide economic audit, which he described as "an economic comprehensive plan," to more closely examine who comes to East Hampton, what jobs and industries are here, and how those might be made more economically sustainable. "We can build a better East Hampton with that knowledge," he said Friday.

Along the same lines, Ms. Mansir said she wants the town to provide more space for businesses such as contractors and landscapers, including space for them to park and store their equipment.

It would be impossible to run for office in East Hampton without mentioning affordable and middle income housing, and once again, the Democrats say they hope to provide more housing for workers, young families, seniors, and "the children of our longtime residents," and find different options for financing such housing.

The Democrats promised to complete the new Springs Park, the Springs Youth Center, and the first phase of the Montauk Playhouse project, and to increase support for after-school and preschool programs.

Now that the comprehensive plan has been adopted, the Democrats want to see that its land and water use recommendations are fully implemented and that recommended projects such as a Montauk dock and downtown study and a Wainscott hamlet study are implemented.

Ms. Mansir wants the town to complete a comprehensive plan for the East Hampton Airport that "supports local aviation while minimizing intrusive noise."

The Democrats support the efforts of the East End Transportation Committee and the Five Towns Rural Transit Committee to create a light rail service with shuttle bus connections on the East End that might be managed by a rural transit authority.

They want to work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to rebuild the Cranberry Hole Road bridge in Amagansett so that fire trucks and ambulances can use it safely. They also plan to finish efforts to alleviate flooding along parts of Route 114 between East Hampton and Sag Harbor and in the "presidents streets" off Montauk Highway in Montauk. Finally, the Democrats say they plan to "prevail in the fight to preserve our ferry law from attacks by Southampton Town, Shelter Island, and Cross-Sound Ferry interests so that East Hampton does not become the route to Connecticut casinos."

The questions the South Fork faces now "are going to decide whether we're going to be a totally suburbanized area," Tim Motz, the Democratic candidate for county legislator, said on Friday.

"This is where we begin, and the cornerstone, if you will," Mr. McGintee said. "We're looking forward to 2006 and 2007."

With reporting by Joanne Pilgrim

If the bluff at the Montauk Lighthouse is not armored with an expanded rock revetment, the landmark could topple into the sea in 8 to 10 years, representatives of the United States Army Corps of Engineers said at a hearing on the project on Monday.

If the bluff at the Montauk Lighthouse is further protected by a bigger revetment, two of the East Coast's "premier" surf spots, Alamo and Turtle Cove, could be ruined, said members of the East End chapter of the Surfrider Foundation at the same hearing.

And so it went at a two-hour session of public commentary at the Montauk Firehouse that was held to discuss a draft environmental impact study released by the corps on Aug. 19. Copies of the study are available at the Montauk and East Hampton Libraries.

The Army Corps proposes an 840-foot-long stone revetment, which would be 40 feet wide at the top. Some 12.6 tons of stone would be embedded in the bluff to protect it from breaking waves and to provide long-term stability. The cost, which is expected to be split among federal, state, and local government, would be about $14 million for the project.

The work is badly needed, said Greg Donohue, the erosion control manager at the Lighthouse. On Monday he said that the "necklace" of rocks now lining the bluff is shifting. The "faulty foundation" there will eventually breach, he said.

"We have headaches there. The revetment is coming apart right before our eyes," he said, producing photographs as evidence.

Tom Pfeiffer of the Army Corps summarized the proposed project for an audience of about 125 people, including East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill McGintee and the superintendent of the Montauk state park complex, Tom Dess. He said that the corps had considered other plans, but found no other one that would offer long-term protection.

Considering its fragile state, moving the 200-year-old Lighthouse to the back of the property, as some surfers have suggested, would cost too much and be all but impossible, Mr. Pfeiffer said. Every part of the Lighthouse would have to be documented the way it is now, and it would have to be moved brick by brick, Mr. Pfeiffer said, adding, "It would never be the same."

Larry Penny, the town's director of natural resources, who is running for a seat on the town board, said he had studied the proposal and that "we're in trouble if we don't build on that rock."

"Like me, the structure is aging and frail and would not survive a move," he said, calling the Lighthouse Long Island's most historical feature.

The project will not harm wildlife and vegetation; "you're not going to muck up our natural resources," he told the engineers.

