November 2002 : Volume 3 - Issue 2

Newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of
Hicksville High School Hicksville, New York

The Editors:
Buffalo Bob Casale '61	Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '60
Pat (Koziuk) Driscoll '56	Bob (Gleason) Wesley '61

Contributing Editors: Bob Gillette & Walter Schmidt

Webmaster: Roger Whitaker

To contact the editors, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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November Birthdays

• 1: Joan Komar Langlois, 1961 (VA)
• 7: Dawn Casale (GA)
• 14: Hank Chupka, 1955 (L.I.)
• 19: Linda Frimmer Whitlock, 1958 (FL)
• 21: Pat Appleman Levitin, 1962
• 23: Caroline Kolff VanOosterwyk Kelly (need new email address)
• 26: Valerie Herold Chavez, 1977 (NM)

November Anniversaries

• 11: Vicky (Penner) and Roger Whitaker (IL)
• Belated anniversary wishes to Ruth (Olsen) and Den Collins who celebrated 44 years on October 4th. Ruth is a 1956 graduate and Den graduated in 1953. Den is the current President of the Nassau County Historical Society; their website is below. Their son, Den III is the Webmaster for the site and it has some interesting links and information about Nassau County http://www.nassaucountyhistoricalsociety.org

In Memory

• Bonnie Brigandi mourns the passing of her lifelong friend, Susan Rizzi. Susan passed in October 2002 in Florida where she lived with her husband of 20+ years, Bill (unknown last name). Bonnie remembers many good times from their childhood on Cedar Street in Hicksville, through East St. School, Jr. High and High School where they both were in the class of 1974. Susan came from a large family and Bonnie remembers them all, Jerry, Tommy, Michael, Dale, Lenny, Donald, Sharon, Ellen and Janice.

• There is a web site dedicated to the memory of George Howard who died in the 9/11 attacks. Click on:
  http://our.homewithgod.com/mkcathy/ggh.html

Trivia Quiz

Each Month, the Editors will conduct a trivia quiz!

Test your knowledge at many unrelated subjects to see what you remember. Music, History, Travel, Sports...just several categories to whet your appetite. The only thing you'll win from us is braggin' rights...prizes you get somewhere else.

This month's quiz is based on Music. Are you good??? Let's find out. The suspense at knowing the correct answers, if you do not have access to finding out, would destroy the following month for you...the answers can be found at the end of this newsletter... (Bob)

1 - The 1970's found many Canadian artists finding airplay on American radios. Which artist is not Canadian?

• Lighthouse
• April Wine
• Little River Band
• The Guess Who

2 - Before the Go-Gos and The Bangles, this all girl band had two top 40 hits in 'Celebrity Ball' and 'Butter Boy.' Who were they?

• ABBA
• The Seekers
• Fanny
• The Secrets

3 - Who released the album 'Exile On Main Street'?

• Jefferson Airplane
• The Doors
• Janis Joplin
• Rolling Stones

4 - Who is known as the Night Tripper?

• Captain Beefheart
• Dr John
• Clarence Clemons
• David Bowie

5 - Which of these bands was Eric Clapton a member of?

• Traffic
• T-Rex
• Badfinger
• Derek And The Dominoes

News and Notes

• ANNOUNCEMENT:

  FRI-11/15-MID-LIFE CRISIS PRE-HOLIDAY BASH

  WE'RE BACK!!! COME JOIN US FRIDAY, NOV 15TH AT THE HICKSVILLE VFW HALL AS WE ROCK THE RAFTERS WITH ALL YOUR FAVORITE TUNES FROM 8 'TIL 12!!! FOR JUST $25/PP, YOU GET ALL YOU CAN DRINK AND A LIGHT COLD BUFFET!!! ONLY 175 TICKETS AVAILABLE, SO CONTACT RICH DELIA @516-681-6005,ARTIE SCHWARTZ
  AT 516-659-6025,OR ME AT 516-933-6666!!

  (ME is Anton Mure, class of 1968 - Editors)

• Karen (Hubner, 1962) and Myron Jenkins are enjoying their first grandchild; Jenna Michelle Jenkins who was born on September 5, 2002. Her vital statistics: 6 lb. 1 oz., 19-1/2". Proud parents are Scott and Tina.

