Update 10-28-08

All right,

Let's start with a long report by the generous Joanne Shapiro Polner:  Here's a report on South High School's Homecoming Day, October 18, 2008, an Honor Day for the Class of '58.
        Football report:  Falcons beat the West Hempstead Rams, 26 to 20.  Valley Stream South Falcons are in Nassau Conference III, with a 2-win, 5-loss record to date, the same as Valley Stream North.  Falcons are third from the last of 14 teams.
        Homecoming Day for the small group of alumni who participated:  The Honor Party for the First Graduating Class, 1958, was very pleasant.  We met in the library at 11:00 AM.  Eleven of my husband Alex Polner's class of 155 graduates returned to school, were given red carnations, and were offered a brunch of bagels and cream cheese, orange and apple juice, tea and coffee, and dessert cookies.
        I brought along our class yearbooks from '58 and '59, and people enjoyed looking at them.  Emily Kleinman Schreiber, president of our Alumni Association, offered four-leaf photo booklets prepared by others, but showing pictures from yearbooks and elsewhere for the years 1956 to 2005.  I recognized myself and others from '59 on page 2, in a total of five photos.
        After the brunch, all the honorees and the rest of us -- some '59ers, a few '60-to-'62ers, and a couple of people from some other years -- went outside to the back of the school.  Students and grown-ups were gathered on the bleachers for the warm-ups of the teams, who then went then back inside for their pep talks, I suppose, and who came back out later when announced.  Next, there was a short parade of very nicely designed and assembled banners, each about 6 x 8 feet, and one done by each class, 7th through 12th grades.  I think that there were prizes.  The theme was how the Falcons were going to beat the West Hempstead Rams. 
        Before the game started, the '58 honorees were called out onto the field to be cheered -- by the crowd, not by the cheerleaders, who were still inside in a hallway going over their program.  There were students with Homecoming Court sash-ribbons on.  The ribbon colors were red or white (Did you know that South colors are no longer red and gray, but red and white?)  There must have been recent grads who came to the game because there was a committee to welcome them home.  Only one fellow with a sash had come to the library to take those who wished to do so on a tour of the school.
        Homecoming must be like this every Fall.  There were no extra sashes to beg for, for souvenirs.  They each had to be signed out for the day and had to be returned.  Red T-shirts and sweatshirts were being sold at tables, but there were no paper streamer puffs on a stick, no noisemakers, and I didn't see any triangular pennants.
        I wore a red blouse over a white long-sleeved top, black slacks, my red coat, and a cream beret.  Alex wore a reddish dress shirt, black slacks, and his black jacket, as there was a stiff, cool breeze outside with the very bright sunshine.  We wanted to be loyal alums in color, anyway.
        We didn't stay for the kick-off.  Most all of us went back inside, to talk, so we didn't watch any plays.  But in our minds' eyes, maybe, we saw Charlie Angwin '58 make a 90-yard touchdown.  And we didn't  hear a favorite cheer from yesteryear:  "Rah Rah Ree, kick' em in the knee!  Rah Rah Rass, kick' em in the other knee!"  Also, do you recall "Push 'em back!  Push 'em back!  Waaaay back!"  Life was so simple then.
        The band looked sharp in black uniforms with a touch of color.  Its members were coming out from the school, a couple at a time, as we were walking back inside.  So we didn't hear them play "March, South High," which I hope they still do.
        The student body is now a racial and ethnic mix, which is quite gratifying in the modern world, but is indeed a eye-opener for those of us who attended an all-white school with the only black person being the endearing music teacher Booker Gibson.  He still attends alumni events -- he was there with us this day -- and he also plays piano at a few music spots on Long Island.  Several alumni gatherings have been focused around his playing.  Some have been publicized by e-mail messages that those of us who are members of the Alumni Association receive from Emily Kleinman Schreiber, and there is a calendar of activities our Alumni Association web site:  www.vsshs-alumni.org.
         If you are not already a member, please take a membership.  It's really reasonably priced, and the application form is on the web site.  You can also be a member for life for $100.  Alex and I are life members, and the web site lists about 38 other life members so far.
        Valley Stream, in some areas, is a bit overwhelming in this 21st century.  New owners of our homes have changed the landscaping around our former houses or have changed the outsides and the insides, too.  Many of us had returned to our roots before the 50th birthday party for South, in March, 2006, when people from many classes showed up.  We dared to go see our old homes, knock on the doors, and get invited in!
        On Homecoming Day, yesterday, we were again struck by the immense changes along the two main roads in town.  First, on the drive down Central Avenue from the Southern State, we saw few familiar buildings.  There were, still, the Everbest Bakery, at the upper end of Central Avenue, and the old Central Hardware store, just before Merrick Road.  What was very overwhelming was, on Merrick Road east and west of Central, the Queens County atmosphere -- store after store, shopping mini-mall after mini-mall, and gas station after gas station.  Colors, signs, people, cars, whew!   It was inevitable to have the sprawl spill over into our town, I suppose, as Valley Stream is the first town east of the city line.  Remember the shock of the new Green Acres Shopping Center?  In fifty years, merchandising on the main roads overshadows the familiar look and peace of residential neighborhoods of South's families.  Didn't our parents leave the city boroughs to come to Valley Stream for the very reason of finding less density, more trees, and to own their very own property?
        Besides the parks around the Municipal Building and by Central High School, the other oasis of calm in Valley Stream was Rockaway Avenue, the main street of the old town.  It was marked by more eateries, less gaudiness, too much quiet -- very few people out shopping there -- and one old, remembered place:  Mitchell's Ice Cream parlor.  The old town center is not dead, but there were empty storefronts.
        I recall that the shoe store we went to was there, where we stood on a platform and had a fluoroscope taken of our feet.  Can you remember your skeleton toes in the viewer?  Our butcher was there, too.  I still remember that, on every visit, my brother and I were offered a free slice of freshly made bologna.  The library was there, along with a bakery, a few bars -- I hated the smell that came out of the bars! -- and our bank.  They're all gone, or the buildings have been converted for other things.  In the 50s, I was allowed to walk the ten blocks to town, by myself, before I went to junior high, as safely as I had walked the ten blocks in the other direction to elementary school.  As we drove through town yesterday, I couldn't find landmarks for the places I once knew.  But in my mind, I could still see the jelly doughnuts we bought at our bakery, and the banana splits from Mitchell's.  Such yummy days of the past.
   
