Twenty-seven years at the same lemonade stand is quite a while, don't you think?

That's what I was pondering the other day as I was interviewing a 23-year old woman for a story in today's paper. I've been here for 27 of the last 29 years, pounding out the copy day after day, and it dawned upon me that I started working here six full years before she was born!

Lot of miles on the odometer, huh?

Well, there's still plenty left in me yet. I'd like to think I've got the sleek lines and style of a Mercedes-Benz gull-wing roadster from the '50s, even if I more closely resemble a '58 Edsel in roadworthiness.

It certainly set me to thinking, however, about how long I've been here, how many games I've seen, how many people about whom I've written, and how many of those who were running up and down the area's hardcourts in February 1977 not only have had children playing sports covered by this newspaper, but may actually already have grandchildren or the potential of them on the way soon. Do the math. It could happen.

It also started me thinking about some of the places, people and things that have passed in and out of my notice over that time for one reason or another. I don't mean to get overly nostalgic here, but I'm sure you've all had your share of `` whatever happened to ...'' moments in your lives, and have found yourselves either missing a person who's no longer with us or has faded from view, or wistfully recalling a place or thing that has disappeared as part of the march of progress.

Here are a few recollections that passed through my jumbled mind this week:

HAROLD BERBERIAN: I'm not sure what set me to thinking about the late, self-appointed historian of Attleboro High School athletics, but it was a fond recollection. `` Berber'' used to drop into the office at any old time to regale us with tales of Bombardiers past -- and most of the subjects of his stories came from long before my time.

The one thing I shared with Harold was an appreciation of the past and its application to the context of the present. That's one of the reasons why we've kept the 1,000-point basketball scoring list from the schools we cover, or all of the individual football and basketball scoring records from when this newspaper went computerized in the early 1980s, because the only way one can compare the performances of current athletes is to have available a measuring stick of the past, against which they can be compared.

Too many of our schools have lost their records as their athletic administrations have turned over -- in some cases, repeatedly. So I do my part to help keep past accomplishments alive, and I hope those who follow me will also see the importance of it.

JOE JOHNSON, KEN RYAN and JEFF PLYMPTON: As I was watching Jonathan Papelbon throw for the Red Sox the other night, and realized just how young of a pup he is, it made me thing back to three of the young men from this area who had what it took to get to the major leagues, even if only briefly.

It was quite a few years ago when Johnson was mowing down opposing batters at King Philip, when Ryan was striking out batters at a prodigious rate at Seekonk, and when Plympton kept the tradition of pitching excellence alive at KP. All three made it to the show, with Johnson having the longest tenure with Atlanta and Toronto, but it also reinforces just how tough it is for a New Englander to make it to the big time, given how little time there is in our seasonal calendar that's fitting for baseball.

These three strode through the area like giants in their time, which really makes you appreciate just how good the guys in the major leagues really are.

JOHN DUNN: I was thinking about the former basketball and baseball coach at Mansfield High, who passed away several years ago, because someone was complaining to me in a conversation about local basketball coaches that there seems to be no one with `` personality'' on the sidelines any more. The Hockomock League's coaches of the '60s and '70s -- Dunn, Val Muscato at Oliver Ames, Kenny Pickering at North Attleboro, Marty Badoian at Canton, Dudley Davenport at Sharon -- all certainly had no shortage of `` personality.'' But the times were different and there weren't the restrictions on sideline histrionics that exist today. Besides, in those days, the parents were too scared to say `` boo'' to the coaches because they were firmly established as authority figures. Today, nothing is sacred because many of the people in the stands act like the coaches of olde, except without the basketball knowledge to back up their acts.

LUMS: Remember the restaurant on Route 1 in North Attleboro? Open until 2 or 3 in the morning? Quick and tasty pub fare? Nothing better after a night of rigorous social interaction than to stop by Lums and grab a hot roast beef sandwich or burger, a `` hot dog boiled in beer'' (it wasn't 100 percent beer, but there was some in the boiling water) and, as my good friend Tom Souza used to say, `` a good cup of cor-fee.''

My girlfriend's family owned the North Attleboro restaurant and a few others, so a few pulled strings got me a summer job behind the counter back in the mid-'70s. But all it took was one night in close proximity to the sauerkraut bin to turn my stomach and realize that the service industry just wasn't for me.

That Lums is now just another Dunkin' Donuts, one of about a million that have sprung up like weeds in our area over the year. The chain has pretty much disappeared from the face of the earth, as well. But for a while, it was a favorite haunt and I miss it.

THE BIG THREE: Let's face it, as you watched the Celtics close another playoff-less season last week, didn't you miss the sheer joy of watching Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish running up and down the parquet? No wonder I no longer have any interest in the NBA.

CHRISTINE MULLEN: Every now and then, you meet a young athlete who just has an aura of excellence about her. So it was in my early days on this beat with the Seekonk High track standout, who took from this area a legacy of success and great potential to Georgetown University. Unfortunately, Mullen was one of the athletes wounded by the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but that didn't lessen what she accomplished on the track.

The last time I chatted with Mullen and her husband, fellow track-and-field standout John Gregorek, it was about 15 years ago for a feature story on having to adapt to the challenges of having a child suffering from the early onset of juvenile diabetes. Now, I see that they have a daughter running track at Seekonk High. Life, indeed, marches on.

ALYSSA GUTAUSKAS: A day doesn't pass when I don't think of the former North Attleboro High basketball standout, a big teddy bear of a girl, whose tragic death almost a decade ago saddened a community.

Alyssa's niece, Alexandra, has a very good chance to advance from the Rocketeer junior varsity to the varsity next season. And I'm sure that from somewhere, her aunt will be watching over her and providing inspiration.

DIANNE CAVANAUGH, SANDY WHITE and ELLEN CORLISS: A lot of people think that my interest in girls' basketball started in the late 1980s, as the result of a Foxboro girl who wore No. 33 and scored a lot of points. Not so. The three aforementioned Warriors brought their teams deep into the MIAA Tournament in 1979-80 and 1980-81, and were part of the first local team that really struck a responsive chord with the local high school fan base -- as well as with those of us who cover sports for a living.

They were fun-loving kids who didn't mind buttering up the local sportswriter to get him interested in their games. I loved watching them play and enjoyed getting to know them as individuals every bit as much. Hard to believe they've reached and passed the Big Four-Oh, but as Rod Stewart sang, they'll be `` Forever Young'' in my memories.

ADAM VINATIERI: OK, maybe it's too soon to get nostalgic over the Patriots' kicker. After all, he's only been gone for a few weeks and he hasn't even kicked a single point for the Indianapolis Colts yet. But I know we're all going to miss him at some point -- especially when the Patriots need three points in a pinch.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com