You may already know where you can buy a monochrome T-shirt that in the sunshine transforms into a multicolored depiction of Jackson Pollock's studio floor. But did you know that the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs is not only venturing into a little trendy merchandizing, but also considering an expansion?

The House and Study Center has applied to the East Hampton Town Planning Board for site plan approval and a special permit to convert the first floor of a house across Fireplace Road to an art reference library.

"We are at the early stages of developing plans for expansion, but it was Lee Krasner's wish to have an important research facility here so we want to honor that wish," commented Helen Harrison, the center's director, on Monday.

Humble Hub

In 1945, when Springs was an isolated rural community, Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner - pioneers in the migration of artists to the South Fork, just as they were pioneers in the field of modern American art - bought a small shingle house by Accabonac Harbor.

Pollock, the pivotal figure of Abstract Expressionism, crashed his car into a tree in 1956 and died not a mile from the house. His widow continued to live there and paint in the studio barn until her death in 1984, and in her will expressed the hope that the property could be preserved for use as an art study center.

In answer to her wishes, a foundation set up by the State University at Stony Brook took over the house and studio in 1987, and eventually the humble building joined a select list of buildings, most on the grander scale of Monticello, as a national historic landmark. The facility gives tours, mounts art exhibits, usually with some connection to the Abstract Expressionist Movement, and sponsors a series of Round Table lectures during the summer.

Growing Library

Another clause of Krasner's will - bequeathing her library of art books and catalogues to the study center - may have produced its most widely used resource.

Donations have fortified the collection. Most recently, the complete archive of the Jackson Pollock Catalogue Raisonne, published in 1978, and its 1995 supplement, were added. Composed of more than 20 running feet of documents, the archive was given by the catalogue's co-authors, Eugene V. Thaw and Francis V. O'Connor.

To Krasner's books were added many from the estates of Alfonso Ossorio, Hans Namuth, Elaine de Kooning, Arnold Hoffmann, and Sheridan Lord, artists who had known Pollock and his wife, as well as collections of art magazines from the East Hampton Library.

Less Costly

Other donations include photographs from The East Hampton Star and from the estate of Mr. Namuth, and audiotapes from Ann Gibson made while she was researching a book on lesser-known Abstract Expressionists and by Jeffrey Potter, author of a biography on Pollock, "To a Violent Grave."

All this material, now stored in a second-floor bedroom at the Pollock-Krasner Center, is outgrowing available space. It attracts scholars and students from all over the world and is continually expanding.

Rather than building an addition, the center is exploring a less costly alternative, in the shape of a house for sale immediately across the street. It may move the art library and research materials into the first floor of this house, the second floor of which is a legal apartment.

Educational Resource

"We're concerned about preservation, but we're also concerned about public education . . . a fundamental aspect" of the center's mission, Ms. Harrison told the Planning Board on Dec. 18.

For its part, the Planning Board has said it likes the idea, but that a number of problems would have to be addressed, such as parking and access for the handicapped, before it could approve the plan.

Also looking out for the center's interests is a Guardians Council established under the chairmanship of John A. Lack, an entertainment industry executive and a founder of MTV.

Council members include Mr. Thaw, president of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, which administers a program of direct grants to artists and is not affiliated with the study center, Ronald and Carole Lauder, Robert and Joyce Menschel, B.H. Friedman, Pollock's first biographer, and his wife, Abby, and Jeff Gordon and Path Soong, whose production company, Sooj Records, has released a compact disk of l950 interviews with Pollock and Krasner.

With a first-class collection of art books and catalogues, the library just might become a major resource for researchers, artists, and writers - a fine complement to Pollock's paint-drip-encrusted studio (the closest the center may come to owning a major Pollock masterpiece) and the array of Pollock mouse pads and jigsaw puzzles that also attract visitors.

They say that when New Year's Day falls midweek, as it will on Wednesday, it portends 12 propitious months, replete with many good and pleasant things.

One of them, perhaps, will be better weather. An early spring would be nice, of course, and a long spring would be even nicer, but in light of Mother Nature's paltry showing this past year, any spring that sticks around for more than three weeks would be gratifying.

Ditto for summer. No two ways about it, 1996 was a bummer summer. Too much rain, too little sun, lots of chilly days, never enough warm ones. The summer no one, not even the most determined sun-worshiper, managed to acquire a decent tan, the summer the mildew came to visit and never went away.

