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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F L A S H B A C K
A Tribute to Holly Horton

The untimely death of Holly Horton in 2000 saddened our hearts. She was a very spirited person who enjoyed life and enriched those she touched with unselfish commitment. Holly was instrumental in bringing Hicksville High School (HHS) together again just prior to a mega reunion, organized by Anton Mure and Rich Delia, that was attended by a wide variety of alumni on September 22^nd, 2000.

Holly authored a mailing list that she put onto a website. Her sometimes daily updates of names and addresses were eagerly anticipated by the growing list of alumni. Her emails were augmented by a collage of tidbits and trivia, a result of feedback from others. She put up special photographs that we all enjoyed and that effort united a wide bracket of HHS students. She did this because she wanted to give back special moments to others by providing a source that could be accessed by all of us.The only thing missing from that reunion was Holly herself who looked forward, with obvious anticipation, at the prospect of seeing some old friends and sharing remembrances of times past. It was several days prior to the reunion when an uncontrollable asthma attack ended her life; a tragedy in itself for a person who battled this malady all her life just to survive.

Holly was attending Hicksville High School when her family moved to Massapequa prior to graduation with the class of 1961. She graduated from Massapequa High School in 1961. Her obituary is at the bottom of this document.

A fitting way to pay respect to Holly was to continue what she started. That challenge was accepted by Pat Koziuk Driscoll (Class of 1956) and Linda Piccerelli Hayden (Class of 1960). They did this out of respect for Holly but also because they see the enjoyment others realize from their effort. It's a way to introduce coming events; such as reunions for various classes. It's an avenue for contacting friends and sharing information that we all treasure. We have the capacity to put up pictures, at various web sites, for all of us to enjoy. In other words, the newsletter is a perfect vehicle for keeping people apprised of "what's happening!"

I want to personally say 'THANKS" to Pat and Linda for all that you do for me and for the alumni of Hicksville High School .

Buffalo Bob Casale 1961

We start our 20th year with the October issue. HixNews has come a long way since 2000 and the success is because of participation. It seems we begged so long for information from "you all"! The begging has ceased and the editors want to thank everyone for contributing information that piques the memories of many!

There have been disappointments where the editors have tried to implement an idea for a "special section" only to see it fail. Obviously, some of you have ideas for such a section. Please submit your ideas to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. but be prepared to offer your time as a contributing editor who will collect, organize and maintain that particular "special section."

HICKSVILLE VIETNAM WAR ERA MEMORIAL - PROJECT UPDATE

With Bill Walden recently returning home, additional August and new September donations amounting to $1,225 have been recorded! Additional donations are still welcome to help finance the Dedication Ceremony (when that becomes possible) and future Memorial maintenance. In addition, our List of Donors is now completely up to date! Details on expenses to date, current remaining funds and how to still donate are contained in the September Update.

Aside from bringing our donation status fully up to date, there was again no additional progress this month, due to the continuance of the Pandemic. We are pleased to tell you that our core action team is safe and in good health. We are thankful for this and hope the same is true for all our readers and alumni.

While the Dedication Ceremony remains pending, please remember that the Memorial is complete and can be viewed by anyone visiting the Memorial Gardens located on the south side of the Jerusalem Avenue Middle School.

The project will be officially complete once we are able to conduct the Dedication Ceremony at the Memorial.

We trust all readers are staying safe. As always, should you wish to make any comments on the Update, 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

CLASS OF 1980 CLASS REUNION

August 7, 2021 7:30-11:30 pm
Oak Room at the Heritage Club at Bethpage. 
Cost $125 includes food and drink. 
Payment info will be released soon.
Nearby Hotels include: (Book sooner rather than later)
Hilton Garden Inn Round Swamp Road
Homewood Suites Round Swamp Road
Holiday Inn, Plainview on Sunny Side Blvd
Four Points by Sheraton in Melville, Plainview on South Service Road
Any questions? Contact Sue at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The Newsletter

We regret that this edition of the Hixnews newsletter has been lost and is no longer recoverable.

Photo Gallery

Record Breakers Shown In Photos

The most bicycle friendly city in the world: Groningen, Netherlands

By comparing cities along the criterion of average number of bicycle trips made daily, one city reigns supreme: Groningen in the Netherlands . In Groningen about 50 percent of the population commute via bike daily, making it the city with the greatest proportion of cyclists on the planet.

World's most energy efficient city: Reykjavik, Iceland

All of the energy and heat used by the citizens of Reykjavik Iceland come from geothermal plants and renewable hydropower, making it the most sustainable and energy efficient city in the On their mission to be completely free of fossil fuels by 2050, the city has also been replacing traditional buses with hydrogen-fueled buses, from which the only emissions are water.

Most cat friendly country: United States

Most dog friendly country: United States

Similarly, America more than doubles the amount of pet dogs any other country has, with a dog population of 61.1 million.

