Update 10-24-06

Hi,

Social notes from Washington, D.C., and other notes from other places.
   
    First, from Stu Borman:  Last night's mini-reunion for our Gang of Nine D.C.-area South High School refugees went well, with lots of interesting reminiscences exchanged.  We're thinking about another get-together next year.  I also got several good photos of our party.  Even the ones the waitress took came out okay, despite the fact that she was totally thrown by my having shut off the LCD display feature.  I had to show her that there was something called a viewfinder on the camera.  I've cleaned up some red eye problems and brightened the waitress's two shots a little -- she was standing too far back,  Everyone can see the photos at:  www.flickr.com/photos/stuie.
        At the party, we had a great time remembering things we may have forgotten to remember before.  Time does seem to be moving along a bit.  How can it be that, at the same time, life seems both short -- as in it seems like only last week that my mom invited my 4th grade teacher to lunch -- and long -- as in I can't believe I'm still here and some of the parts still work?  Apparently, my brain isn't one of them, as Ira tells me that he, Barry Cohen, and I walked together to South every day, and I don't recall that at all.  And I noticed that Robert Fiveson and I bounce off each other exactly the same way we did in 12th grade.  One of these days, Robert just might succeed in bouncing me in the right direction.
        Thanks again to Robert, for suggesting what turned out to be an excellent venue, and to Rich, for mentioning how many members of our class live in the D.C. area.  I'm looking forward to the next mini-reunion, so I can catch up on some of the many other things I've forgotten to remember.
   
    From Ira Mitzner:  Great pictures, Stu.  My only problem is that in picture # 2, Robert Fiveson looks like he's going to do something dirty to my wife.
   
    [Rich -- Yes, well, as I wrote Ira, Robert always looks like he's about to do something dirty.  That's why we like him.]
   
    And Robert sent some unrelated news from Variety:  The case against DreamWorks and Warner Brothers studios, alleging that the recent movie The Island was based on 1979 indie pic Parts: The Clonus Horror, looks like it's headed for a trial.
   
    From Helen David in Sun City, Arizona:  I'm a little foggy about the details, too, but the school on Hungry Harbor Road was the Harbor Road School.  Its principal, Robert  Carbonaro, died very young.  He was the school's first principal, and his wife became active in either the Parent-Teachers Association or some similar activity at South High School.
        Doris Navin was teaching in the Social Studies department as early as 1956 or 1957.  She left at one point on an extended maternity leave.  She returned years later as a teacher of the dyslexic, and remained until her retirement, which was after I left in 1985.
        By the way, I love reading about my former pupils.  There is a life after South!
   
    From Linda Cohen Greenseid, some news about her son, Jamie Kellman, the special effects makeup artist.  His father is Robert Kellman.  Linda titled her e-mail:  More Jamie Than Anyone Needs:  Check out:  http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=2917
    There's a picture and interview with Jamie.
   
    From Claire Brush Reinhardt:  Just want to let you all know that there is still time to let us know you will be at the "1, 2, 3" reunion on Saturday, October 28th, from 12:30 to
    5:30 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Oceanside.  We also want to remind you that
    if you plan to pay at the door, the $65.00 per person will need to be paid in cash.  You can
    e-mail me your RSVP at: Reino@optonline.net or call me at either:  516-599-7522 (home) or 516-729-2215 (cell).  As of October 17th, eighty-seven people, including former faculty members, are coming to the party, all anxious to reminisce and reconnect.
   
    From Amy Miller:  I've just about recovered from a trip to Eastern Europe with my ninety-two-year old dad and his ladyfriend.  I fell in love with Budapest, truly a magnificent city.  I've also been trying to get some more folks from my class of 1963 to come to the "1-2-3" reunion on October 28th; maybe they are waiting until our 45th reunion in 2008 or our 50th in 2013.  To get some participation, I've been trying to find more of our 1963 classmates' e-mail addresses, but I only have about 43.  When I got a list together for our 25th reunion in the late 1980s, I had more luck with a Nassau County phone book writing to parents' addresses in Valley Stream.  If anyone knows of the whereabouts of the kids of '63, please e-mail me at: ymarellim@aol.com.  Thanks.
   
    From Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  I  was at South for Homecoming at 9:30 AM, freezing in the bleachers.  But three new alumni joined the Association, and we sold some Alumni Association mugs.  Just didn't want your gang to think that I lacked school spirit.
   
    From Joanne Shapiro Polner '59:  The adventures of graduates are getting ever more interesting and exciting.  What a great idea to welcome to the newsletter both cheerful and heart-stopping stories of real-life, beloved friends and acquaintances.  Such sharing has drawn prose capabilities to the fore and now the poetic sensibilities of true writers.  I loved Ryki Zuckerman's poem, "The Storm," dedicated, it seems, to the trees of her city, but offering us a hand-to-heart, open-mouthed, gasp for the lives of all the people caught up in the ravaging result of the Buffalo snowstorm of October 06.
        I am less a poet than a versifier, but I offer a poem to Barbara Blitfield Pech and to all of us alums and related persons who have had to make both choices pondered by Hamlet: “To suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles.”  Put your foot down, Barbara, and make the best of it all.  (C'mon, all, pun some words and search out all the appropriate sayings for this woman's foot and spirits! She started us off with the promise to keep us afoot!)  Here is my "Poem for Broken Bones," first presented to an adult cousin who broke her wrist in an icy pavement fall.  I use made-up words and a childhood expression for magic play, at the start, because we grown-ups still want a mother's kiss to make it "all better."
   

    Abracadabra Jiggity Jog,   

    Bones, Heal Up As Strong as a Log!

    Abracadabra Jiggity Jifts,
    Aren't We Grateful for Simple Gifts?
    Like walking and talking and holding a spoon,
    Like buttoning and peeling and drawing a cartoon,
    Like bathing and driving and two-arm-ed hugs,
    Like vacuuming and stockinging and shaking out rugs.
    All we ever have to do is to fly through the air and
    Suddenly we feel for those stuck in a chair.
    But why does hurt happen to people who already know
    How grateful to be, who are gracious, who grow
    Up being helpful and careful and kind?

    Now it's your turn to be helped, don't you ever mind!


    Two other reminders:
   
    Class of '86 reunion:  Saturday, November 4.  HR Singletons, Bethpage, New York.
                For information contact Barbara Kirby Miller at:  516-797-1121
   
    Class of '66 reunion:  Friday and Saturday, November 10 and 11.  For information contact
                Michael Schimmel at:  mdschimmel@gmail.com
   
    Finally, it's Nancy Garfield's birthday.  Happy birthday, Nancy.  As always.