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 VIETNAM WAR ERA MEMORIAL - PROJECT UPDATE

One new donor in June in the amount of $200, brings our donation total to $34,913. Also, 6 new names were added to the Confirmed List of Names, bringing our total to 1,928! In addition, missing data for a number of names was again added to the current list.

If you have yet to donate, or have missing data you can help us with, it's not too late! Please see our June Update in the Honoring Our Veterans tab of this newsletter for details.

Our Project was well represented at Dr. Carl Bonuso's retirement as Hicksville Schools Superintendant, with Bill Walden and other officers from the Hicksville VFW Post in attendance. They presented Dr. Bonuso with a Certificate of Appreciation for his dedication to Hicksville's children and Veterans. Bill also gave Marianne Litzman, the former Asst. Superintendant, who is replacing Dr. Bonuso as Superintendant, a Project Update and she is looking forward to seeing it completed. Please see the 3 pictures below, taken at Dr. Bonuso's Retirement Ceremony.

We hope everyone enjoys a fun 4th of July Holiday, celebrating the birth of our Great Nation and the many freedoms we enjoy that have been well protected over its many years by our military Veterans.

As always, should you have any new information to report for either the Confirmed or Unconfirmed Lists of Names, particularly to fill in missing data on the Confirmed List, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On behalf of the Project Team,
Joe Carfora, HHS 1962

  

Dear Hixnews:

Hicksville's Fire Department is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and on July 14th (Bastille Day) it will be hosting the Nassau County Firefighters parade.  I have fond memories of the parades and tournaments that I was able to attend as a child.

Thinking back to those days, I recalled taking this photo on a summer Sunday, around 1959 or so.  From my back window, I had seen a fire truck at the High School, slowly working its big ladder.  The extended ladder would be brought over to the cornice of the roof, move back from it, rotate a little, and then move over to the roof again.  This sort of thing continued for some minutes.  By the time I found a camera and walked around the corner, the ladder was back down on the truck, but I took this picture anyway.

This was the only time I noticed activity like this at the school.  It appears that the men perched on the ladder's end were comparing notes about something, but what?

The truck is a 1950s-1960s Seagrave (the chrome siren mounted squarely on the "nose" makes the manufacturer easy to identify).  I recall that at some point after Mid-Island Plaza opened, firemen went door-to-door, seeking donations for a new ladder truck - the aerial ladder that Hicksville had at the time was too short to reach the roof of Gertz.  I wonder if checking out this truck's ladder was related to that issue.

Cheers, Ron Wencer 1964

REUNION!

Diane Allen Romano 1973There are a lot of people expressing interest in our reunion and we are getting checks coming in. Remember, the reunion is on a first come/first served basis. Please take a moment to think of 2 or 3 people that you would love to see and send them this message directly or post on your own timeline:

The reunion is being held on 8/11/2018 at Butterfield's in Hauppague (661 Old Willets Path). The price is $65 per person in advance and $75 at the door. We are focusing on graduates from 1972 * 1973 * 1974, but all are welcome.

Nancy Rooney is collecting the money- so please make your checks out to her and send to her attention at this address:

Hicksville High School
180 Division Ave
Hicksville , NY 11801

The Newsletter

Photo Gallery

I guarantee that you will enjoy these pictures..... It's a big world out there.

Outstanding Photography That Is truly Breathtaking

 Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Memory Lane

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out.

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society And Library in Salina, and reprinted by the Salina Journal Newspaper.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895

Grammar (Time: one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie, 'play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time: 1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000.. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time: 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of Americaby Columbus .
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time: one hour)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication.
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, lingual.
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'U.'
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time: one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
7. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
8. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
9. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!

Casale's Corner

Man With a Fork

There was a young man who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live.

So as he was getting his things 'in order,' he contacted his Priest and had him come to his house to discuss certain aspects of his final wishes.

He told him which songs he wanted sung at the service, what scriptures he would like read, and what outfit he wanted to be buried in.

Everything was in order and the Priest was preparing to leave when the young man suddenly remembered something very important to him.

'There's one more thing,' he said excitedly..

'What's that?' came the Priest's reply.

'This is very important,' the young man continued.  'I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.'

The Priest stood looking at the young man, not knowing quite what to say.             

That surprises you, doesn't it?' the young man asked.

'Well, to be honest, I'm puzzled by the request,' said the Priest.

The young man explained. 'My grandmother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.
' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming .... 

like,

velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie.

Something wonderful, and with substance!'

So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them:

'Keep your fork .. the best is yet to come.'

The Priest's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the young man good-bye. He knew this would be one of  the last times he would see him before his death.

But he  also knew that the young man had a better grasp of heaven than he did. He had a better grasp of what heaven would be like than many people twice his age, with twice as much experience and knowledge. He Knew that something better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the young man's casket and they saw the suit he was wearing and the fork placed in his right hand. Over and over, the Priest heard the question, 'What's with the fork?' And over and over he smiled. During his message, the Priest told the people of the conversation he had with the young man shortly before he died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to him.

He told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you ever so gently that the best is yet to come.

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed.

They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.

Cherish the time you have, and the memories you share. Being friends with someone is not an opportunity, but a sweet responsibility.

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND... and  I'll bet this will be an Email they do remember, every time they pick up a fork!

And just remember ... keep your fork! The Best is yet to come!