|
|
|
|
|
I would like very much to be in contact with any Alumni from the classes of 1940-1944. With special interest in classmates who graduated in 1942. The latter may remember me as the VP of that class who was also the editor of the Comet and the 1942 Yearbook. Thanks and best wishes for keeping up your very good work! Sam Levitt '42 P.S. Contact can be made with my E address: Levitt28@juno.com Sandy Sandler Wolfe was looking for my brother, Richard Ollins (Class of '60). He is happily retired, married and living in Las Vegas, but also travels between two vacation homes -- one in Australia, the other in Mexico. I don't think he is in touch with anyone from Hicksville. Michael Ollins Class of '63
Hi Everyone, What a wonderful time we had at our 50th reunion! It was so interesting to connect with our old classmates and find out what they'd been doing all these years. Music was great and just the enthusiasm and energy when all got up to do "The Stroll" told a story about our age group! Thanks so much to Vicki, Jeff, Marilyn and all the others who helped arrange this great weekend. It was so worth the trip and to others facing a 50th....don't miss it! Judy DeVincentis Morgan Hi Guys, Just to add to the Hicksville Bakery list, how about: Englert's Bakery (Marie St. and Broadway), I remember that one fondly as I ate too many "snake buns" (cinnamon rolls) from there in my younger days. Crown Bakery (I think it was on Newbridge Road or Jerusalem Avenue). And there was a bakery in Mid-Island Plaza (near Arthur Maisel's restaurant). Charlie Henningsen, '64 REPLY: Charlie... The Crown Bakery was in the Allied Shopping Center across the street from the Carvel stand where the "tornado" touched down years ago. That was on Jerusalem Avenue. The bakery was renamed Princess (don't remember when) and went out of business last year sometime. They had cheesecakes that I loved and enjoyed all the time. I really didn't see their closing in the works. It seemed like they were always busy. Who knows? The shadow knows!!! Didn't your family live near that bakery? Where was your house?
Regards,
Thanks for feedback, Bob. You're right
about Allied Shopping Center. I could picture it in my mind, but not grasp the
name. Charlie Henningsen The article in Casale's Corner in regard to the Retirement Story was hysterical. When I first moved to Florida it seemed I was the only one who did not have gray or white hair in the movie theater! Now I must say I am one of the white heads! Jane Harlin, '67 In our area of FL, we are referred to as Q-TIPS! Pat I would like to thank the editors and the other alumni who followed up my nomination for honoring Miss Farley to the HHS Hall of Fame. Tom Haller, Class of '56, Vero Beach, FL Happy Birthday to Kathy McMaugh Pearce and Happy Birthday to Kathy Kennedy From Herb Pearce, '62
Just read the Oct. issue - once again,
great job as usual!
I read that Hope Lambert's daughter
might like to communicate with her
mom's classmates. We shared homeroom in our high school years and senior
English. If she is interested, Lauren can reach me at (email deleted for
security)
Okay folks. It's that time of
year again. Time to tell you about the upcoming holiday concert for the
little group I sing with, The Glass Menagerie. Dear Bob and Gang, What a nice surprise to open my email and have a birthday card from you. It was so thoughtful! Also wanted to reply to the question of how many bakeries there were in Hicksville way back when. There was a fourth -- it was Crown Bakery in the Alpine Shopping Center on Jerusalem Avenue, across from Carvel. It was there when I moved to Hicksville in 1956 and still there in the 70s, but I lost track of it after that. Thanks again for the birthday wishes and for all you guys do to keep the memories alive for us! Carol Ann (Mack) Berry Class of '63
Hi Bob...
Dear Hixnews Editors,
hl98@cornell.edu Robin Kriss (now Robin Rhea), class of '72, but got out in '71 and went to C.W. Post College; my freshman English course at the college counted as my senior English in high school, and I got my high school diploma when I completed my first year of college. Got a B.A. in English Education at SUNY Albany, then an M.S. in Reading at the College of Saint Rose, also in Albany. On April 13, 1996, I married Dan Rhea, a software programmer. Live in Coral Springs, FL.
I am officially letting it be known
that I am living in South Florida and in my 32nd year of teaching. Ed Delaney, Jr., 1961 sent us this brief bio: {Now living in}Senoia, Georgia, Class of '61 w Casale (since 2nd grade) Retired investigator New York State Police since 1990. Owned DELANEY'S RESTAURANT, South Oyster Bay Road, Hicksville until 2007. Living in Georgia, wife Mary Ann (Webster), Division Avenue Levittown '62. All three of our children live here with seven grandchildren. All the kids, all the grandchildren, golf, great weather, retired for good-Heaven on earth. Thanks for your time. Ed.
Hi Everyone, especially the class of
1956.
