July 2025: Volume 25 - Issue 10

Dear Readers,

Next month we would like to hear from you if you attended BOCES. Please email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

What was your area of specialization? Did you ever work in your BOCES-trained career? What do you remember about the experience?

   by Bill Palmer, Class of 1964

Despite the fact that I married the daughter of a fire chief, I’d never considered serving as a first responder myself. Therefore, it was something of a surprise to have been recruited for such service at the age of sixty-six. Since 1969, when I began a student ministry in the North Shore city of Glen Cove while commuting to Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan, I’d served in a parish ministry. From Glen Cove, I went on to serve small churches in Maryland and Virginia. In the fall of 2012, I had just completed an eighteen-month interim ministry in Deltaville, Virginia, which involved the reconstruction of a church building that a tornado had badly damaged. Following the joyous rededication service, I pondered whether this might be an appropriate moment to announce my retirement.

That’s when two former chiefs of the West Point Volunteer Fire Department, the town in which my wife and I make our home, knocked on my door. This fire department, which serves the Town of West Point and the lower third of King William County, was organized in 1900. It had incorporated sworn chaplains into its leadership ranks as early as 1939. The recent departure of its then-serving chaplain left them seeking a replacement. I put the thoughts of retirement aside and accepted their call.

Even at the outset, I suspected that the role of a fire department chaplain would be more than ceremonial. Yes, they fitted me with a navy-blue uniform that had gold crosses on the lapels. But I was also issued more heavy-duty clothing, including boots and a heavy, safety-yellow coat. They also sent me to Hagerstown, Maryland, for a training program with the Federation of Fire Chaplains and to the Red Cross, where I qualified in Basic Life Support. In addition, there was book work to be done, which included tests mandated by the federal government.

The real test of my training did not come until the following August, when my pager and cell phone alerted me simultaneously at about eight o’clock in the evening. I was asked to go to a scene where a fourteen-month-old child had just been pulled out of the family swimming pool. When I arrived, the EMTs were already working on the child in the ambulance. I found the distraught parents, who asked me to accompany them to the hospital. Shortly after we arrived at the ER, the little girl was pronounced dead. The father collapsed in my arms. A nurse came to show the parents to a small, empty room where they would be questioned by the sheriff, who was on his way. The mother grasped my hand so tightly that her nails dug into my palms and would not let me go. I waited with them as they sobbed. When the sheriff and his deputy arrived, they were blessedly gentle in the way they asked their questions. A relative came to drive the parents home, and I stayed with the body of this beautiful child until the removal people came from the funeral home.

This, sadly, was not the only dead child or young person I would see over the next decade of my service as a fire department chaplain. Drownings, motor vehicle accidents, drug overdoses, and suicides take a tragic toll on the young, with consequences for the first responders who work desperately to save them. As a chaplain, it was my role to assist our firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs in dealing with scenes such as this one. I also discovered that I had to be personally responsible for my own emotional health. Fortunately, there is a heightened appreciation today for the stresses faced by our first responders. Help is available. None of us is so tough as not to need it from time to time.

If you know or love a first responder in crisis, text Responder Strong at BADGE 741741 or First Responder Support Network at (415) 721-9789.

And a P.S.   I decided to retire in the wake of the pandemic, in February 2022. However, after one of our police officers took his life at the end of June 2024, I went back to work. This time, not as chaplain of the fire department but as chaplain of the West Point Police Department. The work is mostly the same; only the uniform is different.

Click the pictures to see the descriptions.

Dr. Giedre Kumpikas, previously featured here on Hixnews, has written an article, "The Old Lady Watching the Sea", in the 2025 annual Bishop McDonnell Memorial High School Magazine. Her article starts on page 28.

From Dr. Kumpikas:

"The article is all about France. Maybe some readers who remember me might like to watch my film - 'Wings to Remember' on YouTube (or below).

I taught French, German, and Latin at Hicksville Senior HS from 1962-1996. I have quite a few photographs of my classes. Since 1998, I am a Full Professor (Adjunct) at Long Island University. Best wishes, Giedre Kumpikas, PhD"

Gail Board
Class of '71 Barbara Sterner Class of '62

My name is Gayl Board-Rein and I have a wonderful Hicksville story. I currently live in Greenville SC. I am very active in the local theater and teach acting at our local Olli. We have our students (all adults over 55), to stand up and give a brief history of themselves. One day, a student stood up and the first thing she said was, "I was born and raised in a little town called Hicksville".  I jumped up and said, "No way, so was I!" We became instant friends. She went to Hicksville high school and graduated in 1962 and I graduated in 1971. After high school she went to New Hampshire with her husband and started her teaching career. After high school I went to New Hampshire to go to college. We also learned our brothers went to Hicksville High at the same time. Now we both live in Greenville, SC and have pursued our acting careers. We have been in three different shows together so far. It's such a small world out there. My maiden name is Gail Board and hers is Barbara Sterner. I have attached some pictures from our shows and one of us going to the theater. Hicksville is everywhere!

Gail Board and Barbara Sterner

The Hicksville High School Class of 1966 is planning its 60-year Class Reunion!

Date: Saturday,  April 25, 2026

Location: Hicksville Knights of Columbus

Cost: $50/person

To Register: Send a check  to Stephen Goldstein,  1111A Washington Drive, Centerport, NY 11721

The Class of 1965 is planning its 60th Reunion!

Dates: October 24 -26, 2025

Place: Milleridge Inn

Time: TBD

Cost: TBD, estimated $70 - $80 per person

Rooms have been blocked at the Holiday Inn in Plainview.

Tommy Sullivan's band will provide entertainment.

More information coming soon!

Etcetera for July 2025

Update: In the June 2025 issue we reported that John Maniec, HHS Class of 1964, was running in the Town of Bethel's Democratic Primary Election. Unfortunately he lost in the Democratic primary on June 24, but  is still on the ballot for the November 4th general election as an independent candidate in the"KEEP US RURAL" ballot line.

Eugene Lewan commented on HHS Alumni Make Sure the Show Goes On: A Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall shout out! Emma Meyer and the Tech Crew are in good company when the Bowery Boys are referenced. Nice work saving the recording of the production. Indubitably the rescue outcome was a success.

Eugene Lewan commented on Regents Exams: I recall during my geometry regents exam, I had an "ear worm" or stuck song syndrome (INMI - involuntary musical imagery ). Still to this day, whenever I hear the song "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner it brings me back to that test. I passed thankfully and had internal musical accompaniment that may have contributed to that outcome.

 In Memoriam

Thank you to Diana (D'Antuono) DePalma-Henne for sending us an updated In Memoriam list for the Class of 1969 and for posting our site on the Class of 1969 Facebook page!

 Robert B. Filangieri, passed on June 17, 2025.

Steven Charles Loria, passed on May 31, 2025 (Please let us know if he was in your class so we can add him to the correct In Memoriam page.)

Geoffrey Hoderath, passed on June 8, 2020.

Michael Maletta, Class of 2001, passed on July 14, 2025. Michael Maletta ID’d As Bicyclist Killed By Hit-And-Run BMW

Mr. Basil Palmeri, HHS English Teacher, passed October 2024

Dennis J. Kearney, Class of 1961, passed on February 8, 2025.

We are including a listing of the Nassau County free summer concerts.

Hicksville High School Class of 1963 graduate Tommy Sullivan is performing on September 10, 2025!