December 2007 : Volume 8 - Issue 3 - The Newsletter

The Newsletter

Hi Gang,

Rich Calma '71 sent me this photo last week in the mail. He lives right in the area and even visited me while I was in the hospital. The photo was taken on 9/22/84 from an altitude of 1500' while on a FEMA practice mission. He's a Major in the C.A.P. (Civil Air Patrol).

I'm sending the photo back to him so I attached a jpg that I scanned.

I'm starting to get my strength back (thank goodness) and am beginning to get around the North Country a little at a time. Boy, bouncing back from a 3½ month stay in the hospital is a real trip. The only good part is that I lost 50 lbs. Hahahahaha. I'm down to 175 lbs. from 225 lbs. I've also included a new photo of me with short hair and a Van Dyke.

Hope this finds you all well.

Love ya's,
Webby

Hi Norm,

I've seen your commercial twice in the past two nights, tonight during the CSI-NY show on CBS. It's terrific and you look yourself! My wife, Sharon, was watching TV with me last night and I'm screaming like a madman: "That's Norm Golden. I just saw him at the reunion and he told me about this commercial!" It's a good commercial and well written with you and your commercial son going all the way to Norway, only to find out you're Swedish and then booking a trip to Stockholm.

So, in addition to Billy Joel and Sal Mastretta (Law & Order) we now have another celebrity in our midst! Congratulations on the successful career shift. That's terrific!!

All the best,
Joe Cafora, '62
(Ed. Note: Don't forget about Harri Molese, class of 1956.)

For the folks who wanted to know about bakeries in Hicksville, I believe there were four. We forgot about Crown Bake Shop in the Grand Union (now Stop 'n' Shop) shopping center on Jerusalem Avenue. I worked there from '66 to '68, along with Sue Hochbruckner ('69) and Chris Bistany ('68). I got the job when Jeannie Smythe ('66) quit.

It's gone now, but my family got the major bennies of freebies of everything except special order cakes every Sunday!

Marianne Carine '68

Dear Editor, my correct title is Rear Admiral, USN, ret.

Many thanks,
Phil Anselmo, Class 58

Hi all,

Mike Regan here, from Hicksville's Class of 1966, and thought you might find this of interest because we all lived through the era. I've completed extensive research on the JFK assassination. If you go to the "ASK" search engine and type in Mike Regan, TSBD (TSBD stands for Texas School Book Depository) you will find the material. "Google" has it, too, but "ASK" shows more web-sites that picked up on the research; including an award winner from France. Hope you check it out.

Sincerely,
Mike

I just found your website. It's really cool.
I graduated Hicksville HS class of '63
I live in Woodland Hills, California
Wife is Jazan Kozma

Please put me on your mailing list.

Bill Kozma

I wish that I had something to contribute...well maybe I do. Just a few months ago one of my messages was replied to by a fellow classmate who had commented that in high school I was a knockout and it became quite the topic of conversation with my 17-year- old son, Erik and 15-year-old daughter, Kiersten, who basically consider me to be just
"Mom". While I cherish this role and enjoyed a successful career as a telecommunications executive for NEC America until the age of 37, it's nice for them to know that at the very age they are now, their mom was recognized in this way. I remember going to my 20 year high school reunion while friends were excited about their children going to college and I had a 9 month old son.

Glenn and I are owners of a project management firm which is a multi-faceted organization with personal recommendations as the basis for our business. Our primary focus is relocating clients and designing space for their particular standards. Glenn graduated from New York Institute of Technology and after a brief modeling career; I entered the Telecommunications field right out of high school. We are hoping that someday our children will want to take the reins as Erik is interested in architecture today, check with me again in 15 minutes. Kiersten has aspirations to be a designer. Glenn and I enjoy our life in Florida, albeit we endure the hurricanes from time to time, and have been married for 34 years. I'm curious to hear how other graduates have influenced their children's career choices. Just a thought...as networking is such a key factor in today's business environment would you consider posting business cards or a directory that we could share on a global basis?? My best to you all for our monthly "blast from the past." You really are doing a great service to the Comets!

