Update 3-22-11

Hi,

Business first:  We comfortably raised $400 in the first week for this year's Booker Gibson / Vince Tampio scholarships.  Added to the $125 we already had, that leaves $475 to go.
    This will probably come in more slowly than the first $400 because the pledged checks almost always arrive first.  If this year follows previous years, the $475 will probably come in over the next few weeks.  Again, as I mentioned last week, this will be the eighth year of the ten we promised the folks at South.
    Please send your checks to me, Rich Eisbrouch, at:  23030 Dolorosa Street, Woodland Hills, California  91367.  And please indicate in the bottom left corner of the check which scholarship you'd like to support, or if you'd like your money split between them.  I'll let you know as soon as the goals have been reached.  Thanks.

Next, sad news from Roz Minsky Bobrow Hahn:  I am sorry to share the news that my dad, Joseph Minsky, age 102, passed away on Thursday, March 17, 2011.  There will be an obituary in The New York Times tomorrow and in the Hartford Courant as well.  My sister Marion Minsky Morgenstein, class of '59, and I were able to be with our father until the very end.  He lived a long and full life, and we will both miss him. 
    He passed away in a new VNA hospice at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.  I tell you that because the facility is less than one month old.  For anyone in the greater New York area who needs a hospice facility, I would give it a 5-star review.  It's just fabulous, and the staff is supportive and compassionate to the highest degree.

[Rich -- As I wrote Roz:  102 is a great age, and it's terrific that you and your family had that much time with your dad.]

On a happier subject, from Zelda White-Nichols:  I remember Wetson’s 12 cent hamburgers.  The store wasn’t too far down the road from Tim Chan’s Chinese Restaurant.  Carvel and Howard Johnson's were also nearby.  For clothes, there was always Loehman’s.  I think it was in Hewlett.  My mom loved to drag me there.

Hey, Folks, Moss in Maine here.  A question and a few memories.
    Does anyone remember what type of franchise was located right off Sunrise Highway as you were headed towards Lynbrook and just before you crossed over the line from Valley Stream?  It was sandwiched between the highway -- with an exit right into the place -- and the end of Brookside Drive -- which went north and south.  I somehow remember it being a donut place but could be wrong.
    I know Carvel was located further down the highway towards Lynbrook.  Also on the way to Lynbrook was Ed's Tropical Aquarium, located on a little side road parallel to the highway.  What a fabulous place!  The lights were always very dim, so you could clearly see the occupants of the rows and rows of aquariums.  My dad used to take me there to buy the various salamanders and African water frogs I had in my own aquariums.  I think Eric Hilton used to go there, too.  Right, Eric?
    My other memory is of White Castle, located right off Sunrise Highway at the Lynbrook railroad station.  Greg Kaplan and I used to take the trip often in his huge green 1954 Buick, and as we turned the corner off the highway, you could smell those greasy onions that came on those square "belly bombs."  We used to get bags of doubles and eat until we couldn't take another bite.  I know we saw lots of Valley Stream South High folks there on many of our trips.
    On a more current note:  I actually am able to see my front and back yards today, after four months of complete snow coverage.  What an incredible winter it has been in Maine.  And, although I love cold weather, enough already!  Hope all is well with everyone.

[Rich -- As I wrote Allen:  I think there was a Dunkin' Donuts just across from Wetson's.  Jeff Levin and I used to ride our bikes to both.]

And Allen wrote:  If you remember biking there, that's pretty good proof.  

[Rich -- And I wrote back:  Yeah, well, I don't trust my memory at all, but I can't remember another donut shop.  In any case, I'll run your question past everyone else next week.  Their collective memories seem better than any one of ours.]

Tom Romano wrote:  This is in response to Danny Stellabotte's memory of Wetson's.
    Wetson's, indeed, was on Sunrise Highway, three or four blocks east of Brooklyn Avenue School -- our grade school.  If I remember correctly, hamburgers were fifteen cents, french fries were a dime, and a soft drink was the same price.
    On a dare, I once ate five hamburgers.  Remember, this was before information on cholesterol was available, along with information about the health consequences of eating too much fast food.  After many years at that site on Sunrise Highway, I believe Wetson's was bought out by McDonalds.

[Rich -- Something I meant to write to Danny Stellabotte last week:  I remember there was a running joke about Wetson's hamburgers being 99% oatmeal filler.  So you probably could have eaten them on Fridays without counting them as meat.
    And in non-food related news, Ken Ulric sent me the following.  I was waiting for his permission to pass this on in thenewsletter, but I haven't heard from him.  Still, I don't think Ken will mind.]

From Ken:  I went to see the new Broadway production of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying on Friday night with my entire family.  A former student, now friend, Rob Bartlett, plays Twimble / Womper and understudies John Larroquette.  It’s a marvelous new production with a great look and fresh staging -- although the book and lyrics are not updated at all.  References to Metrecal are still there, for example.
    Anyhow, it was great fun.  Because Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame is starring, the crowd was crazy.  We had backstage passes, and you could hear people asking who we were as we passed through the throngs at the stage door and were ushered in.  At the end, the doorman was playful.  He shouted at the crowd, “Here he comes!” just as Jacob, my 9 1/2-year-old grandson, walked through the door to tumultuous cheering.  The kid -- ham that he is -- acknowledged the applause and kept walking.
    I told a couple of the people on the production team that I had worked with Rudy Vallee in summer stock on the show in 1966.  I don’t think any of them were even born then.  OK, so I’m a dinosaur.  But I’m a happy dinosaur.
    The attached photos were taken with my phone and are of Jacob with Daniel Radcliffe and of Jacob with Rob Bartlett.  Hope you don't mind my sending this to you.  I'm not sure how many other people would really care.

[Rich -- As I wrote Ken, I think he'd be surprised how many people will enjoy reading this.  And if you'd like to see the photos, please write Ken directly.  The other surprise is that Rob Bartlett, on top of being one of Ken's former students, is 54-years- old.  Bartlett is also a fairly well-known comedian  Check his bio on the Internet.
    And, as it happens, I worked summer stock with Ken that summer -- we were both building scenery in the old Tappan Zee Playhouse in Nyack -- so I remember Rudy Vallee doing the show.  And I may even have seen the original Broadway production with Ken.  He was one of my two most frequent theater-going companions.  The other was Nancy Garfield.]

"How to apply for a job.
How to advance from the mail room.
How to sit down at a desk.
How to dictate memorandums..."

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

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


Rich