Some, however, disagreed that the Lighthouse could not be moved. Lighthouses on Block Island and at Cape Hatteras, N.C., have been moved, they said.

"The technology is there," said Tom Muse, the environmental director and spokesperson for the Surfrider Foundation. Mr. Muse said the corps had not supplied enough information about the armoring project and wondered if the revetment might do more harm than good.

"Are we going to be looking at Montauk Lighthouse Island after the revetment?" he asked. "It will not look like your little document there," he said.

Using a "hard" erosion-control device would set a bad precedent, Mr. Muse said, adding, "You have a lot of well-heeled people out here who will want to do the same thing to protect their property."

He asked the engineers to come up with a plan to save the Lighthouse without changing the way the waves move.

In the report, the engineers said the project would have very little impact. Chris Ricciardi, the study coordinator, said at the meeting that Montauk Point State Park and the Lighthouse could stay open while the revetment was being built, which would most likely start in 2008 and take at least two years.

There is no way not to have any impact at all over the course of a construction project, he said, and "once they go into the water there will be a short-term impact."

Two Soundview Drive homeowners took issue with that assertion. Herbert McKay and Bill Wilson told the audience that many years ago the Army Corps sat in the same place and told them that extending the jetties at Montauk Harbor east of their houses would do little harm to the shoreline there.

"And now we have no beach," said Mr. McKay.

Soundview Drive property owners have claimed that when the Army Corps of Engineers tightened and extended the jetties in the early 1970s it interrupted the natural flow of sand and starved their beaches. Most have built bulkheads there now.

"There were 40 families on that beach and you sat here and told us there would be no impact. You unsettled that whole community. And look what you're doing now; you are giving us misleading information. There will be a long-term impact. I'm going to predict that," Mr. McKay said.

Mr. Wilson brought photographs showing the beach he used to have but had lost.

"These engineers are despicable. I think it's time we all jumped on their bones. They talk about terrorists; they're the terrorists," he said, sweeping his arm toward the panel.

The comments and questions that arose at the meeting will be addressed in the final environmental impact statement.

When Susie and Brien Toso heard that Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf Coast, they and their three children packed for a weeklong vacation by the beach. Sand toys, bathing suits, and towels were tossed in the car and they left their house in north New Orleans for Fort Walton Beach, Fla., 40 miles from the Alabama border.

But then officials evacuated Fort Walton Beach, as well, and the family headed southeast to Panama City when the storm hit. They had offers to stay with family in Baton Rouge, La., but a cousin also offered them her summer house in Amagansett. They chose to come to the East End.

It is unclear how many evacuees from the Gulf Coast have come to the East End, but several have settled into houses in the area and have registered children at local schools.

It took the Tosos three days and a new portable DVD player - purchased at a Wal-Mart in Jacksonville, Fla. - to travel from Panama City to Amagansett.

"It's normal here," Ms. Toso said. "Phones are still down in Baton Rouge. There's no room in the schools."

So James and Caroline Toso, 5-year-old twins, are in kindergarten in Amagansett. "The school has just been great," Ms. Toso said. "They have acclimated very well. Every day they come home saying, 'I have a new best

friend.' "

Two families who fled Hurricane Katrina are sending children to the Amagansett School. There is one student who transferred to East Hampton, and one student at the Child Development Center of the Hamptons Charter School. The Springs School has five children from three Gulf Coast families enrolled.

Private schools have given scholarships to students affected by the storm. The Ross School has waived tuition for a student from Mississippi. And according to Richard Malone, the head of the Morriss Center School, that institution was the first school to offer its open spaces to students displaced by Katrina. It does so through the New York Independent Schools Association Web site. Two students have taken advantage of the offer.

Officials at both Morriss and Ross have said they will use the Web site to find hosts for families willing to relocate to the East End.

The schools have become centers for many of the relocated families, providing a sense of community for parents and children, as well as a network. In Amagansett, the PTA started collecting clothes for the Tosos before they arrived.

"One of the families told us to send the clothes to New Orleans. The other family gave us the sizes of the children," said Judith Wooster, Amagansett's superintendent.

In Springs, the school has worked with the Community Outreach Program to provide resources to Katrina evacuees.

