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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Hicksville High School Class of 1984

Come join in celebrating our 30th Reunion . Let's Make some new memories with old friends or remember some old ones!!!Date: July 26, 2014

Where: The Melville Marriot, 1350 Walt Whitman Road, Melville NY 11747
Time: 7pm-Midnight
Cost: $125 per person
Included: A 5 hour open bar, Buffett dinner, DJ, lots of laughs and dancing.
Payment options: checks or cash can be mailed or dropped off to either....Jemine DePrimo

Payments will be taken until July 1, 2014!
***A raffle drawing will be held for the first 100 people who purchase tickets!***
"2" winners will be chosen to receive their ticket price back!****
So be part of the raffle, get your payments in fast!
204 Alexander Ave, Nesconset NY 11767

Donna Greiner-Fisher
11 Dante Ave, Hicksville NY 11801

Last option PayPal payments can be made with link HERE: For anyone wanting to make hotel reservations at the Marriot you can contact: Ileen Milmam at (631) 673-4398

Room rates are $145.95 a night. A block of rooms are being held under "Hicksville class of 84 reunion" (Make sure to mention this).

*We could use some help by ALL......

We are trying to collect old photos. So if you have any to share please email them to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

And please send, also, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bob would love to help make a presentation concerning your reunion. Bob would also love to have pictures from the night of the reunion.Also, if you, or anyone you might know, has changed an address in the last 20 years, please email that info to same email address.And last: PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO ANYONE YOU SEE NOT ON FaceBook.

A HUGE TURN OUT WOULD BE WONDERFUL! We had over 450 at our 10 year; let's beat that!!! Feel free to share this event, for any other classes or those that wish to join us!

Invites will also be mailed out....until then if you are mailing a payment in or PayPal...if you can mail or email us the below info when making payment.

If you would like to fill out a Biographical Sketch of your life, please send me a note. Buffalo Bob Casale from HixNews (that's the Hicksville Newsletter that is published each month at hixnews.com) will send you a printable form to fill out to send back to him. Your sketch will be included in the appropriate section of the newsletter.

Patricia Koziuk Driscoll, 1938 - 2009

Five years ago, May of 2009, Hicksville Newsletter, and the community lost a true friend who worked diligently on providing former alumni with much sought after nostalgia. Pat, who graduated Hicksville High in 1956, was affectionately known as an editor of the Hicksville Newsletter. She compiled most of the material that was included in each issue of HixNews and spent countless hours copying and pasting information on multiple pages.

HixNews started out as a two or three page email that was sent to some 100 or so readers. Eventually, it evolved into a multi-page newsletter that placed onto its own website and was supported with many special features. It was fortunate that Pat saw many of the changes that surfaced over the years.

Most probably never knew Pat was not in the best of health because she was never looking for sympathy or an "attaboy!" She didn't complain but just kept going like the energizer bunny. Pat shared time with her Florida pals shopping and fraternizing despite needing special consideration over the years. Pat spent most of her last year on oxygen 24/7.

She loved her portable transportation (a golf cart) that provided the mobility she lacked because of her dependence on oxygen. Her death created a void that exists today.

Pat's efforts brought many hours of joy to HixNews readers who waited patiently each month for tidbits of information. Pat, along with Linda Piccerelli Hayden, a 1960 graduate, were the pioneers of HixNews. They spent many hours scouring through emails from former students gathering information that was typed into an email and sent out the beginning of each month.

Pat was surrounded by family when she was summoned by a higher authority. This was not at all unusual because family was her life. She spent many hours enjoying those she loved most.

The Newsletter

Photo Gallery

May 2014 Photo Gallery

by Robert Casale

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Honoring our Veterans

A Look Back at Ted Williams

One of the greatest hitters of a baseball that ever played the game. 

 When asked to name the greatest team he was ever on, Ted said "The United States Marines".  

Ted Williams was John Glenn's wingman flying F-9Fs in Korea. I bet no one knew this!!!

The Boston Red Sox slugger who wore No. 9 as a major leaguer, would now be assigned to an F-9 Panther jet as a pilot.

Ted flew a total of 39 combat missions in Korea . He was selected by his commander John Glenn (later the astronaut, senator, and 'septuagenonaut') to fly as Glenn's wingman.

While flying an air strike on a troop encampment near Kyomipo, William's F-9 was hit by hostile ground fire. Ted commented later. "the funny thing was I didn't feel anything. I knew I was hit when the stick started shaking like mad in my hands. Then everything went out, my radio, my landing gear, everything. The red warning lights were on all over the plane."

The F-9 Panther had a centrifugal flow engine and normally caught fire when hit. The tail would literally blow off most stricken aircraft. The standard orders were to eject from any Panther with a fire in the rear of the plane. Ted's aircraft was indeed on fire, and was trailing smoke and flames. Glenn and the other pilots on the mission were yelling over their radios for William's to get out.

However, with his radio out Williams could not hear their warnings, and he could not see the condition of the rear of his aircraft.

