July 2003 : Volume 3 - Issue 10

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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July Birthdays

• 1: Kay Iller Byrne, 1956 (SC)
• 2: Wendy Karen Stuart, 1957 (MA)
• 3: Louis Sirocusa, 1968 (NH)
• 4: Eileen Greenberg Ingala, 1961 (KY)
• 5: Arline Barna, 1956 (FL)
• 7: Nancy Alfano O'Geary-Smith, 1966 (IA); Dottie Gallahue Donovan
• 10: James Rodecker, 1966
• 13: Tanya Hawrylowicz Radgowski, 1962 (GA)
• 15: Jeanette Martello Lupis, 1959 (FL)
• 16: "Woody" Wood, 1968 (HX)
• 26: Linda Piccerelli Hayden, 1960 (NJ)
• 27: Carole Kiever Ohliger, 1957 (PA); Bill Powers, 1963 (CA)
• 28: Charlie Cava, 1955 (FL)
• 31: Barbara Fellows Cava, 1956 (FL)

Belated Birthday Wishes

• John Dounelis (1957) - June 29th

July Anniversaries

• 7/1/1973 - Judy (Pugliese) and Warren Alfano
• 7/18/1964 - Linda (Piccerelli) and Claude Hayden (NJ)
• 7/31/1966 - Joyce (Gabrielsen) and Bob Casale (PA)

Belated Anniversary Wishes

• John and Ann Dounelis - June 30, 1968

News, Notes and Memories

• Anton Mure of Mid Life Crisis fame writes:

  4TH OF JULY BBQ BASH AT SINGLETON'S BETHPAGE
  WE'RE AT IT AGAIN!! FRI JULY 4TH OUTDOOR BBQ AT SINGLETON'S BETHPAGE!! JOIN US AS WE DRESS THE WAY OUR PARENTS DID IN THE 60'S WHEN THEY BBQ'D!!!!! BEST OUTFIT WINS A PRIZE!!! WE ARE THE BAND AND ALL ARE WELCOME. IT'S ONE OF OUR REGULAR GIGS, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THERE'LL BE A THEME!! IT RUNS FROM 5:00 'TIL 11:OO, AND WE'LL SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE COME!! $10/GETS YOU ALL YOU CAN EAT BBQ AND YOUR FIRST DRINK!! 

• After reading some of the items sent in by former classmates. I just wanted to forward an update on what I am doing. I hope you can find space in the next newsletter for this item.

  My wife Marilyn Reimer Powers (Uniondale HS 63) and I will celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary this June. We met at SUNY Farmingdale the year after I graduated from HHS. We have three grown children Will (26), Tamara (28), Deborah (22). We also have one grandchild and another on the way. I finally received my doctorate in 1991 after working many years toward the degree. While attending HHS I remember working at the Mobile station on Jerusalem Ave. I find this ironic since now I am a consultant/manger for a major oil company in the environmental program helping remediate stations around California and the U.S. We have resided in California since 1975 when I was transferred from the EPA in Washington, DC to a job with the Navy's
  environmental program. I would enjoy hearing from some of my HHS friends.

  My e-mail address isThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  Bill Powers (HHS "63")

• Hello Hicksville!!

  We have enjoyed reading the Newsletter that has been forwarded to us for quite sometime now. I think Mary Cleary added our name and that's just another reason to love her. She really has done quite a job keeping up with the history of Hicksville. We thoroughly enjoy Bob Casale's column.

  We left Hicksville in 1999 and I never thought that day would come. I loved growing up in a small town and knowing so many classmates and even the shopkeepers. I was certain that my relocation to Florida would bring me nothing but sadness at leaving NY. Oh how wrong I was!

  Dominick and I have many wonderful memories that we will cherish always. Our kids both went to the Hicksville schools. Daughter graduated from Holy Trinity in 1983; son, HHS in 1987. I always thought our grandchildren would also keep up the HHS tradition but things change and now we have our grandchildren in Florida.

  Dominick retired from the Nassau County Sheriffs Dept. in 1998. His time had come to relax and boy does he!!!

  Would love to hear from anyone who might remember us. We both graduated in 1961. Our e-mail address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

  Mary "Chickie" (Horan) Notaro

• This is Nancy O'Geary-Smith (nee: Alfano '66). I now live in Marion, Iowa. I have three children Danielle, Brian and Sean. I know some will remember me, please e-mail me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  I am currently teaching at Kirkwood Community College Local Area Networking (Computers and Business) I got my 4 year college degree in 1989 and got a minor in Computer Science about 4 years later. I do remember Lorraine. :) Would love to get e-mails, am looking to find out what happened to a lot of you.

  Nancy

• I enjoy reading your newsletters, and believe you are providing a GREAT service. Congratulations! Thank you much for your dedication, time and effort! When I read your newsletters, I try to picture Hicksville as it was in my day and how changes have affected it. Sometimes I get a realistic picture, sometimes not, understandable with 66 years intervening. My sister, Mrs. Marion Mohrback, graduate of HHS, Class 1933 (I think), whose husband Bill, now deceased, retired from Grumman, would like to receive your newsletter but has no computer. Can you provide a copy to her daughter, Wendy (Mohrback) Rottner? Thanks, and keep up the good work.

