Update 6-30-15

Hi,

First, from Steve Cahn:  The class of '70 has a new page on Facebook.  Does anyone have any photos of official South "stuff?"  I'm looking for things like a hall pass, or a G.O. card, or North-South memorabilia... anything.  Please let me know.  Genghisaha @ aol . com  (please remove the spaces).  If you want to be added to the page, please let me know that, too.  Thanks.

Next, from Karin Sofarelli on Facebook: Congratulations to Bernie O'Brien on his election to the Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame.  What a guy!  Thanks for all you did for South High School and its athletes!  Great times.

Third, from Rich Wyeroski, former FAA Safety Inspector Operations:  I read the piece on airport noise, and, unfortunately, there isn't too much that can be done when folks live around a large airport.  The aircraft engines are much quieter than the older ones, so that helps a little.  The FAA is very political and will just yes everyone to  death, since they are really controlled by big business.  Elected officials are sympathetic, but that is as far as it goes.

    Engine development continues toward larger efficient engines that are quiet but there is no way one can sneak a 300-900,000 pound aircraft off the ground. JFK, LGA,TEB and Newark are the most congested airspace in the country, so it is what it is!

 

[Rich -- Still, two years ago, when I spent about a month -- in weeks spread from December to July -- living back at my mom's house in Green Acres, I was surprised how quiet it was.  Nothing like it was in the late 50s and early 60s, when we sometimes had to wait a half minute for a plane to pass overhead, so we could resume conversation.  I think some of the changes may have come with either new or extended runways or shifted flight patterns.]

Fourth, from Betsy Fels Pottruck to Valerie Nelson Gillen.  The Getnicks lived at 85 Riverdale Road.  Do you believe what they did to that house!  I think Ken Getnick was in the class of '64, his brother, Richard, was much older, and his sister, Nancy, was very much younger than all of us.  His mom, Helen, used to substitute teach at South all the time.

Finally, a long conversation from Facebook, spanning many classes at South from the 60s and 70s.  This was started by Karen Doyle Pupke, when she asked:  Does anyone know what year the girls were allowed to wear pants to school?

Ginny Gottesman Tessitore:  I think it was 1967, but I’m not sure.

Liz Roth Fox:  I wasn’t allowed to wear pants at Forest Road, so it was when I was in 7th grade,  and I graduated from South in '76.  That would make it 1970.

Alissa Ballot:  I was in 10th grade, I think, so that would make it late 1970 or early 1971.

Leenie Marlene Jacknowitz Atwood:  After 1968 at South.

Nancy Wollenweber Signore:  I think 1970.  My mother had a fit when I tried to put pants on to go to high school

Donna Kauderer-Haberman: Maybe 1969 at South?

Ginny Gottesman Tessitore:  I wore pants to South 1969, and we were allowed one day a week at Buck when I was in sixth grade.

Susan Hoberman Teichman:  I got sent home in 7th grade for wearing hip-hugger bell bottoms! That would have been 1971 or ‘72.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  It's so funny.  I remember it being the year I started South in ninth grade, which would have been 1971.  But it could have been the year before.

Lucy Ragone:  I started 7th grade at South in 1970.  It was some time after that.  I can't remember when though.

Linda Andrews Franz:  I graduated in '67 and was told that was the last year the girls has to wear dresses.

Georgene Utter:  After 1969 at South

Mary Donaldson:  WOW.  I'm class of ‘73, and I don't think that ever was an issue.  Although I was the first to wear "hot pants" to school, and that did cause quite the stir.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  I really don't think it was that early.  I Googled it, the information says 1971

Mary Donaldson:  It can't be 71.  I'm sure I was wearing bellbottom jeans in 1970.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  Yeah, it might have been ‘70.

Kathy Perine Morris:  We wore pants in 1970.  There was no issue.  So I say ‘68 or ‘69.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  I think your class was the first to wear them, Kathy.

Enid Villafane:  I remember having a "Bermuda Shorts Day" one spring.  Maybe it was in 1963, the year I graduated.  Though it was just for one day, it shows the administration was starting to think about this issue back then.

Enid Villafane: I just found pictures of it in my yearbook.  It was 1962.  Some teachers even took part.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  No way was it back in ‘62.  They only had pants day once in a while.  Again, if you Google it, it says ‘71.

Diane Cuccio:  I graduated in’ 71, and I was wearing pants for a few years.

Carol Shine Horemis:  The 70s sounds more realistic.

