Friends and customers crowded into the Book Mark Cafe for a final reception on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Wine in long stem glasses and hot hors d'oeuvres were served to an appreciative audience. In the restaurant section diners were having their "last meal" amidst all the chatter. The tall ceiling, wooden bookcases and books, books, books softened the ambient noise to a comfortable level. Emotions were expressed and memories were recalled about what had been considered a cultural statement for the future of the Oyster Bay hamlet.

David Lamb answered the question of whether he would re-open the Book Mark by saying, "Someday, maybe. I still own the name and all the rights to the Book Mark." He said the new owners would be using only One East Main Street and that plans for the other half of the store had still not decided upon. He added that they bought all the stock, which now consisted of practically all used books. "I wish them all the best," he said. "They will open six weeks from March 1st. We're looking forward to eating here, absolutely," he added.

The new owners, the Harvest Restaurant Group, presently own a restaurant in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It is a neighborhood restaurant that offers comfort foods like great meatloaf and mashed potatoes. David Schneider, one of the principals of Harvest, said that they expect to offer something substantially similar in Oyster Bay.

Jolanda Gaulkin thought the offering was appealing. "I always go to Taby's on Wednesdays for mashed potatoes and meat loaf, when I feel stressed out from working," she said. But, she added that she was saddened to think of losing the Book Mark Café and all its amenities. "I'm going to miss the choice of cards and the small town atmosphere and international flavor and the food! I'm going to be sorry to see them leave! Luckily we have Page Two Bakery. Everything here was hand picked with thought," she said of the cards and gift items.

"I always think of this place as the heart of Oyster Bay: the hub," said Mary Abbene of The Printery. "Geographically and spiritually it was the heart of town," said Wayne Marciano. "Now where are we going to find those last minute gifts?"

"This was the only place I could give a description of a book I wanted and they would know the title," said Ms. Abbene. In another conversation Dr. James Dick and David Lamb demonstrated that knack: "It's a book that came out recently on world problems and the Moslem world," said Dr. Dick. "It's called What Went Wrong," said Mr. Lamb.

"It's been a wonderful experience for us the past five or six years. There was no better combination of good food and good books," said Bill Simonds, an English teacher at the Green Vale School. Appropriately, his favorite book is The Great Gatsby, which he teaches to eighth grade students.

Many people reminisced about the original Book Mark that was located on West Main Street. Margaret Stuurman said, "I worked at the Book Mark for 15 years." Ann Dick chimed in, "I subbed. I'd get a phone call from Carol (Lamb) saying 'I have to walk the dogs can you come down; or I have to go to the post office' and I would drive down."

That was the pleasure of the Book Mark, you'd always meet someone charming, happy and relaxed taking charge of the store. Mrs. Lamb herself was the consummate retailer. She would greet customers as if they were guests coming into her house and would introduce visitors to each other. Her customers got to sit in the green leather wing chair while she sat poised on a straight back chair behind a spindly table. When someone came in with a request, she always had a positive response. While she might not have a stuffed teddy bear that day, she would offer a book about teddy bears or a different stuffed animal, often satisfying the customer's request that way.

Donna Fiore Houman said, "I remember going to the Book Mark years ago when I was in high school. I remember talking about books with Mrs. Lamb. She sold my etchings there. I feel her spirit from back then. I hope they resurrect the Book Mark."

Leslie Collins said she bought books for herself and her two children telling them to "always remember this special place in Oyster Bay. You should write a book about it," she said.

In spite of the sadness people were expressing, Mr. Lamb had an upbeat take on the day. "This is a whole new beginning for us to be a family, because our kids are not getting any younger," he said. Daria Lamb had said the same thing earlier, that closing the Book Mark Café was a lifestyle change for the young family. The younger Lambs were demonstrating what they had learned from the restaurant, they were both serving hors d'oeuvres to the guests.

Bill Miller of The Printery didn't have words to express his feelings but when asked about memories of the first Book Mark and Mrs. Lamb said "I remember her father even better. He was my pediatrician, Dr. Miner Hill, before Dr. Dick."

Which reminded Mary Abbene that Mrs. Lamb always offered practical health advice and would often give out copies of her favorite book on nutritional good health.

Liz Roosevelt was a familiar face behind the counter at the Book Mark Café. She said it was her fifth career. Her first was as a ranch manager in central Florida, "It's the second largest cattle raising state in the US," she said. Next she worked for Mohawk Airlines; then was a teacher at Friends Academy. Her fourth career is that of a photographer. (Ms. Roosevelt is looking forward to identifying career six.) "She does photographs of Christ Church and Oyster Bay. Her work will be available at the Oyster Bay Historical Society," said Board President Professor Susan Peterson. Dr. Peterson too, was sad the Book Mark was closing. " I really enjoyed the dinners with the authors. I went to about seven of them, including Carol Higgins Clark and Oleg Cassini," she said.

Fritz Coudert said, " It's a terrible shame. The endeavor was probably doomed from the beginning. Restaurants by themselves are difficult businesses to make money at. The vast number of restaurants fail. Book stores are having a hard time with the onset of the mega stores. They have developed giant sites on the Internet to sell books. There were two very difficult businesses in the same place making it four times as hard a challenge. It was beautiful having it here in Oyster Bay."

When someone expressed sadness at not taking more advantage of the store while it was open, he offered comfort saying: "When someone dies everyone says that."

"It's the end of an era," said Jack Bernstein. He too remembers Mrs. Lamb and the original Book Mark on West Main Street. "It's sad to see it go. The Book Mark had become a nice fixture in Oyster Bay over the years."

Claire Francy turned the attention to the younger "Mrs. Lamb", Daria Lamb. "Her energy, imagination and commitment to Oyster Bay is eventually going to make something even better in Oyster Bay than the Book Mark."

"I think this was a wonderful addition to Oyster Bay. Daria is a creative genius and we certainly wish she and David well in their future endeavors," said Alan Davidson, another person who enjoyed the dinners with authors.

"The Book Mark will be very much missed. That's the theme I keep hearing today," said Helen Magnani.

One of the celebrity authors who most recently attended the Book Mark Café is Kathryn Crosby, Mrs. Bing Crosby, who heard that the Book Mark was closing on Feb. 28, said she felt sympathy for the community. She had just finished a tour of independent bookstores in the New York City area, including the Book Mark on Feb. 13. She said, "I had so much fun there. It's a glorious place and it was chock-full of people and there was a waiting list for dinner. It started with crab cakes and salad and then chicken or salmon. I had the salmon, which was wonderful. There was also a Bing cherry tart. I read from the book and signed books. On Saturday night I was in Brooklyn at Lolabelles bookstore for a book signing and wine reception. It was copied after the Oyster Bay bookstore," she said. Earlier in the day she was in New Canaan at the Elm Street Book store. "They lost the only book store they had and the community got together and got a building and stocked the shelves themselves because they believe the community needs a bookstore." Her comment was a fitting recognition of the place a bookstore has in a community.

Everything in the store was on sale at 50 percent off and many people made sure they took home a little piece of the Book Mark Café to cherish along with their memories of the times they spent there.