Conte's Burger Haven's Red Benches Get New Home

When Conte's Burger Haven closed for good in November 2008 after a 47-year run, many in the community felt a tinge of disappointment and sadness. The popular establishment, with its distinctive red, white and blue colors, was a fixture on Pulaski Road in Huntington Station.

Now, thanks to a donation from Robert Conte, the last owner of the business, a pair of six-foot commercial grade benches will be moved from the grounds of the still-standing structure to the front walkway at Washington Primary School.

Mr. Conte, who graduated from Huntington High School in 1983 and obtained an undergraduate degree at SUNY College at Oneonta, was contacted last fall by Sheri Lewis-Taylor and Jessica Regan, co-presidents of Washington's PTA. The two wrote that parents had requested the PTA to provide benches for the front of the school and asked if they could purchase the ones at Burger Haven.

Rather than sell the benches to the PTA, Mr. Conte offered to donate them to the group. The PTA then donated them to the Huntington School District, which plans to have maintenance workers retrieve the benches, paint and install them near Washington's front doors.

PTA officials said they are "thrilled" with Mr. Conte's generosity and plan to invite him to the school once the benches are installed there. Huntington School Board members accepted the donation at their March 1 meeting.

Washington is located on Whitson Road, off Park Avenue, just a short drive down Pulaski Road from Conte's Burger Haven.