Update 9-30-14

Hi,

 

First, Happy New Year to those who celebrate.  I should have said that last week, but I needed to be reminded by people sending in greetings.  Among those who did, alphabetically:  Barbara Blitfield Pech, Linda Cohen Greenseid, Ellen Epstein Silver, Peggy Galinger Menaker, Amy Miller Cohen, and Andrea Schwartz Neenan.

 

Second, only 10 days till the class of 64's 50th reunion.  If you're planning to go, or if you're hoping to reconnect with someone who's visiting Long Island for the party, this would be the time to make those arrangements.

 

Third, a question forwarded by Amy Miller Cohen:  Joan Arnay asked me if I knew the name of the pizza place in the Green Acres Shopping Center.  I could only think that you might know or could ask in the next newsletter.

 

[Rich -- And here's where it would be useful to be able to search the accumulated updates, but I still haven't developed that ability.  Instead, I put the question into Google and came up with a blog named labelscar . com, subtitled, "The Retail History Blog."  Specifically, I was linked to the page: labelscar . com/new york/greenacresmall.  (of course, take out the spaces)

    What I learned:  originally -- The Golden Crust.  Later -- Tony's and California Pizza, not necessarily in that order.  Three different names, but the same rectangular pizza, often sold by the slice.  And one of the people who contributed to the blog was Amy Kassak Bentley.]

 

Topically, the latest in the ongoing Andy Kaufman Death Mystery:  Bob Zmuda -- Kaufman's former writing partner -- and Lynne Margulies -- Kaufman's former girlfriend -- have a new book coming out:  Andy Kaufman: The Truth.  Finally.  In it, they claim Kaufman did indeed fake his 1984 death as a great joke, and he planned to come back.  He swore Zmuda to secrecy for 30 years, but now that time is up, and Zmuda feels he can reveal the secret, hoping that will lure Kaufman back into the public.  Unfortunately, Margulies has other information:  the joke was real, but Kaufman unfortunately really did die before he could come back.

 

About a book closer to us:  Mary Sipp-Green's Every Hour of the Light is scheduled to be published in late October.  It can be pre-ordered from Amazon and other sources.

 

Finally, a conversation Andrea Schwartz Neenan and I had this week:

 

From Andrea:  After reading that article on 50th high school class reunions, I had to add my 2 cents.  I just returned from the 50th reunion of Liverpool High School, which is just outside Syracuse, New York.  It was a fantastic, 2-night affair, with 115 people there, over a third of their class.

    The Friday night get-together was at a local hotel and had light food, a cash bar, and a DJ.  Some people hadn't seen each other since high school, and it was really wonderful to watch the reuniting of old friends. The people I met were warm and inviting, and I never felt like an outsider.  As matter-of-fact, someone came up to me and said, "I remember you from high school!"

    Saturday night, the same group gathered at the Liverpool Country Club for a full sit-down dinner which featured the same band that played at their high school prom.  Although I only knew a handful of people before the reunion, when it was over, I truly felt like I was part of their class. 

    I hope all who have the opportunity attend their 50th high school reunions, as they're something that shouldn't be missed.  I don't know whether the class of '67 will have a 50th, but I certainly hope so.

 

From Rich:  Yep, reunions can be fun.  Glad this one was great.  Do you mind me asking how much it was per person?  I'm really afraid to get into that again, as we had some trouble raising money for our 40th.  Also, some people don't have as much money as others, and we don't want to exclude anyone.  But there is something nice about dinner and a band with all the arrangements set in advance.
 

From Andrea:  The Saturday sit down dinner and band was $65 a person.  That also included a 4 gigabyte flash drive filled with pictures from high school, pictures of local Syracuse hang-outs, and about 2 gigabytes of music from the 60s.  There was also a 25-page color booklet and a champagne glass engraved with "Liverpool class of '64."  Hope this is all helpful.

From Rich:  Wow.  Someone went all out in Syracuse.  For our 37th reunion, we had a booklet, updating information about everyone who wanted to contribute.  There was probably information on about 100 of the 120 people at the party.  For our 40th and 45th, people were less interested -- both in coming to the parties and offering information.  For our 50th, we're following Emily Kleinman Schreiber's model -- announce a place and have people who are interested show up.  That way, they only spend what they want.

 

From Andrea:  They had a very close and cohesive class. The 2-night affair, after initial confirmations from people attending, gave them an approximate $10 k budget.  Seems like your reunion will be a good deal smaller, but I'm sure it will be great.  Wish I could be there because I so enjoyed your informal 45th.  By the way, they had a reunion committee of 11 people, each in charge of something else.

From Rich:  If the Saturday sit down dinner cost $65 per person, that would mean 115 x $65 = $7475.  Was Friday night about $22 per person, and when was that collected?  That would give them a 10 grand budget. 

    And, yep, we've had committees handle the reunions up to our 45th.  The committees started at about a dozen people and got smaller as the group attending got smaller.  But starting with our 37th, we've continued to gather from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
    For our 45th, we kind of winged it, and that worked fine for a group of 15 to 20.  We met at the hotel Friday night, and Valerie Nelson Gillen offered her house for Saturday afternoon.  Then we went to hear Booker Gibson play at the Irish Pub and, afterwards, continued on to dinner.  Sunday morning, some people met for brunch

    If lots of people suddenly plan to attend our 50th, we may have to do something formal.  But until over 60 people say they're coming -- and send money -- we're leaving things as they are.   And if we do go to the seemingly needed $75 per person, there will still be the matter of figuring out how to best serve the folks with less money.  I've been wondering if some people would volunteer as sponsors.
 

From Andrea:  I was off on my dollar amounts.  Because it was a 2-night affair, the costs were as follows:

    For both nights -- $85/per person or $145/couple
    For Friday only -- $40/per person or $55/couple
    They actually ended up with money left to feed the band, door greeters, and the photographer.
    Also, more than 40 percent of the class still lives in the Syracuse area, but there were many more attendees from out-of-state.  I was indirectly involved in the last 6 months of some of the planning, and -- if anything -- there were too many people on the committee and too many opinions, not letting the majority rule on some items.

 

From Rich:  Fortunately, we've been able to stick with majority rules, though, as I've mentioned, it's often the majority of the minority.  Many people in our class still have fairly busy lives, so they don't have time to help with the planning.  But everyone seems happy to see each other, and we've never had a bad party.

    And thanks for all this.  I'll pass it on to my class.

 

The repeated upcoming reunion information:

The class of '64 reunion:  Friday, October 10, 2014, 6 to 11 PM. $70 per person, cash bar.  Hyatt Regency, Hauppauge, 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:  April 24 through April 26, 2015, Hyatt Regency, Hauppauge.

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

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

 

Rich