Maureen (Petersen) Olson, '70

The newsletter has received an update on Billy Corrigan from a reliable source. He was flown back to Las Vegas by his wife and is in a rehab center there.

Was told about this site by Lou Siracusa, another Hix alumnus. Brings back some great memories. Great town to grow up in. Love your site.. great job.. My wife and I both graduated from Hicksville and would like to add our names. Kevin Mchugh 1970, 9-30 and Linda (Romagnolo) McHugh 1971, 10-16, married 6-2-73 and still live in N.Y.

Hi,

I just found your website and was happy to catch up on HHS alumnae.

I am a member of HHS class of '63. I started in kindergarten at Nicholai Street School and moved to Burns Ave. during the second grade when it opened. I left Hicksville for college, medical school, etc. and never really returned since my parents retired to Florida in the early 70's. My brother, Richard, was a member of the class of '53 and my mother (nee Rose Friedman) attended Hicksville schools in the 20's. I'm pleased to report that she is still with us at age 98. I suspect that she might be the oldest living alumna.

Please put me on your mailing list.

Best regards,
Bob Thurer '63

Robert L. Thurer, MD
Chief Academic Officer,
Harvard Medical School Dubai Center
Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research
Executive Director,
Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research
web: www.hmsdc.hms.harvard.edu

Will there be a 50th reunion for the class of 1958??? Ken Krieb

(This is a reprint of a report that was added late to the November newsletter, for those of you who missed it.)

As I understand it, hundreds of pictures were taken, and I did some videotaping. As indicated below, there were several mixed media programs presented. An effort is being made to pull it all together on a DVD or a web site. In the interim, if you want to run a piece for Hix News on the reunion, here's a report from yours truly, the Chair of the Reunion Committee:

The HHS Class of '67 reunion was held on October 20, 2007 at the Huntington Hilton in Melville. About 80-90, mostly grads, attended. The reunion was organized via email by a Committee of Ken Marcus (West Bloomfield, Michigan), Jim Rubins (Napa, California), and Mark Virgilio (Acre Lane, Hicksville). To say that the Committee, which had been out of touch for 40 years, "bonded" over three months and hundreds of emails would be an understatement.

Special kudos went out to Peggy Gill, who copied and pasted yearbook photos on name tags, and who retired from her job on the administrative staff at HHS just the day before the reunion!

A reunion organizing company was hired to care of sending invitations, booking the facility and other logistical considerations. Creativity was the sole responsibility of the Committee, which went into high gear to assure an entertaining evening. After initial cocktails, a retrospective slide show edited by Ken Marcus, featuring current and 1967 photos of HHS, Hicksville and members of the class, with a 1966-67 soundtrack, put the audience in a nostalgic mood. Current photos were the work of Mark Virgilio and his wife HHS grad Alice Hayden, while principal Comet yearbook photographer Tom Hoffman generously contributed yearbook "out takes." A number of other grads also contributed material, notably Jim Rubins provided a short film of the rained out graduation ceremony on the HHS football field. The nostalgia was followed by humor when Ken Marcus presented his power point assisted "Evening Homeroom Announcements," which included a bogus message from the Hicksville Board of Education notifying the class that, because the graduation ceremony was rained out, in fact Bill Joel was the only official graduate of the Class of '67, as recognized at the 1992 HHS graduation ceremony.

Later, as the party picked up steam, an even greater number of Tom Hoffman's "not ready for yearbook photos" were projected during music and dancing and reminiscing.

The final element of the "official program" was a series of then and now slides (yearbook photo and current photo) prepared and MC'd by Jim Rubins, who passed the mike around so that grads could bring everybody up to date on their lives post-Division avenue. Notably, a number of couples who met at HHS (or earlier!) have been married these four decades.

Plans are underway to post the program material and photos taken that night on a web site.