Dorinda Grimm Fountain:  We used to have "Dress-Down Day” in June, I think up until late th late 60s.  But I certainly wore jeans in the 70s.

Emily G. Schreiber:  I guess most of you weren't part of the crinoline era -- except Carol and maybe Enid.   By the way, Miss Hoogenboom was the first female teacher to wear pants.

Pat Norman Cole:  When I was a senior in 1968, a group of us decided to wear slacks on a snowy day.  When administration caught any one of us, we were sent home.  I was the only one who managed to stay the full day.  I remember what Mr. Donohue said to me went I entered his class. He said he wished that the rule would change because it’s too cold to wear dresses in the winter. He was a terrific teacher.  My guess is that they allowed it in the following year, in 1969.

Bonnie J. La Mori:  Late ‘60s I think.

Cheryl Shink Rego:  I believe it was 1968.

Rise Abramson:  It was 1968

Robin Equality Charney:  1968.  Right after I graduated elementary school and started attending South.  I never wore a dress

Louise Hartstein Feffer:  1968

Diane Dudley Kaempf:  1968

Elaine Maas:  It certainly wasn't in 1967.  The only day pants were allowed back then was "Bermuda Shorts Day," which was some time in May or June.  It was a very big deal!

Mindy Sherman:  I have the yearbooks from 1969 and 1970.  1969 – no pants at all.  In 1970 –  some pants, not a lot, but definitely some.  I don't know if the rule was changed in the fall of 1969 or the spring of 1970, but that's when it happened.  I graduated in 1969 – no pants.  But someone from the class of '70 would know.

Carol Gardner:  The earliest I remember wearing pants was 1970.

Michelle L Fischgrund:  Wow!  How times have changed!

Enid Villafane:  Emily, I almost forgot about crinolines.  We used to wash them with sugar to keep them stiff! LOL

Rise Abramson:  Mindy, I didn't realize that you graduated early.  Definitely 1969, I remember.  I think, somewhere, I might even have pictures.  At first, no jeans, but by the next year jeans were allowed.

Rise Abramson:  Here’s a picture from the 1970 yearbook.  Note, Janis Cohen was wearing slacks, and Jane Haimes was wearing "nice" jeans.
        
Effie Xenos:  Great question.  I don't know the answer.

Grace Krusinski Rugen:  It was about 1970, but they used to have “Dress Down Day” before that.  Doesn't anyone remember how often they had it?

Ginny Gottesman Tessitore:  Okay, so I was in 7th grade in 1969/1970.  Sounds about right.  I remember having a hell of a time convincing my mother it was okay to wear pants though.

Liz Roth Fox:  So we all agree – 69/70

Danna S Fichtel:  When I started in 1971.  Or maybe 5 or 6th grade at Forest Road.

Emily G. Schreiber:  '69/'70 was when those of us who graduated earlier wore mini-skirts and hot-pants.  So South’s administrators were probably happy to have the high school girls wearing pants.

Rise Abramson:  I think you're right, Emily!

Fred Schecter:  I graduated in ‘68, and we couldn't wear jeans until ‘69.

Louise Hartstein Feffer:  Guessed wrong, I guess.

Joan Fels Stone:  In 1969, my junior year.

Rich Eisbrouch:  This is a neat conversation.

Emily G. Schreiber:  Rich, I totally agree!

Linda Tobin Kettering:  Joan is right – my senior year, 1969.  We could wear pants, but no jeans.

Susan Hoberman Teichman:  Ooops, I meant to say in ‘66/’67, in 7th grade.  Class of '72.

Carol Fink Teitelbaum:  1968, when I was in the 10th grade.

Karen Doyle Pupke:  It’s so funny how many different years are listed.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich

Update 6-23-15

Hi,

First, from Booker T. Gibson:  Hello to the Class of ‘65 and Other Scholarship Supporters.  I get around very slowly now, but I just couldn’t miss the annual Awards Night at South.  The music award was given to a fine  guy, Kyle Miller, who sat with me and my wife and also posed for  some good  pictures afterwards.  Also present at the awards were:  Joseph Caruso (Industrial Arts), Mrs. Nancy Russo (Spanish), Emily Kleinman Schreiber (President, South High School Alumni Association, Mrs. Frances Gibson (Forest Road School Music Teacher) and Mrs. Teresa Margolin Bargman (Spanish).  So thank you all again.

