Update 7-3-07

Hi,

Happy Fourth, of course.

First, from Liz King Giordano, who organizes the awards night each year at South:  I’m mailing you a package from awards night.  Linda Tobin Kettering and Emily Kleinman Schreiber were wonderful presenters, and Booker Gibson was so overwhelmed by the warm reception he received from the audience that we were all fighting back the tears.  It was a great night.  Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the scholarships.  Hope you all have a wonderful summer,
   
    [Rich -- These scholarships may be the best thing we do as a group.  I'm only sorry Vince Tampio had to die to give us the idea.  I should have the information from the package Liz mentions here next week.]
   
    Next, from Claire Brush Reinhardt:  I always enjoy the newsletter, and this week was no exception.  I found the letter from Ira Pearlstein most interesting and filled with coincidences for me.  First, of course, that it is about a South High School alumni who was also very involved in the theater program at South.  The film sounds really interesting, and I really do wish that I had some spare money lying around to invest.  The school where he will be shooting in Florida has a connection for us in that every year we rent a house in Maine that is owned by a guy who used to teach there.  I think Dick Hallin retired a few years ago from there, but I am not sure what he taught.  If that were not enough, Ira Pearlstein lives on the next block in Park Slope from our son, who lives on the corner of Stirling Place and 6th Avenue, and Rob is in the production and post production end of the business.  He works for Oxygen Network as a film and video animator and editor.  Thanks for the newsletters -- keep 'em coming.

    Third, from Amy Lieberman:  For those of you who are in or are visiting Los Angeles and want to hear Billy Valentine sing, some new dates have cropped up, so mark your calendars.
        Monday, July 9th, Casa del Mar Hotel, Santa Monica, performing mostly standards with the Stuart Elster Trio.  6:30 -- 10:30 PM, in the lounge all evening, with no specific times for sets
        Friday, July 13th,  Cafe Cordiale, Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, with the R&B band Off The Hook. 10:00 PM -- first set.  11:30ish -- second set
        Also, as a little tidbit, KJZZ -- 88.1 on your Los Angeles radio dial -- has named Travelin' Light by Billy Valentine one of the top ten records to be awarded during their fun-raising drive.  The album's starting to make a little noise.  Yea!
   
    Another pair of announcements, though these you've seen before:
   
    The 40th reunion of the class of '67 will be held on Saturday, July 28, 2007, at the Huntington Hilton Hotel in Melville, New York.  Everyone is welcome.  For further information, please contact Andrea Schwartz Neenan at:  aneenan@tampabay.rr.com
   
    The Evening with Booker Gibson at The Irish Coffee Pub, 131 Carleton Avenue, East Islip, New York 11730, will be on Wednesday, August 1, 2007.  It will start around 6:15 though Booker does not begin to play until 7:00.  To make a reservation, please contact Claire Brush Reinhardt at:  reino@optonline.net
   
    On a different subject, from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  We've made a small revision to the Alumni Association by-laws.  It only pertains to the membership dues.
        Membership:
        All memberships are voluntary.
        All memberships are for a single individual.
        Full membership with voting rights is open to:
            All former students of Valley Stream South High School.
            Present or past members of the Valley Stream South High School staff who have an interest and concern in Valley Stream South High School and who have an interest in promoting the stated purposes of the Valley Stream South High School Alumni Association.
        Associate membership is open to people who are not alumni of Valley Stream South High School, but who are nevertheless interested in taking part in the meetings, discussions, and activities of the Association.  This type of membership must be approved by the Board of Trustees on an individual basis.  Associate members are not eligible to run for any office of the Association and will be non-voting members.
        Dues:
        Members shall become liable for their annual dues on September 1st of each year as fixed by the Board for the current fiscal year (September 1-- August 31).  The Association shall notify Members of their annual dues commitment.
        Each class of members will be required to pay dues as follows:
        Individual Annual -- $15.00 annual dues.
        Life Membership -- Alumni may elect to become Life Members of The Association by making a single payment of One Hundred Dollars ($100).  Life Members shall not be liable thereafter for annual dues.  Dues for a Life Membership may be fixed by the Board and approved by the Membership at the Annual Meeting.  Any approved change in the prescribed rate of the dues for a Life Membership shall have only prospective affect, and such change shall not affect the status of any member who became a Life Member prior to said change.
        Recent Graduate Member -- $10.00 annual dues.  This rate applies to those who have been alumni for fewer than five years.
        Associate Member -- $10.00 annual dues.
   
