Update 6-9-09

Hi,

A couple of notes, a couple of reminders, and a couple of other things.

First:  Did we know Ralph Foster had died?  It was mentioned in the latest Alumni Association Bulletin, and the news kind of seemed like a surprise.  But lately, I've gone beyond reading obituaries to the point where I've forgotten I've read the obituaries.
   
    A comment, perhaps on the deaths of former teachers Ruth Bushnell, Charles Messner, and Ralph Foster, shared by Bernie O'Brien in the same Bulletin:  Life is too short to wake up with regrets.  So love the people who treat you right.  Forget about the ones who don't.  Believe everything happens for a reason.  If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.  If it changes your life, let it.  Nobody said life would be easy.  They just promised it would be worth it.
   
    And the last thing cribbed from the Bulletin, though previously lifted from Backstage -- a review of alumni actor Bern Cohen's recent work:  The off-Broadway play, The Assistant, was so endearing, personal, and powerful, it gripped your heart and never let go throughout its 100 minutes.  This staged version is
    based on a novel by master storyteller and Pulitzer Prize winner Bernard Malamud.  And while Malamud
    was a man of his times (1914—1986), he was also a Jew.  Living in the 20th century, his works spelled out the particular moral dilemmas and emotional crises which such a man faced.
        The Assistant deals with the trials of Morris Bober, an elderly Brooklyn deli owner, and Frank, a drifter
    whom he hires.  As Bober, Bern Cohen brings a special richness to the role and sets the play's tone.  The story has the ring of truth, thanks to the director Elfin Vogel’s sure hand, Bern Cohen’s strong portrayal, and the genius of Malamud's writing.  The cast works hard to add character dimension, but the most successful is Cohen in his convincing and detailed portrait of Morris.  Malamud would have approved.
   
    Some Internet business, noted by Allen Moss:  I can't seem to bring up the class photos on the Picasa web site.  Any suggestions?  I have an old system.  Could that be the problem?
   
    [Rich -- I sometimes have the same problem gaining access to the site, but that's because it's on Google, and my home server is a weird Yahoo/AOL mix.  When I checked with Stu Borman about the site, he said he had no problem opening it, and either did I from work.  But Stu added that there are occasional, temporary outages, so if anyone else is having consistent trouble viewing the site, please let us know.]
   
    A related question, from Eric Hilton:  How do I add photos to the Picasa web site?
   
    [Rich -- Please send them to Stu Borman at:  sborman@gmail.com   And, if you can, please include the names of anyone in the photos.]
   
    An update from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  Some of the reunion information in the March Alumni Association minutes is now obsolete.  Please visit the Alumni Association web site where the revised minutes are posted.
   
    A reminder that this year's South Senior Awards Night is tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10th, starting around 7:00.  Singing, dancing, and ghosts of old South Hall lunches.
   
    And a reminder that Booker Gibson Night at the Irish Coffee Pub is on Wednesday, July 1st, starting around 6:30.  The Pub is at: 131 Carleton Avenue in East Islip.  The phone number for reservations is:  631-277-0007.
   
    Finally, something that wasn't stolen from the Alumni Association Bulletin only because Emily asked me to write it:  A quick history of the class of '65 weekly newsletter.
        It began accidentally:  Vince Tampio, Paul Zegler, Barnet Kellman, and I were having lunch in June 2001, and the conversation turned naturally to high school.  We all wondered where a lot of people had gotten to, and that night, I went onto a web site I'd just heard of, Classmates.com, to see if any of our former classmates were registered.  The site was new, and it was free to sign up, so I did, and there were the names of around 60 of the almost 300 members of our class.  I paid the 15 bucks so I could send e-mail to everyone on our list, and I suggested that we start our own, free list of e-mail addresses, so no one in our class had to pay to contact old friends.
        About 40 people wrote back, one of whom was Paul DeMartino.  Over the summer, Paul chased down probably another 100 people, then September 11th hit, and there was a real push to get together.  Our previous reunion, our 20th, had been 16 years earlier, and Terri Donohue Calamari was the catalyst in making the spring 2002 reunion happen.  She simply chose a hotel and a date on Long Island.  125 people came, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked.  Through all the time from summer 2001 to spring 2002, the newsletter came out about once a week, to spread information about the reunion plans, about who had most recently been found, and about who was coming to the party.  After the reunion, the newsletter hung on, to spread news and photos.  There was some talk about finally ending it, because, honestly, some weeks it's more interesting than others, but people kind of liked keeping it as a conduit for easy information.
        We tend not to spend too much time in the past, and we usually don't pass on too-dopey information.  Over the last 8 years, the newsletter has also started being sent to people outside the class of '65, especially those from the first graduating class to classes in the early 1970s.  We had a lot of the same teachers and a lot of the same experiences, and we all seem to be about the same age now.
   
    The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com
   
   
    Rich