Glenn and another Panther flown by Larry Hawkins came up alongside Williams and lead him to the nearest friendly airfield. Fighting to hold the plane together, Ted brought his Panther in at more than 200-MPH for a crash landing on the Marsden-matted strip.

With no landing gear, dive brakes, or functioning flaps the flaming Panther jet skidded down the runway for more than 3000 feet. Williams got out of the aircraft only moments before it was totally engulfed in flames.

Ted Williams survived his tour of duty in Korea and returned to major league baseball.

Pssst: Ted missed out flying combat missions during WW II, because his flying and gunnery skills were so good that he was kept as an instructor for much of the War.  During advanced training at Pensacola, Florida Ted would accurately shoot the sleeve targets to shreds while shooting out of wing-overs, zooms, and barrel rolls.  He broke the all time record for 'hits' at the school.  Following Pensacola, Ted was sent to Jacksonville for advanced gunnery training.  This is the payoff test for potential combat pilots. Ted set all the records for reflexes, coordination, and visual reaction time.  As a result of his stunning success he was made an instructor at Bronson field to put Marine aviation cadets through their final paces.  By 1945 Ted got his wish and was finally transferred to a combat wing, but weeks later the War was over.  He was discharged from the military in December of 1945.  Seven years later, in December of 1952, Ted was recalled to active duty as a Marine Corps fighter pilot.

Memory Lane

Flashbacks to 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008.

Flashback to August of 2007

A wonderful issue!! Thanks so much for all the work you do.

Two quick questions: does HixNews have a PayPal account? If so, I'd be glad to send in a donation for your hard work. Also, my family lived at 199 Seventh Street , just off Division Avenue , in Hicksville, a stone's throw from the High School and Administration Building.

Is there any possibility of seeing what the old homestead looks like now? I was heartbroken to hear the next owners took down the beautiful big old oak tree on our front lawn. That beautiful tree shaded my bedroom window for years and made looking at full moons through the branches a magical experience!

My mother, Stella, who will be 87 in December, would love to see it I'm sure, as well as my brother, Jim Thompson, Class of '61.

Oh, and my husband and I will celebrate our 27^th wedding anniversary on July 12.
Pat (Thompson) and Richard Dumas, 7/12/80, Red Lion, PA.

Many, many thanks!
Pat 1975

Editor Note...Unfortunately, Stella passed away earlier this year.

Flashback to March of 2008

Hello. Great newsletter. Thank you.

Kevin Keyer, Charles Hearon, John FlynnAttached is a picture of new EMT paramedics for for our Hicksville volunteer fire department. I attended the ceremony. In the middle is Fire Commissioner Charles Hearon Class of '71. EMT-paramedics are John Flynn and Kevin Keyer. Thanks to both.

Even though I have never moved from Hicksville your paper is still a lot fun to read. I, of course, still run into a lot of people from Hicksville . What I hate to see is guards at the front of the school, where we played hand ball before going in.

I took great pleasure in swearing in Chief Lang. I lived on Georgia Street then moved to Fireplace Lane Commissioner Charles Hearon, 1971.

Hicksville Fire Engines

Station #2

Station two is on Briggs street . This is the one that is scheduled to be knocked down this June 08 and rebuilt to hold bigger trucks and more room for the firemen. It is to take about a year to build.

Flashback to September of 2005

Editor Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '61 writes to Frank Scarangella:

Dear Frank - The story you wrote in last months HixNews brought back so many happy memories. I remember Miss Farley, and you were right, "she seemed to be everywhere." Also, you're right about how wonderful it was there - and then. I graduated in 1960, and have many of the same opinions as you.
Do you remember "Duck & Cover?" Somehow that didn't scar us and we didn't need a team of psychological counselors. Does that mean we're all nuts? I also played Cowboys & Indians with a cap gun circa Hopalong Cassidy. Somehow I've never shot anyone driving by or killed a schoolmate or my parents. It never crossed my mind to be politically correct and play Cowgirls, Cowboys & Indians.
Last but not least, when I was fidgety in school, I never received drugs for some syndrome that had initials - I was told to behave and that was embarrassing enough to desist whatever foolishness I was doing. Guess I respected authority, teachers, and adults. You mentioned minorities, and I remember some of my classmates at Lee Ave and later at Jr. High and my 1st year at HHS that there were children from migrant farm workers helping to pick potatoes for the summer. They usually went South in October. To me they were just other classmates and friends. Your article was a breath of fresh air. Thank you soooooooo much!

Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '60

Flashbacks to May of 2004

To All Hicksville High School Alumni:

I find it hard to begin this long overdue letter to all of you. First of all, I want to thank everyone for the many cards, letters and concern for me and my family on the passing of my husband, Ray Rusch, in January of last year.

Ray loved all his students and always spoke about "his kids". He was at Hicksville High from 1949 through 1981, starting as a teacher, then Assistant Principal and then as Principal for his last sixteen years.I never realized how many lives Ray touched until I read the many cards and letters he received during his illness. I saved each and every one of them and re-read them over and over again. I loved him very much. His whole family was so proud of him.
He taught so much to so many people, and gave them so much love - this was his greatest gift! I am sure all of you have experienced this in your own way. Ray always wanted everyone to be the best person they could be and he was always the best he could be for them. We are all sad because we lost him, but we should be happy we had a man like him in our lives. I know I am. He had a full life with no room for regrets. We will all meet again.

