Update 5-22-07

Hello,

This week's all G-rated mail:

Hi, folks -- Moss in Maine again.  Thanks to Pete Rosen, Betsy Fels Pottuck, Tom Romano, and Eric Hilton for responses.  Tom and Eric, you are absolutely right about Mrs. Ward’s purple Cadillac and her invitations for parties at her house.  I forgot about those and the wonderful Miss Gear, with her little round tonal harmonica that she used to start off every sing-along in class.  And Eric’s reminder about our week in Pawling, New York, at the sleep-away camp in fifth grade was great.  Wow, those memories came tumbling back.  I remember it was in the fall, and the weather was beautiful.  The leaves were turning colors and the mornings were nicely chilly.  One of my bunkmates was Ziggy but I can’t remember who else was in there.  I do, however, remember us telling each other ghost stories before we went to bed, and it scared the hell out of me.  Jean Cohen Oklan and I have been chatting recently by e-mail about our passion for collecting.  It is so great to be reconnected with Jean and all of you.  I had another recollection about an eating place -- the White Castle, underneath the Lynbrook elevated Long Island Railroad station, right off Sunrise Highway.  Greg Kaplan and I used to take late night trips there in his huge green Buick and gorge ourselves on the famous “belly busters.”  Also, I think there was a Carvel on Sunrise Highway somewhere along that route because I remember stopping there periodically for one of their “Flying Saucers” --  vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two round chocolate cakes.  Ooooeeeeee!   And for any of the childhood aquarium hobbyists:  do you remember Ed’s Tropical Aquarium, right off Sunrise Highway?  What a great place.  It was always so dark in there so the lighted tanks could show off the fish and frogs.  My dad and I used to go in to get African Aquatic Frogs to add to my collections of all sorts of reptiles and amphibians.  Amazing how tolerant my folks were with all those creepy crawlies, but I loved taking care of them.  Hey, I’m ready for another reunion after reading the newsletter these last few weeks.  I'd love to see all of you in person again, or for the first time.
   
    From Linda Cohen Greenseid, answers to a few questions:  First, to Gayle Ulrich:  I believe the chocolate place you are speaking of is Itgen's, where we still go for ice cream.  Across the street is Ancona, where they make the best pizza and eggplant parmigiano in the United States.
        Next, to Evelyn Roedel Read:  Yes, Brooklyn Avenue School is still very much in existence, but Donohue School was closed.  Brooklyn, Buck, and Carbonaro are all in operation.  Speaking of Buck, the oldest of my grandsons will be attending kindergarten there in September.  He will be the third generation of our family to attend Buck.  I wonder how many multi-generation families are in the district.  Families are so spread out across the country these days that it doesn't seem there would be too many.  I moved a short distance to Lido Beach, and my son is in Los Angeles, but my daughter settled in Lynbrook in District 24.  She knows a few people in her neighborhood who she met at South, and their children will be, or already are, at Buck.  And so it goes on.
   
    From Barbara Blitfield Pech:  Eek... how many Eula Smith's can there be?  I had her -- or rather she had me -- for lunch, chewed up and spit out, in the fifth grade at Harbor Road School.  And so returns the lifelong belly cramp, just hearing the name Eula Smith again.  Pardon my opinion, but she was a mean, mean, mean person, or, at the very least, not an effective or particularly caring person.  I was rewarded by pardon and promotion to the sixth grade with dear Mrs. Lindroth.  I also remember going to Holiday Hills, the Pawling nature camp, with the sixth grade from Harbor Road and another school in the district.  Beds must have been a big issue because Irene Saunders gently reminded me how awful she felt when I was singled out and yelled at for not making my bed properly.  Thank god it was just sloppy.  I can't imagine what else would have been said if it was wet, too.  Jeez, how did we all turn out normal, with such "warm and fuzzy" teacher memories?
   
    Also from Barbara:  I need a small favor.  One of my choir partners came into practice this evening just glowing over her recently-discovered music of Eva Cassidy.  I remember reading many references and exchanged conversations about her in past update pages, and I would like to share the pages with my choir mate.  Of course, I realize that you don't have the weekly topics cross-referenced or filed accordingly, but if you happen to remember approximately how far back some issue dates were for me to search through, it would be tres cool.
   
    [Rich -- as I wrote Barbara:  I don't really have much sense as to exactly how far back those newsletters were.  I think they were around 2004, but I wouldn't bet on it.  If that's the case, it means they're unfortunately in the batch of updates that was lost off the home page.  Still, Booker Gibson is our expert on Eva Cassidy and the reason the discussion began, so I'd write him for information.  Though if anyone else has information about Eva Cassidy, please send it to Barbara.]
   