Come to think of it, autumn, the time of year most eagerly awaited by year-round residents, was nothing to write home about either. Snow fell early, in the second week of November, after a cloudy, on-again off-again fall that did little for anybody or anything, with the possible exception of root vegetables. Flu arrived ahead of schedule, too.

Well, good riddance to out-of-season seasons. Here's to a resounding turnaround in 1997. Happy New Year!

Matt White, who plays for the fabled Bridgehampton Killer Bees basketball team, said one day last summer that the time had come for Bridgehampton's girls to play the game that has brought such renown over the years to the boys - the "Hoosiers" of New York State basketball.

In just two days, Matt collected about a third of the 168 signatures on a petition to the School Board that has resulted in the first girls basketball team at Bridgehampton since 1985.

Cheerleading was all right, said Matt, "but if you add sports to your academics, you've got another shot at a scholarship."

The governing body of Suffolk's public high school sports, however, almost forgot the Honey (Lady Killer) Bees when it came time to draw up the junior varsity schedules, an oversight that prevented the team's coach, Otto Marracello, from setting up four of five allotted nonleague games.

The Honey Bees already have been heard from, in a 39-38 nonleague win over Sayville in their recent debut at the Beehive. Next year, a varsity schedule beckons, and, perhaps, in the not too distant future Final-Four trips upstate. We doubt that anyone will overlook the team again.

Matt had observed that summer day that girls of 10, 11, and 12 were able to beat "the boys in basketball camp . . . but something happens at around that age. The boys tease them, they get self-conscious, and a lot of them shy away from sports."

Judging from the large turnout for girls basketball, it seems that the transition from self-consciousness to self-confidence in Bridgehampton is well under way. We're rooting for the Honey Bees.

Should the East Hampton Town Board hold evening meetings, in the hope that more people will be able to attend? If so, how often? Some of the time? On a regular schedule? Only in certain circumstances? All the time?

The Town Board had disagreed over just about all the particulars - when, which, what, and even why - but then reached a compromise last week, which has yet to be enacted.

Disagreement among board members is no great surprise; there isn't much on which this uncommonly politicized board does agree. It was misguided, though, for Supervisor Cathy Lester and Councilman Peter Hammerle, the Democrats on the board, not to acknowledge from the first that the idea, put forth by the Republican members, might be a good one. Any proposal aimed at making government more accountable and accessible is worth a second look, as all would agree, and evenings seem to be the best time for the board to reach out to the largest number of constituents.

Councilman Len Bernard originally suggested that the board's twice-a-month voting sessions, now held on Friday mornings, be moved to Friday nights. Last week's tentative compromise is to hold just one session a month at night - on Fridays.

Friday night may seem a good idea for those homeowners who spend the workweek elsewhere, but it is one of least likely nights on which to expect many people to show an interest in zoning, taxes, easements, land preservation, water mains, road improvements, and other heavy-duty matters. No, Friday nights are for unwinding - dinner out or a movie - especially during the resort season, when Saturday nights out are too crowded.

Councilman Hammerle joked about the Friday night proposal. "Let's drive to the Hamptons and go to a meeting," he said. "I can see the traffic backed up already."

Councilman Thomas Knobel and Councilwoman Nancy McCaffrey instead proposed holding some of the board's twice-a-month Tuesday work sessions at night. That doesn't seem entirely satisfactory either. These meetings can be newsworthy on occasion, but more often than not they are characterized by extended debate on bureaucratic minutiae or issues on which consensus seems impossible. Neither provides the best forums for public participation. Nor, for that matter, do the usual Friday-morning voting sessions, which are devoted largely to the rubber stamp.

The time to make itself most accessible is when the board has a final proposal ready for public hearing that is apt to be controversial. Beyond that, holding one Tuesday work session and one formal Friday session at night in the next few months would split the difference and be a good test of whether night meetings achieve their purpose.

Unlike shoppers at the supermarket in Old Peking, customers at the Wainscott Village complex and its neighboring specialty shops and services won't find "seaweed soup, poodle soup, moonbeam cakes, lizard cakes, a teapot early Ming, a frog who loves to sing," or even a "maid for a nice but naughty fling."

And certainly not a "pill to kill a mother-in-law."

But they can buy "fish delicious when it's raw," a "painting slightly indiscreet," noodle soup, and, yes, the crafts to make "a fancy fan."

