Update 5-15-07

Hi,

First, the final count on the Tampio/Gibson scholarships:  I'm waiting for a check that will complete the funding for this year.  We'll have $515 for the scholarship honoring Vince, and $503 for the one honoring Booker.  Thanks to everyone.
   
    And, right on schedule, the announcement from South's Liz King Giordano:  The awards committee has chosen the following students for the 2007 scholarships:  The Vince Tampio Theater Award will go to Andrew Karp.  The Booker Gibson Music Award will go to Peter Olson.  I look forward to seeing Linda Kettering and Booker Gibson present the awards on June 6, 2007.  Everyone is welcome.  Meanwhile, best regards to all.
   
    Other notes:
   
    From Peter Rosen to Allen Moss:  Shore's was in Hewlett, across the street from the strip of shops that had Wall's, a drug store, and a great sporting goods store.  I can't seem to picture the diner in Gibson, but if there was one there, I'm sure we used to go.
        To Hy Rosov:  I think of you often.  You probably don't remember this, but on our last day of school, you gave me a bunch of action sports photos taken over the years, which never made it into the yearbooks.  To this day, they are framed and scattered through my house.  They mean a lot to me, so in case I never gave you a proper thank you, hopefully, you will accept it now.
   
    From Betsy Fels Pottruck to Allen Moss:  Shore's was the somewhat large restaurant near the train tracks in Hewlett.  It was on Broadway near Wall's Bakery, the China Jade Restaurant, and the Windmill grocery store.  It had great hamburgers and French fries.
   
    From Tom Romano to Allen Moss:  I definitely remember the surprise birthday party we had for Mrs. Ward. Yes, she passionately loved the color purple.  Although I could be mistaken, I believe her husband bought her a purple Cadillac, or perhaps that was a fantasy she shared with the class.  I fondly remember Mrs. Patraglia and Mrs. Endicott.  Do you remember our second-grade teacher, Miss Tolhurst?  If I remember correctly, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Brooklyn Avenue School during the fifth grade.  I guess that means the 100th anniversary can't be too far off.
   
    From Marc Jonas, responding to "something must have triggered the spam filters":  All that sex talk, no doubt.
   
    From Linda Cohen Greenseid:  Aren't the updates more fun lately?
   
    From Robert Fiveson:  All these kissing remembrances bring back an especially sweet moment at South for me.  A certain very pretty girl and I had a never-to-be-forgotten moment in the kitchen.  Purity outlasts time itself.  As Nature abhors a vacuum, so too must Love demand closure.  She knows who she is, and I know why it had to happen.  It reminds me of my most favorite quote from James Joyce:  "The pleasures of Love last but a fleeting, but the pledges of Life outlust a lifetime."
   
    From Eric Hilton:  I remember playing with Diane Fruzzetti and kissing her under the Brooklyn Avenue monkey bars in third grade.  Even back then she was a hot chick, who became a beautiful young girl after South.
        Jean, you once reminded me of kissing you in third grade, which for some reason is a blurry memory. What I think I remembered most was kissing you at Mario’s home in his closet (or did I kiss Mario in your closet?)  Either way, it was very nice kiss.
        I also remember you at my bar mitzvah, and your giving me a brown, leather-bound dictionary but never teaching me how to use it.  After the Navy, in 1970, we ran into each other in Valley Stream, and I kissed you for the last time in my life, on your mother’s front step and in my brother’s van.  I remember that kiss fondly but was disillusioned when you told me you were not living in New York.
        Allen, I think I remember Mrs. Ward's surprise party and her inviting us to her home, along with Miss Gear the music teacher and her sister.  One of the most life-changing experiences I encountered was when Brooklyn Avenue School was sending the fifth grade class to a sleep-away camp in the woods.  Due to the fact I was still wetting the bed, my mother and Mrs. Ward said I couldn’t go.  I was so embarrassed that all of my friends were going and not me, so, from that night on, I stopped wetting the bed for almost 48 years.  Now, at 60, I wet the bed again.  Go figure.
        Evelyn Roedel Read, that was a terrible thing to do to your brother.  I know, because my sister, Betty Ellen Hilton, one of the toughest kids in South, use to scare me.  She would hide under my bed or in the closet and make weird noises or scratching sounds on the closet door.  She even told me the butterflies were going to get me.  So now, I’m traumatized for life.
        Valley Stream was truly a wonderful place to grow up, and the students from South bring back such great memories.  Thanks to all of you.
   
    From Gayle Ulrich:  I moved to Valley Stream in fourth grade, and Bonnie Black was one of my friends. Remember Mrs. Ward's parties at her home, and her passion for purple and dressing like a fireman?  Was that for Halloween?  Paul, I also had my wedding reception at Cooky's downstairs.  Now, I am craving the chocolate made and sold on Rockaway Avenue.
    From Barney Zinger, requesting Hy Rosov's e-mail address:  I wrote him last year, but he probably didn't believe it was me because all the words were spelled right.
   