The Charter School has been collecting clothes for Stephen Early, 13, its newest student, who came to Springs with only a backpack.

Last month, Stephen had just left his mother's house there for New Orleans, where he attended school and lived with his grandfather. He had been in school only one week when Katrina hit. They evacuated the city, but ran out of gas en route to Baton Rouge.

"There was no gas, there were no hotel rooms," Caroline Sallinger, Stephen's mother, said. "They ended up sleeping in a car at a rest stop."

Through text messages on cellphones and collect calls - Ms. Sallinger and the Tosos said that phone lines and cellphone towers are still down all over the Gulf Coast - she was able to direct Stephen and her extended family to a cousin in Texas. Stephen flew back to Long Island and on Sept. 12 enrolled at the Charter School, where he is running for vice president of the student council.

Ms. Toso and her three children plan to stay in Amagansett until about Christmas. They hope that they will be back in their home in New Orleans by the time the second half of the school year starts, on Jan. 3. Mr. Toso, who works for Hibernia National Bank, which was recently purchased by Capital One, plans to commute between Louisiana and New York over that time.

He was going to fly to New Orleans on Tuesday to inspect the family's home of five years. His plans were delayed one week, though, after the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, ordered a mandatory evacuation in preparation for Hurricane Rita, which is expected to hit the Gulf Coast this weekend.

A neighbor who was given a pass to return to New Orleans took digital pictures of the Toso's house and car and posted them on the Web. The family said there is two to three feet of flood damage, plus roof damage from the winds and a car full of mold.

"We want to get in there and start ripping out the drywall," Mr. Toso said. The family plans to rebuild their house.

They also said they haven't received any mail sent to their New Orleans address since they left. "There are probably water and electric bills in there," Mr. Toso said. "What are they going to do, turn it off?"

Meanwhile, several local organizations continue to collect donations for people affected by Katrina. The Jewish Center of the Hamptons on Wood Lane in East Hampton will hold an emergency-supplies drive Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Among the items that have been requested are sneakers, clean underwear, toiletries, and nonperishable food in plastic containers.

The Springs School will collect donations to the Red Cross at an Oct. 1 car wash.

In Albany on Tuesday, the State University of New York board of trustees unanimously approved the State University at Stony Brook's acquisition of the Southampton College campus from Long Island University.

On her way back from the capital, Shirley Strum Kenny, Stony Brook's president, said the decision will allow state university representatives, the chancellor or his designee, to begin negotiations with L.I.U. in earnest. In the meantime, the university can begin its environmental review and title searches, upon which those negotiations will be contingent.

State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle said he was "hopeful that within the next 10 days we'll have an agreement on the price to move forward with what we have to do to get on campus by September 2006."

"I've been pushing everyone to get this done and think we should have an agreement very soon," he said.

The L.I.U. trustees will meet on Friday and are expected to give David Steinberg, the university's president, the authority he needs to enter into negotiations with Stony Brook.

Although they had to wait for the trustees' decision to make it official, Dr. Kenny said "we have been talking to Steinberg and L.I.U. and we're on the same wavelength to make this an easy and amicable decision. We both very much want this to happen."

Paola Curcio-Kleinman, associate vice president of marketing and public relations for L.I.U., offered this statement: "We're pleased to learn that the SUNY Board of Trustees has authorized Stony Brook officials to go forward with negotiations. To date the discussions have been very productive and we anticipate we will continue to move in a positive direction." She gave no further comment.

Thomas F. Egan, the state university board chairman, cited the "strong support for this endeavor from the State Legislature, from the Stony Brook Council, Stony Brook President Shirley Kenny, and Acting Chancellor John Ryan" as important considerations in the decision.

Dr. Kenny added that the SUNY board's approval will once again be required for a "final sign-off" once the negotiations are completed.

If everything falls into place, next fall she plans to begin a program based on principles of environmental sustainability. "It's a very ambitious schedule," she said. "As soon as I get back from Albany, I'll need to get to work on all that."

The two schools have already successfully worked together to have Stony Brook take over the marine science program at Southampton. The facilities at Southampton allow Stony Brook access to the ocean and the ability to offer marine science as a new undergraduate major. The program was officially launched earlier this month.

