By Raymond Palma

Summers Club of East Quogue

Summers Dune Road East Quogue
SUMMERS

If you wanted to go to the beach for the day, then walk up a flight of stairs and drink your ass off, you’d go to Summers.

Summers was located on Dune Road, right on the Atlantic Ocean.

The best part about being at Summer was of course the view of the ocean.  And if you think being there during the day was great, you had to have checked out the full moon as it shone on the ocean.  There was nothing quite like that view. In fact, one time I was there during the week.  It was evening and a huge thunder storm was rolling it.  It was fantastic to see lightning bolts hit the ocean as the waves picked up.

The majority of the club was located outdoors on the deck.  It was after all, a summer only club so the indoors were incidental.

Fat Rats a singing duet performs at Summers in the summer of 1985.  Look at the huge crowd both on the large outdoor and on the adjoining ocean beach. 

Labor Day video from 1987.

 

I recall one year they had their 20th anniversary party.  It was an invite only party.  I had gone to the club during the week on a Tuesday when it was opened as well during the summer.  I started up a conversion with one of the owners and he then offered me tickets to the anniversary party.  The highlight of this party was that at midnight, a man parachuted out of an airplane right onto the outside deck.  The amazing thing is that we all didn’t have to totally clear off the outside deck.  The man managed to parachute directly onto the deck in an area about 20×20.

Man Parachuting onto Deck at Midnight

Summers was part of a 3-club scene on Dune Road.  Next door to Summers was and still is Neptunes.  While directly across the street was The Drift Inn.

Summers had two distinct sections.  The outside deck had more edgy dance music, all the music that was playing on the radio.  While on the inside, a band would play.

A Drink with a View of the Ocean

The nice thing about this club is that they had a kitchen so if you got hungry you could order up some simple foods like chicken fingers or French fries.

The town of Southampton bought the building and they turned it into a town public beach.  The same structure is there only now they have showers and a concession stand with access to the ocean.

What I find oddly prophetic is that they gave away t-shirts in the summer of 1999 which said it would be the last summer of the century.  That wound up being the last summer that the club was opened.

A Prophetic Sign