Update 2-12-13

 

Hi,

 

Happy Valentine's Day, of course.  To celebrate, five short notes and a longer one.

 

First, from Zelda White Nichols:  I have a funny story for you.  As you might remember, my husband and I moved to North Carolina eight years ago, and at that time, Allan Bendel -- who was in class of ‘65 and who I went to elementary school with -- was looking up former classmates.  He saw my name and e-mail address on the reunion site, so he wrote to me.  It turns out Allan lives on Lake Norman, which is about an hour’s drive away.  Long story short, we did hook up for a reunion at that time, but as so often happens, after about a year, we lost touch.

    Fast forward to last night at a Super Bowl party.  One of my neighbors’ kids, Bryce -- who is in his early twenties and who just became a police officer -- came into the party and told me that he had met someone I knew on Lake Norman.  I immediately knew who it was, of course, but I was still blown away when Bryce said it was Allan.  Bryce had advertised an electric bike on Craig’s List, and Allan bought it.  Bryce took it down to him, they got to talking about Lakes Norman and High Rock, and up I popped.  What a small world.

 

Zelda also wrote:  There's a four-letter word that I hate -- snow.  Here’s hoping that all our classmates in the Northeast were safe and warm in the storm.  Having been in the Blizzard of '78, near the coast of Massachusetts, I will keep you all in my prayers and hope that this storm wasn’t as bad.

 

Next, from Eric Hilton:  I have been speaking with Sheryl -- Hy Rosov’s daughter -- about people asking for a copies of her dad’s yearbooks.  Since I can’t find the e-mails of the people who contacted me, Sheryl said it would be OK to post her e-mail address and ask people to contact her directly.

    Her address is:  Morahsher @ yahoo . com  (please delete the spaces).  Meanwhile, I hope all is well, and regards to everyone.

 

Fourth, from Babara Blitfield Pech, forwarded from a posting by Freda Wagner on Facebook:  To all my Valley Stream South High friends and alumni -- the Grammy's newest award is the Music Educator Award, and they want our suggestions.  Here's mine:  Booker T. Gibson.

    Let's all go to:  GrammyMusicTeacher . com  (delete the spaces) and tell them why.  Any professional musicians out there who want to chime in?:

 

Fifth, from Jerry Bittman:  Paul Zegler just informed me that on ESPN's show Pardon the Interruption, one of the co-hosts, Tony Kornheiser, talked about Richie Lobell.  Kornheiser mentioned that the basketball uniforms that Valley Stream South had were designed with short sleeves, but it didn't bother Lobell because he could shoot lights out.

 

Finally, from Steve Zuckerman:  Thanks for the information as to the theater lives of some of the best stage presentations of the last few decades and of the fate of The Fantasticks, which -- without a doubt -- is the longest running show on-or-off Broadway.

    I got to see The Fantasticks in the first week of May 1980.  The original opening performance was on May 3, 1960, and the Sunday matinee my wife and I went to see included the late Lore Noto as the boy's father and an overall magnificent cast.  What CNN reported was that the show was going to close due to financial concerns and smaller audiences at each performance.  I'm happy to hear that the show continued and has now found a new home in the Big Apple.

    Incidentally, both Tom Conway and his brother, actor George Sanders, were excellent supporting actors in Hollywood.  George Sanders received more recognition, but both could play suave gentlemen or villains if need be, as well as very good police inspectors from Scotland Yard or private detectives.  One of Conway's memorable performances was in the film One Touch Of Venus.  The stage version, starring Mary Martin, had a good run on Broadway and the film, with Ava Gardner, was a fair success on the screen.

    Unrelated to that, Tyrone Power was filming an important sword fight with Sanders in 1957 when Power suffered a fatal heart attack at forty-four.  Power, with his newly formed production company, was trying to make a big budget Biblical epic, Solomon and Sheba, to compete with films such as The Ten Commandments and The Robe.  Yul Brynner replaced him in the movie.

    And take a shot at this little quiz:  name two of the newest talents on the Broadway stage who showed off their singing and dancing skills in the musical revue New Faces of 1952.

 

[Rich -- I had to check the cast of New Faces of '52 on Wikipedia because there were two New Faces albums that I listened to when I was a kid, and there was a bunch of later-famous people in both casts.  But the two women Steve is probably thinking of are Eartha Kitt and Carol Lawrence.  Alice Ghostly and Paul Lynde were also in the '52 show, and Mel Brooks, Sheldon Harnick (of Fiddler on the Roof), and Ronny Graham contributed to the writing.  Graham also performed.

    Maggie Smith and Inga Swenson were in the '56 version, but the song I remember best from the '52 album included the chorus, "You can't chop your mother up in Massachusetts, and then blame all the damage on the mice."]

 

Also, a reminder that if you're in Los Angeles, and you'd like to attend the coming fundraiser for The Ovarian Cancer Circle -- the “Take a Bite out of Ovarian Cancer” charitable lunch organized by Paulinda Schimmel Babbini -- it's at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, 6100 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Woodland Hills, California, on Thursday, February 21st, from 11:30 to 1:30.  Tickets are $40, which includes a raffle ticket.  Please RSVP by Monday, February 18th to:  theovariancancercircle . org  (remove spaces) or call:  323-842-8100.  No tickets will be sold at the door.

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rich