    Some other notes, first, from Bernie O'Brien:  Many thanks for all you have done in helping keep together many of the wonderful people who made South High School the best school that anyone could be associated with.  As I've said before, the twenty-four years I spent at South were the most rewarding of the forty I spent in public education.  There were so many intelligent, well-mannered, and respectful young people who made going to "work" a pleasure beyond words.  I get great joy, as the names of former students are mentioned, and feel proud and fortunate to have been associated with such great people.
        My best wishes to all of you and yours.
   
    From Fran Bellucci Johnson:  I keep forgetting to write.  I always say I'll get to it later.  Well, now it's later.
        I have a new grandson, Derek Johnathan, born September 11th.  My daughter Lesley and her husband Ted are really happy to have him.  His adoption became final on October 14th.
        Also, several artists in Wamego, where I live, have started a First Thursday Artwalk. In addition to showing work in their studios, local businesses are hosting artists with displays.  So far, we've been getting a good number of people, with more coming each month.  I've also been busy getting ready for holiday sales.  I’ll take a load of pots to a nearby art center shortly and will make more for them when they ask.
        Best to all.
   
    From Eric Hilton:  This is for Jay Berliner:  Jay, I didn’t know you well in South, but you mentioned something in the last newsletter that I must comment on.  At 13 years old, I was an astronomy/science lover, which is why fellow-science lover Allen Moss was such a special friend.  The one thing I have always wanted was a Unitron 6” refractor telescope, and for 48 years, I’ve kept the Unitron catalogue next to my first Playboy magazine.  Now that I hear you own Unitron, I am sitting at my computer in Florida, drooling -- which is normal for people in their 60s living in Florida, along with driving like hell, and eating lunch at 10:00 AM.  I am also green with envy that you own this company and might have a 6” refractor sitting around at home -- while I don’t.  So, should you have such an extra item around, where it’s just clogging your storage area, I would be more than happy to relieve you of this eye sore.  Kindest regards.
   
    From Jerry Bittman:  I would like to congratulate Jay Berliner. Number one, it sounds as if you have been blessed with a wonderful family. Number two, I can define you as a champion.  I remember almost 40 years ago I defined a champion to a guy named Joe Roman.  Joe was a heavyweight boxer who fought for me and had a title shot against George Foreman in Tokyo.  A champion, Jay, is somebody who gets up off the canvas and wins the fight.  After your setback in the early 80s, you proved to everybody that you are a champion.
        P. S. Joe made a slight error when he fought Foreman.  When the ref called the fighters out to the middle of the ring for instructions, Joe, who was about six inches shorter than Foreman, looked up at him and spat in his face.  I can still recollect my first thought.  I said to myself, "Oh Joe, you're dead."  Foreman was so teed-off that when he knocked Joe down in the first round and Joe had his back on the bottom rope, Foreman continued to hit him.
        On a personal note, I would like to announce that my daughter Abby got engaged last weekend.  She and Nate are planning a November wedding and then want to move to Colorado.  My other daughter Katie works in a hospital in Boulder, Colorado.  Katie and Aaron are also planning to wed next year.
   
    [Rich -- There are a couple more notes, but I don't want to make this so long it gets routed to your spam folders again.  So we'll continue next week.]