No offer for the campus has been made yet, but Dr. Kenny said the state is "circumscribed by the money" that the Legislature approved for the purchase in this year's budget: $30 million, plus an additional $5 million for upgrades to the 81-acre campus.

The property has 42 buildings, including some new structures that were built by L.I.U. in a final, but failed, push for enrollment. SUNY plans to buy the campus in its entirety.

Another budget appropriation may be necessary to carry the campus while it builds a student body that will bring in tuition.

Dr. Kenny said she hopes the East End community will extend its welcome and generosity, as Robert F.X. Sillerman has done. Mr. Sillerman, the former chancellor of Southampton College and a former trustee of L.I.U., has committed to bringing the All for the Sea concert back to the campus if the purchase goes through.

With the Stony Brook and Southampton campuses only 45 minutes apart, Dr. Kenny anticipates a considerable exchange of students, faculty, and programs. But there will be a special set of majors at Southampton, and students will be able to reside there.

Eugenia Stanlea was born at the beginning of aviation and saw men walk on the moon; she moved in time from the Victrola to the iPod, from the party line to the Internet. When she was 18 two years still remained before women were allowed to vote.

Mrs. Stanlea died at home on Main Street in East Hamptoin last Thursday at the age of 105.

Known to everyone as Genia, was born Eugenia Mary Urban in 1900 in Buffalo, the daughter of Polish immigrants, and grew up in nearby Lackawanna. As a young woman, she moved to Detroit, where she met and married Stanislas Szynkielewski. Born in Warsaw, then under czarist rule, at the age of 14 he escaped across the border to Germany and made his way to Rotterdam, where he sailed for America with a ticket sent to him by his three sisters.

Her husband changed his name to Stanley Stanlea and, after a spell in Hollywood where he worked as an extra in Tom Mix movies and appeared in "The Mark of Zorro" with Douglas Fairbanks, he became an automotive draftsman, and then hairdresser in New York City. Beginning in 1928 the couple moved between Manhattan and East Hampton, where Mr. Stanlea had a hairdressing salon at the Maidstone Arms.

In the city, Mrs. Stanlea studied art at Cooper Union. She would resume painting many years later, in her 90s, with a series of landscapes that were shown at Ashawagh Hall in Springs.

The Maidstone Arms burned down in 1935, but Mr. Stanlea kept his salon going, working at the Sherry Netherland Hotel in New York and in Westhampton Beach, and finally settling in what was then the Masonic temple on Main Street in East Hampton - now London Jewelers - at the start of World War II.

During the war, Mrs. Stanlea raised chickens in the backyard of their house on Fithian Lane. The Stanleas restored both that house and another one on Huntting Lane, and converted a two-car garage off Main Street into commercial space that now houses the Blue Parrot restaurant.

After her husband was injured in a car accident in 1943, she started her own business, Eugenia M. Stanlea's Children's Wear, and made giant papier-machŽ sculptures that decorated its windows, her family said. When Mr. Stanlea was able to reopen his salon she began working as a volunteer for the East Hampton Ladies Village Improvement Society's Bargain Box.

Mrs. Stanlea and her husband sang with the Hamptons Choral Society, and Mr. Stanlea was an actor with the Guild Hall Players. After his death in 1977, she spent some of her happiest hours painting, knitting, crocheting, and doing fine needlework at the East Hampton Senior Citizens Center.

She cherished the certificates she was given on memorable occasions, such as one from Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. on her 100th birthday, which was named Eugenia Stanlea Day in Suffolk County in a proclamation signed by Suffolk County Clerk Edward P. Romaine.

At the time of her 100th birthday, Mrs. Stanlea was proud to say that except for half an aspirin a day and some vitamins, she took no medication and could still climb the stairs to her second-floor apartment on Main Street.

For the past seven and a half years, she was cared for by Rasa Tarailaite, who became part of her family, Mrs. Stanlea's daughter, Joy Stanlea Squires, said. Besides Ms. Squires, who lives in East Northport and East Hampton, she is survived by a granddaughter, Debra Squires of West Halifax, Vt., a grandson, David Squires of Richmond Hill, Ga., and four great-grandsons.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions have been suggested to the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center, Site Council 8, Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton 11937.

Not a good week for bees: Lil' Kim, the rapper known as the Queen Bee, went off to prison on Monday, and 90,000 honeybees are still at large.

