Update 7-19-11

Hi,

Communication sometimes works.  The bridge in Los Angeles came down early this weekend, and traffic remained unsnarled.  Nice.

In more immediate news, from Peggy Cooper Schwartz:  I loved your comment about learning to spell  ASBESTOS in Mrs. Sussman's class, especially because that's a very vivid memory for me, too.  Actually, the trip to the fire house took place on my birthday, and it was a big deal for me as my mom came along as class mother and brought cookies in honor of the occasion.

From Marc Jonas:  I think the fraternity Rich Sternhell was asking about was Mu Sigma.

[Rich -- I thanked Marc and apologized to Rich.  I knew the one I asked about, Gamma Mu, sounded wrong, and I had Sigma Mu in my memory.  But I also knew that was too close to a college fraternity, Sigma Nu.  In any case, does anyone remember Mu Sigma?]

From Ed Albrecht:  To answer one of your questions from last week, 2 of the fraternities at South were Omega Gamma Delta (Black and Gold), and the one I belonged to, Kappa Delta Nu (Red and Black).  Pledging was probably the toughest time I ever went through, and I'm a disabled vet.

From Mary Sipp-Green, answers to different questions:  Happy you managed to squeeze in a visit to the Wally Findlay Gallery.  In answer to Eric Hilton's questions about my work:  I work in oil, and I do have a web site that links to the galleries that rep me and to the limited edition prints I make.  It's also a contact for private interest.  The address is:  marysippgreen  .  com
    Must go to work now.  Be well.  Best regards to all.

From Peter Rosen:  I just checked my trusty yearbook, and Robert Bigelow had signed mine and wrote, in retrospect, a very touching note.  Our yearbook lists him as the JV basketball coach, but looking at a picture in my office, he may have become the assistant varsity coach, under Stan Silverberg, our senior year.  I'm sure those with better memories for these things will remember.
    And thanks for asking how I'm doing.  My hip is great.  It's been 6 weeks since the operation, and I'm already back walking 4 miles.  I was home in 2 days and never needed a pain pill.  Amazing.  Hope to see you all soon.  I miss everyone.

A quick report on Booker Gibson Night at the Irish Coffee Pub:  There were about 18 South alumni there, a couple from the 70s but most from the 60s.  As usual, everyone had a terrific time, and Booker was great.

Another Long Island event, this one this weekend in Valley Stream, from Arlene Ainbinder Lynn:  Randy and the Rainbows will be appearing Friday night, July 22nd, at 8 PM in the Forest Road School parking lot.  The event is sponsored by the Town of Hempstead as part of its Neighborhood Concert Series.  Come down and enjoy the music.  Oldies but goodies.  And bring a chair.

Entertainment news on the other coast, from Amy Lieberman:  Sunday, August 28th, Billy Valentine returns to "Once Upon A Canyon Nite," a benefit concert for the Los Angeles Tree People organization.  Special guest:  Barbara Morrison.  For ticket information, please go to:   www. ; treepeople  .  org

Safety advice, applicable internationally, forwarded by Linda Cohen Greenseid, initially compiled by Dave Copp, rescue expert:  When buildings collapse, the weight of ceilings falling on objects -- furniture, doorways, stairs -- crushes these objects and anyone hiding beneath them.  But it leaves a space next to the compressed object, "a triangle of life."  The bigger and denser the object, the less it compacts, and the bigger the safety space beside it.  So if you happen to be caught in a collapsing building, lie in fetal position next to the biggest object you can find, not under it.  And the closer to an outside wall you are, the faster your chance of rescue.

Finally, several obituaries for Robert Bigelow were available from Long Island sources, both offline and on.  The Newsday piece wasn't completely accessible, but here are two that were:

Former South Side High School coach Robert Bigelow, 71, died on June 25 at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, New Jersey.  Born on Sept. 27, 1939, the son of George E. and Patricia Sokolowski, Bigelow was a 1957 graduate of Adams High School, in Adams, Massachusetts where he was an outstanding athlete.  He earned an athletic scholarship to New York University where he was a member of the 1960 basketball team that reached the Final Four. After graduation, Bigelow taught at two New Jersey schools and in the Valley Stream school district before he landed a position in the Rockville Centre school district, where he taught physical education for 32 years.  Bigelow coached boys' basketball from 1968 to 1982, producing a 202-60 win/loss record and took the South Side Cyclones to four state basketball titles.
    In 1980, he began a 21-year tenure as the first head girls' soccer coach at South Side, coaching the Lady Cyclones to 21 consecutive winning seasons which included 3 undefeated seasons, 10 New York State championships, 13 Eastern New York State championships and 16 Nassau County championships.  In 2000, the girls' soccer team was ranked #2 nationally, and in 2001 the team was ranked #1 nationally. Bigelow was named National Coach of the Year in 1994 and again in 2001. Bigelow was also named Eastern United States Coach of the Year three times, New York State Coach of the Year twice, as well as Nassau County Coach of the Year. His soccer teams produced nine All-Americans and a remarkable career 330-45-17 win/loss record. 
    Bigelow always refused to take credit for his teams' successes, instead crediting the local feeder programs and the players themselves. His coaching philosophy was simple: "You don't coach sports: you coach people."  Bigelow's ability to inspire team unity, a tenacious defense and a winning attitude was also responsible for the South Side boys' basketball and girls' soccer dynasty. “I have the utmost respect for him as a coach,” said Mike Heller, former director of athletics for the district for 24 years. “I met Bob back in 1985 when I started in the Rockville Centre schools.  At that time he was coaching girls varsity soccer (he was the head coach), he was a varsity assistant on the boys’ track team and he also coached middle school girls and boys basketball. But it was as the girls’ soccer coach that he really made his mark.  He was a terrific tactician, nobody prepared his players better than he did, nobody could institute a game plan better than him, and nobody could break down the strengths and weaknesses of opponents better than he could.  He started the women’s varsity soccer program at South Side in 1981 and won the first of many New York State championships just six years later, in 1987.” 
    After retiring from teaching in 1995, Bigelow continued with the girls' soccer position until the 2000/2001 season, and then began to pursue his other passions -- travel and golf.  He and his partner, Sue Wallace, spent six months of the year on Oahu, Hawaii, and one month each year in different locations such as Thailand, China, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Alaska and Vietnam.  And he never stopped coaching, according to longtime girlfriend Sue Wallace.  “He was very easygoing and generous person,” Wallace said. “We played golf together and he coached me. Now I’m fairly good.”

And:

    Bob Bigelow, one of the most accomplished high school coaches in state history and an iconic figure at South Side High School in Rockville Centre, won 10 state championships as the girls soccer coach and 4 Nassau titles coaching boys basketball.  Coach Bigs, as players called him, taught won 330 games and 10 state titles in 21 seasons as the South Side girls soccer coach.  When Bigelow retired after the 2001 season, he ended with a 20-0 mark, a state Class A title, mythical national championship and National Soccer Coaches Association of America coach of the year award (he first earned the honor in 1994). His .864 winning percentage ranks 17th all-time among national high school girls soccer coaches (minimum 250 wins). Bigelow ranks 8th in wins (330-45-17) in state history, according to the NSCAA.  “He absolutely loved it. He thought the world of the girls," said ex-wife Sandy Bigelow. The two were married 22 years.
    While Bigelow is best known for his brilliance in soccer, he also was an accomplished boys basketball coach. Bigelow directed the Cyclones to Nassau boys basketball titles in 1971, '72, '75 and '78. He went 202-60 from 1968-82.  “He had a unique knack for getting kids to perform over and above their abilities,” recalled Art Raynor, a former teacher and basketball scorekeeper. “He never raised his voice. I never saw him angry. He was remarkable.”
    When Bigelow took a break from coaching basketball he was asked to start the girls soccer program at the school. Family and colleagues confess he knew nothing about the sport at first.  “He learned soccer from me,” daughter Kathleen Bigelow Fink said. “When he ended up taking over the girls, the things he did know were what he learned watching me play.’’  What Bigelow brought was a keen tactical mind. He studied his opponents endlessly. His teams also were technically sound. South Side soccer didn’t make mistakes.  A dynasty was born.
    Bigelow leaves behind his beloved Sue, of Queens; two daughters, Kimberly Organ and her husband Tommy, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Kathleen Fink and her husband William, of Baldwin; two brothers, George and his wife Marie, of Windsor, Massachusetts, and James and his wife Sally, of Adams, Massachusetts; one sister, Dorothy Russett and her husband Donald, of North Adams, Massachusetts; eight grandchildren: Mike, Erica, Sean, Willie, Shannon, Jesse, Joey and Krystal, and eight nieces and nephews.

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

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

Please delete any spaces in links or e-mail addresses before using them.  And the latest update are no longer posted on Facebook, partly because the revised e-mail format has been getting delivered and partly because the largely unnecessary Valley Stream South High School Class of 1965 page has been archived.


Rich