1-15-02


Hi,

First, the April Reunion details again, as several people have asked:

When:  Friday evening, April 26th to Sunday afternoon, April 28th, 2002
Where:  Wyndham Wind Watch Hotel, 1717 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, New
           York 11788
Phone: 631-232-9800
Fax:     631-582-8284
Website: http://www.wyndham.com/newyork/Long_Island/default.cfm
Cost:
    Room per night:  $109---plus taxes, which can add 20%  (If you have any
        problems getting the group room rate, ask to speak with Ms. Visch at
        extension 3624.)
    Saturday buffet dinner:  $32.95---plus tip and taxes---probably another $10
    Saturday night buffet bar:  cash bar
    Hospitality suite donation (to stock it for the three days): voluntary
    
The Wind Watch is an all-inclusive resort with golf, tennis, an indoor/outdoor pool, and a spa.  It has free shuttle from MacArthur Airport, which is 5 minutes away.

Note:  Obviously, you don't have to stay at the hotel to come to the reunion.  And you don't have to come to all parts of the reunion.  You can just show up  when you want, and hang out with  friends.  Or arrange to meet friends at the hotel.  We'll use the Hospitality Suite to help track where people are.

Schedule:
   Friday Evening:        Informal Reception at the Hospitality Suite
   Saturday Morning:    Informal Reception Continues
   Saturday Afternoon:  Informal Reception Continues
   Saturday Evening:    Buffet Dinner / cash bar, then Hospitality Suite Reception
                                 Continues
   Sunday Morning:      Informal Reception Continues


Next, a reminder about the next New York area mini-reunion:

When:    Saturday, February 9, 2002  1:00 PM
Where:   Lily Flanagans, 279 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre (just in front of
            the Long Island Railroad station)
Contact:  Paul DeMartino at either:  PINA_1@msn.com  or  516-799-1590  (to let
              him know you're coming)
Cost:      Cash restaurant and bar
Phone at Lily Flanagans:   516-536-6258

An RSVP:

From Dennis Pizzamenti and his wife Benette Steindam '66:  We'll see you in April.

Two questions:

From Jane Ruzow Tiell:  In April, are we bringing our husbands, wives, mates, etc.? And are we dressing up, down, or not at all?

Two fast answers:

From Rich:  Everyone's welcome.  You can bring your kids and pets if you want.  As for clothes:  I'm thinking that Friday night, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning will all be casual.  Saturday night we can dress up a bit.  But I'm not gonna rent a tux for my dog.

An announcement:

From Hy Rosov:  I am working on a 38th reunion of the Class of '64, for April 12-14, 2002, in Tampa Florida.  Sue Raitt and I have put this one together and we have a very encouraging response.  If any of the Florida gang from your class would like to attend, it would be great.  Why don't you put a blurb in your news letter and have them contact me at Chaihy@aol.com or Sue at HSUZOO@aol.com.  I am sure there are many '65 graduates living in Florida who would love to get together with the '64 gang.

A dilemma (actually several):

Okay, Terri, Paul, and I have been kicking around some ideas, and finally decided we don't have enough information from the rest of you to make these decisions ourselves.  In all things we try to keep in mind what you'd all like, without bugging you with petty questions.  But in cases involving money, bug we must.

Some background:  
      The Hospitality Suite costs $350 a night, and there's a chance we may get that comped.  But we can't count on it.
      It will be cheaper if we stock the Hospitality Suite ourselves, rather than let the hotel cater it, and we estimate that may cost up to $750 for snacks, wine, beer, coffee, and soda.
      We'd like as many of our teachers there as possible, though we really can't afford to pay for their hotel rooms.  And that may not be necessary as many of them still live in the area.  But we would like them to be our guests for the Saturday night buffet.

So (and here's where you have to tell us what you want, and tell us fast):

We probably need to raise about $2000.  We'd absolutely like this to be voluntary, as the idea is to get as many people as possible to the reunion and not have some stay away simply because they can't afford it.  Paul, our accountant, would like to have the money safely deposited by April 1st, so we know where we are financially.

      Should we set a minimum donation?  If so, what should it be?

      Should we just accept donations of any size and be grateful?

      How do we encourage people to commit?  And early?

Please answer soon.  A lot hangs on this.  There are also questions of a DJ for Saturday night, and a video being made of the weekend, but these can be handled later.  First, we need to fund the Hospitality Suite, the snacks, and the teachers' dinners.

And while you're writing us: We also need the names of teachers you'd like us to try and invite.  So far we have:  Ms. Margolin, Mr. Solomon, Ms. Rea, Mr. Tampio, Mr. O'Brian, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Argenzio, Mr. Rooney, and Mr. Rosov.  Hy Rosov has unfortunately also just told me that the following teachers have unfortunately died:  Mr. Babinger, Mr. Baker, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Benevento, Mr. Donohue, Mr. Budde, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Hurley, Ms. Hoogenboom, Mr. Hartman, Mr. Kiely, Mr. Lichtenstein, Mr. Stambler,  Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Vielbig.  So when you're writing to tell us how you think we should raise the voluntary money, please add on the names of any teachers you'd like us to try and hunt down.  And send all answers to ReunionClass65.  

The April Reunion Roll Call will return next week, when there's more space.

Finally, I just watched the '85 reunion tape.  What surprised me most is when asked "Who was your steady in high school?" how many people answered, "No one."  This ended with Martha Morenstein, who---after being complimented on how terrific she looked---laughed and said, "Oh, I wasn't pretty in high school."  Yes, you were, Martha.  Just as much as you were at 38, and for all I know still are now.  It's just that for all Bob Fiveson's remembered Mayberry qualities---and there were many---one thing South didn't do, and maybe no high school ever can, is give everyone the confidence they needed.  Or even the confidence to talk, without wisecracking, with their closest friends.

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Home Page Link: http://hometown.aol.com/falcons1965a/myhomepageprofile.html


Rich