"It's still a mystery," said Stephen Munshin, who manages Hamptons Honey of Water Mill, of the three beehives that were stolen from Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett two weeks ago, presumably on the day of the Great Tomato Taste-Off there.

Mary Woltz, a beekeeper for Hamptons Honey, said the beginning of September "was an odd time for them to be stolen," since it is the end of the bees' "production system" and thus not a high point for their population. If it had been May or June, there would have been 50,000 to 60,000 bees in each hive.

The beekeeper couldn't say for sure when someone had nabbed them, but Scott Chaskey, Quail Hill's manager, said he noticed them missing on Sept. 6, "as I was going by in my tractor, going hither and thither." That Saturday, Sept. 3, almost 300 people had attended the tomato taste-off.

"It wasn't like I was inspecting," he continued, "my eye witnessed something was missing, as if someone had cut down a tree. I thought Mary for some reason moved them."

But when Ms. Woltz came to the farm the morning of Sept. 7, the two realized the three hives had been stolen. They filed a report with the East Hampton Town Police that day.

The honeybees must have been taken in the morning, before they left the hive, or in the evening, because they are out flying during the day, Ms. Woltz said. Quail Hill has many entrances and is not secured at night, Mr. Chaskey said, unless you consider the "patrolling deer."

Hamptons Honey kept six colonies - or hives - at Quail Hill, and three colonies remain. Mr. Chaskey said they were "tucked in the middle of a wild area, in the middle of a cultivated area," on the farm. "You would have to know they are there," he said.

Ms. Woltz thinks there is "a strong implication" that the culprit was a beekeeper, "because it was not something someone would ordinarily take on," she said, adding, "I've been playing Sherlock." Her theory is that there were two thieves - a beekeeper and an assistant - since someone had to remove a 15-pound river rock kept on top of each crate containing a hive.

"For me it is very sad to think a beekeeper would do that to another beekeeper," Ms. Woltz said.

Hamptons Honey keeps close to 100 hives on the East End, on farms from Orient Point to Southampton. The three stolen colonies were a mixture of Italian and Russian honeybees, and two of the three were new colonies, Ms. Woltz said on Tuesday.

"They were doing well," she said. The theft "was such a shock. I have plenty of worries as a beekeeper, but theft was not one I considered."

Ms. Woltz's beekeeping burdens include keeping them healthy and free of parasitic mites and pesticides. "They are in peril," she said of the world's population of honeybees.

In the 16 years that Quail Hill has been open, only a sign and a solar light had been stolen. "That's not a lot of stolen goods in 16 years," Mr. Chaskey said. He used to keep bees in England, and "never heard of bees being stolen," he said.

Ms. Woltz has, although never in the Northeast. In California, she said, since honeybees are "essential for almond pollination, people [have] resorted to theft." Some beekeepers even put microchips in their colonies.

She declined to specify how much one of the Quail Hill colonies sell for, but did say, "It is a lot easier to get an established colony than to start your own." In general, however, Ms. Woltz said, stealing bees is simply not worth the trouble.

Mr. Chaskey called the bee and beekeeper relationship "a nurturing process" interrupted all too abruptly when "all of a sudden they're whisked away."

"It's kind of the heartache" for Ms. Woltz, he said, "with her girls disappearing. . . . She calls them 'her girls.' "

On Monday, the same day that the former superintendent of the Roslyn School District, Frank Tassone, was found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars, a pair of education and financial consultants recommended that the Bridgehampton School District tighten its own fiscal management and internal controls.

At a school board workshop that night, Betty Cure and Henry Binzer, partners in a consulting firm specializing in education finances, presented suggestions to run the school more efficiently and in compliance with New York State law. They ranged from cutting back on staff to maintaining school records to sharing financial statements and information about fund balances with the school board.

Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for the state comptroller's office, said that deficiencies in these areas could trigger an audit by the state.

"Internal control in schools is a problem. Roslyn made it a bigger problem. It must be kept in mind all the time," said Mr. Binzer, a former adviser in school business management for the State Education Department.

Diane Youngblood, the superintendent of Bridgehampton School, said that she hired Ms. Cure, who has four decades of school business administration experience, and Mr. Binzer after she was promoted last fall from principal to her current position. Dr. Youngblood said that she was concerned by a lack of control over the finances in the school.