Not to mention Chinese food, health and dental care, holiday decorations, summer patio furniture, all imaginable delicatessen delights, wines and spirits, newspapers, piano lessons, bagels, bialys, fresh bread, beer, and sandwiches and hamburgers. There is even a store for packing and mailing.

Wainscott is the rare hamlet whose Main Street contains not a single store but whose main thoroughfare, Montauk Highway, has for two decades been dotted with restaurants, nightclubs, antiques stores, a golf course, real estate and insurance offices, car dealers, and sundry other businesses.

Homes, farms, fields, snatches of woods, and a vineyard separate the 40 or so businesses, mainly on the north edge, along the two-mile stretch of road from Sapore Di Mare west to Allison's at the Beach.

Smack in the middle of that stretch, across from the Wainscott Post Office, is the Wainscott Village Center, a clutch of businesses whose lookalike facades all sport what the center's developer and principal owner, Philip Young, called the "New England, cedar-shingle look."

The Brothers Young

Mr. Young, who manages the complex with his brother, Lincoln, as Wainscott Village Associates, bought part of the two-acre property more than 10 years ago. Once, it was the site of the Attic, a gay nightclub. Down came the Attic and, in 1987, up went the two buildings which now house the Panda Garden restaurant, the Wainscott Country Deli, and Hampton Medical.

In 1990, Mr. Young acquired the land in front, closer to the highway. There he built two more buildings, connected by a short walkway. Today, that section of Wainscott Village houses an art gallery, the Hampton Mailing Company, and Wainscott Wines and Spirits.

The center's wraparound driveway is surrounded by ample parking. Cars can enter from the highway or from the rear, just off Wainscott Northwest Road. Pleasant landscaping - adequate but not lush - is beginning to mature, and a gazebo, more or less in the center of things, lends a rustic look.

Panda Garden Is 10

Tenants lease their space from Wainscott Village Associates for what Mr. Young said "averages between $21 and $27 per square foot, probably half that of rents in East Hampton Village."

Panda Garden, about to celebrate its 10th anniversary, is the only original tenant. While its chef doesn't make moonbeam soup, he does prepare bean curd soup, among a host of other Chinese dishes. Indeed, the menu lists nearly 200 possibilities for dining in or taking out, few priced at over $12. (Peking duck, $29, is an exception.)

Business, said Sherry Chan, a receptionist-manager, "has been steady since we opened in 1987," though far better in the summer months than the off-season. Most of the center's occupants echoed that comment.

New Deli Arrives

The newcomer on the block is the Wainscott Country Deli, opened on Dec. 1 by Bob and Barbara Baugh, who also own the Sagg Main Store in Sagaponack.

The Baughs have refurbished the morning-coffee and lunchtime-sandwich stop as a sleeker, more upscale version. The deli opens at 6 a.m. (7 on Sundays) with bacon and eggs and pancake breakfasts for the going-to-work traffic and serves every imaginable sandwich - roasted chicken, ham, turkey, roast beef, kielbasa, olive loaf, meatloaf - and soups and salad for lunch or later. Eat there or take it out.

Because Mr. Baugh found "you couldn't get a hamburger in this immediate area," he grills them at noontime and for dinner, along with hot dogs and french fries.

Christmas Treasures

The Baughs cater, too, taking orders in Wainscott and preparing most of the food in Sagaponack, "where the kitchen is bigger."

Treasure Island is the Wainscott Village Center's largest store. Right now it is filled, except for a small, permanent section of crafts and stationery, to a fare-thee-well with Christmas: Christmas trees, Christmas lights, ribbon, wrapping papers, stockings (for dogs and cats, too), wreaths, tree decorations, dolls, mangers, presents, and indoor and outdoor holiday displays with almost-life-sized angels, singers, Santas, and animals.

Its trees are not real ones; they are "permanent," which, according to the store manager, Kathryn Stanton, is the "politically correct term for artificial trees." She can sell you a tiny one for a few dollars or a nine-foot, already-lighted number for $729. It will fold right up for storage until next Christmas.

Ms. Stanton's store is one of 16 Treasure Islands in New York and New Jersey. Like the others, its inventory changes from February through September, to patio furniture.

Wainscott Gallery

For that painting slightly indiscreet, shoppers with an expendable $2,500 to $18,000 can go to the Wainscott Gallery, where Maggie Nolan is currently showing a number of provocative canvases from the hand of Jim Gingerich, and sculptures by Dorothy Frankel.

Ms. Nolan, who also shows work by the Sagaponack artist Robert Dash, will be closed from mid-January until April.

