Update 5-6-14

 

Hi,

 

First, one last note on the 50th reunion site:  Barbara Blitfield Pech did some research on hotels in downtown Brooklyn -- on 4th Avenue and on Smith and Duffield Streets -- and Dennis Shapiro got an update on the hotel in Melville that we used for our 40th reunion.

    Basically, we can get comparable rooms for around $175 a night, tax included, in all these places.  Banquet facilities, if we need them, are equal in Melville and Hauppauge -- about $45/person plus a cash bar -- though we haven't checked in Brooklyn.  There are restaurants in all areas, public and/or volunteer transportation, and accessible-though-different airports.

    So if you prefer Brooklyn or Melville, please let me know this week.  If you've already voted for Hauppauge and are happy with that, or if you said you're comfortable going with the majority, you don't have do anything.  I'll let everyone know next week where the 50th reunion is going to being held.

 

Other notes about the party:

 

From Roz Minsky Bobrow Hahn:  I am one who hopes to attend our reunion with my hubby.  Only my health issues will keep us away.  My daughter and her family live in West Hempstead, so we spend a fair amount of time on and driving to Long Island.  We just spent a night at Hampton's Inn in Commack, and I'm not recommending it.  But there are lots of hotel chains out there, especially in the Melville area, and they're a much better idea.

    There was also just a big write-up in The Hartford Courant, reminding people that 2015 is the 50th anniversary of the New York World's Fair.  Somehow, we should find a world-class reunion idea, and I am offering to help.

 

From Les Glasser:  There's a very good Italian restaurant a short drive from the hotel in Hauppague, and it has a back room for parties.  I think their price would be very reasonable, but I don't know how many people they could handle.  It's called Ciro's, and you can Google for its web site.

 

From Ellen Epstein Silver:  I read the newsletter each week and plan to drop you a line, then life gets in the way, and I forget.  We are enjoying living in south Florida, and Linda Cohen Greenseid lives fairly close by, so we see each other often.  She and I will probably come together to the reunion, wherever it is.

From Mary Sipp Green:  Hauppauge would work for me, and so would any place in or close to New York City.  Too bad one of our classmates doesn't own a hotel or a very large yacht.  Having the reunion on Long Island or in the city would mean I could definitely come, so I'm hoping we vote to have it in one of those places.  Either way gives us the opportunity to get together again.

 

From Stu Kandel:  Just wanted to let you know that I will be at the reunion and can also pick up anyone who needs a ride from the airport.

 

From Zelda White Nichols:  I am not planning to attend the reunion as we are considering selling our house in North Carolina at that time.

 

From Dennis Shapiro:  I just spoke with Ray Sinatra, and he intends to be there.

 

From Booker Gibson:  Since I can't get around that easily anymore, my wife and I will drive to the reunion for a Friday or Saturday night dinner and return to North Merrick the same night.

 

From Alan Finder:  I would definitely attend a reunion next year and really have no preference about where it is held.  I don’t know if I’d stay two nights at a hotel on Long Island, but I would absolutely attend and would probably stay at least one night.  As for the details, I’m easy:  I’d go with the consensus.

 

Finally, a bit more about Don Hicks and Joe Argenzio:

 

From Eric Hilton:  Don Hicks was absolutely one of my favorite teachers.  Being more of an industrial arts student than an academic student, I excelled in woodworking and won a few awards.  I remember Mr. Hicks helping me making an electric guitar out of mahogany.  That made Hy Rosov so proud of me because he was a wood worker, too.  I also made a beautiful 8-foot walnut stereo cabinet.

    A few funny stories I remember about Mr. Hicks.  Once after the bell rang for the start of class, instead of taking my wood shop test, I was talking with some friends in the print shop.  Before I knew it, I was hanging sideways, dangling by my belt, as Mr, Hicks was carrying me -- with one hand -- back to class.  Another time, while making my stereo cabinet, I was rushing to finish before the shop awards.  While applying the linseed oil finish, I spilled the jar which splashed all over me.  Mr. Hicks sent me to the gym to shower, but the smell was so bad that Mr. Hicks and Mr. Argenzio called the office to send me home.  The funniest story was during the shop awards judging -- I think it was an evening.  Mr. Hicks' wife brought in an old chair that was falling apart that her husband had made during his college period.  They labeled it as “Built by Don Hicks.”

    Don was a wonderful teacher and always a friend to each of his students.

 

And from Ed Albrecht:  Just a comment on each of our teachers who have recently passed.

    First, Mr. Argenzio instructed my brother Billy and me in wrestling for many years.  My instruction was for tournaments at the end of the season, where you wrestled someone a grade lower since you weren't on a team.  I did very well, winning a few years in a row and receiving a trophy.  Mr. Argenzio was the coach and referee.  That continued until I think 10th or 11th grade, when I wrestled a fellow a grade younger and tried to bridge, meaning to get off your back you balanced on the balls of your feet and your head.  Well, I collapsed in agony and obviously lost that year.  That was the end of what I believe was called "Intramurals."  For my brother Billy, class of '63, Mr. Argenzio coached him to become a Tri-State Champion.  My brother was really proud of this accomplishment.

    To Mr. Hicks, I owe a debt of gratitude.  While in his class in 1963, I was working on a coffee table.  My father passed suddenly from a heart attack, and I really didn't want to finish the table.  Mr. Hicks persisted in getting me to finish.  So through beveling, routing, and sanding, I was crying all the while, but I did end up finishing the table.  It was entered in the Best of Show school competition for the year, and I actually ended up winning.  I was so proud, especially with my mother looking on in the stands while I received the Certificate of Accomplishment.  There was a furniture manufacturer there who offered to buy the plans from me -- Mr. Hicks never let you touch wood until you drew up the plans -- but I politely declined.  I was also offered a partial scholarship to a woodworking school, which I also declined.  Still, if it weren't for Mr. Hicks holding my hand through this trying period, I would never have finished this project. 

    To both these amazing teachers who touched so many of us, please rest in peace.

 

The class of '64 reunion:  Friday, October 10, 2014, 6 to 11 PM.  $70 per person, cash bar.  Hyatt Regency, Hauppague, New York.  Committee phone numbers:  Tom McPartland  570-223-2577.  Ken Silver: 631-463-2217.  Bette Silver: 631-463-2216.

 

The class of '65  50th Reunion dates:  April 24 through April 26, 2015

 

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com  (remove the spaces)

 

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

 

 

Rich