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.

---

For information on the Class of '63 50th Reunion, please visit 63.hixreunion.com

Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial - PROJECT UPDATE

Above, is the final photo of the Memorial's Center Plaque, complete with the revised signature line.

Four names were added to the current List of Names in February, bringing the current total to 1,804.  Gains continue to be made in completing information still missing for many of the people on our List, plus new focus is now being given to names on the List that are likely to be, but still remain unconfirmed as far as qualifying for active duty service during the Vietnam War Era (February, 1961-April, 1975).  We have now added these names to a new UNCONFIRMED List, so you can review them without having to scroll through the entire list of 1,800.  Of 144 names currently on the UNCONFIRMED List, 2 have now been confirmed as qualifying for the Memorial, while 6 have been confirmed as not qualifying.

Please keep up your efforts to review the both the Confirmed List of Names and the newer UNCONFIRMED List.  Both are available via two website links located at the bottom of the full Project Update in the Honoring  Our Veterans section of this newsletter.  As a HixNews reader, you can continue to be of significant help with the data we are missing, by reviewing both of these lists.  All missing data continues to be noted in red on the List of Names to make it easier for readers to pick up.

On behalf of The Project Team,
Joe Carfora, HHS '62

The Newsletter

Photo Gallery

Ann Colascione, Class of 1961 and Graduation

Joe Starpoli, Class of 1960 and Graduation

 Burns Avenue 1961 (1967 Graduating Class) and Sue Gauthier Graduation

Peggy Moldovak, Class of 1967

Class of 1953 Sixty Years Later at Disneyland

The Blizzard of 2013

Myra Rosen, Class of 1965 and two of her Art Renderings

Marie Pellegrino, Class of 1964 and two of her grandkids

Volena Henningsen, Class of 1961 with daughter and grandkids

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Memory Lane

ALUMUNI NIPPED 48-46"

By Joe Koerner

Take a pair of playmakers like Gus Alfieri (Faculty) and Dick Alcock (Alumuni). Add the likes of Jack Clarke,

Chris Coletta & Frank Coletta Jim McKinstry Steve Dushnick Bill Meyer JackTucker Dick Solby. Mix well with the fine officiating of Varsity basketball coach Ed Petro and you come up with a better than average court caper. "Well worth the going tab" said the court buffs who watched the Faculty cop the duke for the 2nd year in a row, And as figured in this 12th of an annual series, held last week at the Sr. High gym, Alfieri took high scoring honors with 24 points. Other scorers in double figures were Alcock, Coletta and Tucker. But the big scorer as expected was the Alumni Sports Dinner Fund (scheduled for May). Alumuni prexy Joe Naso and dinner chairman, Howie Finnegan had a merry old time stompin' the lid on the strong box after this one. Dick Hogan coached the frontrunners and Bill Schrimpe the Alumuni.

DON'T FORGET DEPT

Another annual donneybrook is scheduled for this Sat. night at the Jr. High Boys gym. Sr. High Faculty vs the Jr. High, with all proceeds going to the P.T.A. Scholarship Fund. Don't miss this court rivalry. It's for a good cause.

UP & COMERS

Former Comet baseball coach Army Tomaine, now coaching at the Old Country Rd. School is heaping for a distinction few other High School coaches could rival in a lifetime. Three of his former players on the 1961 baseball championship squad are starting to shake the minor league mud off their spikes and are making their way steadily toward the bigtime.

Gary SanossianGary Sanossian, former Comet smokeball artist, is winging his way through the Western League with an impressive 12-10 record (177 strikeouts in 165 innings). An open door policy is going for him this year as a result of recent trades made by his parent club the Kansas City A's. Recently they' traded 2 of their starting hurlers for outfielder Rocky Colavito. The move could give Sanossian his big opportunity.

Bob CeroneAnother former Comet great, "Lopating" toward. the majors is Bob Cerone the curve ball artist. Cerone is almost certain to get the "Starkist Tuna" treatment from Yogi Berra, this spring.

Chris ColettaAnd last but by no means least comes former comet outfielder Chris Coletta, Don't let this youngster pass by unnoticed. He's a Red Sox farmhand and after a great rookie year earned a jump' in status. The Sox to protect their interests put him a short whistle step away from the majors. & the club that buys him now (for an. $8,000 price tag) must put him on their major league roster. This could happen in the days ahead and if not this spring the worst thing that could .happen to Coletta is another year of seasoning in the minor league.