The biggest news at Wainscott Wines and Spirits, just down the brick walk from the gallery, is the recent arrival of le Beaujolais nouveau. James McHale, who opened this liquor store more than three years ago, stocks nearly 1,000 different wine labels, and offers a 20-percent mix-and-match discount on cases.

Wainscott Wines delivers, free, from the East End to Manhattan.

Two Vacancies

Separating the liquor store from the Hampton Mailing Company is a vacant store, one of two in the complex. Both, predicted Mr. Young, "will be rented by spring." He has had a dozen inquiries about the space, he reported, "eight of them seeking office, rather than retail, locations."

The landlord said he was looking for "a good mix" to fill out the center, tenants whose businesses will be both suitable to the location and useful to the public - "retail merchandise, services, real estate, or an attorney's office."

The complex has had its share of comings and goings. Mr. Young attributed the failure of several businesses not to customer base or location, but to an inability to plan, to remain financially stable during the off-season, or to have anticipated the curiosities of doing business in the Hamptons.

The addition of a turning lane on Route 27 has definitely helped business, Mr. Young added, although not all his tenants agreed.

Pack And Mail

Margit Beck singlehandedly - except at Christmastime - handles the packing and mailing at her Hampton Mailing Company. With great efficiency, she sends packages safely out the door, via United Parcel Service or Federal Express. She fills out forms and wraps and packs boxes with flair and few words.

"Bring in your boxes early in the day," she advises.

One business that sees a relatively steady flow of people - and which neighbors say brings them business as well - is Hampton Medical.

Both medical and dental care are available here. Dr. Beth T. Rosner has been Hampton Medical's dentist in residence for nearly five years. She and her staff, which includes a dental hygienist two days a week, are continually busy, she said.

"Teeth problems don't differentiate between summer and winter," said Dr. Rosner, "so we are not particularly seasonal," although, she noted, summertime brings more emergencies. Dr. Rosner works five days a week and every other Saturday morning.

Hampton Medical

Dr. Gary T. Purcell, an orthopedic surgeon who heads the medical arm of Hampton Medical, spends two or more days a week at the facility seeing patients. The practice is currently without a full-time doctor, but Dr. Purcell said several physicians were "under consideration for the position" and that he hoped "the situation is resolved by the first of the year."

Just across Wainscott Northwest Road from Wainscott Village Associates is a second medical facility, Wainscott Walk-In Medical Service, owned by Dr. Blake Kerr, a general practitioner who is its on-site physician.

Dr. Kerr opened the practice less than a year ago and said it is "busier than I ever imagined." He and his staff, which includes a nurse and a nurse-practitioner, see "some 40 patients every day, some scheduled, some emergencies."

Music Studios

Dr. Kerr owns the two-story building that houses his practice. On the second floor is Wainscott Music Studios, a compact arrangement of musical accessories, a sound stage, recording equipment, and dozens of instruments.

Owned by Andrew Baker, a past president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Wainscott Music arranges, by appointment, instruction on any - that means any - musical instrument. On one wall hangs Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" platinum album, on which Mr. Baker has a credit.

Separating the Wainscott Village Center from its neighbors to the west are three stores which, although independent of the others, are very much a part of the overall space. Two were opened just this year, and the other, John Haessler's Seafood Shop, has been busy in all seasons for 27 years.

Seafood Shop

While parking has not been a problem for the center or for Dr. Kerr's patients, it has been for the Seafood Shop and Once-Upon-A-Bagel, next door.

Drivers know all too well the traffic snarls that occur when more than a few customers stop at the Seafood Shop for the fresh fish, lobsters, and other seafood for which the store is known. Mr. Haessler has an application before the East Hampton Town Planning Board to turn a vacant half-acre he owns on Wainscott Northwest Road into a 27-space parking lot.

At Once-Upon-A-Bagel, opened in May by Carmine Speranza, bagel lovers will find 30 varieties, including spinach, sourdough, and Russian pumpernickel. To go with them, there are cases of unusual salads and 12 varieties of cream cheese, as well as breads and other baked goods.

Mr. Speranza prepares breakfasts and lunches and stocks fresh produce when it is available. Everything is made on-site, said the owner, and the first seven months of business have been good.

Breadzilla

Also doing good business, according to its owners, Nancy and Brad Thompson, is Breadzilla, a sizable bakery behind the Seafood Shop with an entrance on Wainscott Northwest Road.

