Update 10-16-01

Okay,

Looks like we wanna have a party.  Of the 24 people who just voted again on whether we should go ahead, considering everything:  21 want to get together; 1 wants to stay home---but invites everyone to her place; and 2 aren't yet decided.  And New York is still the chosen site.  Some sample mail:

From Audrey Olsen:  I am interested in a reunion.  I just returned to San Francisco from a visit to Valley Stream, to assist my family in moving my mom to a nursing home.  A difficult trip in many ways.  I did go to the city for the Columbus Day parade.  It was so somber, and it was only when I saw the children smiling at the floats that I could grasp some relief from the sadness in the air.  My sister and I did go down to the World Trade Center site, the Fulton Street stop on the train.  Being that I haven't lived in New York for so long, it was important for me to go---to comprehend it all, if that is possible.  I had an experience after the earthquake in San Francisco that really changed my life.  It let me know how much God really knows and loves each one of us.  I only say this to mention our prayers are heard, without a doubt, and I am glad to receive the e-mails which help to keep my New York connection strong.  I work for United Airlines and am not sure yet if I will be laid off after 22 years, the last 10 or so in the San Francisco city ticket office.  If this happens I know there is a new door opening somewhere.  Who knows, I may wind up back in New York.  Not so bad, huh!

From Paul DeMartino:  My thoughts on the recent events and our reunion are that life is so uncertain and without guarantees.  I propose having the reunion this fall.  Regardless of where or when we have it, there will never be 100% attendance of all those we have contacted.  Perhaps we can schedule it at a point when many will be coming to NY for holidays or vacations and thereby attract the maximum number of attendees.
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From Barbara Blitfield Pech: Yes, yes, yes, a reunion, now more than ever.  It is one of the bright spots in the near future that we can all look forward to.  And if there was any doubt in anyone's mind about going, or the "whys or why nots," get over it!  (Sorry, just a little moonstruck---and 9/11 Syndrome is bouncing around my overactive thoughts and emotions.)  But this reunion is a good thing, and nobody really cares how we look, just that we are here together.  (Okay, I do care how I look, but not as much as I did before.)  I'm here.  I'm going.  I wanna see ya!

From Zelda White Nichols:  Due to the world situation at this time, I would not look forward to coming back for a class reunion.  We have just had a conference in Orlando canceled due to lack of attendance.  It seems most of the attendees were to be Microsoft and Hewlett Packard employees.  Those two companies have put a ban on travel, hence the cancellation.  We have also had a business trip to the United Kingdom canceled for December, and my husband was due to fly up to San Francisco for a day next week.  That, too, has been canceled.  Of course, if you would like to hold the reunion in San Diego, I can guarantee a wonderful time and good weather here in "America's Finest City."

From Jim Holecek:  I am sorry I took so long to reply.  I look forward to seeing some of my classmates.  I am sure there must be a lot of stories, enough to fill a book.  As for myself, I've traveled the American continent several times, by car, truck, trailer, and airplane, working as a certified nuclear welder and steamfitter.  I never made a fortune, but I live in sunny Florida as a result of my Travels With Charlie-adventures.  I look forward to hearing from you all.
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From Jean Cohen Oklan:  People are talking about how our world will never be
the same since September 11th.  Our generation is certainly not used to the new mindset we are into nowadays.  This new way of thinking hit home last night.  We had a freak snow storm up here in northern Vermont that dumped 10 inches of heavy wet snow, bending and breaking huge tree limbs over the electrical wires down by the road.  We lost electricity from 1 AM to 8 AM.  Now, when this has happened in the past, we've gone out onto our porch and enjoyed the beauty of it all.  But last night (morning), we were also experiencing lightning along with the snow, that was causing flashes of light behind the clouds.  But lightning with snow?  A nuclear explosion crossed my mind.  The quickest route to a radio that had batteries was my car and my son witnessed his Mom freak out at 2 AM, listening to NPR to make sure the world was still out there!  Is this nuts, or is this going to be the way from now on?!  I decided that if I was asleep like many others on the East coast, I wouldn't have been aware this was going on.  My Mom was right---there is something to be said about going to bed at a decent time.

More from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  Just a note to give you all a laugh---on me---and share the desperate state of the world.  Among the many e-subscriber services I receive are auto forwards from multiple employment services with "professional, executive" job openings. Generally, they're geared to the apparel industry, though I am open to other offerings.  Well, imagine my reaction to receiving an Internet referral for me to apply for a position as a Federal Marshall.  Oh, yeah.  Right.  Good pick.  (You can stop laughing now.)
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From Irene Saunders Goldstein:  I have been a genealogist for more than a dozen years.  About two years ago, a "new" cousin found me, a 30-year-old---from Sweden!  When my family came here from Latvia 100 years ago, his branch of the family went north to Scandinavia. Until the Internet made it possible for us to search, we didn't know anything about each other.  This is all by way of saying that I have passed on Barnet Kellman's info about Jan Martin to my cousin, and asked him to use his considerable detective skills---he's a preservation architect---to find out what he can.  By the way, best regards to Barnet.

From Robert Fiveson:  As I recall, in The Romantics,  I played the Boy, and Barnet played "El Gallo."  More from Irene:  And who doesn't remember the controversy in The Romantics when Barnet had to sing "T-a-a-a-a-k-e" instead of "R-a-a-a-a-p-e."  Ah, the days of innocence.  [For the record, the rest of the cast was Valerie Nelson (the Girl), Martha Morenstein (the Girl's Mother), and Paul Zegler (the Boy's Father).  With Naomi Stein directing, Rich Eisbrouch (scenery) and I think Chuck Gleichmann and Bill Brady (lighting).]

From Stu Borman:  I met Ira Mitzner a few weeks ago and can report from firsthand experience that his appearance puts most of us to shame.  He's trim, good looking, has hair (dark and undyed), and, overall, is extremely well preserved. He pursues boxing as a hobby, which tends to keep one in shape much better than the exercise regimen I follow:  basically, walking to the Metro station and turning the pages of newspapers.

From Larry Rugen:  By the way, who did the names for the 6th grade picture for Harbor Road School?  They have me in the 4th row.  Only problem is I graduated from 6th grade at PS 95 in Jamaica!  I started at South in October in the 7th Grade.  So who is the impersonator?  (Rich:  my latest guess is John Keating.)

Also, if you check the home page, you'll notice it's now just a quick reference for e-mail addresses.  At the bottom, the only link is to Old Photos.  But if you click on that link, you'll find a whole new home page.  This one lists the e-mail addresses again, but with states---and some cities when people gave them to me.  All the photos are here, too, along with some new ones and a direct link to Stu Borman's pictures.  More of the people in the class pictures are identified now, some even correctly.  And the collected weekly updates are there, the whole class list, another list Paul DeMartino just put together of the hundred-or-so people we're still looking for, and unfortunately, the names of the people who've died.  Some of the photos take a while to load, and some are too blurry.  I was trying to balance clarity and speed, but sometimes achieved nothing.  Eventually, I'll compress the pictures again, which should make them faster yet just as out of focus.  Moving around the photo pages, you still have to use whatever directional arrows are built into your server, though at the bottom of some of the other pages, there's a return link to the home page or another index.  More improvements will come.  I take all suggestions.  For now, I just wanted to get as much as I could on-line.

The old link:  http://hometown.aol.com/reunionclass65/myhomepage/profile.html

The new link (you can bypass the old page and go straight to the new one):  http://hometown.aol.com/falcons1965a/myhomepageprofile.html


Rich