I started out as Patricia Hughes, with an older brother, Bill, who passed away a number of years ago, and a younger and especially close sister, Gay. I can't say that growing up was much fun but there were some interesting times. My parents have both passed away but they instilled in me the importance of being involved with community. My mother, LeeDell has a scholarship in her name at the Hicksville High School. I was diagnosed with type one diabetes soon after college and found that a difficult issue to deal with. Things have gotten much better since then. I was always self-conscious and rather withdrawn growing up. I came home from college, found a job, and got involved with my church teaching Sunday school. On February 18, 1980 my life took a BIG turn, I attended a friend's volunteer meeting......The Long Island Klown Enthusiasts (clown with a K since a C would abbreviate it as LICE and nobody invites lice!). That summer I attended my first National Clown, Mime Puppet and Dance Ministry workshop which allowed me to combine two of the things I loved.....clowning and ministry. My nephew Billy had christened me as his Aunt Pattycake when he was less than two so what better name could I use for my clown. I started out learning to do balloons, very simple balloons at a fundraiser at Adventure Land for the groundbreaking of the new children's hospital to be built at Long Island Jewish Hospital. At first, the clown makeup and costume gives you that "protection" from concerns about what people might say or think and eventually you get to know who you are and those fears lose their control over you. You can let the real you out. In 1989 I had to move and since it costs whether you move 2 miles or 200 miles, I decided to try an entirely new location, Chestertown, MD. I never knew what a culture shock it would be to leave Long Island with traffic, people, shopping, more people, and the hustle and bustle and yet more people to live in a county with a population of about 15,000 people, not including dairy cows, sheep and assorted pigs. The saving grace was discovering a volunteer clown group, the Clowns of Delaware in Dover, DE and getting active both in a local church and in the clown group. I've made some really great friends over the years and have learned to love the slower paced existence of Chestertown. I also don't mind having to drive 40 miles to shop over in Dover, DE.....there's NO SALES TAX! Of course, I still am very involved with community programs, my church, our local disaster preparedness program, book club, doing a newsletter for our local diabetes support group, AARP, a Red Hat group, various senior groups in town and my clowning. I am no longer limited to simple balloons. I have gotten into simple magic, more intricate balloons, storytelling, some simple sign language, fancy face painting and glitter tattoos, AND PUPPETS. The kids really love Hallelujah Hare, my 3' white rabbit. While I am not a great ventriloquist, I have fun using my puppets to do children's sermons in church and at different community events. I may have to get older but I firmly believe I never have to grow old. Until that last moment, I intend to have a good time, try different things and enjoy the blessings God has graced me with. Hey, it's never too late to try something new....that's why at this moment I have purple hair, if it's good enough for the teenagers, why shouldn't I give it a try! Patricia Hughes, 1967 Hi, Thanks, Maxene (Frimmer) Grove Another bakery was located on the East side of Broadway between Thorman Ave and Notre Dame Ave. Next to it was an empty lot with a small shack on it. Newsday carriers, like me, picked up our papers there in the middle 50s. Ted's deli was across the street and the previous post office was a few doors to the right of Ted's place. Carl Probst 1959 Hey guys! Attached excerpts are from the first third of my West Point Band book. I focused on the Hicksville-specific parts (although most of the book is...) I'm still hoping that some of our contacts may know someone in the publishing biz who could help me find an agent ...an advance would be a wonderful thing so I could zero in on finishing it (I'm just about halfway now) A few people who've read it up to this point think it's a perfect story for a movie... would be nice for Hicksville High to get the Hollywood treatment... Tommy Sullivan, '63
About the Author In 1966, while a member of the U.S. Military Academy Band, Tommy Sullivan officially brought rock 'n roll to the Army, re-forming his popular Long Island based civilian group The Nite-Riders to perform at Cadet dances and outdoor concerts at West Point...the topic of this book. Only months after returning to civilian life, Tommy
co-founded The Brooklyn Bridge with legendary singer Johnny Maestro,
serving as bandleader/arranger/musical director and sax player. The Bridge
had their first gold record within a week of performing Sullivan's
arrangement of Jimmy Webb's classic "The Worst That Could Happen" on
the Ed Sullivan Show in December 1968. A charter inductee in the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, other musical credits include: being a founding member of the '70s Atlantic Records group Ramatam, notable as Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer, Mitch Mitchell's first group following Hendrix' death. A songwriter/producer/arranger and conductor/orchestrator, Tommy's recent projects include co-producing with Johnny Maestro and contributing a number of original songs to the critically acclaimed Brooklyn Bridge CD, Peace on Earth. He is also an award-winning freelance jingle
producer, advertising TV producer /director and radio copywriter... Tommy Sullivan's first all original solo CD is
scheduled for a 2009 release. This is his first book. NOTE FROM TOMMY: Hicksville High students Tommy Sullivan, Bill Jordan,
Jimmy Walker and John Foley were collectively known as the rock group Nite-Riders
in 1963-1964. The group broke up when Tommy enlisted in the Army in
1965. He was assigned to the West
Point Band where a year later he was asked to form the first official
rock group in the U.S. Army. Jordan and Walker had both been drafted early
in 1966, and both had orders for Vietnam. The excerpted chapter from Rockin' the Long Gray
Line: the rock & roll infiltration
of West Point during the Vietnam War
which follows is a "flashback" to 1963 from the main story, which chronicles the
unlikely chain of events which led four Hicksville High grads to became
the first rock group at West Point in 1966. Although highlighted in this chapter as an original
member, John Foley was not part of the Nite-Riders
reunion which became the first West Point rock group, but was replaced by
fellow HHS grad Carolyn Wood, who became the group's organist (and Mrs.