Breadzilla - "Zilla" was Ms. Thompson's nickname as a child - opened on the Fourth of July. Once the home of Walker's Upholstery and Asiantique, it has several tables for breakfast and lunch customers, or for a spot of tea or coffee and a sweet.

"Everything - our soups, stews, pot pies, the foccacia - is made from scratch," said Ms. Thompson, who has been busy lately making Christmas cookies and gingerbread tree ornaments in the store's spacious kitchen. She does the baking, and Paul DePalma, formerly of Nick & Toni's restaurant, assists her as chief chef.

Breadzilla is closed on Mondays.

Handicapped-Accessible

Breadzilla, Wainscott Walk-In Medical Service, and all the stores in the Wainscott Village Center are handicapped-accessible, and there are numerous blue-lined parking spaces available in front of these establishments.

The stores' hours of operation vary according to days of the week and time of the year. Credit policies vary with each shop, and patients new to the medical facilities might check the clearly posted insurance carriers before requesting treatment.

AMAGANSETT

Dubin to Michael and Helen Levy, Pond Park Place, $175,000.

BRIDGEHAMPTON

Franchise Stores Realty to Ripco Real Estate III Corp., Montauk Highway $425,000.

Deering to Geoffrey Blatt and Peter Marengi, Topping's Path, $290,000.

Bet-Tov Constructs Ltd. to Richard and Lois Freeman, Aelfie's Way, $319,000.

Second Narrow Lane Corp. to Eurexpag Inc., Narrow Lane, $224,000.

White to 1616 Realty Co., Summerfield Road, $735,000.

EAST HAMPTON

Country Living East Inc. to Jeffrey Glickman and Pamela Carlton, Grape Arbor Lane, $595,000.

White to Marilyn Reis and Jack Small, Two Holes of Water Road, $175,000.

Trojan Dev. Inc. to Richard Anderman (trustee), Further Lane, $2,125,000.

MONTAUK

O'Rourke (referee) to Republic National Bank, South Flagler Street, $230,000.

NORTH HAVEN

Faust to Thomas and Donna Fischer, Hawthorne Avenue, $156,000.

NORTHWEST

Forst & Silverblank Inc. to Liana Mouzakis, Bull Path, $755,000.

Hand's Creek Road to Forst & Silverblank Inc., Long Hill Road, $265,000.

Duval to Alfred Salsano, Bull Path, $410,000.

NOYAC

Aaronson to Russell Robinson and Theodore Chichak, Deerfield Road, $575,000.

SAG HARBOR

Weber to Elizabeth and Herman Martin Jr., Meredith Avenue, $267,000.

DeCicco to James and Kathleen McGovern, Ridge Drive, $165,000.

Rosetti to Christina Zacharia, Henry Street, $830,000.

Chervin to Edward Shank, Laurel Lane, $169,000.

SPRINGS

Levy to Daniel and Noemi Messing, Wolf Way, $321,500.

Fithian to Arlene Hinkemeyer, Woodbine Drive, $159,000.

Gavin to Edward and Theresa Kalbacher, Rutland Road, $190,000.

WAINSCOTT

Camp estate to Janice Young, Bathgate Road, $200,000.

WATER MILL

Fowler to Fernanda Niven, Head of the Pond Road, $475,000.

Ferrante to Ronald and Carol Buchter, Flying Point Road, $565,000.

First it was a music festival, then a film festival, and now it has been announced that the East End will have its own professional garden show.

The Hampton Garden Festival will be held at Dune Alpin Farm in East Hampton from June 21 through June 29. The event will benefit the Harbor for Girls and Boys, the inner-city program whose summer camp is on Three Mile Harbor. The Harbor will be celebrating its 60th anniversary next year.

This is the first time a professional gardening show of this type has been held on the South Fork, and it will be a community event involving local growers, landscape companies, nursery gardens, and related operations from the East End and elsewhere.

The plan is to have at least 12 individual gardens designed by prestigious landscape gardeners on display.

Charlotte Moss and Luly Duke will be co-chairwomen of the event, Barry Friedberg will be the corporate chairman, and David Murbach will be the on-site manager. Dale Booher and Lisa Stamm of Shelter Island have agreed to serve as architectural consultants and Marjorie Rosen will be a garden consultant.

There will be an opening-night dinner dance on June 21, under a tent at Dune Alpin.

The public relations the firm of Uffland Jannes at 400 East 52nd Street in Manhattan can give more information.