  Fred Fluckiger, class of "37, married to Sonya (Teresko) Fluckiger, class "38. I wonder if there are any more of your advocates out there from '37-'38?????????

• Hi,

  My daughter Jennifer White Hastens (29) and her husband LaTito Hastens are proud first time parents of Quinn Elise Hastens born May 29th at 1:31 PM in Anaheim, California. Baby Quinn weighs in at 5 lb. and is 19" long and has a full head of light brown hair. Both parents and baby are doing great! The couple and the new baby reside in Huntington Beach, California.

  This makes Jeffrey (class of 73) and wife's eighth grandchild. Four boys and now four girls!

  Jeffrey White

• Audrey (Olsen) and Bill Lent celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on June 29th and would like to hear from old friends. Their email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• Fred Fluckiger, 1937, shares another of his great memories.

  I very well remember the Dahmory (sp?) brothers, Pete and Myron. Pete and I played together on the HHS football team and then went on to play together with Myron after his graduation from Georgetown, with the Hicksville semi-pro team. Not to brag but we were good in those days. I believe our HS team won one championship and the town team won several. Harold Bergold was the coach, subsequently replaced by Louis Millevolte.

  Regarding the town team, Sunday became a ritual for the townsfolk to attend afternoon games with packed grandstands. In the last years of their championship run, Dick Rennie (married Gloria Gabarino, also HHS grad), Harold Mayer and Pete Dahmory, all HHS grads, were members of what was called the "Pony" backfield.

  The coach used to substitute the entire backfield to gain strategic advantage. They were referred to as "pony" because of their speed (Mayer) and brainy calls and accurate passes by Rennie. They were truly the good old days.

  Fred 

Did Your Parents Go To HHS?

• Hi. I was reading the latest edition of the Hicksville Newsletter, when I came across the section of, "Did your mom/dad go to Hicksville High School?" Well I can vouch for my immediate family as well as my extended family and cousins. We all went to Hicksville High School. The first graduating class would be 1965, with my mom Barbara Kaiser (Watterson). She was the oldest of four in the Watterson clan, formerly of Combes Avenue-Old Country Road School. Although I am the first of my 10 cousins to move out of dear old Hicksville, it was wonderful to grow up in a place where if I ever forgot my keys, I had 4 other houses to go to after school. My two uncles and aunt also still live in Hicksville and all have current Hicksville students, the youngest in the schools is in 1st grade and the youngest living is 10 months. I am the oldest at 28 so it is an awesome dynamic to my family. It really has kept the family close and it will always be that way with my cousins and I. Although I had a lot of explaining to do when we traveled, like "Hicksville, what do you live on a farm??" It still was an excellent time for my family and it will be for all of the new little Comets! Thanks for listening.

  Jessica Baker (Kaiser), class of 1992

• Thanks so much for keeping up the newsletter. I enjoy reading it although many grads that write in are much older alum. I am responding to the request for moms and daughters who graduated from Hicksville High.

  My mom, Marilyn Jacke (Giannelli) graduated in 1951. She married my dad, Robert McGovern, (McGovern Sod Farms) right after graduation and started a family. I graduated from Hicksville High in 1975. (Jacqueline McGovern).

  My parents both live with me and my family in Delaware now. I married and have three wonderful children. My son, Brad graduated from St. Josephs University in PA and is married. My oldest daughter graduated from the University of Delaware and works in a law firm in Wilmington. My youngest daughter, Erin, will graduate from Archmere Academy next May and is currently looking for a nice University to attend to study Architecture.

  If anyone would like to reach me to talk more about growing up in Hicksville, I can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Jacqueline McGovern 

Reunions

• CLASS OF 1953

  Just a reminder if you have not made your reservations for the Class of 1953's 50th Reunion. It will take place Tuesday, September 16 to Friday, September 19, 2003 at The Resort at Split Rock in the Poconos. If you need any information please contact Pat (Lenzner) Caruso by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Could you please print this in your next newsletter?
  Thank you,
  Pat

• CLASS OF 1961

  A great many of the students from the class of 1962 were friendly with the alumni from 1961. Many friendships continued for years and still do go on.

  The class of 1961 will have a reunion next year, 2004, probably toward the end of May. The reunion will be held in the vicinity of Hicksville for several reasons. Most of the class of 1961 has expressed an interest in having it near to the school. It's possible that some alumni have not been back to Hicksville for years and the trip would be a "real" walk down memory lane. Secondly, it would probably be more convenient for the majority.

  The class of 1961 wants to invite anyone from the class of 1962 who cares to join us when we get together to rekindle friendships and memories of years past. We know you had a class reunion in 2002. Perhaps some who were unable to attend that reunion would enjoy sharing ours. We are asking students from the class of 1960 as well. We are checking on the best possible location that can accommodate a group of people for a banquet and that has rooms available for a weekend.