Editor Note...

Christopher Michael Coletta (born August 2, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired professional baseball player (corner outfielder) who played one season for the California Angels of Major League Baseball. Coletta was also with the Boston Red Sox organization and had an impressive career in the International League. He played for the now defunct Louisville Colonels - the AAA farm club for Boston at that time. He was teammates with (among others) Carlton Fisk and Jim Lonborg during that period of his career.

In fact, Coletta was in the Red Sox minor-league system for ten seasons (1963-72)--- from age 18 to age 28. In 1963, he hit .312 for Waterloo (Class A). In 1964, he hit .326 for Winston-Salem (Class A). Promoted to Class AA in 1965, he hit .318 for Pittsfield --- then in 1966, he hit .311 for Pittsfield. During these four seasons, his on-base percentage was around .400, and his slugging percentage always over .435, all healthy numbers given the low offensive output of the era. After a poor season in 1967, he hit .314 for Savannah (Class AA) in 1968, at which point he was finally promoted to the Class AAA Louisville team. Coletta then was stuck in AAA Louisville for four seasons despite some superb statistics. He hit .294 in 1969, .332 in 1970, .311 in in 1971, and .319 in 1972 (with on-base percentages around .400, and slugging percentages around .450).

In mid-August 1972, about a week after turning 28 years old, Coletta was finally liberated from the (at the time) dysfunctional Red Sox organization --- he was traded to the Angels for Andy Kosco --- so that the Red Sox could employ a journeyman (Kosco) in their (failed) attempt to win the AL East that year.
In his month-and-a-half stint with the Angels, Colleta hit .300. His OPS+ (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage normalized to the league average) was 130, meaning his performance was 30% better than the league average. Because 1972 was such a poor season for batting in general (remember that the DH was instituted in the AL the next year because scoring was down so much), translating Coletta's batting average to an "average" season (average ballpark, average runs scored, etc.), Coletta would have hit .353 under those circumstances.

On August 20, in a game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Coletta managed a rare feat by banging out two hits in the same inning (top of the fourth).
On September 24, his 8th-inning homer off Jim Perry broke a 1-1 tie and provided the winning margin in the Angels 2-1 win over the Twins (in what turned out to be his second-to-last major league at bat). For the month and a half, Coletta got 31 plate appearances and hit that one homer and had 7 RBI. Pro-rated over a full season (600 plate appearances), this would equate to 19 HRs and 135 RBIs.

Despite this rather impressive showing, the Angels sent him back to the minors in 1973. Given that he was turning 29 that year (which was old for a player at that time), they thought he was too old to invest much time on. He was traded to the Phillies organization later that season, and then after being released, played for the Red Sox organization again. In his final four minor league seasons (1973-76), Coletta hit .284, .306, .271, and .273.

AND SPEAKING OF COMERS

Jim McKinstry

Jim McKinstry is holding his own as a member of the New York Jets professional football team.

Mike Clair

Mike Clair former Comet court wizard is hunting for a Varsity berth this year with St. John's University.

Jim ErwinThe dark' horses on the Comet horizon are Larry Wesolko (football) and Jim Erwin (baseball). Both of these youngsters have their Sr. year ahead of them and from all signs (or so says our crystal ball) the prospects are good, in both cases.

DlS'N DATA

• Welcome to the old-timers club for Grandma Dot Seide who joined the fold last 'Nov. 26th.
• The proud parents letting Blue Cross fade the action welcome 7 lb. 1 1/2 oz., Craig Alan Hatcher at the Flushing Memorial Hospital. Time 10:43 a.m.
• A new record for the Diaper Derby event. The proud parents are Thelma and Jack Huteher
• Good luck also to Andy Koehler and Elizabeth Gay who returned to the Bldgs, & Grounds fold a few days back.

Lot's of good luck folks. 

Casale's Corner

A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet!!! So, she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list??? The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many.

The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have then maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated, then read her interpretation of the ' Seven Wonders of the World .'

The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous.

A Gentle Reminder...The most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man.

Here's to love...it should make everyone happy!!!