    Meanwhile, Barbara answered:  Wow, was it really as far back as 2004?  Then again, that's kind of good news because at least it means my recent memory time span is getting closer to real time, rather than focusing on the usual thirty years ago.  I will follow up with Booker Gibson.  Thanks.
   
    From Jean Cohen Oklan, regarding Tom Romano's question on the 100th anniversary of Brooklyn Avenue:  Mrs. Ward gave our class an assignment to write a song celebrating the 50th anniversary, with a winner being chosen to receive a $25 bond.  I remember my dad being very excited about this assignment and his wanting to help me, but everything he wrote was so darn corny, it was embarrassing.  I handed in the assignment, telling Mrs. Ward that my dad and I had written the song together.  Still, I won the $25 bond and cashed it when I was 21.  Our fifth grade class sang the song at an assembly, and I bet I'm the only one who remembers that darn song.  I know I have the newspaper article with the 50th anniversary date somewhere deep in the back of my closet.  I will send the song to Brooklyn Avenue, hoping we haven't missed the big 100th anniversary, and pass on their response to you.  You know, we might all be invited to sing the song again at assembly.  Oy vey!
        Eric Hilton mentioned the sleep-away camp we Brooklyn Avenue kids attended for a weekend.  This was the first time I took a walk in the woods and got hooked on nature.  Now I own 91 acres and can take walks in the woods whenever I want.  The photos I sent in to the reunion website a couple years ago are from that weekend camping trip.  Since we didn't know about coed rooming back then, I only have pictures of the girls.  But do check out the sultry eyes of sexy sixth-grader Diane Fruzzetti.  Hi Diane!
   
    From for Margaret (Peggy Grubmeyer) (Greta) Holbrook:  Please note that my new e-mail address is: MGHolbrook@gmail.com
   
    Finally, highlights from the minutes of the March 15th Alumni Association meeting, respectfully submitted by Roberta Brill Birnel:  President Emily Kleinman Schreiber called tonight's meeting to order.  In the absence of Dennis Shapiro, she also presented the Treasurer’s report.  We have $4,567.34 in our treasury with 314 members.
        The following members were present at the meeting:  Roberta Brill Birnel, Paul DeMartino,  Booker Gibson, Karen Grimm, Freda Schiff Harris, Eileen Howell, Irwin Kotcher, Edie Mandel, Claire Brush Reinhardt, Emily Kleinman Schreiber, Eric Spinner, and Irene Sundal.
        It was announced that on April 11th, Stephen Lando will give the Association scholarship committee the student applications to rank before the final decision is made.  The school board approved our criteria at their last meeting.  Irwin Kotcher asked that Emily restate our criteria.  It should be noted that Association member Ken Ulric has expressed “displeasure at any action that doesn't give us sole right to determine the winner.”  South High staff members rotate to form the scholarship committee.
        There has been some progress on an Association web page. Stephen Lando has said it can be linked to South’s page.  Emily also learned that Stephen Lando has located our original incorporation papers and the name of the attorney.  However, should we decide to replace our seal, it would cost $90.
        The minutes from the January 18th meeting were addended by Emily.  Money for the Veteran's organization was not taken out of our treasury.  We voted unanimously to raise the money.  Eileen Howell proposed that Association money be donated only for scholarships in the future.  We can, however, facilitate fundraising.  Irwin Kotcher proposed that, as a general rule, requests for Association funds by outside people or organizations be discussed and tabled until the next meeting, when they can be voted on.  A motion to accept the changed minutes was made by Eric Spinner and seconded by Irwin Kotcher. They were so accepted.
       Member Freda Schiff Harris was present at tonight's meeting to add $1761.79 to the Association scholarship fund.  The money comes from what remained after the 2000 South High reunion of the classes of 1958, 1959, 1960, and 1961 -- their Blast From the Past.  We thank Freda and fellow reunion organizer John Willows for this generous decision.
        The rest of the time was spent finishing our by-laws.  We thank Eric Spinner for his technical assistance with this project.  Eric made a motion to accept the by-laws, Claire Brush Reinhardt seconded the motion, and the by-laws were accepted by a vote of the members present.
   
    The next Alumni Association meeting is Thursday evening, May 31st, at 7:15 in the South library.  As always, everyone is welcome.