• Steve Reden, 1959 sent the following note:

  Hi,

  Just thought I'd drop a quick note...

  I was actually thinking of making it to the Orlando mini-reunion but unfortunately I'll be heavily into rehearsals for another play here in Fernandina Beach. Maybe next time...

  FYI, on the Nassau County (Florida) official website,http://www.nassauclerk.com/ we find the following text with its associated links:

  "Nassau is a very popular search on the internet. As a result many visitors to our site are actually looking for "the other Nassau County". For your convenience we have provided a link to Nassau County, New York http://www.co.nassau.ny.us/"

  Somewhat interesting! Historically, there is a rather important connection between Fernandina and the NYC area. I'll see if I can dig up more info, for the curious, and pass it on.
  -s.

• For a short history of Hicksville, click on: http://users.rootsweb.com/~nynassa2/Hicksville.htm

  Linda Harvey gave her permission to use this link to her rootsweb site.

  In 1948 there was a big celebration of Hicksville's tercentennial. There were parades, block parties and dances and everyone dressed in costumes. I have a vague memory of Dwight David Eisenhower waving from an open car
  in one of the parades. (Pat)

• Louis Brigandi found an old picture of the Senior Class trip to Mount Vernon, April 12th, 1933.

  The picture has been posted (in two sections) on classmates.com. There were signatures on the back and they have been posted also. To view and see if any of your relatives are in the photo, just click on:

  http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=141476

  At least one member of that class still lives in Hicksville - Howard John Boos. Ellen Boos, class of 1954, and a distant cousin of Howard shared this information. 

• Thanks to John Sherin and Jack DeVaul there are many more photos of the class of 1956's 40th reunion. They are in the class of 1956 album on classmates.com. As of this writing, the names have not been posted in the comments section. Feel free to identify all those that you can in the comments section below the photos.

• In this age of designer labels, body piercing, exposed navels above jeans cut so low that you have to have a bikini wax before wearing them, dyed and spiked hair and other fashion trends, you might want to show your children and grandchildren what some of us looked like in simpler times.

  The following link will take you to a picture taken at Nicholai Street School around 1948: http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/photo.tf?photo_id=1781387

Reunions

• CLASS OF 1957 REUNION

  No one in Hicksville High School's Class of 1957 seemed to mind the chilled air on this October evening. It was a reminder of many years of chilled nights that transcended decades. The decades produced new memories that needed to be shared. Tonight would be the night for sharing.

  A bright moon climbing slowly in the darkening sky was reminiscent of other moonlit nights spent romancing boyfriends and girlfriends, sharing a malt at the Sweet Shop or skipping school to walk along the beach. Many relationships resulted in marriage and many are still romancing 45 years after graduation.

  The alumni of the class of 1957 gathered at the Islandia Marriott in Hauppauge, New York to celebrate life. Many have been enjoying life for years but tonight will elevate the sensation to extreme proportions. Smiles on faces punctuate the feeling and the lingering feeling of joy is obvious.

  Thoughts of cheerleading, playing football, running track, the senior trip, chemistry class, the senior prom, homecoming, variety shows and plays and the memory of pep rallies was the order of the day. Friends who had not seen each other for years talked freely of pleasant memories of their days spent roaming the halls of Hicksville High School. Thoughts of friends no longer with them, too, was part of the many conversations that created a muted din of noise that was shattered occasionally when a new face appeared and a shriek of pure joy drew the attention of those in close proximity.

  The class of '57 had a reunion 15 years ago in 1987. Many of those who attended that reunion were not present this evening and many who missed the last reunion were here tonight.

  Phil Fulco orchestrated the logistics for this delightful evening. His coordination of tasks insured a memorable night. Determining the best time to have a reunion is cumbersome. Various factors need careful consideration. This particular reunion and its allotted time can be traced back to a conversation between one Tom Reuter and Phil Fulco.

  Tom has lived in Switzerland for the past 30 some odd years. The trip back to the United States had to take on special significance, and his appearance at the reunion was a single aspect of a multi faceted trip.
  Tom still has family here in the states. His trip was designed to visit family and see some really "old" friends. Well, not really "old"...just friends, if you catch my drift!!??

