When Joe Schier stepped into his father's shoes a few years back and took over the indispensable downtown mainstay that was Star Auto & Hardware, I remember releasing a giant sigh of relief that Syosset wasn't going to lose one of its last remaining golden nuggets. At least not for a while. With Joe at the helm, what seemed like the last local hardware shop in the universe was firmly poised to take on the big orange giant down the road, and I was determined to do anything in my power to make sure it kept its footing.

Sadly, Star Auto & Hardware will soon go the way of Syosset's 5&10 shop, its paper store, and its hometown luncheonette, as Joe has announced the closing of the store in the next few weeks.

Truthfully, I can't even bring myself to attend the Going Out Of Business Sale, as there is a part of me that feels guilty for not keeping up the frenetic pace of do-it-yourself home improvements I maintained in my 20s and 30s. Perhaps if I were still in and out of that store five or six times a day, it could have survived on the extra few dollars profit. But then I wonder how any store can survive in this downtown on sales that are often below one dollar. Especially when the store owner puts as much care and energy into every sale as Joe and his crew did.

I am sad that future generations of Syosset residents will not know what it was like to walk into a shop and have someone spend an hour helping you locate the perfect 19 cent washer or the right replacement thingamajig for some 30- or 40-year-old plumbing or electrical gadget. I also cannot imagine what it will be like to have to make five or six trips a day to some other hardware supplier, standing in line behind customers with dollies packed to the brim with 2X4s, barbecues, and patio blocks just to pay for what I hope will be the right Allen bolt this time.

Of course, times change and I don't ever want to be the bitter old Syosset life-timer who sits on the bench at Memorial Park and curses all the changes our downtown has been through. But somehow, I really hope we all know what we're losing the day Joe turns that key for the last time. We can't go back, but we should never let ourselves expect less than the level of good old-fashioned service Joe (and his Dad before him) brought to each and every customer for more than 40 years.

Congratulations and best of luck, Joe. You and your establishment will be sorely missed.

Tom Montalbano