Update 1-11-05

Hi,

Yes, it's raining in California. And it's been raining. And it's going to keep raining. We dug a 25-foot long trench in our backyard, to keep our neighbor's pool overflow away from our foundation. If this keeps up, I'm planting the banks with bonsai bullrushes and floating a G.I. Joe down to the L.A. River.

Meanwhile, from hopefully higher ground, Barnet Kellman writes: Yes, the weathergirl was Carol Reed. Absolutely right! Who needs a memory when you have classmates!

An historical note, from Donald Faber: Please feel free to draw you own conclusions, but 63 years ago (1942), Time magazine's "Man of the Year" was Joseph Stalin. Of course, some people might use this fact to prove that nothing ever changes.

A combination travel/mystery note, from Larry Rugen: On February 2nd, I'm off for a week to Simmern, Germany, in the Rhein, Mosel area. Another reunion, but this time with just a few of my retired United States Air Force buddies and another bunch of good friends, some of whom I also have not seen for 35 years. Why February 2nd, in the middle of winter, you ask? Fasching is the answer -- look it up, if you so please. And a special "thank you" again to Herta Apfel, wherever you are!

[Rich -- From Google, translated electronically from the German. Fasching: "Carnival," in West Austria. Fas(t)nacht, the time between three-king and the beginning of Ashtray Wednesday. Music, dance, mask removals, fool liberty, sex exchange, and a general joy of life determine the Karneval, which, beginning with "unreasonable" Thursday, reaches the "3 holy carnival days" (Sunday until Tuesday before Ashtray Wednesday). The carnival custom contains elements of old rural culture, costume celebrations, and more latemedievally or earlymodern fool celebrations of the craftsmen and guilds. Despite the tendency for standardization in the last years, the forms of the rheinischen Karnevals persist, with pairs of princes, the carnival running and bear chase, "drum women," the carnival of the united ones, as well as jokeful ruegen. Popular the large removals of the Tiroler taking place in a distance of several years. The urban and the Viennese carnival are particularly shaped by ball meetings particularly. The carnival finds the conclusion as required with a spontaneous "carnival burying," "carnival burning," or a "purse laundry" on Ashtray Wednesday. In parts of Tirol and Vorarlberg, the carnival will only be burned on "Spark Sunday" (1st Sunday in the chamfering time) whereby wood impact ignites and burning wood disks will be hurled.]

Back in America, a serious note from Robin Feit Baker, along with a letter forwarded from Fran Gibel Winter, Class of '61.
   From Robin: After receiving e-mail from Fran Winter, I decided it might be a good idea to send it along for you to read. I'm quite sure you realize Stephen Feit wasn't my father, but this is interesting nonetheless, and it's quite remarkable to discover just how deeply our lives appear to be intertwined.
   From Fran: I’m Frances Gibel Winter, and I live in Maryland, outside Washington, DC. I graduated from Forest Road School in 1955 and South High in 1961. Emily Kleinman Schreiber (a classmate, and our “class historian”) directed me to the Booker Gibson Scholarship web site. Unfortunately, I found the web site not too friendly…pages I clicked on came up “unknown,” lists of people didn’t appear, and there’s no information as to how to add a note to the ongoing discourse. However, I got the address for Marc Jonas (I had known Susan, his sister, who had been one year ahead of me), and he provided your e-mail address.
   Many people from our area knew my dad, pediatrician Dr. Gibel, and/or my younger sister, Bonnie. I am writing to find out if you could be the daughter of Stephen Feit? He was my fifth grade teacher. After he got his Master's in AV, he left teaching at Forest Road School, and he and his family went to American Samoa. We corresponded the entire time he was away. After the family returned to the States, Mr. Feit’s kids became my father’s patients (perhaps you, and I think there was a brother?) -- and then we lost touch. He was such a delightful man. I would love to find out if he is still alive, and how he’s doing. I attended the 50th anniversary of Forest Road School in 2003, saw Mr. Cid and others, but no one seemed to know anything about Stephen Feit. Robin, can you possibly fill me in? I am certain that others who were in the 5th grade with me (there were only 22 of us all together) would also be interested in any news. I await your reply.

[Rich -- what I wrote Fran: Robin Feit Baker forwarded your note to me, mentioning that you were having trouble with our class home page. At least, I think that's what you're talking about, since there is no formal Booker Gibson Scholarship site that I know of. There's also a chance that Emily gave you the old home page address, which jammed because of an AOL problem. It's still partly accessible, because the new page builds on it, but there are several important parts missing.
The new home page address is: hometown.aol.com/vssouth65 That should take you to what we have available, and please tell me if it doesn't. If you want to contribute to the weekly newsletter -- and I'd like to run the letter you sent to Robin -- please write me at: reunionclass65@aol.com.
Thanks. I hope you're well, and I hope we find out something about Stephen Feit because of your letter. I started at Forest the same year you did, when it opened, and graduated in 1959. I vaguely remember the name Stephen Feit, but can't tell you anything else, as I was probably 7 or 8 when he moved on. I hope to hear from you soon, because I send out the weekly newsletter Monday night.]

