Update 2-7-12

Hi,

First, from Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  The next meeting of the Valley Stream South High School Alumni Association will be this Thursday, February 9th, at 7:15 in school library.  As usual, everyone's welcome, and we'd love to see new people.  Thanks.

One advantage of being even a distant member of the Alumni Association is you get stories like this in the quarterly bulletin, without having to wait three months for me to remember to pass them on:
    Alumni Spotlight -- A Note from Fran Gibel Winter, class of ’61
    After the July 13th shuttle launch, I was moved to write and send this to my work colleagues and a few relatives.  I thought you might also enjoy reading it.
    This is an end of an era, emotional for me, so please excuse this trip down memory lane I’m sharing with you.  The last space shuttle is up and safe.  Some of you may know that most of the technology, engineering and communication work on the shuttle was done locally, in Greenbelt, at the Goddard Space Flight Center.  For twelve years, my “second” job was as the "sole-sourced" scuba instructor for the Manned Multi-Mission Spacecraft -- later Multi-Mission Management System -- which created payloads and prepared astronauts for their Space Transport System flights.  For years, I took for granted walking around the full-size shuttle mock-up, gathering up my guys to ready them so they could spend up to four hours at a time underwater in the Weightless Environment Training Facility -- the pool -- and training our multi-million dollar astronauts.  I took pride in the fact that I was the only non-NASA instructor whose trainees -- NASA employees and contractors -- could enter the WETF without additional training.  It was a wonderful time, and it’s hard to believe I really lived that.  But, occasionally, I’ll open an e-mail at home, and there in the distribution list is my name along with the names of several astronauts.
    A shocking memory was when, while at my "regular’ job," I was told that Challenger had exploded.  I
raced to Greenbelt and sat with my guys in the control room, in silence, for a very long time.  Only a short time before, I’d spent the day with "Pinkie" Nelson, a terrific guy with a Master’s in astrophysics.  He’d flown here in his trainer so that, the next day, he and Dick Scobee could go sailing on the Chesapeake.  They loved to sail.  They were very close friends until Scobee died commanding Challenger.
    My best trophy from that era is what I call my "million dollar tee shirt," which is, unfortunately, now too small for me to wear.  It was a birthday present during an early year, signed by an entire crew and Cap Com.  But some memories are also special:  riding on the runway next to the van of the returned Solar Max crew -- the first time a jet pack was used in space; walking all over the Hubble Space Telescope “life support platform” -- which held Hubble in the bay -- before it was sanitized for space; and almost getting to do the parabolic, zero-gravity ride -- before they decided not to pay for a "consultant."
    My guys also worked on the Gamma Ray Observatory, Space Station, Galileo, and other spacecraft and
payloads.  It was the 1980s and 90s, an exciting time.  But years ago, NASA started transitioning to robotics and limited manned -- safer -- space flight, so for the near future, NASA’s missions will be more mundane.  Until we go to Mars!

In addition to the Alumni Association news, Facebook continues to be an interesting source of information.  Last month, I discovered Bill Puka, class of '63, was still alive.  Someone had incorrectly told me he died years ago.  And through my quick note to him, he unfortunately discovered that Vince Tampio had died some years back.
    I didn't know Bill in high school, but one of his last plays at South was my first -- Once Upon A Mattress.   When I wrote Barnet Kellman, who was in that show, to tell him Bill was still alive, he said he couldn't even hear Bill's name without hearing strains of the show's song, "Normandy."
    Through I didn't know Bill, I wrote him anyway, just as I wrote Gene Barkin last week, after mentioning his band and its web site in the newsletter.  Judy Hartstone had a follow-up question that it seemed easiest for me to ask.  As usual, I introduced myself as a guy who worked stage crew, who I didn't expect them to remember.  Oddly, Gene had a Vince Tampio memory, too:  "I ran into Vince Tampio in Los Angeles one time on the set of the Sonny and Cher show... long time ago."  And he asked if I'd run into Vince.
    I explained that, yes, when I worked at CBS in the 90s, Vince was still there.  He didn't retire till about 2001, after about thirty years.  By that time, as I've mentioned before, he was the head of Scenic, the department responsible for painting all the scenery.  When Vince first started, the shop was working double shifts, 7 AM to 11 PM, supporting a series of variety shows like Sonny and Cher and The Carol Burnett Show.  The shop also painted the scenery for All In The Family and Three's Company.  The last, I believe, was an ABC show, but it taped at CBS.
    So Facebook is useful, the Alumni Association is useful, and Google is useful.  Still, we don't seem to be able to find Bill Brady, class of '65.  There are just too many men with that name.

Finally, since we're not exactly in the present, here's another story from that May 29th, 1957 Southern Belle Andy Dolich sent in.  Interestingly, it sold for ten cents.  I remember the paper being free.
    Stepner Takes Second Place In National French Contest
    Wins Top Laurels on Long Island with 98 1/2
    Ellen Stepner, a Freshman, has brought fame and honor to South High by coming in second in the nation-wide French contest.  This honor was bestowed on Ellen after she averaged a 98 1/2 in the national competition against French I students from all over the United States.  The contest was sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French.  In addition to taking second place in the national contest, Ellen was also first place winner in the Long Island and New York state contests.
    South's win, thanks to Ellen Stepner, represents the first time any school in Valley Stream finished in the nationals, and the first time Valley Stream has won first place in state-wide competition.  South was also the only school on the Island to finish in the national finals.
    These honors weren't the only prizes chalked up by South's French students.  Susan Shapiro, a Sophomore, tied for first place in the French II orals in Long Island.  Carol Friedman, a Sophomore, tied for third place in the French II written examinations in Long Island.
    In addition to the written contest, an oral contest was held for Long Island students at Adelphi College.  Ellen Stepner took fifth highest in the French I orals.  At this contest, Jeffrey Mischell and Jerry Waxman also took honors.  The boys won for their model of Paris (pictured at left).  This map pictured all the main places of interest in Paris, such as:  the Eiffel Tower, the Arch of Triumph, and Notre Dame.
    (The photo shows two guys smiling at something that really can't be clearly seen, but this is a smaller photocopy of the original paper.  There is a book standing in the foreground, with the discernable word "Paris" and a photo of the Arch.)

And that finishes off the first page of the Southern Belle, the first page of four.  But about one-half page is full of inch-high ads, which probably make for even duller reading now than they did in 1957. So that leaves us about two-and-a-half pages. Also, I'm not sure French is still taught at South  It may have gone the way of German and Latin.  Maybe someone from the Alumni Association could check that.

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

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

Again, please delete the spaces.


Rich