Growing up in New Auburn back in the ’60s and ’70s was an incredible time. About that small patch of green space in New Auburn, I am partial to Auburn Councilor Belinda Gerry’s suggestion of naming it Sullivan Park or Sullivan-Zallen Square, as suggested by Joel Goodman.

If you had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sullivan and being a part of the local hangout, you would understand Gerry’s strong enthusiasm for the honor.

I have many fond memories of frequenting that old-time general store. While playing football for Edward Little High School, for every home game I went to Dinny’s to get a nice steak, giving me the protein I needed to help the Red Eddies. Most of the time at Dinny’s, there were several older locals hanging out with Mr. Sullivan. It was a sampling of Americana at its best.

On the other hand, Progressive Bakery, next door to Dinny’s, offered tasty delights, tough to duplicate. While working at the family pizzeria, Gino’s Pizza, we would occasionally run out of Italian sandwich rolls and I ran over to Progressive to pick some up. They also had the best Lithuanian rye bread.

Perhaps the park can have benches dedicated to various businesses that were an integral part of New Auburn history. Even a nice granite stone with a plaque of long-gone establishments . . . Perhaps a replica of a honey-glazed doughnut, commemorating Jake and Andy’s doughnuts.

Mark Vasiliauskas, Greene