Related, a thank you note from Kyle Miller, the Booker Gibson music scholarship recipient:  I would like to take the time to thank you for presenting me with the Booker Gibson Music Scholarship.  I am so grateful to be rewarded for all my hard work learning, writing, and performing music.  I am extremely passionate about the musical arts and will be continuing my studies at the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College.  Thank you once again for the generous award.

[Rich – I was happy to see Kyle’s note, especially because it was hand written and delivered by the post office.  We’re supposed to get one note from each scholarship recipient, and that used to happen regularly.  As mentioned in an earlier note, Liz King Giordano from South politely does everything she can to remind the students to write the notes and to deposit the checks immediately.  So far, we’ve gotten one note, and two of the 4 checks have been deposited.  The remaining two are for this year’s split Vince Tampio Theater Scholarship, so at least, financially, we’re two-thirds there.  I’ll let you know when any more thank you notes come in, by e-mail or post.  Of course, they’s always a chance that the other 3 notes arrived and were discarded by my filters as spam.]

Speaking of which, Jerry Bittman writes:  My computer was hacked.  So if you get e-mail from me, and it tells you to go open a link, do not do it.  Thanks.  I now have a new password.

With more pleasant news, Valerie Nelson Gillen wrote:  Because of the other notes, I was curious, so I drove through Green Acres to see my mom’s old house.  Big changes there, but my question is:  Does anyone know who used to live at 85 Riverdale Road?  That house is now huge, with fake horses in front.  I’m just curious.

[Rich – Actually, the expansion and those has been mentioned before in the newsletters, and if the updates were searchable, I’d be able to quickly come up with the answer.  But the process of transferring all the newsletters to a more useful, searchable data base is some time away in my retirement, so I just have to ask the question again.  Does anyone know the answer?

    Also, I went to look at the horses myself, some years ago, when my mother still lived in Green Acres.  As I recall, the horses aren't unattractive.  Just big.]

Indirectly, from Judy Hartstone, paraphrased from Facebook:  I’ve arrived safely on Bainbridge Island again, and my dog, Jolie, is happy with her new yard.  It’s so well landscaped, she thinks it’s a park.        

Also, an observation came in from someone who prefers to be anonymous.  But I thought I'd pass the compliment on to Amy Kassak Bentley:  Fascinating, about the naming of Valley Stream.  I never really gave it much thought before.  Thanks.

Finally, part of an article in yesterday’s New York Times.  It caught my attention because this was my father’s job for the last part of his 30-year career with the Federal Aviation Association.  He started, during the war, as an air traffic controller, 
    Engaging in a Softer Conversation About the Roar From New York’s Airports    The New York metropolitan area has one of the most complicated airspaces in the world, and any changes in operations — like flight schedules and patterns — can set off a cascade of effects across the country.  Complaints about noise pollution are longstanding in New York City, where two major airports, La Guardia Airport and Kennedy International Airport, are embedded in a densely populated urban landscape.
    The outcry soared in 2012 when the Federal Aviation Administration, which directs the movement of aircraft in the air and on the ground, approved for more frequent use a takeoff trajectory that concentrated low-flying planes over a section of northeastern Queens, Port Authority officials said.  For residents of neighborhoods beneath that flight path, the change was immediate. Planes began blasting over their homes dozens of times a day. “It sounded like we were being strafed,” said Ms. McEneaney, a longtime resident of the Bayside neighborhood. The problem compelled her to create a group called Queens Quiet Skies.
    Complaints also poured into the Port Authority about noise problems on other flight paths, though officials contended that those complaints had more to do with heightened awareness and sensitivity to the issue than to any significant changes in aviation operations.
Civic groups pressured their elected officials to do something, resulting in the passage of a bill in Albany requiring the Port Authority to initiate comprehensive studies of land use and aircraft noise patterns around its airports, including La Guardia and Kennedy as well as at Newark Liberty International Airport and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
    As part of the studies, investigators will identify possible measures to reduce aircraft noise and limit its impact, such as changes in takeoff and landing routes, the acquisition of property near the airports and soundproofing of homes and other buildings.  The New York studies are expected to take at least three years, officials said. “That’s a long time for people being negatively impacted,” said Barbara E. Brown, chairwoman of the Eastern Queens Alliance and a leader in the lobby against aircraft noise.

 

[Rich – It appears that any gains made in the 1970s have been lost to increased air traffic.]

