Dear Marty,

Rockaway Playland holds great memories for me. As an artist I submitted an artwork called "Playland" to North Light Books. It was recently published in the book Strokes of Genius 2, The Best of Drawing Light and Shadow, page 42.

On a trip to New York, I drove out to Rockaway Beach and recorded the image of Playland in my sketchbook. This was the last time I saw this landmark; since then it has been demolished.

I lived in Arverne and grew up on Beach 68th Street. During the summer we would walk to the end of the street and swim in the bay especially when there was a high tide. We brought with us a glass milk bottle, tied a string around the neck, placed some bread inside and a little seaweed for camouflage and went fishing for tiny fish. We always caught a bunch took them home and fed them to our cats. Playland was a part of every summer especially the roller coster, and the penny arcade.

Lucille Rella class of '57