Update 2-14-12

Hi,

Happy Valentine's Day.  It's never too late to get sentimental.  Next, a couple of other things:

First, when Judy Peters Sylvan asked to update her e-mail address for the newsletter, I said, "Sure."  Then I ask if she wanted her new address in the newsletter and on the class web site, too.  And I added, "Didn't think there'd be all these questions, did you?"
     Judy wrote back:  Yes, to the newsletter and web site, and you're right, I didn't anticipate the additional questions.  So Judy's new e-mail address is:   j.sylvan@att.net
     Mary Ferranti Khan magically updates the addresses on the web site, and I've already changed my address book and mailing list.  The concern, of course, is people's privacy.  Some people want to be listed on the web site, but don't want the newsletter.  Other people want the newsletter, but don't want their address change announced.  Several more people... well, you get the idea.  So when you have an address change, please tell Mary and me what you want, and we'll gladly accommodate you.

Second, kind of related, from Claire Brush Reinhardt:  The class of '62 reunion committee, consisting of Robbie Brill Birnel, Karen Schade Sofarelli, BJ Peres Napolitano, Lynn Treinis Stecklow, and me, is hard at work trying to locate as many members of our class as possible to let them know about our 50th Reunion.  That's to be held on October 6, 2012, at the Bridgeview Yacht Club in Island Park, New York.
    It occurred to me that the folks you reach with the weekly newsletter might be siblings of, or know the whereabouts of, some of our classmates from 1962.  So far, we have about 100 valid e-mail addresses, and I was wondering if you could put the word out for people to pass any contact information they have for class of '62 members on to me at rein@optonline.net.   If you can, that would be great, and thanks to all for any help you may be able to give us.

[Rich -- Claire's mention of having 100 e-mail addresses made me wonder how the class of '65 compared.  We're in contact with about 175 members and another 25 are unfortunately beyond reach.  About 30 more have drifted away.  I also stumbled on the People We're Still Looking For list from our original class web site in 2001.  That "missing" list had about 80 names on it, and it still has around 75.  Some people are hard to find.]

Third, about foreign languages at South, from Amy Miller:  I found Madame Vamvakis to be a very demanding French teacher at South.  She would frequently give us 100 words to learn and test us on 10 the next day.  For some reason forever unknown to me,  I stuck with her and with French for four years despite my abysmal grades in her classes.  I failed the final my senior year, though three months earlier, I did rather well -- 660 out of 800 -- on the SAT in French.  That let me "place out" of language requirements when I entered college the following fall.

From Liz King Giordano at South:  Presently, Spanish, Italian, and American Sign Language are being taught.

[Rich -- The American Sign Language probably isn't the sign language we used when we were there.  That had a more limited vocabulary.  And the Spanish is now North, South, and Central American-based.  No more sibilant S. 
    Also, my Spanish teachers were far better as teachers than I was as a student.  I barely passed the regents and only by remembering more about Spanish history than about language.]

Fourth, triggered by something I read or heard last week, the phrase, "and seen the Lion and the Unicorn riding on a donkey," drifted from memory.  Once I determined that it wasn't something by Tennyson that I tried not to learn in college, I got it back to about fifth grade.  Mrs. Stein didn't have benefit of an Internet search then, but this is what I found:
    “Donkey Riding” is a traditional work song sung by sailors of Celtic and English origin as they loaded timber on the decks of ships in the Canadian harbors of Québec and Miramichi.  When loaded, the ships sailed to London, England; Fortune Bay, Newfoundland; or around Cape Horn, South America.  “Riding the Donkey” refers to sailors' work on the ship's deck using a donkey engine -- a single-cylinder steam engine invented in 1881, which revolutionized logging and the loading of ships.
    That kills the image of an actual donkey, but the lyrics I remembered were:
        Were you ever in Cape Horn
        Where it's always fine and warm?
        And seen the Lion and the Unicorn
        Riding on a donkey.
        (The Lion and the Unicorn are traditional symbols of the United Kingdom.)
    and
        Were you ever in Quebec
        Stowin' timber on the deck?
        Where there's a king with a golden crown
        Riding on a donkey.
    The lyrics I don't think we were taught in fifth grade include:
        Was you ever in Fortune Bay
        Where the girls all shout, "Hooray!
        Here comes Johnny with ten weeks pay
        Riding on a donkey."
    Well, what do you expect from sailors?

Finally, this just in from Linda Cohen Greenseid:  To help the economy and lower Social Security and Medicare costs, next month the Immigration Department will start deporting seniors instead of illegal aliens.  Old people are easier to catch, and they won't remember how to get back home.

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

Again, please delete the spaces.


Rich