 

The link to the full piece.  Please remove the two spaces.  They're around the period between times and com:  nytimes . com/2015/06/22/nyregion/engaging-in-a-softer-conversation-about-the-roar-from-new-yorks-airports.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich

Update 6-16-15

 

Hi,

 

A couple of notes, a couple of post-scripts to that Green Acres history, some contact information, and some new Valley Stream history filler.

 

From Joan Aires Cleven:   I'm so sorry to hear of Mr. Saffrin's loss of his daughter, but the South High Awards Ceremony, partly in his honor, sounded wonderful.  Enjoy the summer everyone.

 

From Janet Hernandez, in response to Larry Rugen’s tour of his old neighborhood:  As I may have written before, I was on Long Island about 2 1/2 years ago, visiting family members.  We also took an tour of Valley Stream and the old neighborhood.  I used to live on Horton Avenue, and, yes, that street looks different, and the whole area looks remodeled – upgraded.  The old fish store – Ed's Aquarium – and Gem (Electronics?) are gone.  William L. Buck Elementary School still looks the same, and we saw South High, both really bringing back memories.  We stopped in at Mitchell's for an bite to eat, and it was really nice.  And, yes, the restaurant was originally across the street in a smaller store.  The current place is much larger.  We drove around Green Acres and other parts of Valley Stream, plus around Lynbrook to my old church.  I belonged to Lynbrook Baptist Church.  Memories are great!

 

From Amy Kassak Bentley, in response to Emily Kleinman Schreiber’s comment on that Green Acres article:  About the idea that home ownership in Green Acres was originally restricted – There’s a New York Times article from 1937, published 2 years before the Old Section was built in 1939, describing the newly planned community.  The way the article reads, the term “restriction” appears to be related to construction limitations/codes, not religious exclusion.   But is there not, perhaps, a hint of double-entendre, in the eye-catching headline “Restricted Areas and Home Values”?
    In addition, Irwin Chanin, the Green Acres builder, was Jewish, so this could be a very ironic/awkward article, if in fact the word “restriction” referred to more than building codes and regulations.  But there’s a second newspaper clipping, this time from 1941, for 2 homes sold that year to families whose names appear to be Jewish – Goldman and Sussman.  

 

Also from Amy:  A Valley Stream resident, David Sabatino, who owns a coffee shop on Rockaway Avenue, heads up an organization entitled “Envision Valley Stream.”  He put me in touch with the Green Acres article authors, and I gave them an article I had from the 1930s.  In exchange, I asked if I could post their paper on the Historical Society web site.  One of the authors, Sean Di Luccio, is a college student who – as his bio mentioned – attends SUNY New Paltz.  “Envision Valley Stream also has a Facebook page that people can check out.  David Sabatino is very pro-Valley Stream and very interested in the town's future.

 

[Rich – Unrelated, Barnet Kellman forwarded some possibly still-current contact information for Toni Rea, Ginny and Ed Schmidt, and Theresa Margolin Bargman.  If anyone’s interested, please let me know.]

 

Finally, a little Valley Stream history.  Far more may be found both on the Valley Stream Historical Society web site and on the organization’s Facebook page, “Valley Stream of Yesteryear.”
    The Pagan Family Tree
    On June 24, 1834 Robert (b. December 3, 1796), his wife Helen McDowal (b. 1799), and 4 of their 5 children emigrated to America from Scotland on the Ship Francis from the port of Greenock.  Robert's profession was listed as miner.  According to the ship manifest, their children's names and approximate birth years were as follows: Catherine (b. 1824), Sophia (b. 1826), James (b. 1828), and Agnes (b. 1833).  On the journey to America, Agnes died and was buried at sea.  Another daughter Jane (b. April 14, 1829) is not listed on this ship manifest.  Once in America the Pagans had 4 other children: Helen (b. 1838), Elizabeth (b. November 30, 1840), Jemima (b. 1846), and Robert (b. 1851).
    The 1840 U.S. Census for Queens County lists Pagan's occupation as a farmer.
    At this time, the community did not have a post office, so mail had to be picked up in Hempstead. Pagan petitioned the appropriate authorities for a post office. He was advised that the community needed a name. Pagan chose "Valley Stream" based on the topographical appearance of the area.  In 1843, the U.S. Post Office formally accepted the name of Valley Stream and the post office opened in on what is now known as Hendrickson Avenue (Pagan-Fletcher Restoration). Pagan is credited with naming the community. A general store Pagan passed away on March 25, 1870.
    In 1847, the Pagan house was expanded to a two-story farmhouse.  Their daughter Catherine married William Fletcher the same year and the house was given to them as a wedding gift.  Catherine died on August 17, 1874 of dysentery. William died in 1883.  Both Catherine and William are buried in St. John's United Methodist Church in Elmont, New York.
    Ellen Pagan was a devout Methodist as well as a homemaker and mother.  Prior to establishing Sinner's Hope Chapel, she had an itinerant minister conduct services at the Pagan homestead. She passed away on February 24, 1875. Robert, Ellen, and other members of the Pagan family have found their final resting place in the graveyard at St. John's United Methodist Church in Elmont.
    The Pagan's seventh daughter Elizabeth (b. 1840) married William Boyd (b. 1835) in 1861.  The Boyd's had seven children.  Two of their daughters, Jessie (b. 1870) and Catherine (b. 1871) married two brothers: Louis Fairchild and Edmund Fairchild, respectively.  The Fairchilds were the founders of Fairchild Publications and Women's Wear Daily, an apparel trade newspaper.  Descendents of Fairchilds, the last occupants of the Pagan homestead on Hendrickson Avenue, lived there until approximately 1948.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich

