Update 3-14-06

Hey,

Half the notes from South's March 11th 50th Anniversary Celebration, pretty much in the order they came.  The other half next week.

First, from Joanne Shapiro Polner '59:  We had a very, very pleasant time socializing and hanging out at South High School today. There weren't many people from my husband Alex's class and mine, '58 and '59, but as the afternoon proceeded, we found more familiar schoolmates than we had expected, particularly in the classes graduating just after us.  However, a very important part of the day actually came before we reached our high school:  seeing and visiting our former houses and neighborhoods.  Not just the two of us from '58 and '59, but other alums as well made small pilgrimages.  We needed to go by our old houses and neighborhoods before we came to South.  We needed to visit inside our former homes.  One person said she just knocked on the door and was welcomed in. 
         I had spoken with the owner of my old house a month ago, but when we got there, he was not home.  His wife welcomed us in, and we walked all through the house.  I had expected to share with the owner, a man in the construction trades, 1947 photos of my house during the framing stage. The wife and one of her four children looked at them instead.  My maternal grandfather had built four houses in Valley Stream between Clearstream Avenue School and Bucknell (one block in from Central, just north of Valley Stream Boulevard).  We lived on the corner at Hamilton Avenue and Bucknell, there's a house on South Montgomery (not for family), my grandparents' own home on South Montague, and my uncle's was on Terrace Place.  Not family homes, now.  I photographed all today as well as former homes of neighbor/classmates on both sides of Valley Stream Boulevard.
        Then we went to Alex's neighborhood and home in Green Acres/Millbrook and met the very young wife/owner.  She apologized for not asking us in, for they were renovating (you could see a work truck outside and someone working inside).  We asked to walk around the back.  An extension on the house had cut the backyard space in half -- and all the lots are so small to start with.  Sadly, at my house, much of the grounds have been cemented over on the south side for parking (no more woodpile, no more digging area for toy trucks and, later, penknife wielding players of Property), and around the house, next to the house, a walkway was made.  (No more gorgeous azaleas.)
         My grandfather's homes have a distinctive style: all brick first floor walls with white shingles on the upper level (which has several triangular-design facades).  Always a brick stoop with inlaid flagstone.  Sturdy, neat looking, enduring.  I liked my house a hundred times better when there were two-hundred-year-old trees in the yard and lots of grass.  Oh, well, you know you're not supposed to go back and look.  But after spotting changes visible in the barely discernible views on the Google Earth website, I had already suffered the shock, and it was okay to challenge myself with the actual return.
         We also drove to Clearstream Avenue School in the morning, and after the South open house, to Central High School where I took a picture in the late afternoon sun.  I didn't take a picture of South.  Isn't that funny?  But I can look in my yearbook any time.
         My good friend Gary S. from my graduation year also went to see his house and neighborhood.  We spent all our time in Gary's company at the high school.  He was very happy he had come up, traveling two-and-a-half-hours, but it made my day.  And Alex and I received a nice note from him upon his return to Pennsylvania.  We met five other men from my class:  Alan H. and his wife Fredda ('60); Fred H. and his wife Rose ('60); William S. and his wife Lynn ('62); Arnold T.; and James C.  We also met Sheila H. from '59.  There were Cindy R. '58 and her classmate Frank L. as well as others from '58.  We talked with Amy Miller ('63) and her husband and a few others in different classes, saying hi to many at the library lunch buffet and being surprised with the number of people we recognized -- or thought we did.
         Wait a minute?  Eat in the library?  Yes, at library tables and also on white-covered book stacks.  It was just like we were grazing at a cocktail party, standing at those little round tables, looking across at people from our past.  This certainly one-ups Barnes & Noble which limits you to one corner with your book and coffee.
         At the preceding ceremonial time, midday, Mr. Saffrin, Mr. O'Brien, and Mr. Gibson were in attendance and received ovations.  People cheered the mention of Miss Hoogenboom's name, and we began to whisper among ourselves some other hallowed names.  With help from the student chorus' printed pages, some of us sang the alma mater, Valiant Falcons, written by Bob Leist, who left South to work at Princeton University after graduating with us from Clearstream to Memorial, then from Central to South.  Paintings and a rededication plaque were revealed.  A past principal spoke, as did the Superintendent of Schools and the president of the Board of Education. The principal himself was impressive.  People spoke about the commencement of the school back in '55, the values underlying the mission of good education in a supportive and open-minded environment, and the well-praised staff that has continued to uphold the values. 
         Emily Kleinman Schreiber received cheers and whistles for her memories speech with biology notebooks in hand (I had Mr. Saffrin sign mine again back in 2003), and for her part in bringing the alumni association to new life.  I think the alumni board also stood up for recognition.  Alums in the bleachers were asked to stand as various graduation years were named.  We weren't ten thousand strong as fifty years would make, but the seventy-five or so at the time of the ceremonies made for a good number of happy alums in the very crowded bleachers.  Many grads were out in the hallways in conversation or would show up later in the afternoon. 
         At concert time after lunch, the auditorium was filled with visitors, and current students rounded out the number of participants for the day.  Some grads were just signing in, some signing up for alumni association membership, and some were buying mugs with logos and the South values printed on the side.  On my contributed page in the memories booklet, I spoke of my being one of the principle characters in my senior class play The Innocents.  I apologize for the error that spell-check cannot see, but, indeed, Miss Giddens was a very principled governess.  When I stepped into the back of the darkened auditorium at concert time, I was instantly, emotionally, returned to that principle character of the play, about to walk the length of the auditorium to startle the audience as she comes out of the darkness and steps up to the stage.  (Mr. Elliott knew how to stage a drama!)  "It's beautiful!" I say. "It's all so beautiful."  And so was our day in Valley Stream at the 50th Anniversary party.
   