 Most sexually satisfied country: Switzerland

 Switzerland might just be the most progressive and least sexually repressed country in the world. Between liberal views on pornography and prostitution, and sex ed that starts in Kindergarten, over a fifth of the population consider their sex-lives "excellent." They even recently opened a very successful array of tax-funded drive-in sex boxes in Zurich . Bonus, despite all this, Switzerland also holds the title as one of the lowest teen birth rates in the world. 

Least sexually satisfied country: Japan

With its extreme conservatism, Japan is the country with the least sexual satisfaction, as only 15% of individuals reported having a fulfilling sex life. Furthermore, over 45% of Japanese women report being either uninterested in, or despising, sexual contact

 Most emotional country in the world: Philippines

 Polling citizens in 150 countries over the years of 2009-2011, researchers found that the people of the Philippines were the most likely to respond emotionally to simple questions about their day.

 Least emotional country in the world: Singapore

That same study revealed that Singaporeans experience the least emotion on the day-to-day. Only 3 out of every 10 reported having any emotional reactions to basic scenarios or when describing their days.

Country with the longest life expectancy in the world: Monaco

According to the World Health Organization's study from 2013, Monaco tops the charts for longest living citizens, with an average life expectancy of 87.2 years. Men in Monaco live an average 85.3 years and women live to an average of 89 years.

Country with the shortest life expectancy: Sierra Leone

On the other side of that coin, the population of Sierra Leone live to an average of 47 years. The men of Sierra Leone live to an average of 47 years old, whereas women live an average of 48 years.

Sexiest country in the world: Brazil and Australia

There will always be a debate about which countries are home to the mostattractive people, in part because who's to say what is objectively attractive? Though the means are hardly scientific, a recent poll found quite a disparity between which countries men believe are the sexiest, and which countries women find the sexiest. For men, Brazil tops the charts for the most attractive people. For women, it's about the thunder down under in Australia.

Most stressed-out country in the world: Nigeria

By looking at the dimensions of Homicide Rate, GDP per capita, Income inequality, Corruption, and Unemployment, one thing is clear: Nigeria is hands-down the most stressed out country in the world.

Least stressed-out country in the world: Norway

Along the same dimensions, Norway was at the far-end of the other side of the spectrum and is deemed the least stressed-out country in the world.

Country with the highest average IQ: Hong Kong

There are a lot of factors that can affect an IQ score, ranging from national and personal wealth to simply who makes the test. As a result, these findings are highly controversial, but seem to suggest that Hong Kong is the country* with the highest IQ, at an average of 107 points. *Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China meaning that it falls within the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China , yet does not form part of Mainland China , and has it's own government.

 Country with the lowest average IQ: Equatorial Guinea

According to "IQ and the Wealth of Nations," Equatorial Guinea caps the low End of the global IQ range, with a national average of 59 points.

World's most well-connected city (for internet): Seoul , South Korea

Surprisingly, despite it's 618 million internet users spending an average of 18.7 hours a week surfing the net, China did not even make the top 10. Along the dimensions of average connection speed, availability (weighted towards free access), openness to innovation, support of public data, and privacy/security, Seoul in South Korea is the champion of internet-connectedness. With 10,000 government supported free Wi-Fi spots dotting the city, and an internet speed that goes unchallenged globally,

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Memory Lane

Face of Christ

by world famous artist Joe Castillo

The picture below is called the Face of Christ by world famous artist Joe Castillo.

Talent blossomed at an early age for Joe Castillo. Both his parents were artists. Joe became involved with art at an early age. By five he was passionately painting and drawing daily. By eight his father was teaching him to hand letter brush script. Then, at fifteen, he was invited to go to a Christian church camp in Southern Mexico. While there a chalk artist did an illustration of the face of Christ and shared the Gospel. Joe was so moved by the drawing and the powerful message that he accepted Christ that night.

Joe enrolled in an art school and after graduation, he opened an adverting agency and did art on the side. A friend saw his drawing of the Face of Christ and offered to market it and give Joe the royalties. The face of Christ did sell, but Joe never got a cent. Joe felt betrayed and angry at God for what had happened. Eventually Joe sought the Lord to help him as he struggled to forgive. God gave him the Scripture verse Psalms 105:4, Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.

One day while looking at his original drawing, Joe realized it was incomplete. "The image was missing the fact that God is in the business of resurrecting things, bringing life out of death. Joe went back and redid the drawing this time including the resurrection."

For the next forty years his love of art and passion for God would inspire and guide his life through many interesting twists and turns. Now Joe travels the country using his gift to help other see Christ. He encourages other artists and churches to use art to reach the lost.

Casale's Corner

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent.

He reached out his hand.

The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.

All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength.

Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused.

Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients. Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words.

The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died.

The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse.

While she did what she had to do, he waited. Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. "Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey.

His Son was Killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name?

The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey...

The next time someone needs you ... just be there.