Update 5-31-11

Hi,

A quick correction from last week:  Tommy Holecek, not Holocek.  I meant to check the spelling and then forgot.

Next, I couldn't find the link to Emily Kleinman Schreiber's piece in Newsday, but, as promised, here it is in full.

The Eyes Have It At The Lake
    Emily Kleinman of Bellmore recalls the summer evening forty-five years ago when she met her husband, Lenny

    Our eyes first met in 1965, while at Green Mansions Resort, an adult camp near upstate Lake George, where young women went to meet their Prince Charming.  At the lake, I spotted a handsome guy wearing sunglasses.
    As I walked by, he noticed the zinc oxide on my nose.  (Being a fair-skinned redhead, I needed that protection.)  Unfortunately, his first words to me were:  "You look ugly with that on your nose!"  I responded with a dirty look and quickly moved on.
    Later, while trying to catch a football, my thumb bent back.  As I screamed out in pain, the insulting guy appeared and offered to escort me to the kitchen for some ice.
    He told me he was Lenny from East Flatbush, Brooklyn.  (I was from Valley Stream.)  He asked me for my phone number in case he didn't see me again; I gladly complied.
    I went back to my bunk, and, though still in pain, I jumped on my bed, and shouted to my friend, "He's sooooooooo cute!"  My Prince Charming had indeed arrived at the Mansion.
    At that evening's social. I was chatting with another man when Lenny arrived and quickly took his place.  He didn't wear his sunglasses, so I got to see his sky-blue, sexy eyes while we danced.  He was 27 and had served as a dentist in the Air Force from 1962 to 1964, stationed in Greenville, North Carolina.
    On our way back to the bunks, we sat alongside the lake, and he said, "I love you."  I couldn't believe it.  I said, "You're crazy.  You don't even know me."
    I didn't see him Saturday or Sunday.  I thought that was odd.  He later admitted that he was busy filling his phone book.  I didn't remember his name when he called to ask me out three months later, but I recognized his voice.
    On our first date, he told me my eyes sparkled.  As he drove me home, he started talking in different accents, and, once again, I told him he was crazy.  That didn't deter him, and full-speed-ahead courting began.  We married on April 2, 1966.
    In 2000, Lenny sold his Merrick orthodontic practice to his partner, but he's still involved in it.  I retired in 2001 as a teacher with the Malverne School District.  I now teach English at Nassau Community College during the fall semester and volunteer as a trustee of the Bellmore Memorial Library.  I am also president of the Valley Stream South High School Alumni Association.  We have two sons.
    At this time, Lenny is facing a serious health challenge, but he tells me that my eyes still sparkle and that my love is what is helping him survive.  He tells his doctors that he plans to be with me another twenty years, and I'll do what I can to make that happen.

Third, an update about Joe Argenzio from Bill Linkner:
    Hi, Rich,
    After e-mails to Desi Argenzio, Joe's wife, I finally received this response. You may share the important information with everyone, if you so desire.  My wife, Anne, and I will be visiting our son's family in Clearwater this weekend.  I'll give Desi a call, and if she feels Joe wants to see anyone, we'll certainly give him a visit, although he'll probably not know who we are.  What a shame that is, for someone who did so much for his students.

The note to Bill from Joe's wife Desi:   
    Hi, Anne and Bill,
    My excuse for not answering sooner is that, although Joe is in now living full-time in St. Mark Village, I still don't have much free time.  I see him every other day, take him outside in the wheelchair, push him around, and try to talk to him about friends and the world around us.  By the way, I don't think I told you that, at last, we are great-grandparents.  Steve's daughter, Nicole, had a baby girl, Abigail, on February 18th, 2011.  She weighed in at 8.5 pounds.
    Joe still knows me, and he is quite the coach at St, Mark, saying "hello" to all and asking how everyone is.  For Easter, I made arrangements for the both of us to have Easter lunch in the dining room, where the independent and assisted living residents eat.  The day was perfect, the food was great, and Joe enjoyed it all so much.  The food in his regular living area is also very good.  We see so many people who previously lived in Highland Lakes and now reside at St. Mark.
    I have had some health problems of my own, but the show must go on.  I recently must have picked up a virus at St. Mark, but my immune system is prone to picking up different things.  I must slow down and accept reality, and it is hard to do.  I also suffer from pushing the wheelchair.
    Hope you and Ann are OK.  Hope that the dog is fine.  Be well, be happy, and don't overdo it.
    Sincerely,
    Desi A
    PS  Kenny Ward asked me to get some early pictures of Joe for a collection to be framed and hung
in the athletic area.  This is to be presented on June 2nd, 2011, at the athletic awards and dinner.  Ken also asked if it was possible for me to bring Joe to the dinner, but, unfortunately, that's not a good idea from our view. 

[Rich -- And I wrote Bill:  Thanks for this update.  I'll pass the news on to everyone next week.  I'm sure they'll be glad to know what's happening.
    As usual, I hope you and your family are well.  It seems like it.  I always forget that you're only a couple of years older than the people in my class and probably younger than people from South's first graduating class.  You were a kid when you started teaching us.]

And Bill wrote back:  Thanks.  I don't feel 70.  My friends didn't believe me when I told them that one of my students -- Ira Mitzner, who was visiting us -- who was almost in his middle 60s.

From Barnet Kellman:  I’m really glad to hear from the Vince Tampio scholarship recipient, Paul Ianello.  Vince would have been proud of him.  And thanks to all the classmates who've helped keep Vince's legacy alive.

Finally, from Marc Jonas:  for Judy Hartstone, and to others so devoted to our dogs, who give so much back to us.

"The Power of the Dog" by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie--
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find--it's your own affair--
But...you've given your heart for a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!);
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone--wherever it goes--for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart for the dog to tear.

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long--
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

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

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

Please delete any spaces in links before trying to use them.  And remember that the updates are now also posted on Facebook, at Valley Stream South High School Class of 1965.


Rich