    Initial thoughts from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  Too exhausted and deep in thought to put this day into short words.  Many new, now-familiar again faces, and friends.  Great emotion and considerable feelings and extremes felt by all.  Mr. Gibson received a long-overdue standing ovation that brought him to tears.  That allowed the three-hundred plus, former kids to share the same feelings.  By the end of Valiant Falcons, even  our former varsity team was teary.
        I cut the concert to take my anticipated tour of Green Acres/Milbrook, and that was just weird.  To borrow and paraphrase, I was certainly not in Kansas anymore, and definitely not in the Green Acres I remembered.  It mainly looked tired, small, and not as pretty as I recalled.  Still, I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to be part of this day.  But more so to know that we all have a wonderful shared history.  It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to keep in my heart and mind.  Aw, heck, here come the tears again.
   
    A follow-up from Barbara:  It's Sunday, and here I am some forty years later, still cramming my homework in before it gets to be too late.  As the expression goes, "Everything old is new again," and that's how I can best sum up yesterday's rededication of South.  So much to say, but I will try to offer some of the highlights.
        Entering from the Gladys Street side of the school, through the last doors I walked out of to our graduation processional, I noticed the green tiled walls and speckled terrazzo floor were as remembered.  But it all ended there.  Our beloved green -- who can we stuff in there? -- lockers are gone, replaced by ones of South red.  Central reportedly has blue and North green.  These single door, three-quarter height metal lockers bring an odd, all-year-round Christmassy look to the halls.  Red and white crepe paper and assorted bilingual posters covered the walls to the ceiling, partly for a school-wide language project, and partly for the celebration.  But a number of the signs seemed permanent, commemorating fifty years of South.  The old "new" wing in the front of the building has been converted from the English classrooms we knew to the new library, while the old library on the third floor is now a resource center, sectioned off to a smaller room, but with the same double library doors intact.  Other changes:  the principal's office is in the old guidance area, now marked Dean.  Sen-Jun hall is now the wrestling room.  The wrestling room is now the weight room.  The South Hall cafeteria wall tables are gone, but the rectangular openings are still  there, covered by wood, and unquestioned by the current diners.  The shop classrooms have been converted for domestic engineering classes.  The wooden bleachers in the gym have been replaced by bleachers with a kind of rubber mat seating and side and hand safety rails.  Oddly, not many of us former kids opted to descend the hurdles of the bleachers, but willingly waited for the rows to empty so we could use the safer side steps.  Some time shortly after we graduated, Madge Hoelsmith married and became the principal during the 1971-72 school year, at least according to the South 50th Anniversary DVD.  I glued my eyes open at 11:00 PM to watch the best ten dollars I ever spent, though little did I know that it was a two-hour, full-length feature.  I wudda made popcorn.  Still, it was brilliantly done, and not just because I had four cameos from my 40th Reunion interview last August.  Overall, the documentary is a plethora  of school pics, trends, memories, trivia and fun facts.  Much of the hard copy and clip art photos are from our year book.  Did you know that a disgruntled student molotov-cocktailed the school back in the early 70's and did extensive fire damage to three floors?  All because the school would not let him eat in the senior cafeteria.  Now there's a hungry kid.
        The last thing I did was take a side trip on my own up to the third floor to stop at the back windows facing Green Acres.  I met up with a very recent grad from the class of 2002 and noted that before the trees grew in, I could sit in my old homeroom, 313, and see the Empire State Building.  She sadly responded that when she was in school, they were able to see the planes hit the World Trade Center from the same windows.  And so it goes.
   
