Update 9-29-09

Hi,

A collection of notes and a piece of an article.

First, from Joanne Shapiro Polner;  The post-office clerk episode retold by your friend is a left-to-right-and-back, head-shaking joke, making one laugh in pain of observing overt stupidity.  Real life is so full of eyes-wide-open, "Oh my god, can you believe that?" incidents.
        Also, Eric Hilton:  You are so funny.  It's so nice to open up the newsletter early in the East coast morning and start the day with a smile. Thanks, everybody!
   
    [Rich -- one of my friends also replied:  I had a similar experience at the post office several years ago, when I was undergoing the silent treatment for vocal nodes.  I handed the postal worker my note explaining the transaction I wanted, and he put postage on the note.]
   
    From Marc Jonas:  Cantor David Mann.  Now, there was a voice which actually made you want to attend synagogue.  That man could sing.
        He was also my mother's first cousin.
   
    From Peggy Cooper Schwartz, about the death of Mary Travers:  During the summer of 1964, Jeryl Monsees and I took a bus from New York City to the Newport Folk Festival.  What amazing four days it was!  Concerts and "workshops" with so many of the folk greats:  Dylan.  Joan Baez.  Pete Seeger.  And Peter, Paul, and Mary.
        The first afternoon we were there, we wandered into a grove of trees where a workshop -- really an informal concert -- was going on.  There, we beheld Mary Travers and Joan Baez, jamming together, both so young and so beautiful.  They had just met, and Mary exclaimed to Joan, "This is so exciting."
        Over the next four decades, I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary many more times in concert.  I even met Mary Travers when she was a solo performer at a United Jewish Association Women' function in New Jersey.  The last time I saw her was in concert in West Palm Beach, three years ago.
        I knew she was battling leukemia, and she was walking onstage with a cane.  But her beautiful voice was still in good form, and she and Peter and Paul still had that old chemistry.
        Her death is such a loss.  Today, I'm going to take out my old record player and sit down and listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary's album "Moving" from 1964.  I'll think of how young Jeryl and I were in '64 and what fun we had at the Newport Folk Festival.
   
    From South's latest alumni newsletter, news of two imminent reunions being celebrated on Long Island:
   
        The class of 1964’s 45th.  Saturday, October 17, 2009 at the Irish Coffee Pub in East Islip.  Approximately 1:00 to 4:00 PM.  $45/person and cash bar.  Please contact Tom McPartland at: tommcp@ptd.net
   
        The class of 1959’s 50th.  Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the Knights of Columbus in Oceanside.
    7:00 to 11:00 PM.  Please contact Terry Gunderson Kaiser at:  terkaiser@optonline.net
   
    [Rich -- As I've mentioned before, a couple of people have asked if there's going to be a 45th reunion of the class of '65.  But there hasn't been a push for one, so I guess we'll hold our for at least our 50th.  Though if we go in multiples of 37...]
   
    Also in October, Emily Kleinman Schreiber’s drawings and photos will be on exhibit at the Bellmore Memorial Library.  Prints of captured moments in nature will be shown beside portraits of Emily's former students.  A meet-the-artist reception will take place at the library on Saturday, October 31, from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon.
   
    And Bernie O'Brien will be honored for his volunteer work with his church and community by being the Grand Marshal of the 2010 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Rockville Centre.
   
    The newsletter also showed a nice photo of Irv Saffrin and a cake with ninety candles -- in celebration, of course, of Irv's birthday.
   
    Finally, part of an online Long Island Herald article forwarded by Barbara Blitfield Pech.  Supposedly, the article was three pages long, but neither Barbara nor I could open the second or third page:
        Valley Stream Civic Group Is Still Going Strong by Andrew Hackmack
        As one of the few remaining homeowner’s associations in Valley Stream, leaders of the Mill Brook Civic Association say their group is as strong as ever. Close to 40 percent of the community’s 811 homes have contributed to the civic association’s treasury.
        Marc Tenzer, president of Mill Brook Civic for the past decade, said the organization deals with issues such as potholes, street lights, garbage, parking, public safety and all quality of life issues. “We’re a watchdog for the community,” he said.
        Tenzer said that when people call with an issue, he directs them to the right agency. If the homeowner hasn’t seen any action in a few weeks, Tenzer said the civic association will then step in and try to address the problem.
        One recent issue, Tenzer said, was parking on Old Central Road. He said a medical office on Sunrise Highway offered valet parking and was using the half-circle street –– which serves as the northern entrance to the community –– to park the cars. “We were calling the police every day,” he said. “We went to the village and petitioned them to put up no parking signs and they did it.”
        Tenzer said that the Civic Association has a good working relationship with the village, despite the fact that Old Central Road is the only street in the community actually located within village boundaries. Mill Brook Civic members also work closely with the Town of Hempstead, Nassau County Sanitary District 1, School District 30 and the Central High School District. “We have a good relationship with everybody,” he said.
        Mill Brook, tucked behind the Green Acres Mall, has also dealt with issues relating to the shopping complex. Lee Feinman, the civic association’s treasurer, said the group was very active to protect its own interests when the mall went through an redevelopment project a few years ago which saw the construction of a BJ’s wholesale club. A 14-foot wooden sound barrier was constructed between along Forest Road and Flower Road adjoining the mall’s property to reduce light and noise in the neighborhood and improve safety and aesthetics. “This came about because of our direct involvement,” Feinman said.
   
    The South '65 e-mail addresses:  reunionclass65.blogspot.com
   
    The South '65 photo site:  picasaweb.google.com/SouthHS65
   
   
    Rich