Update 11-04-03


Hi,

In the order they came:

From Jerry Bittman: Well, today I had one of my 3 dreams shattered. I received an e-mail from Andy Dolich with the heading saying, "I need your help." I figured that one of the Grizzly players was injured and that they were offering me a spot on the roster. I quickly opened up the e-mail in order to see how much money they were offering me. Then I read those dreadful words: "I need your help to settle a bet. Was there a marching song at Forest Road School, and if there was did you know the words?" Dream Shattered. But maybe one of my other 2 dreams will come true: either to become a jockey at Aqueduct, or to succeed Jesse Jackson as the head of the Rainbow Coalition.

From: Peg Cooper Schwartz: Hi. Hope you're well. I think you meant it was Peggy Galinger's sister who attended the Forest Road reunion (I don't have a sister). I heard from my dear friend Arlene Ainbinder Linn (Class of '66 -- she still lives in Green Acres -- also known as Mill Pond) that Peggy Galinger's sister was at the reunion.
On another subject, I'm reading the most amazing book, called The DaVinci Code. I recommend it to all classmates. A fabulous page-turner. And, if anyone is heading to southern Florida this winter, I'd love to see them.

[Rich -- I wrote Peggy Galinger Menaker and apologized. I also sent the following to Andy Dolich.]

Andy: if you haven't already gotten this from Jerry, the Forest Road School song went something like this:
Side by side marching together,
Forest Road students are we,
We'll sing out the story of the school we love best,
Raise up our banner high above all the rest.
All join in marching together,
Keep the pace as we go along,
And we'll ever march(?) with every heart, every hand,
Marching with Forest Road in step.

Andy wrote back: When is the CD coming out, and is there a rap version?

Peggy Galinger Menaker wrote back: It's not a problem.

Robin Feit wrote: I hope you're enduring the tragic circumstances and haven't suffered any loss. Your safety (in addition to our other classmates) has been weighing heavily on my mind these past few days. Please take care.

[Rich -- About the fires: apart from the sheer scariness of it all -- if you can even get past that -- the weirdest day was Tuesday. The sky was low and flat grey, and the sun was bright red.]

Lynn Nudelman Villagran (whose last name I misspelled last week), Thomas Romano, and I exchanged the following series of letters:

From Thomas: I will be able to meet with you and Lynn Nudelman Villagran and any other alum any of those nights in the City of Industry. As I missed last year's reunion, I am most interested in getting together.

From me: That would be great, though it may only be Lynn, you, and me. Let's figure out among us what night would be best, and others can join in if possible.
From Lynn: the first night, Tuesday, November 18th, would be best for me, as I will probably have business meetings the next two days. Hope that works for you both. I am looking forward to it.

From me: Tuesday, November 18th is fine with me. If it's OK with Thomas, I'll put it in the update next week and see who's free to join us. And since you won't have a car, Lynn, we'll just have to hope the hotel has good food. Unless someone knows a better restaurant in the area, in which case I can pick you up at the hotel and take you there.

From Lynn: It's a golf resort/conference center, and I imagine the restaurants are fine. 
(http://www.pacificpalmsresort.com/dining1.htm) After traveling all day, I wouldn't mind staying at the hotel for dinner. Whether it's just the three of us, or more, it will be fun!

From Thomas: November 18th works for me. City of Industry is not known for its eateries. I did have a decent dinner at the Sheraton. Looking forward to meeting with you, Lynn, and whoever else can make it.

[Rich-- so if anyone else wants to meet us for dinner on Tuesday, November 18th for diner in the City of Industry, just let one of us know.]

Barbara Blitfield Pech, as promised, sent a picture of herself walking the marathon. I've still yet to load onto the home page.

A follow-up from Jerry Bittman: just wanted to wish Andy Dolich a speedy recovery. I understand that after he listened to me singing the Forest Road marching song on his voice mail, poor Andy had to check into the Memphis Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital. But I'm sure that he is feeling better now because his team beat the Houston Rockets. Dolich and Jerry West in the same backcourt -- the other 3 guys will never see the ball. Imagine if Rosen was on that team. They would have to play with 2 basketballs.

From Zelda White Nichols: San Diego County has been devastated by fire this week. I live in Alpine where 85+ houses burned to the ground as well as 50 - 100 in other parts of town. I ended up evacuating to El Centro, a town 125 miles away in the desert, and spent 3 days waiting for things to cool down. My husband was lucky to escape to DC and Florida before it all started. This area looks like a war zone after a bombing, and you can't help but cry every time you drive by burned down house lots. I was so very lucky: the fire came to within 40 feet of my house, but my house is safe.
If any of you are looking to make contributions this year and would like to help fire victims, the Salvation Army in San Diego will make sure that the money goes directly to people who deserve it, or you can send it to me, and I will make sure it goes to them, too. Alpine is a small mountain town, population 15,000. Other hard hit areas are Julian, Tierra Santa, and, of course, Scripps Ranch with over 300 homes gone. Please e-mail me at: zelda.nichols@cox.net for further information.

[Rich -- I immediately wrote Zelda: I wondered how you were doing. We were lucky to be four miles from the nearest fires, but their evidence is everywhere in terms of smoke and ash. And my sister-in-law lives in Julian, but, fortunately, in town, so her house was saved by the hard work of the firefighters.]

Zelda wrote back: When my husband went to DC on Sunday morning, we saw the fires right near our freeway on the way to the airport. At 2:00, when the fire was racing over the next ridge (I live on top of a mountain), I decided to take the dog and 3 cats and bail. The fire came halfway up our mountain, burned the roof of a house below us that has nothing but brush around it, and came right up to us. I don't know how our house escaped catching on fire. My Koi pond is really suffering. Koi need a lot of oxygen, and we were without power for 6 days. The pond is filled with ashes, and I am waiting for my Koi lady to come clean it. This is the second major fire in 5 years (the Viejas fire was 2.5 years ago) that we had to evacuate for. I think it may be time to move back to the East Coast.

Finally, Paul DeMartino wrote: just writing to let everyone know that Don Faber and I had the pleasure of Mary Sipp-Green's company one afternoon in late October, first, to view her show at a local gallery, and afterwards for lunch. We all enjoyed the opportunity to catch up, but, unfortunately, Don and I had to return to work, and Mary was heading home to Massachusetts. Also, there is planned a "Mini-Reunion" for the Saturday afternoon following Thanksgiving, (11/29), to be held at Lily Flannigan's Pub, on Sunrise Highway in Rockville Centre. This is the anniversary of the very first get-together of the Class of '65 prior to the actual Reunion, and we hope to recapture some of the excitement of seeing old friends and classmates again. In some cases, this will be the first time together since the Reunion back in April 2001, while for others it hasn't been quite that long. Since many of our classmates will be in New York for the holiday, this can be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect, or just have a drink with some faces from the past. We are expecting a nice turnout, and I've already been contacted by several classmates for the details. If anyone would like to attend and is able to contact others, please do so, since I have no control over who will or will not attend. There is no precise arrival time; just simply drop in during the afternoon, and who knows, maybe we'll do dinner. For more info, contact me at: Pdem070@msn.com, or call me at: 516-799-1590.

Also, yes, I did manage to load six of Tommy Holecek's Forest Road 50th Anniversary Party pictures onto the home page. Go look. That would be at:

The home page: http://hometown.aol.com/falcons1965a


Rich