People of the Ronkonkomas: Doug Brohan

Doug Brohan, 53, of Ronkonkoma
Occupation: Owner of Bruno’s Village Restaurant

How long have you lived here? I moved here in 1960. When we first came out here my parents had a bungalow on the lake on the Islip side. So I learned to swim in Lake Ronkonkoma. We moved out here permanently in 1960.

What was it like living here then? We used to play in the Cenacle woods, we used to do everything there, go sleigh riding, play hockey. I went to Sachem, graduated from there.

Which one? Well, it was just one then. We never knew it would get so big.

Why did you decide to stay here as an adult? I love Ronkonkoma, it’s a great place. It’s a great town with good people, a fun town. It’s a happy place, even though not a lot of people are happy nowadays. It’s one of those towns where people who went to school here have stayed here.

How would you define the character of the community? Happy, hard working, fun. It’s also still affordable to live here. There are a lot of great things.

I think that someone looking from the outside in would be surprised to hear you call it fun, someone who thinks of Ronkonkoma as a place to drive through while you’re trying to get somewhere else. What do you think? Yeah, probably. But it is fun. Just here at Bruno’s we’re involved in so much. We do the clambake on the lake, music in the park, the St. Patty’s day parade, a tree lighting, a menorah lighting. We’ve helped raise money to decorate the streets. We are really trying to all grow together as a group.