Update 11-17-09

Hi,

In the sixties, we had Gerry and the Pacemakers.  Today, we have Jerry and the Pacemakers.
        Jerry Bittman just had his pacemaker replaced, and he's not particularly pleased about it.  He was sunning in Phoenix, looking for someplace warm to retire, when he and his faulty heart device were recalled to shivery Nebraska, where he's now recovering from last Friday's operation.
        To speed his recovery, you might want to send him good wishes -- an electronic card or simply an
    e-mail message -- at:  crazygeronimo@yahoo.com  Or you could bypass formalities, pick up the phone, and call Jerry at:  914-610-1513.  Either way, he'll probably be happy to hear from you.
   
    A note from Terry Shields.  Hi.  I enjoy getting the newsletter very much, but I'm changing my e-mail address.  Would you please update it to:  terrence.shields@symxy.com  Thanks.
   
    Another note about keeping in touch, this time a suggestion from someone outside our class:  Could you ask everyone in your class who's using Facebook to become "friends" with all the other people listed in your class?  It not only helps people stay in contact; it leads people searching on an uncommon name like  Acquasanta to people with more common names like Brown.
        Also, please remind people to check the other Valley Stream South pages on Facebook.  There's one for the high school, one for the Alumni Association, and pages for particular classes, like yours.
   
    The latest Entertainment in LA news from Amy Lieberman:
        Billy Valentine with Off The Hook.  Friday, November 20th, 10 PM -- 1 AM.  Good ol'  R & B and dancing in the aisles -- literally.  Reservations required for a table.  Cafe Cordiale, 14015 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks  91423.  818-789-1985
         And looking ahead:  Billy Valentine and the Stuart Elster Trio.  Thursday, December 31st -- New Year's Eve.  9 PM -- 1 AM.  Standards and more.  Shutters By The Beach, 1 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica  90405.  310-458-0030
   
    Robert Fiveson sent something historical, passed on to him though not originated by Jay Tuerk.  Here's a small part of it:
        Irena Sendler recently died at ninety-eight.  During WW II, Sendler got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist, but she had an ulterior motive.  Being German, she suspected what the Nazis' plans were for the Jews, so she smuggled infants out of the ghetto in the bottom of the tool box she carried.  She also carried a burlap sack in the back of her truck for larger kids.  And she had a dog traveling with her that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the Ghetto.  The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog, so they stayed away from it, and the barking covered the kids' and infants' noises.
        During her time doing this, Sendler managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children.  She was eventually caught and severely beaten, but she survived.  She also kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and hid it safely in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard.  After the war, she tried to locate any parents who may have survived, to reunite them with their children, but, unfortunately, many of the parents had died.  Still, Sendler helped many of the children she saved get adopted or be placed in foster homes.
   
    Some further reunion correspondence:
   
    Allen Moss in Maine again.  It would be nice to have the reunion somewhere closer to Valley Stream than Hauppauge.  That was a bit isolated, but the accommodations were certainly very nice.  Still, Hauppauge would be fine by me, and so would the Huntington Hilton that Robin Feit, Paul DeMartino, and Dennis Shapiro nicely found for our 40th reunion.
        Also, hi, Terri!
   
    Similarly, from Roz Minsky Bobrow Hahn:  A reunion on Long Island sounds good to me.  Hauppauge is also near to the Islip airport, for anyone flying in.  My vote is for Hauppauge, and for spring, rather than summer.
   
    And from Neil Guberman:  I'm feeling a Long Island reunion is always best, just 'cause it makes the old stomping grounds available as part of the fun.  It's very enjoyable to get together in mini-reunions wherever they happen to occur, but for milestones like a 45th or a 50th for sure, where, hopefully, more than a small number of people might be coming, being close to "home" seems best to me.
        Hope all is well with everyone.  Take care.
   
    [Rich -- Yep, I flew into the Islip Airport for our 37th reunion, and it was an easier flight than to JFK. LaGuardia, or Newark.
        I also just did some quick, long distance research on hotels and motels in the Valley Stream area.  Just from their names, some of these places don't seem like spots you'd even want to stop in to ask directions, but who can really tell from the Internet?  If anyone knows more about any of these places, please let the rest of us know.
        Meanwhile, Friday, July 9th through Sunday, July 11th or Friday, July 16th through Sunday, July 18th still seem possible.  Or Friday, June 18th through Sunday, June 20th if we're trying to slip in at the end of spring, though I'm not sure a date that late is exactly what Roz means.  And I'm thinking a Friday night get-together, either at the pizza place in Lynbrook that Eric Hilton favors or the pub where Booker Gibson plays.  And a Saturday night dinner at a local restaurant that can hold us all, perhaps in a private dining room.  And Saturday and Sunday breakfasts and lunches wherever people find to gather -- maybe in places like Goldie's or a picnic at the site of Molly and Leo's.
        Here are those hotels and motels:
   
    Sunrise Auto Inn
    270 W Sunrise Hwy
    Valley Stream, NY 11581
   
    Stumblin Inn
    371 Rockaway Ave
    Valley Stream, NY 11581
   
    Red Roof Inn Long Island
    699 Dibblee Drive
    Westbury, NY 11590
   
    Marriott Long Island Hotel And Conference Center
    101 James Doolittle Boulevard
    Uniondale, NY 11553
   
    Wingate Inn - Garden City
    821 Stewart Avenue
    Garden City, NY 11530
   
    Anchor Motor Inn
    215-34 Northern Blvd.
    Bayside, NY 11361
   
    Ramada Inn Adria And Conference Center
    220-33 Northern Boulevard
    Bayside, NY 11361
   
    Econo Lodge Ozone Park
    113-18 Rockaway Blvd
    Ozone Park, NY 11420
   
    The Garden City Hotel
    45 Seventh Street
    Garden City, NY 11530
   
    Floral Park Motor Lodge
    30 Jericho Turnpike
    Floral Park, NY 11001
   
    Five Towns Motor Inn
    655 Rockaway Turnpike
    Lawrence, NY
   
    Best Western Mill River Manor
    173 Sunrise Highway
    Rockville Centre, NY]
   
    Finally, the dog that kept Tom and me on track for the past dozen years died, prematurely, last Thursday.  She was twelve-and-a-half and had, literally, been off her feed for the past couple of months, but we thought it had something to do with aging.  Unfortunately, it was more serious.
        The dog was named by Tom's then three-year-old neighbor, Emma, who said, "This puppy's soooo fluffy."  But because I'm stupidly conservative, I mostly referred to her as "the dog."  Still, she remained soft, gentle, and Fluffy to the end.
   
    The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com
   
    The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65
   
   
    Rich