Have some last-minute shopping to do for some pets and their people? Have no fear: Local pet stores and tack shops carry a wide range of gifts sure to meet all needs and budgets.

One Stop Pet Shop in Amagansett certainly lives up to its name. Shoppers playing Santa to a variety of species will find One Stop an invaluable help. The store carries Christmas stockings filled with toys and treats for cats, dogs, ferrets, and birds.

Pet Hampton in Wainscott also carries stockings for the furred and feathered, and if you need a stocking for an unrepresented species the shop will gladly create a custom-made one.

Hottest Seller

The "Tickle Me Elmo" of the canine set is the fleece squeaky toy. "They are the hottest sellers," said Sue Leonardo of One Stop Pet Shop. "They sell well year round, but the ones made especially for Christmas with Santa heads, snowman heads, and the red and green ones with Happy Holidays printed on them do incredibly well."

Marla Gagnum of East Hampton has a Christmas tradition of giving stuffed animals to her three dogs. She used to buy stuffed animals made for people, but she's discovered that the plush toys made especially for dogs stand up better to the rough treatment they often receive.

"They can take a lot of punishment," she said. "They get left out in the rain and get frozen over. Then they thaw out in the spring and are as good as ever. And the dogs still love them."

Contradictory Cats

Paws and Claws of East Hampton sells plush toys in the shapes of barnyard animals that when squeezed make the appropriate sound of the animal they represent. Aren't dogs startled by this? "When my Labrador retriever first heard the pig toy oink at him he was afraid of it, but he carries it around in his mouth all the time now," said Kim Levins, a customer in Paws and Claws.

The toys available for cats reflect the contradictory nature of the beast. On the one hand, there are the high-action wand toys that stimulate the predatory instincts of cats, inciting them to feats of acrobatics. On the other hand, there are the catnip toys, which appeal to the more voluptuary tendencies of the animal.

Paws and Claws, One Stop Pet Shop, and Pet Hampton all sell wand toys or their variant, cat ticklers. Cats, with few exceptions, love them and they help provide exercise for the animal, but they do require human participation. The Turbo Scratcher toy is a good substitute for cats whose owners can't stop and play. However, my panel of feline judges gave the wand toys a much higher rating.

A Perennial Favorite

Catnip toys are a perennial favorite. One Stop Pet Shop carries a dizzying array of catnip toys with Christmas motifs. Catnip leaves contain nepetalactone, a hallucinogen pleasurable to cats. It is entirely harmless and can be given in any amount, says Dr. Mark Davis of the South Fork Animal Hospital, for the animals will self-limit their intake.

But, owners should beware, for catnip stimulates play-fighting behaviors. Handle a kitty under the influence with care; her inhibitions may be lessened but her scratching aim will still be true.

Mary Shefferman, editor-in-chief of Modern Ferret Magazine and author of "The Ferret: An Owners Guide to a Happy and Healthy Pet," recently published by Howell Books, said the Ferret Freeway toy is a huge success with Sabrina, Ralph, Marshmallow, and Knuks, her resident ferrets. And, if there's a hamster on your list, the Speed Track Racer available at One Stop Pet Shop may be just the thing.

Gift Guidelines

Certain guidelines should be followed in choosing toys for pets. Always buy toys made specifically for the species of pet. No cat toys for dogs, for example. If the toys come in a range of sizes it is best to buy one that's too large rather than too small. Animals, dogs in particular, can swallow a small toy and choke.

People should choose the most durable toy. Some of the softer squeaky toys are easy for the dogs to rip apart. They can swallow the metal squeaker, which then has to be surgically removed, said Dr. Davis.

There is some controversy about rawhide chews choking dogs, but Dr. Davis said, "Rawhide is okay, but I'd advise people to buy the bigger bones and remove the rawhide from the dog when he's chewed it down to a very small size."

Made In The U.S.A.

Many experts advise only buying rawhide chews manufactured in the United States, since they are processed by a standardized method that generally prevents the treats from breaking into large chunks on which the dogs can choke.

Ms. Shefferman said that no toys made of latex rubber or foam should be given to a ferret. "Many toys sold as ferret toys are really just repackaged cat toys and sometimes they are not safe," she said. A good rule of thumb when toy shopping for a ferret: if they can sink their teeth into it, don't buy it.

Horses and their people require so much equipment they have stores devoted exclusively to their needs. However, Horse Haven in Southampton also carries some of the higher-end dog equipment and apparel. "We have a line of unique handwoven collars and leads in a Southwestern motif. They're one of a kind and very special," said Lisa Kot, owner of the store.