Update 6-9-15

 

Hi,

 

Some notes about ice cream, some about awards, several about reunions, and the end of that Green Acres article.

 

First, from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  Yes, Mitchell's has been on the east side of Rockaway Avenue for many years, and it's much larger than the original ice cream parlor that was across the street.  They still make their own delicious ice cream.  When I graduated from Forest Road in June 1955, we went there to celebrate.  Nowadays, some alumnae – myself included – have dinner there before the Alumni Association meetings. One of the waitresses is also a South grad, and she joined the Alumni Association after a little encouragement.

 

Next, from Betsy Fels Pottruck:   Three weeks ago, I, too, met someone at Mitchell's, when Janet Hausner and I had a reunion there.  Yes, it's larger, but I believe in the same spot, just extended.  It has a menu much more like a diner’s now, but everything was great.  The restaurant still makes its own homemade ice cream, which Janet and I shared, and it was delicious.
    Before meeting her, I took a spin through my old neighborhood, Green Acres.  It’s being kept up beautifully, although, as I may have noted before, some of the houses are a bit much in terms of how they have been enlarged and refinished.  I lived on Riverdale Road, and my old home is pretty much the same.  But the former Getnick house has two massive lions in the driveway, and the house next to what was ours has no lawn at all, just paved in the entire front.  I went down Forest Road and to the old section, which brought back so many memories.  Oh, I almost forgot:  Itkins is still also on Rockaway Avenue.  Anyhow, that is it.

 

Kind of related, since Larry started this, from Roberta Brill Birnel:  I just read Larry Rugen’s report.  Aside from the interesting facts about Valley Stream, I found that Larry attended PS 95 in Jamaica, Queens, where I was a teacher for 18 years – from 1983 to 2001.  It’s always fun to find connections to one’s former life.

 

Also to Larry, from Nancy Panzarino Gerardi:  I was reading the newsletter and am happy to help Larry Rugen find Jim Braun.  I work on 4th Street, across the street from Jim, so I see him once in a while.  I called him to tell him about Larry trying to locate him, and Jim told me that I could give Larry his number.  So, Larry, please contact me, and I can help.  Thank you.

 

About the recent South Awards:  First, Emily Kleinman Schreiber posted some great pictures of Frances and Booker Gibson, Joe Caruso, Teresa Margolin Bargman, and Nancy Russo-Rumore on Facebook on the Valley Stream South High Alumni Association page.
    Second, according to reports, the evening went as smoothly as usual, but there was a tiny glitch:  we need to get an introduction about Irv Saffrin as good as the ones Linda Tobin Kettering wrote about Booker Gibson and Vince Tampio.  Irv Saffrin’s fine work wasn’t given nearly enough context.
    Related, from Terry Gunderson Kaiser and forwarded by Emily Kleinman Schreiber.  Emily prefaced, “I hate to post the following.”   Unfortunately, that's because Terry wrote, "I spoke with Irv this morning.  His youngest daughter passed away and was being cremated today.  This is the second daughter he's lost, and I felt so badly for him.  He sounded so frail but would like to attend the awards ceremony.  It all depends on how he feels on Wednesday."