Tommy Sullivan). John Foley recorded and toured with the Byrds
in the late sixties and is still actively writing and recording
original music in northern California. As some newsletter readers know, Tommy and Carolyn
went on directly from Tommy's Army discharge to help found the Brooklyn
Bridge in 1968. Chapter 4 The Nite-Riders (excerpts) ...I was fortunate to have been schooled by one of
the best public school music districts in the state. The Band Instructors
I had in Jr. High and High School not only were great musicians, they were
also great teachers. My life long mentor, Charley Gouse, was the head of
Hicksville's Music Administration. His Jr. High staff, including guys
like Henry Gates (who used to sit in on his drum kit for a shit-kicking
version of the Jr. High Concert Band's arrangement of the 50's
instrumental Raunchy),Val LaGueux (who co-wrote the hit record Baby Blue
while I was in Jr. High) and Don Sitterley, who taught me a lot about
playing sax, instilled my absolute commitment to a career in music before
I even turned 13... ...I grew up (thanks to my parents, Marge & Tom Sullivan) loving and learning not only rock, but also jazz, classical, and broadway show tunes. To me, a Rogers & Hammerstein ballad from South Pacific, any Gershwin melody, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Brubeck's Take 5 were equally as cool as the new Chuck Berry tune. ...during High School, band director Gerry Pellerin
and Theory teacher Tom Buttice had taught me most of the building blocks I
would utilize for the rest of my career. In both the Brooklyn Bridge and my subsequent group,
Ramatam, I hired Charley Gouse to contract and conduct a big chunk of the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, on compositions I had written and
orchestrated. All the tools necessary for me to create on that level had
been learned by the time I graduated Hicksville High. Another mentor from Hicksville was the Chorus
Director, Chuck Arnold -who also had a profound influence on my fellow
Long Island Music Hall of Famer Billy Joel, who was four years behind me
at Hicksville. ...by the time I was a senior, I had already led at
least four different groups, but in forming The Nite-Riders, I had hit on
a magical combination. Myself (bandleader, arranger, guitar, sax &
lead singer), Bill Jordan (bass, vocals, and handler of all things
business), Jimmy Walker (by far, the best drummer on Long Island, who also
sang), and John Foley (the coolest guy in the group, guitar & lead
vocalist) were the cream of the Long Island rock & roll crop. It
wasn't just the musicianship and vocal abilities... it was the
personalities. The Nite-Riders were way ahead of their time. Yeah, we were just a cover band. Original music for some of us would come later. But the Nite-Riders weren't content to just know
and sound great on all the top hits... many times learning a song the day it was released... there
was always something unpredictable going on, like the time we were playing
a dance in the gym and Foley stacked up all three of our amps, climbed on
top and stuck his head through the basketball net while soloing on Roll
over Beethoven....and not to be outdone, I jumped off the stage and played
my guitar part while sticking it's neck between the delicious legs of
one of the hottest cheerleaders (take that, jocks!). .. we found our niche at a bar in East Meadow called the Encore. Bill and I were seniors, John a junior, and Jimmy a sophomore when we landed the job as house band. It was an "older" crowd...in their 30's, but the day we auditioned they liked us enough to sign us for every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday lasting my whole senior year... The Encore was a pretty rough place. The Nassau cops aptly referred to it as the "Blood Bucket", and would literally drive right past even when a melee spilled out onto Hempstead Turnpike. They preferred to let the fights run their course and come back later just to see if anyone had actually been killed... It seemed like there was a classic barroom brawl every Saturday night, involving chairs smashed over heads, and sometimes guys being thrown head first thru the picture window. Whichever Insurance Company had their policy must have gone bankrupt. The first brawl we witnessed happened on our very
first Saturday night there. Our instinct was to get the hell out of there
and never come back, but the bartender ran over and yelled "just keep
playing!!" which we did. The regulars were really quite efficient at
decimating any motorcycle gang who was misguided enough to try to start
trouble... and the fights were usually over before we finished the song.