  So, the time slot was determined based on Tom's trip. A wonderful exception because the evening would be less meaningful without Tom's presence! Tom arrived wearing a red hat and sporting a backpack filled with Swiss chocolate. His many friends couldn't understand the ringing of a bell and a voice asking if anyone cared for a piece of chocolate. At first, the thought was some strange person was invading their territory. Once people knew it was Tom, there was instant hugging and handshaking. What a wonderful surprise entrance it was.

  Just wanted to say "Thanks for allowing me to share your evening with you. It will be a fond memory for a long time."
  Bob Casale

  Below is the link that takes you to the 73 pictures of the reunion that are now posted...

  http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=143718

• Hi Newsletter,

  I guess by now you know we held our class of '57 reunion last Saturday night. Bob Casale has already posted some of the pictures in an album on Classmates. I will be mailing him more pictures and I believe a few other people will too. It was a great success. We had about 50 people attend, from Arlene Andrade (now Sahadachny) to Pete Zito, and a good time was had by all.

  Several of us stayed over at the Marriott (where it was held) so we were able to meet for lunch on Saturday. Then more people showed up late afternoon in the lounge. Soon it was time for the party, which began with a cocktail hour at 7 p.m., followed by a fantastic buffet dinner. The food was really good. Then Sunday morning, those that had stayed over, met for a brunch before we all hit the road for home.

  It was really wonderful to see so many of our old friends and how far some of them had traveled to get there. The winner for distance was Tom Reuter, who lives in Switzerland. He made a grand entrance wearing a red t-shirt with the Swiss white cross on the front and a red hat. He had a small back pack containing Swiss chocolates and was ringing a bell calling out, "Get your Swiss choc-o-late." They were delicious! Ed and Mary (Fuller) Osborne exhibited the most endurance. They had just returned from a trip to Australia, unpacked, repacked, hopped a plane to NY, spent the weekend and had to be back in Colorado Springs on Sunday evening for a dinner event.

  We had all been looking forward to seeing the newlyweds, Vic and Arlene Andrade) Sahadachny. They looked great and acted like a couple of honeymooners (which they are).

  Now we're looking for someone to organize and chair our 50th anniversary, in 5 years.

  Thanks for the help in finding people and publicizing the reunion. You were a great resource and helped to make it a success.

  Take care for now, talk to you soon.
  Phil Fulco

FLORIDA "MINI" REUNION IN ORLANDO

May Horn (Mabel Perduto, 1958) and June (Olsen, 1958) Cullen report that the luncheon on October 12th at Tony Roma's in Orlando was enjoyed by 22 people. Hopefully, a committee will be born of this get-together for a large multi-year reunion in Florida for the near future.

Photos have been posted at: http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=145313 We are in the process of identifying the people.

Sadly, Marie Fetten McBride's (1958) plans to attend the luncheon were changed by an auto accident, which resulted in knee surgery the day before the get together. She was in good spirits when May and June made a trip to visit her in the hospital after the luncheon.

The guest list:

• Charlie Cava, 1955, "Oak Run" Ocala
• Barbara Fellows Cava, 1956, "Oak Run" Ocala
• Rosemary Panico Minichello, 1956, "The Villages" Lady Lake
• Bob Edelstein, 1957, Boca Raton
• Pete Foster, 1957, St Augustine
• June Olsen Cullen, 1958, Palm Harbor
• May Perduto Horn, 1958, Orlando
• Margaret Pfundstein Keigwin, 1958, Ocala
• Paul Chapen, 1959, New Port Richie
• Lee Lincoln, 1961, Christmas
• Nancy North Park, 1961, Merritt Island
• Richie Keliher, 1964
• Michael Perduto, 1966, Satellite Beach
• Stefanie Cedar Shames, 1977, Altamonte Springs
• Hope Cedar Dagan, 1980, Altamonte Springs
• Diane Sullivan, 1983
• Jennifer Sullivan, 1994
• Ed Cullen (husband of June)
• Jennifer Daniels, St. Augustine (spouse of Peter)
• Hal Horn (husband of May)
• Warren Keigwin (husband of Margaret)
• Joe Minichello (husband of Rosemary)

Pat Koziuk Driscoll, 1956, FL
Linda Piccerelli Hayden, 1960, NJ
Bob Casale, 1961, HX and PA