 

[Rich – Of course, this is sad news, and we send our best to the Saffrin family.  The only tiny good news is that Irv Saffrin knows about the honor, even if he wasn't there to see the first award presented.]

 

About future parties, starting from Carol Ewig Duran:  I guess I am now a snowbird, too. I will be in Naples, Florida, for the month of January and would be interested in a mini-reunion.

 

From Peggy Cooper Schwartz:  For those of us who will be in Southeast Florida next winter, what about getting together for lunch on Saturday, December 19th, or Sunday, December 20th?  I think City Place in West Palm Beach would be a great location, as there are lots of restaurant choices, and we could mingle and walk around after.

 

On the other coast and separate from the tentative Florida celebration, both Judy Hartstone and Barnet Kellman repeated the idea others have already mentioned about planning a reunion for 2017, when a lot of us turn 70.

 

[Rich – That sounds good to me.  Judy, Barnet, and I just had lunch as a bookend to the one we had six-and-a-half years ago when Judy moved from Bainbridge Island.  For the past five years, she’s been living in Santa Barbara, but, now, she’s heading north again, with a different dog and after many adventures.  When I saw Judy soon after the 50th reunion, we planned to have lunch one more time before she leaves, and, at the last moment, Barnet mentioned he was biking in Ventura that day, so he joined us.  There will be a photo of the three of us on the class photo site, as soon as I forward it to Stu Borman.]

 

Finally, the end of that Green Acres article: 

    In conclusion, it is a shame how neglected the shared pedestrian paths and green space have become.  Green Acres is an important planning milestone both culturally and historically. Walking through the old section reminds one that planners had a very different vision for America's suburbs than the auto-centric society that was ultimately built in the 1950s.  Residents, officials, and planners alike should recognize Green Acres's rich planning history and designate the neighborhood as a Planning Landmark. 

    Co-author Sean Di Luccio adds: "I was lucky enough to grow up in the old section of Green Acres.  The memories I have growing up in Green Acres are all good ones.  My house connected with the shared pedestrian path in the back.  Before the residents fenced their yards, I have fond memories of my neighbors walking across the path and knocking on my back door asking to hang out.  If your neighbors lived on the other side of the path from you, they knocked on your back door, never your front door.  I also have great memories of meeting up with my friends in the path, and we played sports until one of our parents would enter the path and call us in for dinner.  This sounds like a situation from the 1950s, but it was as recent as 10 years ago.  I didn't realize how special Green Acres was until I learned that every neighborhood wasn't like mine.  I educated myself more about the history of the neighborhood, and I fell in love with the art of planning so much that I am pursuing planning as my undergraduate major. I will never forget the memories I had in Green Acres and the friends I made."
    And Marc Tenzer, president of the Mill Brook Civic Association, mentions, "We moved there because it was such a great place to live and raise a family.  Although we are so close to New York City, it is like living in a small intimate village."
    A note about the authors:
    Ted Orosz, AICP CTP, is a technical manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff. He recently retired after working at the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for more than 30 years. He directed various bus service planning activities and most recently led implementation of New York City's Bus Rapid Transit initiatives.  He is an adjunct lecturer in the planning program at Hunter College in Manhattan. Orosz lived in Valley Stream for more than 30 years.
    Sean Di Luccio moved from Green Acres in June 2014.  He is now in his final year of undergraduate study at the State University of New York at New Paltz, studying planning.  He most recently completed an internship at the Long Island Rail Road in the Strategic Investments Department.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich

Update 6-2-15

 

Hi,

 

A couple of notes from Florida, a nice report by Larry Rugen, and almost the final piece of that Green Acres history article.  First, a note from Liz King-Giordano at South.  As background, I asked Liz to please remind the students to deposit their scholarship checks quickly, rather than holding them all summer and backing up my checking account.

 

Liz wrote:  I actually include a note with each check that reminds the students to deposit them as soon as possible and to send you a Thank You.  That’s the mom in me.

 

[Rich -- Again, South's Awards night is tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3rd, in South Hall at 7 PM.]

 

From Florida, Eric Hilton wrote:  I live in the Sarasota/Venice, Florida, area and would be interested in a mini-reunion down here. 

 

Bernie Scheidt added:  There are also a lot of snowbirds, so if we hold off a mini-reunion until after the new year, we’ll probably get more attendees, including me.