If Horses Could Talk . . .

From blankets to bridles and leadlines to halters, local tack stores carry many gifts possibilities, but if horses could talk they'd doubtless make a request for one (if not all!) of the several types of horse cookie treats available, such as the Apple Oaties carried by the Tack Trunk in Amagansett.

If you are shopping for the rider rather than the horse, all the local tack stores carry lines of mid-priced, easy-care, casual wear that's fashionable on the street as well as in the saddle.

There are many lovely gifts available for young riders. The Tack Trunk carries the Kerrits line of clothing - fun, great looking, and very durable. And its owner, Lee Bistrian Keyes, reported that the book "Pony Talk" by Judy Richter is very popular with budding equestrians.

Books And Tapes

Brennan's Bit and Bridle in Bridgehampton carries an extensive line of Breyer horses. These horse models have been a leading item on the wish lists of young riders for several decades now and are still well made with great attention to detail.

Riders, adults as well as juniors, are always seeking to learn, so instructional books are appreciated gifts. Ms. Keyes says the Tack Trunk has been selling a great many copies of "Ann Kursinki's Clinic," while Kelly Bailey of Brennan's Bit and Bridle says the book "In the Irons" by Gary Benson has been a big seller.

And, if you wish to give a gift that will inspire as well as instruct, Brennan's Bit and Bridle is carrying video tapes of the equestrian events from this past summer's Olympic Games.

Animal Behavior

An excellent choice for the dog owner yearning to know just what is going on behind thoses soft brown eyes would be Dr. Nicholas Dodman's illuminating book "The Dog Who Loved Too Much." Dr. Dodman is the director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and an internationally known expert in domestic-animal behavioral research.

Dr. Dodman details his experiences with "problem dogs" in an engaging and engrossing manner and his suggested treatments are refreshingly practical. Cat lovers will have to wait for Christmas '97, when Dr. Dodman's book on cat psychology and behavior will be available.

A book that will fascinate all animal lovers is "A Perfect Harmony" by Roger Caras, a former East Hampton resident. The auther examines an aspect of human history that is too often overlooked: the contribution that domestic animals have made to civilization.

Species by species, some commonplace, others more exotic, Mr. Caras describes the origins, development, and vital role each has played in our cultural evolution. The comforts and conveniences we enjoy today are possible because of domestic animals, and that is reason enough to include them in our holiday gift-giving.

The Christmas bird counts begin on Saturday. Veteran bird watchers who would like to volunteer for the three South Fork counts - Montauk to East Hampton, Sagaponack and Hook Ponds, and Water Mill to Quogue - can call, respectively, Hugh McGuiness at Friends World College at Southampton College, Mary Laura Lamont of Riverhead, and Barbara Scherzer of Hampton Bays.

Less experienced birders can still feel a part of the National Audubon Society counts by watching their bird feeders; that is, by counting the number and species of birds that visit during the duration of each 24-hour count.

The Group for the South Fork has scheduled an "edge of winter" walk on WHICHDAY through the newly acquired Smithers County Park in Hampton Bays. Vikki Hilles, the leader, will instruct hikers about the importance of ecological "edges."

For reservations and instructions on where to meet, hikers should call the Group at its headquarters in Bridgehampton.

Sunday school picnics at Maidstone Park, evening trips to the general store for beer or ice cream sodas, and dancing to the jukebox were among the memories rekindled by those who attended a recent Springs Historical Society session designed to recapture the old days at Maidstone in Springs.

There were mostly fond memories, and each person's offering helped fill in the picture of bygone days at East Hampton's first official park and the neighborhood surrounding it.

For some, visions of the most delicious potato salad or three-flavor ice cream sliced in bricks stood out from those days when boys and girls from Sunday school classes would converge on the bathhouses, pavilion, and picnic areas at Maidstone Park.

"I Remember It Well"

"The boys would get wild there," said Norma Edwards of the outings.

"You weren't supposed to leave the church picnic, but we used to head off on the 'Indian Trail,'" chuckled Trevor Kelsall.

There were several bathhouses on the bluff near the ballfield with cabanas for changing into swimming costumes, two shade arbors covered with branches and leaves, with seats to rest on, four outhouses, and, to traverse the rocky beach, either a boardwalk or sandbag steppingstones, depending on who was recollecting and what year was being recalled.