Thank you all so much. I love all of you. God Bless!

Mrs. Raymond L. Rusch

Hello To Everyone At Hicksville Newsletter:

What a great website you have put together. There's not much covering the time I graduated (1988) but it didn't matter. I enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading about good old Hicksville . The reason for this email is to tell everyone about a fun and inexpensive night out.
My dinner theatre company, Drop Dead Comedy, performs murder mysteries and variety shows all over Nassau and Suffolk . Come on out for a night of great food and unforgettable laughter. If you know of a restaurant or club looking to bring in some entertainment, or a firehouse or organization looking for a fundraiser, contact Drop Dead Comedy and you won't be disappointed. Check out www.dropdeadcomedy.com for all the info you need. If you could put our link on your site, we will do the same for you.

Thanks.

Tony Walter

Casale's Corner

INTERESTING ...A FASCINATING READ

Here is history few ever knew...

Lou Gehrig and Babe RuthWhen baseball greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig went on tour in baseball-crazy Japan in 1934, some fans wondered why a third-string catcher named Moe Berg was included.  Although he played with 5 major league teams from 1923 to 1939, he was a very mediocre ball player.  He was regarded as the brainiest ballplayer of all time.  In fact Casey Stengel once said:  "That is the strangest man ever to play baseball."  When all the baseball stars went to Japan , Moe Berg went with them and many people wondered why he went with "the team" . . .

The answer was simple: Moe Berg was a Unites States spy working undercover with the CIA. Moe spoke 15 languages - including Japanese - Moe Berg had two loves: baseball and spying. 

Catcher Moe BergIn Tokyo , garbed in a kimono, Berg took flowers to the daughter of an American diplomat being treated in St. Luke's Hospital - the tallest building in the Japanese capital. He never delivered the flowers.  The ball-player ascended to the hospital roof and filmed key features: the harbor, military installations, railway yards, etc. Eight years later, General Jimmy Doolittle studied Berg's films in planning his spectacular raid on Tokyo.

Berg's father, Bernard Berg, a pharmacist in Newark , New Jersey , taught his son Hebrew and Yiddish.  Moe, against his wishes, began playing baseball on the street aged four. His father disapproved and never once watched his son play.  In Barringer High School , Moe learned Latin, Greek and French.  Moe read at least 10 newspapers every day.
Tito's partisansHe graduated magna cum laude from Princeton - having added Spanish, Italian, German and Sanskrit to his linguistic quiver. During further studies at the Sorbonne, in Paris , and Columbia Law School , he picked up Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Arabic, Portuguese and Hungarian - 15 languages in all, plus some regional dialects. While playing baseball for Princeton University , Moe Berg would describe plays in Latin or Sanskrit.

During World War II, he was parachuted into Yugoslavia to assess the value to the war effort of the two groups of partisans there.  He reported back that Marshall Tito's forces were widely supported by the people and Winston Churchill ordered all-out support for the Yugoslav underground fighter, rather than Mihajlovic's Serbians.

The R.A.F. destroys the Norwegian heavy water plant targeted by Moe BergThe parachute jump at age 41 undoubtedly was a challenge. But there was more to come in that same year. Berg penetrated German-held Norway , met with members of the underground and located a secret heavy water plant - part of the Nazis' effort to build an atomic bomb. His information guided the Royal Air Force in a bombing raid to destroy the plant.

There still remained the question of how far had the Nazis progressed in the race to build the first Atomic bomb.  If the Nazis were successful, they would win the war.  Berg (under the code name "Remus") was sent to Switzerland to hear leading German physicist Werner Heisenberg, a Nobel Laureate,  lecture and determine if the Nazis were close to building an A-bomb.  Moe managed to slip past the SS guards at the auditorium, posing as a Swiss graduate student.  The spy carried in his pocket a pistol and a cyanide pill.

Werner Heisenberg

If the German indicated the Nazis were close to building a weapon, Berg was to shoot him - and then swallow the cyanide pill. Moe, sitting in the front row, determined that the Germans were nowhere near their goal, so he complimented Heisenberg on his speech and walked him back to his hotel.

He blocked the Nazis from acquiring an atomic bomb.

Moe Berg's report was distributed to Britain 's Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and key figures in the team developing the Atomic Bomb.  Roosevelt responded: "Give my regards to the catcher."

Most of Germany 's leading physicists had been Jewish and had fled the Nazis mainly to Britain and the United States . 

Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest award to be awarded to civilians during wartime)Moe Berg's baseball card is the only card on display at the CIA Headquarters in Washington DCAfter the war, Moe Berg was awarded the Medal of Freedom - America 's highest honor for a civilian in wartime.  But Berg refused to accept, as he couldn't tell people about his exploits. After his death, his sister accepted the Medal and it hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown.