Update 7-23-02


Hey,

Gee, you mention sending one little e-mail joke, and suddenly everyone remembers how to write.  Good thing I didn't threaten to share my George Bush hologram collection.

Letters:

From Jerry Bittman:  Thanks, Rich, for offering me a couple of your lives.  Hang on to them, as I'll probably have to use them at the rate I'm going.  Also, I want to thank Jay Kinder, Judy and Barnett Zinger, Zelda White Nichols, Tom Calise, and everybody else for their caring and great support.
      And, yes, Tom, I definitely do remember you -- I remember we shared a lot of good laughs together.  And I, too, wonder whatever happened to Ann Ciliberti.  Does anybody keep in contact with her?
      For everyone's information:  Barnett Zinger is retiring from the Nassau County Police Department on September 11th, 2002, then he is moving to Boynton Beach,
Florida where, I believe, the Nudelmans' parents live.
      Hey, Neil Guberman, how's your band doing?
      Andy Dolich and I used to be great friends -- and the operative words are "used to be."  I asked Andy to make me the first draft pick of the Grizzlies, and naturally he
did not.  I was even willing to split the signing bonus with him 50-50.  But Andy is either too smart or too honest.  I loathe people like that.
      Sounds like Barbara Blitfield Pech is holding her own mini-reunion in Florida.  I wish that I could attend, but why go to Florida when I live in tropical Nebraska -- birthplace of Kool-Aid.  
      And, Rich, if you tell me that you drove cross-country and were on I-80 in Nebraska and didn't stop off here, I'll be really disappointed.  If anybody is ever traveling through this scenic state -- it is so difficult staying awake driving in Nebraska -- give me a call at:  308-236-6966.

(Jerry, I went well north of Nebraska, along Route 2 through North Dakota.  And that was three years ago:  I didn't even know I liked you then.)

From Tom Calise:  I did actually talk with Ann Ciliberti recently, and, unfortunately, have to report that her marriage to that "Central High School Guy" went sour, and she hasn't yet remarried -- so maybe there's still hope.  I will give her another try, soon, to see what the story is.  Delicately.
        Meanwhile, everyone else, please stay in touch.  I have a beer with Rich's name on it, for when he finally hits the town I'm in.  But if anyone else gets here first, well, he'll just have to wait.

From Barbara Blitfield Pech:  Something has been rolling around in my mind for years, and I wonder if anyone has the answer.  If you recall, during our high school years, the Valley Stream Mail Leader ran two gossip columns:  Central's, "Central Calling" and South's, "The Southern Snooper."  I always wondered who the Southern Snooper was in 1965.  Ya think enough years have gone by for us inquiring minds to  know?  I've always had one name in mind -- Linda Passaro -- and would love to know if I was right.
      I also have two other tidbits to offer:  Welcome Home from your Scandinavian Vacation, Barb Zingman.  And Happy Unpacking in your New Home, Ed Albrecht.  It's great news to know that we're all still young enough to get a 30 year mortgage!
      Again, Robin and I are looking forward to having Gayle Ulrich join us August 7th in Orlando.  And everyone else is still welcome to attend.

(Growing up, I never read the Mail or its gossip column.  Setting my goals somewhat higher, I read Earl Wilson, in the Post, to find out which Hollywood stars slept naked.  Still, at the reunion, someone did tell me about the Mail's column, and even mentioned who the South '65 spy was.  But since I no context for the information, I promptly forgot who it was and who told me.  At least, that's my story.)

More from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  A tech question I hope someone can help me out with before I place my next frustrating call to AOL Tech Support:  After my recent modem fry, Best Buy included an AOL 7.0 upgrade with the new 56K replacement.  Now, AOL 7.0's installed, and when I go into Internet Explorer -- as before -- I minimize AOL and click onto Internet Explorer.  But with version 7.0, I'm having a problem signing off:  after I log off from Internet Explorer, I cannot maximize the AOL icon from the bottom of my screen to sign off as in the past.  I can only log off by hitting control/alt/delete to end my task.  It works, but I know it's wrong.  Help.  Is there a better way?

From Allen Moss:  Being a Mainer, I simply could not resist putting my two cents in about restaurants and eating in Maine.  I confess that I have not been to Millers in Bangor, but I can tell you that there are a helluva lot of great little eating places in Southern Maine, including in my little home town of Brunswick.
      It is easy to get stuck in a tourist trap seafood place, where the food is only mediocre, but which seems to be where all the people from "away" hang out during summer and leaf-peeping season up here.  I learned the hard way that some of the best little eating places look like reject Roy Rogers restaurants from the outside, but are seafood heaven on the inside.  One of the them is a place called Captain Mike's right here in Brunswick.
      If you blink, you miss it, or mistake it for a large version of a square box Dunkin Donuts!  However, once you cross the threshold in what looks like a 1950's Howard Johnson's throwback (remember those gang?), you will experience unbelievably great food.  It has been family run for ages and does not rely on tourist trade.  But enough of my commercial for great eats in Maine.  Come on up and experience them yourself!!
      Meanwhile, I hope everyone is having a great summer.  We have had an unbelievable amount of rain here, and everything is green and lush.  Because of that, the 747-size mosquitos and black flies are in hog-heaven, going berserk feasting on gallons of Valley Stream to Chicago to Brunswick blood (nice, pleasant image!).  But the ocean coastal areas near my house are lovely and cool, and I try to get there on the weekends.
      I'll be heading back to Chicago, my residence for over 24 years, for a week in September.  It will be great to see friends there, but it does seem weird -- sometimes I feel like my life has been in two places, Valley Stream and Brunswick!  And those two worlds bumped up against each other this past April, and it was incredible.
      My heart truly goes out to Judy Hartstone on the loss of her beloved dog.  I lost two of my senior citizens within 9 months of each other -- two beagles named Artemis and Orion.  Although they lived good lives, Artie to almost 14 and Orion to over 15, as all of us pet-owners know, they just don't live long enough.  But the joy and companionship that they bring to us all really cannot be put into words (at least not by me).  When the loss does occur, what an empty and aching space in our hearts.  I was so glad I could talk with Judy and share her memories and comfort her in her sadness.
      One more "plug" and I am done.  There are two organizations that work with the human-animal bond.  Both Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights, New York and Dogs for the Deaf in Oregon have a wonderful, wonderful mission.  They rescue dogs who are going to be euthanized in the shelters, and foster care and train them to work with people who have varying degrees of vision and aural impairments.  What an incredible way to foster that bond between companion animal and individual!  So, if you are looking for good organizations to donate some money to, do consider these two.  They have been around for many years and provide their contributors with lots and lots of information so that you feel involved and are content that your donations are really making a difference.
      O.K.  Enough.  Hope this finds all the falcons and their partners and family members happy and in good health.  We all have to stay that way to make it to the next reunion!  Signing off as your Valley Stream South Representative from The Pine Tree State.

From Zelda Nichols White:  Here is another cut and paste -- It's called the Rainbow Bridge, and it's for all animal lovers who lose precious pets.  Judy, I didn't know you at South, but having had pets all my life, and having to lose them after many years of devotion on both our parts, my heart goes out to you now.  I hope this helps a bit. http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm

Finally, an actual e-mail joke from RoseMarie Cassillo:  the supposed answering machine message a high school staff voted to use after it was sued by parents who demanded their children's failing grades be changed even though the kids were absent up to 30 times a year and didn't complete enough work to pass their classes:
      Hello, you have reached the answering machine of Pacific Palisades High School.  Please make a selection:
      To lie about why your child is absent -- Press 1
      To whine about why your child didn't do his or her work -- Press 2
      To complain that you didn't get information repeatedly sent in newsletters and flyers -- Press 3
      To complain about everything we do -- Press 4
      To request yet another teacher -- Press 5
      To swear at a staff member -- Press 6
      If you want to slap someone -- Press 7
      If you want to hit someone -- Press 8
      To punch someone out -- Press 9
      If you want us to raise your child for you -- Press 0
      And have a nice day!

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


Rich