  Nothing is cast in stone...we will do something next year even if it's a small scale reunion at Delaney's in Hicksville. Please help us make it more memorable by joining us for the evening.

  We ask, too, that you provide names and email addresses for other students from the class of 1962. Please contact any of the 1961 reunion committee listed below...

  - Bill Canham This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  - Bob Casale This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  - Lillian Manzo This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  - Mary O'Shaughnessey This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Warm regards...
  Bob Casale and the reunion committee

  Care to see pictures from your class of 1962 reunion in 2002??? Click on the link to Bob Casale's pictures from the 1962 class reunion - http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=126002

  link to reunions provided booklet from the 1962 class reunion - http://group.classmates.com/user/photoalbum/album.tf?album_id=159602

• MINI REUNION ON L.I.

  Plans have been finalized for a mini reunion on Long Island at Delaneys... The date is Saturday night, July 26, around 8 PM.

  Anyone interested, please send an email back to Bob Casale... It would be much appreciated if you respond either as YES or NO. Our mailing list is growing and keeping track is easier when everyone participates...

  Delaney's is in Hicksville on South Oyster Bay Road, south of Old Country Road.

  Access is easy from any major highway.... Part of the discussion that evening will be the reunion for next year. Please respond as soon as time permits... The cost for the evening would be whatever dinner you have plus drinks. There is no charge for the camaraderie...

  We will gather that evening at the bar. Ed has a nice room set aside for dinner. Several classmates have indicated they were going to contact other alumni from various classes to see if they are interested. Please do that and get back to me as soon as possible. Whomever you do contact, please send me their graduation class, email address and snail mail address. We are trying to set up an alumni tree that will cover many years. There will be a saturation point, too, because you know the old story about a five-pound bag!!!!

  As in the past, this is going to everyone on our mailing list, even to those who live far away and won't be able to attend. Remember, next year we all get together.

  Warm Regards.
  Bob (Casale) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Links

• Nostalgia for Rock & Roll fans - http://www.classicbands.com/index.htm

• Dear Hicksville High School Alumni From Those Earlier Years... and you guys, too, from Those Later Years...

  I found two great pictures in the 1959 yearbook. (Ann Sullivan Kinsella loaned me her yearbook specifically so I could scan some pictures to post on classmates).
  http://www.classmates.com/user/index.tf

  Picture Number 40 says East Street School April 1952... Written on the blackboard is 5-15 Ames... I would imagine that's the class number and this was Mr. Ames' fifth grade class. Sitting on the lower left...I'm pretty sure that pretty face belongs to Pat Hanley...how about checking it out and naming some names...

  The second picture Number 41 says 2nd Grade (with no year indicated) and Mrs. Steers or Sturs or something to that effect. Help me!!! The only problem I have with classmates is the inability of zooming in to view a larger scale picture. I do know that if you "right" click your mouse, it usually opens a window that gives options...one of those options is to "save picture as"...you should be able to save it to your hard disk in an album that you can manipulate to see a larger picture. If you don't have that feature, perhaps you can go to the following. http://photos.yahoo.com/buffalobob11801

  If the screen says "Welcome, buffalobob11801," you should be able to view my albums. Select HHS CLASS OF 1959...click on that album...the two pictures should appear. Click on the first and it will be opened...click again on the picture and it gets bigger...this makes for better identification.

  If you are brought to a screen that asks you to log in, use the following password magic2272 (lower case, please). That will bring you to the "Welcome, buffalobob11801" window. Then just follow the procedure outlined above. There are other albums there, so, if you care to, please look at any or all... Please just do me a favor...let me know what you think.

  Warm Regards...
  Bob Casale
  (ED NOTE: You probably will have to login to classmates.com and then go to Hicksville HS. Scroll down to photo albums and then to the album for Class of 1959. It was #35 as of this writing.)

Trivia

• Although identified with Scotland, bagpipes are actually a very ancient instrument, introduced into the British Isles by the Romans.

• The bagpipe was originally made from the whole skin of a dead sheep.

• Carnegie Hall in New York City opened in 1891 with Tchaikovsky as guest conductor.

• Disneyland opened in 1955.

• In 1962, the Mashed Potato, the Loco-Motion, the Frug, the Monkey, and the Funky Chicken were popular dances.

• MTV (Music Television) made its debut at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981. The first music video shown on the rock-video cable channel was, appropriately, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles. MTV's original five veejays were Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson and Alan Hunter.

• Napoleon Bonaparte is the historical figure most often portrayed in movies. He has been featured in 194 movies, Jesus Christ in 152, and Abraham Lincoln in 137.

• Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, was created in 1939, in Chicago, for the Montgomery Ward department stores for a Christmas promotion. The lyrics were written as a poem by Robert May, but weren't set to music until 1947. Gene Autry recorded the hit song in 1949.

• The 1st performance of Handel's "Messiah" was on April 13, 1742 at the New Music rooms in Fishamble St., Dublin. Because of the demand for space, the men were asked not to wear their swords and the ladies not to wear hooped skirts.

• Although Betsy Ross made flags for the navy she did not actually make the first national flag as legend holds.

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