Ms. Cure and Mr. Binzer spent a year looking into finances of the Bridgehampton School District. They found that the flow of information between the business office at Bridgehampton and the school board was inadequate, Mr. Binzer said.

The school board had not approved budget transfers or pay raises that had been made. Board members had not received statements for Bridgehampton's capital project funds or updates on fund balances, some of which were running in the red, a violation of New York State law.

"We don't get any reports," said Elizabeth Kotz, a board member, at the meeting.

"You guys are the stewards of the public purse," said Mr. Binzer. "You should get the budget reports every month."

Michelle Romanosky, the district's acting business manager, said that she was receptive to "most of the internal control suggestions. I'd rather give more information to all of our board members," she said. "We're running a multimillion-dollar business, and they are our board of directors."

However, she disagreed with some of the criticisms, especially about the number of people on the school district payroll. Ms. Romanosky has been asking for help in the business office, which has a full-time business manager, an assistant business manager, and one part-time staff member.

"She felt that she had no time to properly do the job," said Mr. Binzer. "We do not agree that more help is needed."

Mr. Binzer and Ms. Cure found that several full-time positions, such as the two secretary positions and the guidance secretary, did not have workloads that required full-time employment. Part of the problem in assessing the workloads, however, is that Bridgehampton does not have job descriptions for these positions.

The school has also not formally evaluated its personnel, something the consultants suggest that it do every year.

Tamara George, a school board member, argued that more help was needed for the secretaries in the main office. Ms. Cure then clarified her assessment: "I didn't see enough at that job description to make it a full-time position. I was just apprehensive at what I saw."

The report also found errors and missing information in student records and the minutes of school board meetings, both of which are supposed to be accurate and kept in the school's files for several decades.

"We're finding that even though you have a good student database, it's not used to its full capacity," said Ms. Cure. "You have less than 200 students, but not all the students' records are in the database," she said. "I didn't see full report cards or student data from K through 12."

Ms. Cure said that schools are required to keep student records for at least 60 years; they can be used when applying for Social Security in lieu of a birth certificate.

The report also found that the district clerk, Joyce Crews-Manigo, had not been accurately recording the board meeting minutes.

"When I went through the minutes of the organizational board meeting, they didn't record the absentee board member nor the newly elected board members," said Ms. Cure. "There were a number of situations and places where the minutes were imprecise or not as accurate as recommended."

Dr. Youngblood said that Ms. Crews-Manigo will receive district clerk training in October.

Among the other recommendations was that the school calculate, write, and distribute its paychecks in-house. At present an outside contractor, Lydia Donahue, does the Bridgehampton payroll. There was also concern that the school did not make cash deposits as often as it should. Ms. Cure said that it should be done every day.

"I'm very encouraged by the recommendations that Betty and Hank brought to us," said Dr. Youngblood. "No one has taken advantage. We have not seen any abuse," she said, adding that the school had already implemented some of the suggestions to make sure that there is no abuse in the future.

A former Bridgehampton School District treasurer, Lyllis Topping, was charged in 1996 with a felony count in the misappropriation of $80,000, which was ultimately returned. At the time of the charge, her attorney said she herself had suggested tighter financial controls in the district.

On Monday the school board also debated the merits of setting a minimum grade point average and course of study for valedictorians and salutatorians at the Bridgehampton School. There have been no requirements except that the student attend the school for at least the junior and senior years. The new policy would require a grade point average of at least 90.

Ms. George said that level was unrealistic. "A 90, now that's something that's not achievable for a bunch of classes," she said. Potentially the new policy could deprive the student with the highest average of scholarship money, she said.

Other board members argued that the titles had lost prestige at Bridgehampton in recent years. It "requires a certain level of aptitude," said James Walker, who was one of them.

The title would be easier to achieve, said Jack Pryor, Bridgehampton's principal, by instituting a grade-weighting system. Such a system would give extra credit to students taking Regents, honors, or advanced placement courses.

The board also considered tightening its attendance policy. It now allows students to miss 15 percent of the school year, or about 30 days per year. Mr. Pryor recommended that it trim the number of days to 18, or 10 percent of the school year.