[Rich -- I didn't hear from Fran, but I'm fearlessly running her letter anyway. If anyone remembers Stephen Feit and wants to write Fran Winter, please ask me for her e-mail address.]

[More Rich -- Also, it's way too early to start running the reunion attendance list, but I've heard indirectly that about 20 people have already made plans to be there. I suspect we'll end up with somewhat over 100 former classmates, plus teachers, as we did at the 37th.
   There's also been some informal discussion about the nature of this reunion. I mentioned to Steve Cohen that, maybe because of September 11th, at our last reunion, people seemed so happy to see each other that it didn't matter if they'd actually known each other while growing up. But Steve said he noticed the same thing at the recent Class of '64 reunion, so maybe it has to do with age and perspective. And Allen Moss commented that he thinks the tone of this reunion might be a bit different -- "less frantic and emotional and more low-key and relaxed, since the initial surprise has worn off." And he thinks that will be really nice.]

Some medical advice from Jerry Bittman. This came in well before the holidays, and I stashed it for future use then forgot it was there:
   Let's say you're driving home alone after a hard day at work. You're tired or frustrated, and suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the nearest hospital, but you don’t know if you can make it that far. What can you do?
   Many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack. Without help, the heart stops beating properly, people begin to feel faint and have only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously every 2 seconds.
   A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. The coughs must continue without let-up until the heart starts beating normally again or until you reach the hospital. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs, and the coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating, which helps the heart regain its normal rhythm. In this way, you can gain enough time to reach a hospital.

Finally, some quasi-sports filler from the Associated Press: Riddleville, Georgia, January 6, 2005 -- A marching band played as the governor arrived by helicopter and hopped aboard a tractor in front of 30 invitation-only guests. Cutting grass doesn't normally get this kind of fanfare, but the turf being harvested like rolls of carpet Thursday on Phillip Jennings' central Georgia farm isn't just any grass. It's the field for next month's Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. "Going from the wheat, cotton, and soybean days to this Super Bowl harvest, I'm obviously excited,'' said Jennings, who began growing turf in 1997. "For the last few months, I watched football games with a different perspective.''
   Working with Georgia-based Pennington Seed, which has provided grass seed for three straight Super Bowls, Jennings spent the past 18 months growing the mix of perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and a Bermuda grass hybrid called Princess 77. The resulting turf stays green in winter and is tough enough to withstand the punishment from players' cleats. The turf got its first test when Governor Sonny Perdue's helicopter landed on the 4-acre field that resembles a lush fairway. Perdue made the ceremonial first cut, pulling blades behind a tractor to slice the sod into strips 1 3/4-inch deep and 42 inches wide. He also put in a plug for his personal favorite to play in the Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons. "We're certainly hopeful Coach Mora and Michael Vick can have the Falcons playing on this turf in a month,'' Perdue said. "It's hard for me to imagine that NFL players are going to be playing on a grass called Princess, though.''
   It will take at least a week to cut the 4-acres of sod, and 40 trucks will be needed to transport it 270 miles to Jacksonville's Alltel Stadium, where the NFL's championship game will be played February 6th. "It's ready,'' said George Toma, the NFL turf guru who has prepared fields for all 39 Super Bowls. "It has excellent, excellent footing. It's good turf.''
   Jennings admitted that it will be a relief to put his turf into Toma's hands. He started seeding the field seven months before the last Super Bowl, and in the past few months it has required daily grooming. Once word of Jennings' field got out in Riddleville, a town of 124 people 55 miles east of Macon, it also required round-the-clock security. "Somebody could have come over here and cut a piece out and put it on eBay. That's what I was worried about,'' said Washington County Sheriff Thomas Smith, who also said he kept a deputy watching over the field every day. But some locals did get a Super Bowl souvenir. The 30 guests who received invitations from Jennings to attend the turf's send-off Thursday got small clay pots planted with spare chunks of the Super turf.

The repeating reunion info:
When: August 5th, 6th, 7th (Friday night through Sunday noon)
Where: Hilton Long Island/Huntington, 598 Broadhollow Road, Melville, New York, 11747
Cost: $100 per person
Phone Number: 631-845-1000, during daytime business hours. Ask for the Reservations Desk and mention our class reunion discount. Hotel rooms should be $129/night.
Reunion Package Includes:
Friday night cocktail party with snacks and cash bar (7:00 PM -- Midnight)
Saturday night buffet with open bar & DJ (7:00 PM -- Midnight; Dinner at 8:00)
Lobby area with cash bar available both nights to continue parties
Teachers comped for both parties
SEND: Checks to Dennis Shapiro. 495 Wateredge Avenue, Baldwin, New York, 11510. Please make them out to: VSS 40th Reunion.
Also: Since there are a limited number of Friday night hotel rooms being held, please e-mail Dennis Shapiro when you've made your reservations so he can lobby for more. His e-mail address is: dshapiro@optonline.net
The home page: http://hometown.aol.com/vssouth65

Rich