    From  Jean Cohen Oklan to Paul Zegler:  Thanks for solving a mystery.  I knew I was at a party and ended up in a closet, but I couldn't for the life of me remember who I was kissing.   And didn't you make the description of that event hot?  I wanted to read more, but, alas, we were only in the sixth grade, and back in those days, we acted like we were in the sixth grade.
        Tom Romano, thanks for the sweet compliment.
        Also, would you please delete my bio and just keep my name and e-mail address on the class home page?  My bio is so outdated, it bothers me to know that it's there.  My dog is dead, the job I had listed is gone, and my son has outgrown the paragraph.  Thanks a bunch.
   
    [Rich -- We really should do something about updating our bios.  Though they do keep us five years younger.]
   
    From Evelyn Roedel Read:  We moved to 64 Gibson Boulevard, which is now an apartment building, on May 1, 1950.  We had been living in Queens and going to P.S. 100.  My younger brother Walter and I attended the Brooklyn Avenue. School.  Mrs. Picon was my third grade teacher.  In fourth, I had Miss (Mrs.?) Davis, and I recall going to her house for a hot dog party.  Mrs. Eula Smith was my fifth grade teacher.  When taking a test, we were allowed to bring the test up to her desk when we were finished.  I held on to mine to the bitter end -- God forbid I turn it in and then remember something and not be able to get the test back.  I thought that checking my work was commendable, but Mrs. Smith reported to my mother that I always procrastinated and was the last one done.  In sixth grade, I had Florence Dibble.  For some reason, I seem to remember that she was related to Mrs. Ward (sisters-in-law?).  I never had Mrs. Ward, but I do remember her reputation for loving purple.
         I don't remember making out in class or the boys even being interested, but I do remember playing Hide and Seek in the woods along Gibson Boulevard, before houses were built.  The girls would hide, and the boys would look for them.  Whenever a boy found a girl, they had to kiss.  Then the boys hid.  Once, I stepped on a yellow jacket nest and came home with about 15 stings.
        My friends were from St. Mary's.  Usually, I walked home for lunch, but on occasion, I was allowed to eat in the cafeteria.  I remember their peanut butter fudge.  I had a crush on Ritchie Malchow.  He would pass me by on his bike on the way back to school after lunch and offer me a bite of his dill pickle.  Every time I eat one of them, I think of him.
         Was Miss Hauk (spelling?) the music teacher?  Was Mr. Snyder and/or Mr. Gibbons the principal?  I remember the music teacher letting us choose the songs to sing, and my favorite was Red River Valley.  In the gym one year, we made ourselves into mares (two people -- one the head end and one the tail end, covered with a blanket) and did a dance to "The Old Gray Mare."  We also marched like soldiers and formed patterns, crisscrossing lines.  Is the Brooklyn Avenue School still operating?
         I have to agree with Emily Kleinman Schreiber -- I, too, have always felt like a kid.  My mind is a very playful spirit.  Unfortunately, it's stuck in the body of a 104 year old.  I never had trouble crossing into the next decade of age -- 30 years, 40, 50, and even 60 -- but last December 1st, I had a doctor's appointment and had to give them a Medicare card with my name on it (I was 65 on December 24th).  Here it is, May, and I am still not over it.  When I was a kid, someone 65 was elderly -- very elderly.
        Yes, Emily, those early years were warm and fuzzy.  These memories bring me back there.  Besides, all this brain searching is good therapy.  The mind is a wonderful thing -- use it or lose it.  It seems to me my husband said that about something else.
   
    Finally, the core of a public service announcement, forwarded by Andy Dolich, originally from Ira Silverman '67:  We are now in the midst of planning our South High School class's 40th Anniversary Reunion, to be held this summer on Long Island, and it is such a kick to be back in touch with so many great people.  I can use all your help on another important project with which I am involved.  Might you have a piece of memorabilia or a collectible that you could donate to the Silent Auction at the June 7, 2007, National Father of the Year luncheon in New York?  This benefits the Save The Children organization.  For anything the National Father's Day Committee brings to the Silent Auction, Save The Children receives 100% of the selling price.  If you have something to donate, please call me at:  516-495-5280
        The National Father’s Day Committee is part of the Father’s Day / Mother’s Day Council, a not-for-profit, non-commercial organization that strives to heighten the meaning and observance of Father’s Day, while at the same time raises funds for philanthropic purposes.  The National Father’s Day Committee has organized and produced the annual Father of the Year awards luncheon for the past 65 years as a means of honoring deserving fathers of high accomplishment in their chosen fields who have also exhibited enormous achievement as parents.  This year's honorees include:  General George W. Casey, Jr., Tom Glavine, Hulk Hogan, Allen Sirkin, and Harry K. Smith.