    A final note from Barbara:  Some great news and some sad news.  The good, from Grace Dibble Kincade.  Her latest catscan came back with the very promising signs that she is responding to chemo, and her nodes are playing nicely with others.  Some have even become undetectable, a major step towards recovery, so the celebrations have begun at the Kincade house.
        On a less pleasant note, as I was leaving Florida on Friday, I opened my daily paper in the airport and read that Stu Kandel's dad had passed away.  Apparently, he had moved to Miami in the late 60's.  My best to Stu, his sister Marsha, and his brother Neil.
   
    [Rich  -- All our best, actually, Stu.  And I hope your father had a good, long life.}
   
    From Paul DeMartino:  I'm happy to tell you that the party was excellent, even better than we all expected.  We estimated about 250 attendees, mostly from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Dr. Lando, the current principal, officiated and introduced local politicians and school officials.  Mr. Bergen's granddaughter was there to talk about her grandfather and unveil a painting of how South looked back when it opened in 1955.  Emily Kleinman Schreiber also spoke about the alumni association and shared her memories of South.  Christine Cutting, a former principal, spoke of teaching at South and being hired as one of the first female science teachers.  She also spoke warmly of Mr. Gibson, as did almost all the speakers, and he was visibly moved throughout the ceremony.  We did the Pledge of Allegiance, sang the National Anthem and, of course, Valiant Falcons, accompanied by the school band and wind ensemble.  Following this, we all went outside by the main entrance for a rededication ceremony and ribbon cutting.  A plaque commemorating the event will be placed next to the original plaque from the 1955 dedication.  The alumni luncheon was held in the "new" (to us) school library on the first floor and gave everyone a chance to mingle. My two sisters, from the classes of ' 67 and ' 77, attended and saw several of their former classmates and teachers. I  saw lots of laughing and also some tears throughout the day.  Plus, there was entertainment in South Hall provided by Mr. Gibson and Rich Myron from the class of ' 70.  Myron, by the way, had flown in from Paris for the event!
        The alumni association gained seventy-five new members, and we sold over one hundred coffee mugs with the new alumni association logo.  By the way, if anyone wishes to join, they should send me their e-mail address, and I'll get an application out to them.  We can also send out the coffee mugs, though we haven't determined the shipping and handling cost yet.  The mugs were five dollars, so I assume the shipping and handling should add on a few dollars more.  After the official party, a large group from several classes went to Goldie's in Gibson for drinks and some of us stayed for dinner.  Everyone who attended really enjoyed it.
   
    Finally, a note from Booker Gibson:  It was even better than I expected.  When the first big event started in the gym, a man asked for alumni from different years to stand.  About ten people stood for the 1958-60 block.  When he asked for the 1961-65 years, a huge group stood up, waving madly.  The years 1966-70 did about as well.  Then he did the entire decade of the 1970s with a pretty good turnout.  The decade of the '80s was much slimmer and there were only about one or two people after that.  I guess the youngest students are still too young to return.
        When Emily Kleinman Schreiber '61 began her alumni association speech, she mentioned Mr. Bergen's "courage" in hiring Booker Gibson.  This started some prolonged and standing applause from faculty and alumni.  I have to mention this because I was reduced to some tears, though fortunately my wife had told me to bring some Kleenex.  I was happy but relieved when that part was over, and off we went to the library for brunch.  During all of this, people were hugging and kissing and just plain shaking hands.  This went on all day.  So many people had cameras, so a lot of photos should be appearing soon.
        The entertainment session also went better that I'd expected with about six singers interspersed with instrumental performances.  I may have told you that Richard Myron from the class of '73 flew over from Paris, where he teaches at the Paris Conservatory.  He used a school string bass and  played a couple numbers with me, then even joined in with one of the singers on a bebop tune.  He is phenomenal!
        Bette Hansen Silver '64 was the closest one to a member of your class to participate.  She offered to do almost anything, and we settled on her bringing her barbershop quartet.  The night before, one of the other lady singers took really sick, so they did a great job with just three.
        Overall, the audience was very receptive to any and everything.  It kind of shows my age when I hear modern audiences scream for applause, but at least they did wait until the conclusion.  I left after about 5:00 PM, when one or two big rock bands were starting, and people were screaming constantly.  All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and it was all filmed for a future DVD.  So that way, you'll be able to see and hear many of your friends.