Everyone at the meeting agreed about the big rocks in the water, rocks that are no longer there, though it's unclear what happened to them. A dock extended out from the shore so swimmers could jump into a clear spot, though some swimmers still got hurt - "I broke my ankle there," one person recalled - and some remembered the day around 1916 when a boy, Mike Meyers, dived in and drowned.

Shorefront Playground

The East Hampton Neighborhood Association sponsored weekly swimming classes there, with East Hampton children transported to the park in the back of a town truck.

There was a pavilion with a screened-in porch overlooking the bay, and fireplaces there and down on the sand. Lemonade was served up from big ceramic containers "tall as the couple who tended it." There were recollections of Gilbert Lester, a custodian at the park who also kept the youngsters' behavior in check.

Heather Anderson, the Springs Historical Society president, read an excerpt from a 1912 issue of The East Hampton Star, in which the park was called "East Hampton's new shorefront playground."

Park Cost $1

Indeed, Maidstone Park was the first park taken over by the Town of East Hampton, according to Hugh King, a local historian. Land for the park was donated by Frederic Gallatin, a wealthy East Hampton resident who reportedly was a descendant of Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury in Thomas Jefferson's Cabinet.

Mr. Gallatin and his wife, Almy, kept their horses at Maidstone until they acquired an automobile, then deeded the land to the town, for $1, in 1911. Conditions of the deed require that the premises be "held as a public park forever," that it should "bear the name of 'Maidstone Park,' " and that ownership would revert to the grantors or their heirs if the premises should "at any time in the future cease to be used as a public park or to be used for any other purpose than as a public park."

The 26.6-acre park was immediately popular. John Field, the area's caretaker, reported an attendance in July, August, and September of 1923 of 11,540 people, with a climb to a total of 14,999 in the summer of 1924.

"Each year about $500 is expended by the town in maintenance and hiring a keeper at the grounds . . . which amount is never begrudged by anyone, we will venture to add," said a 1923 report in The Star.

Weekly Bath

An old barn on the property was converted into more bathhouses, making 28 in all, in the early '20s. "Often there was a waiting list [with people] ready to use the houses when the bathers came out of the water," said an article in a 1924 edition of The Star, calling the new park a "wonderful play spot on the bay."

The town continued to make improvements at the park over the years, even proposing, in 1937, that some of the work be done as a Works Progress Administration project.

Mary Louise Dodge of Fireplace Road recalled, "When I was a child, we'd go to Maidstone Beach on Saturdays, and that was your bath for the week. You didn't wash off that salt. If you were really bad, you'd bring a cake of soap."

On Thursdays and Sundays, said Mrs. Dodge, chauffeurs of well-to-do families in the village would bring the servants to use the park.

Baseball And Burgers

John Tilley, who now lives on Woodbine Drive, recalled the dirt roads and quiet winters of his childhood. His parents owned the Maidstone general store, in the building that now houses Michael's restaurant.

Herb Fields had a farm with a cornfield and a couple of cows down there, Mr. Tilley said, but the area consisted mostly of summer houses in the woods. He recalled the lonely wait for the school bus, being the only student from the neighborhood heading to the Springs School.

In the summertime, parents and kids would play ball every night and then go to his parents' store for hot dogs and hamburgers, "a beer or two, or ice cream sodas, or whatever," he said. The store was open from Memorial Day until the week after Labor Day.

It was sometimes a hangout for young boys "out on the town." Mr. Tilley recalled with a laugh that "some of the guys would be raising hell and Harry Steele [then Chief of Police] would come down the store to look for them - my mother would put them in the beer cooler till he was gone."

Many of the participants recalled stocking up with 10 cents worth of bait for fishing at the Maidstone breakwater. On Three Mile Harbor Road lived Skimer Adams, who sold bait.

Mr. Adams had misspelled the word "skimmers" on his bait sign, and so was forever called Skimer. The group erupted in laughter over a reminiscence of Skimer Adams resting in bed clothed in a hat and overcoat, with chickens roosting on the bedpost.

Tapes Made

Audiotapes were made of the meeting, which brought to life, at least for this relative newcomer, sweet days of yesteryear.

The society intends to hold more meetings focusing on memories of different areas of Springs such as Accabonac Harbor, Fireplace, and Gerard and Louse Points, as well as the school. It would like to hear from people with long memories or mementos, especially photos, who can help to bring to life the days of old. The society is considering compiling the material it gathers into a brochure.