 

The report by Larry:  Having moved from Jamaica, Queens, to Valley Stream in October of 1959 – going from PS 95 to 7th grade at South – I left behind many childhood friends.  I do recall Donald Trump in my Sunday school class at First Presbyterian Church.  Sadly, he does not remember me.  One of those friends, Bob Beck, contacted me a few weeks ago, and we decided to meet at a central location for a reunion and lunch – central to Massapequa and Howard Beach.  We did so last week and met at 1 PM at Mitchell's on Rockaway Avenue.  Bob and I had not seen each other since1960, and it was a great reunion
    About Mitchell's in Valley Stream:  the name survives, but the place has changed.  It’s much larger than I remembered.  We thought 1 PM would be a good time to meet, just after the lunch crowd.  We did meet at 1:00, but the place was still packed with people, and we were lucky there was one booth open.  The menu was extensive, and the food was great.  After our reunion was complete, I walked a few block along Rockaway, and, as far as I could tell, downtown Valley Stream is doing quite well.  There was few parking spots open on the street and a lot of traffic.
    Before returning to Massapequa, I had to take a quick tour of the old neighborhood –  Virginia Place, Cluett, Jedwood, and Fairfield Street – where our friends spent most of our time.  My old house on the corner of Virginia Place has doubled in size, and the old screened-in patio has been turned into a sunroom-living space.  Some people who walked to school along Cluett or Jedwood may recall the property, since the house was surrounded by a 3-foot white picket fence, and there was a huge pine tree on the corner.  We decorated that with lights at Christmas.  I recall having to paint that fence all too well.  It usually took a month to complete.
    All in all, the neighborhood is in good shape.  Upon leaving the area, I wanted to check out one more place, so I drove by the old "Braun" house on 4th Street, off Rockaway.  My parents and the Brauns were good friends from childhood, and I knew the "Braun boys" – Jimmy, Ron, and Joe.  While searching for them online, it looked like the family business, Braun Brushes, might still be active, and I wanted to see if I could locate Jimmy Braun at the business.  That was in a separate building behind their old house on 4th Street.
    I never made it.  I turned onto 4th from Rockaway, where there used to be a public parking lot on the corner.  But most of 4th Street was being dug up, and the parking lot was gone.  Huge pipes were being installed, for reasons unknown.  I say “pipes,” but these were 3-foot-wide or more, even larger than sewer pipes.  If anyone knows what this is all about, please let me know.  Also, if anyone has contact information for Jim or Ron Braun, please let me know that as well.

 

[Rich – I believe Mitchell’s moved from its earlier location, which might explain why it seems larger.  But someone would have to verify that.]

 

Finally, the Green Acres installment:  A new concern for the neighborhood is tidal flooding.  The area is quite low in elevation, no more than 10 feet above sea level, and the waterways all serve as tidal inlets.  Consequently, many houses in the neighborhood are prone to flooding from both rain storms and tides.  The community suffered significant damage during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.  The tidal inlets that border the community overflowed their banks in the storm surge and flooded hundreds of residences, turning streets into rivers. 
    The neighborhood recovered quite well, and in spring 2014, a storm resilience plan proposed by the Mill Brook Civic Association was awarded a $3 million grant through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program for the "Best Use of Green Infrastructure."  The plan calls for the use of green resiliency strategies to improve coastal protection, including a terraced pathway, erosion and sediment control elements, permeable pavements, living shoreline, bioswales, and educational signage.  The plan also includes several sustainable and cost-effective strategies such as storm water retention and tidal flow management, as well as improving open space, natural habitat, power grid reinforcement, and the strengthening of communication networks and crisis coordination.  Marc Tenzer, the longtime president of the Mill Brook Civic Associat ion, who worked very hard on the grant application, said in a July 2014 interview, "The neighborhood will be completely revitalized by the improvements made possible by the state grant."
    Unfortunately, flooding is not the only challenge the community faces today.  With an increase in crime in the surrounding area and the mall's bad reputation, many of the older residents have left Green Acres, often for places further east on Long Island.  Only a handful of residents living in the old section are aware their neighborhood is a groundbreaking planned development.  Today, the pedestrian paths and shared green space are neglected and underused.  
Some parts of the paths are in fair condition, but some are in abysmal shape, effectively ignored by the Town of Hempstead.  Many of the sidewalks are overgrown with weeds and are filled with cracks.  The grass in many areas also has been neglected.  About a third of the trees in the shared pedestrian path have fallen during the past decade due to age and the storms that have affected the area, and none have been replanted.
    There is also bare ground in the former green space, and the addition of fences, which were relatively rare until the early 2000s.  A pedestrian bridge that connected the Green Acres neighborhood to Valley Stream South High School across the stream has been demolished by the Town of Hempstead, despite outcry from the community, because it was deemed structurally unsound and an unsavory hangout for high school students.  Many new homeowners have fenced their backyards, making the open green space much less inviting and much less accessible.  There has been some talk about having the old section receive historic designation, but a majority of residents oppose such an action, so it has never been pursued.  This historic planned neighborhood has survived the test of time in many ways, but is now hidden in plain sight, nestled in the clutter of suburbia.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich

Update 5-26-15

 

Hi,

 

First, a note from Evelyn Roedel Read:  I’m so happy I thought about the science scholarship in the first place and am especially thankful that Mr. Saffrin is still around to know how much he was loved and respected.  I’m sure his family will read him the letter announcing the award.  I also again want to thank everyone for working so quickly on this.  And a big thank you to the anonymous donor for supporting this scholarship so generously.

 

[Rich – That check came in and has been deposited along with Evelyn’s toward future years.  Considering his health, I’m not sure Irv Saffrin will be at South’s Senior Awards Night next Wednesday, June 3rd, but if anyone else wants to be there, it starts at 7 PM in South Hall.  In the wise and experienced words of Booker Gibson and Robert Fiveson, “Bring cushions.”  I also hope that someone at South writes as nice an introduction for Irv as Linda Tobin Kettering wrote about ten years ago for Booker and Vince.]

 

Next, from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  I'm seeing, via Facebook, more and more of us former South people living in Florida.  Is there a good chance we can have an "mini" reunion some time very soon in the area?  I'm open to planning it although I’m in South Dade County / Miami and most everyone else seems to be in Broward County / Palm Beach.  I’ll also gladly co-coordinate with anyone else who is here and interested.

 

[Rich – At the 50th reunion, there was some talk about getting together a party soon in Florida, for exactly the reason Barbara mentions – a lot of South grads live there.  I’m kind of in slow, California pre-summer mode, and I don’t intend to get on a plane for at least a year except for a family emergency.  But I’ll certainly pass on notes to Barbara and anyone else from here.
    Connected to that, we’re pretty well at the end of our business for a while.  Several class reunions – ‘63, ‘64, ‘65  – have come and gone, our annual scholarships have been funded and a new one added, and people tend to stop writing in till it gets cooler in the North again.  So expect to see notes lifted from Facebook, and recipes, and links, and information from Amy Kassak Bentley’s – now the official Valley Stream Historical Society’s – page, also on Facebook.  To start that off, here’s another section of the Green Acres history article that left off two months ago.]

 

When we last left Crusader Rabbit and his friend Rags the Tiger, we’d just learned:  “These footpaths are so arranged, in turn, that the shortest and most direct route between points on its borders is by way of the footpaths."

 

To continue:  Development stopped during World War II, but work resumed in the 1950s.  Between 1951 and 1959, the Chanin Company built Green Acres Phase II.  This phase included the construction of the shopping center, the elementary school (built by the school district), as well as the remainder of the residential neighborhood.  During Phase II, garden apartments also were built, creating an appealing buffer between the single-family homes and the shopping center. P hase II houses are essentially a standard post-war residential development, with connecting curvilinear streets and no cul-de-sacs or pedestrian paths except for the area adjacent to the old section. One nice touch,
however, is that all utility lines run through backyards, giving the streets a somewhat more elegant and less cluttered appearance.
 Thus it is the old section — the area built before World War II — that is the unheralded planning landmark.  While Chanin and his team laid out their own site plan, the similarities to Stein's plan and thinking are readily apparent.  In each case a complete network of pedestrian paths was a fundamental feature. In each case an elementary school was planned for the center of the site. Like Radburn, the blocks end in cul-de-sacs leading into the shared park.  Two great architects/ planners collaborated, although not directly, to make this neighborhood unique and special.
 The Green Acres, or Mill Brook, neighborhood today is still a very appealing single-family suburban neighborhood.  There are only three main access points to the neighborhood, making it a very secure, quiet, self-contained development.  It is possible to get from every residence in the original Green Acres neighborhood to the Forest Road School without crossing any major streets.  For this reason, most of the students in the community are able to walk to school, which is a wonderful amenity for prospective homeowners.

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (please remove the spaces)

The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb . google . com/SouthHS65  (ditto)


Rich