    Emily again:  I'm also including a description of the invaders that interrupted the June 28th Alumni Association meeting.  Hopefully, it'll make you chuckle -- something we all need to do.  It was an interesting evening, to say the least.
        Arlene Lynn wrote:  Thank you to the few alumni members who braved this evening's elements and came out in the pouring rain to attend our last meeting for the academic year only to be met by a barrage of flying ants.  Our meeting was cut short by the attack of nasty reproductive ants that infested the library and dive bombed our innocent alumni members.  Not sure if it was the tasty brownies and delicious raspberry ruggula provided by Karen Grimm or the ladies' perfume that attracted these pesky pests, but we were jumping and jiving throughout the meeting.
               
    A quick technical explanation from Eric Skinner, a member of the Alumni Association who was present at the invaded meeting:
        For those who attended the meeting and were curious about the reproductive ants, here's a brief article from the web that should remove the mystery.  It's really a very common summer phenomenon.
        By Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension specialist, entomology
        Spectacular swarms of flying ants are a common summer phenomenon.  Sometimes, people will observe winged ants issuing in large numbers, pushed out by the wingless workers, from a colony established between a sidewalk crack or in a small mound.  Other times, only the winged forms will be seen, aggregating in large numbers around certain prominent points in the landscape.
        Some background:  Ants are social insects.  The colony is established through the initial efforts of a mated queen, a sexually mature female.  Originally winged, after mating, she sheds her wings and the no-longer-used wing muscles are an important source of nutrients for her during the early stages of colony development.  Very, very few queens successfully survive this period and establish a functional colony.  However, if the colony makes it through this period, it can begin to grow.  Wingless, non-sexually mature workers are reared, which subsequently help expand the colony.  After several years, the colony may be well-established, and then some resources are put into rearing reproductive forms.  These are the winged ants, some females -- the potential future queens -- and the majority males.  Periodically, usually following three to five days of heavy rain, the winged reproductive forms emerge from the colony in large swarms.  Such swarming behavior is usually synchronized by other nearby colonies, so large numbers of winged ants suddenly appear.  All mating for the species takes place, often over the course of a single day.  The males die, and the mated females disperse in attempts to establish new colonies.
        One behavior associated with some ants during mating swarms is "hilltopping."  This refers to their aggregation around prominent points of a landscape where they search for mates.  A large tree, the chimney of a roof, or even a tractor moving across the plains might serve as such an action site for swarming winged ants.  My favorite hilltopping site is the top of the US West tower in downtown Denver, which annually is the site for millions of harvester ants to aggregate.  Although dramatic, swarming ants pose no harm or risk of increased ant infestation.  Those seen emerging from a colony were always there and are in the process of leaving the colony permanently.  Mated females amongst aggregating masses similarly disperse from the area.  However, in rare cases winged ants are seen moving into the house.  In some cases it is likely that an established colony exists within the home and may need to be treated.  Carpenter ants and pharaoh ants are two species that can produce a nest within a building.  Other ants, such as the field ants, commonly nest outdoors next to foundations and may incidentally swarm indoors, working their way through foundation cracks.  And harvester ants in the midst of hilltopping behavior may fall down chimneys.  In these cases, there is not risk of permanent household infestation.
   
    One last bit from Emily:  By the way, Principal Stephen Lando is leaving South.  He's moving on to Great Neck.
   
    [Rich -- Stephen Lando has been very good to us, and I expect he's been even better for South's present students.  He will be missed.]