Update 8-2-11

Hi,

Hot?  Nah.  It's merely 88 right now, at nearly 8 PM.  Cooler at the beaches.  But we live in the peak of the Valley, close to the sun.

From Barbara Blitfield Pech, on another coast, another beach, to Robert Fiveson, near a canal:  I am pretty sure the science teacher who spelled out B-U-N-S-E-N B-U-R-N-E-R might have been Miss Hilbig -- H-I-L-B-I-G.  She was there for a very short while, but I remember her from 9th grade science.
    Our classroom faced the inner court of South, and whatever she was yammering on about had no chance against the courtyard, which -- for me -- was a ready distraction.  I remember her just talking and talking and talking...  I didn't even takes notes.  By the time she finally stopped, often after the bell rang, whatever she'd kept repeating was forever in my head.

Also from Barbara, responding to my "possibly interesting" find of Cantor Mann's -- what was his first name? -- hit recording of a bar mitzvah portion, rescued from my mother's attic:
    POSSIBLY INTERESTING?!?  Oh, my god, I am beyond excited and on pins-and-needles waiting to again hear the recorded voice of the amazing Cantor Mann.
    You may remember his cousin from Hebrew school, Steve Halpern, the Central 1965 valedictorian and my prom date at the Central prom.  Steve is a brilliant musician, composer, and well-known recording artist, living in Palo Alto, but he will be coming east sometime during the next few months.  What a wonderful greeting gift I will be able to share with him.  I'm cranking up the old Grundig as we speak.  By the way, I'm also making a copy -- well a videographer friend of mine is -- for Sydney Resnikoff.  Amazingly, she doesn't have one.

[Rich -- Uh, who's Sydney Resnikoff again?  I recognize that she's a relative of the former Gates of Zion rabbi, but what's her relationship to Cantor -- first name missing -- Mann?]

And from Joanne Shapiro Polner, on an island:  Mary Sipp-Green was well-received this past weekend on July 31st, 2011, at the Granary Gallery artists' reception in West Tisbury, Massachusetts.  Joanne Shapiro Polner '59 and Alex Polner '58 were at the crowded gallery as unofficial representatives of all of South High School, they said, to congratulate Mary on her return to Martha's Vineyard -- that's a wonderful island south of Cape Cod, for those of you who flunked U.S. geography or recent presidential retreat history.
    Mary's soft-color, comforting, large landscape paintings are displayed in the prime gallery space for the week.  People who already own her paintings were among those to attend the show, and Mary confided proudly that she sold a few paintings during the reception.
    To read Mary's painting biography and her list of exhibitions and awards, please see:  granarygallery . com  Click on "Artists" on the sign at the left of the pictures of works of the four represented artists.  Scroll through the names to "Sip-Green."  Then click again and read.
    Mary is a delightful, friendly, exuberant person.  It was a privilege to meet her and to enjoy her work in a beautiful setting.

Back at South High, on a creek, two Thank You notes from the recipients of this year's Vince Tampio and Booker Gibson scholarships.

From Zoe Carpentieri:  Thank you so much for honoring me with the Vince Tampio Scholarship.  I have worked so hard, learned so much, and have had so much fun in the theater over the past four years, and I am so grateful to be recognized for it.  Many thanks, and best wishes to all of you.

From Joseph Tar Schmidt:  I am trying to put my feelings into words right now, and I don't believe I'm doing a very good job.  I'm convinced there really are no words to describe my feelings.  I am both humbled and honored by the decision to have me be awarded the Booker Gibson Music Award.  I am also so grateful for the kind words used to describe me while the award was being presented.  It's true, as some people know, that music has been an irreplaceable aspect of my life to this point, but I just wanted to attempt to express how much this truly means to me.
    After I learned that my grandfather had played the violin in high school, I was immediately intrigued and wondered how one could produce such sounds from a piece of wood.  Luckily for me, he had kept his violin on the top of the bookshelf for over 50 years, barely touched.  It was in pretty bad shape, unfortunately, but it was still possible for me to put it under my chin for the first time and get a few squeaks out.  Most importantly, it sparked my fascination with the instrument.
    As I stood there today to receive the award, I couldn't help but think how much I owed it to my mother and father for supporting me all the way, to my grandfather for inspiring me, and to Mr. Gibson for carrying out diligence and greatness in the name of music.  As I continue to further my education in music, it's safe -- and great -- to say that these wonderful people will always have a spot in my heart and will contribute to each continuing note on the violin that I may produce.  I'll conclude this by saying again how grateful I am to have received this award, and I can only hope to somehow pay the Valley Stream community back, musically in any way, shape, or form.

[Rich -- Normally, awards coordinator Liz King Giordano also sends us a copy of the graduation program, to let us see what other accomplishments Zoe and Joe might have achieved, but this year we just got the award assembly program.  It does mention that both Zoe and Joe also got PTSA -- Parent Teacher Student Association -- scholarships, and that Joe got the Television Production Club Leadership Award and one of the Forest Road PTA Sponsored Anderson Yeh Memorial Scholarships.  In all, over 75 awards were presented, may of them received by valedictorian Stephen Marcott and salutatorian Rachel Olson.]

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 trying to use them.  Using this approach seems to side-step overachieving spam detectors.


Rich