While the Committee was pleased that the logistics and the formal presentations worked out well, undoubtedly the best part of the evening was people in attendance, In addition to Metro NY and Long Islanders (and a few still residing in Hicksville), grads came from California, Colorado, Texas, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Connecticut and Massachusetts. In many respects, the evening had the feeling of an extended family get together. The mix of the "who's who" of the class and "the rest of us," many of whom hadn't been in touch with one another for 40 years, represented a cross section of the class. (A number of "the rest of us" group have since become "who's who," proving that there indeed is life after high school!)

Some might debate whether we HHS grads have anything in common other than the accident of fate that we attended public school during a certain time and at a particular place. People that take the time, trouble and expense to go to a high school reunion, however, are evidence that ties established in our youth continue to resonate with meaning a lifetime later.

Ken Marcus
We have the following Yahoo group, but I wouldn't call it our class web site. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hicksville67/
Ken

Hi~

I graduated in June 1976 from Hicksville Sr. High. My name is Dorothy/Dee Kenny (Green). I lived on Bobwhite Lane and still reside in Hicksville with my husband, Jim (W.T. Clarke High School/1974) and my two sons, Keith (Molloy College) & Tyler (Sr. @ Hicksville High).

Thanks...
Dee Kenny

Hi there,

I recently received an email with a link to the Hix newsletter. My friend, Gayle Wenchell (Class of '66) sent it to me because I am the "unknown person" in the photo after the series on Billy Joel. I am in a black, strapless dress. My name is Christine Koenig (Class of '67). I lived at 48 Dante Avenue. Please let me know if you would like any other information. I never saw that photo before and if you could send me the direct link, I would really appreciate it. Editor: Here's the link to the page the picture is on.

Thanks again,
Christine

Me with some unknown others 48 Dante Ave.

Happy Holidays to all !!!! Seeking HHS Class of '61
Florida Residents and Snow birds for a Reunion in Florida this winter!!!!

Bonnie Scharr Papes and I, Doris Fischman Roth spent a wonderful afternoon at Bonnie's home on Singer Island, Florida.on November 16, 2007.

We brainstormed about a Florida Reunion for the Class of '61 and thought the end of January- early February would be a good time to get together.

If you live in Florida or plan to visit and would like to get together for a casual social event we would love to hear from you. Send us your thoughts and suggestions about a central place to meet in the state on either coast.

Regards,
Doris Fischman Roth This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bonnie Scharr Papes This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Hofstra George M. Estabrook Alumni Association, Inc. is busy working on the 47th Annual George M. Estabrook Distinguished Service Awards Dinner, scheduled for December 1, 2007, at Hofstra University. Awards for career achievement and alumni service will be presented to six alumni: John Blenn '82, Richard Evers '68, Michael Raab '99, Dominick Sampogna '60, Philip J. Shapiro '78 and Michael Waxman '96. Those interested in attending may call the Alumni Relations Office at (516) 463-6636.

The Hofstra George M. Estabrook Alumni Association, Inc. also is in the planning stages of the Estabrook Symposium, a series of lectures and presentations given by previous recipients of the George M. Estabrook Distinguished Service Award. If you are interested in working on this project, contact a member of the association for further details.

Debra Ann Kasimakis
Robert Goida
The Artists Group

Dear Friends,

Anthony ('61) had a terrible accident 3 weeks ago. He fell in our home & sustained a serious head injury. They needed to perform emergency brain surgery. Unfortunately he does have some brain damage. He is still in the hospital. The doctors cannot give me any definite answers as to his recovery. He could fully recover, he could plateau or he could remain where he is now. That would be a devastating tragedy. Please pray for him.

Roe ( Marchese ) Genovese

Vicky (Penner) Whitaker '58 and
her husband Roger at the
Springfield, IL Memorial Hospital Foundation
17th Annual Festival of Trees

This was Vicky's third year as the Entertainment director, managing over 2000 performers in 60 groups that appear during the 9 day run of the event. Together with Roger, they also provide all the sound equipment for the entertainment area through their Whitaker Sound company.

To the editor,

I have read some of the newsletters and it is so nice to the Hicksville High looking the same. However, I never read anything about the year 1963, which was when I graduated. Can you tell me what would have to be done to receive 1963 news?

Thanks,
Judy Frimmer (maiden name) Judy Dow (now)