They also had three huge bruisers whose duty was to stand in front of the
stage and protect the band! By the second Saturday, feeling a little
safer, and being the wiseass I was, instead of continuing the song we were
playing at the outset of that week's brawl, I cut off the band , picked
up my sax and started playing the Gillette jingle ("to look sharp, and
to feel sharp too, use the razor that is right for you...") that started
all of the TV Heavyweight fights. The band, without missing a beat, jumped
right in. That became the new musical soundtrack for every fight. The
regulars might have taken it as
the goof on them it was intended to be (which would have been very bad for
our health), but instead LOVED it. ...the Nite-Riders' sound was unique. Between my arranging skills and the fact that all four of us sang, we were able to really sound like groups other bands wouldn't attempt. We specialized in Beach Boys and Four Seasons covers
(to this day I've never heard a drummer play better 4 Seasons drum parts
than Jimmy). But we really
sounded like the Beatles. Like so many other musicians, we idolized the
Beatles...Beatles tunes were probably 50% of our repertoire... we'd buy
the newest album and learn every song in a week. We even started dressing
like them, and definitely all had Beatles haircuts (except Bill, who with
his red hair and despite being the same age looking about twenty years
older than the rest of us would never be mistaken for George Harrison). John Foley and I, being Irish, looked and sounded
very British, and as the two guitarists used
to share one mike a la Lennon & McCartney. John was by far the best
looking, intelligent and personable Nite Rider, and always had girlfriends
who looked like movie stars. Although he was not part of our eventual
reunion, he did become a member of the Byrds later in the decade and is
still actively writing and recording some great original music. But in 1964 the Foley-Sullivan look and sound made the Nite-Riders extremely "Beatley" With the 1964 World's Fair being held in Flushing
Meadows, we decided to audition for an afternoon gig there. We set up in
the Transportation and Travel Pavilion's Custom Car Show, played 4
songs, three of which were Beatles and promptly got hired for every
Saturday and Sunday afternoon, where we'd do four 15 minute sets for
turnover crowds. Only we had to change our name- for this gig-to the "Long Island Beatles". Bill also had to buy a Beatles wig, which immediately enhanced his already potent groupie quotient. This gig was immense fun- what eighteen year old in 1964 wouldn't love singing Happy Just to Dance with You, I Wanna Hold your Hand, I Saw Her Standing There, Help!, etc. etc.and get paid for it! HHS Hall of Fame from the plaque in the high school We've threatened for a long time to provide a listing of those alumni who are in the Hicksville High School Hall of Fame, the real Hall of Fame. Chris Andersen was gracious enough to go to the lobby at the high school and took pictures of the plaques that hang in the hallway and depict exceptional students who have had exemplary careers. These people have distinguished themselves in the work place by going above and beyond to make a mark in history. The bronze plaques do not
photograph very well. The flash reflects a lot of light and most pictures
were not legible. We were able to make a partial listing of our alumni
friends who are in the Hall of Fame. Below are several names with their
accomplishments. 1939 Virginia
Mayer Schweizer 1940 Henry
C. Brengel, Jr. 1943 Raymond
L. Rusch 1943 Howard
Finnegan 1945 LT.
COL. Richard G. Eisemann 1954 Lewis
Yevoli 1955 Richard
G. Hogan 1958 Admiral
Philip S. Anselmo, USN 1963 Anita
Miller Sostek, PH-D 1967 Madeline
A. Miller, M.D. We will, in time, complete the list. If any one has a complete listing, please let us know. If you know where we can obtain a listing, please advise. Thanks Very Much To Ray Feierstein: Ray. I just
read your note concerning a bakery on Broadway. I use to run with your
brother Lenny. I remember him owning a light yellow '51 Pontiac
convertible. When I worked at Armstrong's Shell (on Broadway) we pulled
the old straight 8 engine out and repowered it with a 53 Olds rocket 88.
He'll definitely remember that. Also, didn't a Feierstein family member
own a tire shop across from the shell station that specialized in
Michelin and Pirelli tires? Tell Lenny I was asking about him and put me
in touch if you can. Ahhhhh....the memories. I received a request from a Carl Place friend who is looking for a few Hicksville old friends. I told her about Hix News and she asked if I could please send a request out to say she is looking for Anita (Kargauer-sp.?) Scarola, Pam Hiscox and Oscar Mifsud. If anyone can help that would be great, her name is Jacy (Coady) Needles (her father was the CP football coach) she can be reached at: jacyneedles@yahoo.com Thanks! Marilyn Bowles '66 Thank you, Bob and Hix News Team!
I guess I can't deny my age to you guys, but here is a photo taken last
August. (it is AMAZING what a few days of "spa-ing" on a ship
will do!) The newsletter is wonderful! Reading comments from waaay
back and recent grads are so interesting and show the loyalty to HHS.
|
||
