ARCHIVES:HAPPENINGS,
COMMENTS and MESSAGES
June - Nov '02
Entered as received
links:
From Jack Downing (11/10/02):
Recently, I had occasion to visit with Ron Montaperto, who was back home in Springfield Va for a few days from his DOD assignment in Honolulu. Since the three of us were close friends in high school, Ford Prime had intended to join us, but unfortunately scheduling problems arose.
The lunch with Ron and Bette was great, and the conversation--after 40+ years--seemed for both of us like the continuation of one from the day before. Seems that way for all of us. What a class!
Photos below of Ron and Bette, and Ron and me.
From Wendy Moran
Just wanted to say how much fun it has been (and will continue to be)
hearing from so many really interesting and fun folks. Some of you I knew, but
my situation was that the Moran's lived on Stillwell Lane just outside of Syosset.
We had to leave school right after the last bell and catch some old coach bus
which took us the 1 hr. ride home. Can you imagine that today? It couldn't be
more than 15 miles or so.
After school my dream was to be a nurse and after one false start (I received
a scholarship to a Nursing school in New York City but my father didn't think
a "proper girl" should go that far away from home so I didn't get
to go that year). I worked in Huntington Hospital however and soon went to Pilgrim
State Hospital School of Nursing in Brentwood It has since closed. But a friend
of mine from RLS HS class of 67) went to Lehigh University in Pa. and invited
me up for a blind date. The rest is history, I married Robert Biggs in 1960,
marine geologist/oceanographer and we have lived on the water ever since.42
years this past September. We have 5 grand-kids from 18yrs. to 2 years from
our two sons' families.
I sure do appreciate all of you folks who joined the service, how proud you
must be. More some other day. wmb.rabbit
From Sheila Ehlinger
And the micro reunions continue-on a sunny Saturday in mid September
I joined Marcia Specht, Susan Protter, and Bobbie Bassler Duncan at Susan Kurshan
Bahary's for an afternoon of good food and conversation. As with
all these meeting time was far too short. This of course makes it
necessary that we have another meeting enabling us to carry on with our truncated
tales of the last 46 years.
10/14/02
PETER NOVEMBER
The following was emailed to Jane Asbury:
With great sadness I am sending below,
the article which will appear tomorrow in the Cape Cod Times. It announces Pete's
death which occurred on Wednesday evening.
Huntington was a very special place for Pete, and until recently we have returned
there every year to get together with some of his friends from his childhood
and teen years.
Your emails have given Pete great pleasure, recollecting many memories of HHS
and bringing him up to date with classmates' lives.
Judy November
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Obituary – Cape Cod Times: October 12, 2002
Peter C. November
Peter November died Wednesday at home in Dennis. The cause was complications after a three year illness with intestinal and liver cancer. He was 64.
A Dennis resident since 1997, he was involved in many community and church activities, including the Village Improvement Society of Dennis, the Village Park committee, the Town of Dennis Board of Appeals, the Dennis Yacht Club and Dennis Union Church where he chaired the Board of Deacons from 2001 to 2002.
Prior to moving to Dennis he resided in Wethersfield, Connecticut for sixteen years. In 1996 he retired from United Technologies Corporation where for 26 years he led purchasing, materiels and contracts administration functions. He was a founder and president of the Connecticut Minority Purchasing Council and was active in the National Association of Purchasing Management. Following his UTC retirement he consulted in corporate travel management until earlier this year.
He completed 28 years of active and reserve duty as a procurement officer with the Airforce and Defense Logistics Agency and retired as Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal three times, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his contributions in the purchasing field.
He is survived by his wife of 22 years, Judith Titus November and his two daughters Madeleine L. November of St Louis and Gwendolyn N. Lawson of Hustonville, KY, a son Peter C. November II of Atlanta, a stepdaughter Lisa A. Sjostrom of Cambridge, MA and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Monday, October 14, 2002 at the Dennis Union Church on Rt. 6A in Dennis Village.
MY WIFE AND I PLAN TO TAKE OUR RV TO THE MINI FL. REUNION. IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER RVers OUT THERE IT MIGHT BE FUN TO CIRCLE THE WAGONS AT THE SAME LOCATION. ANYBODY??
JOEL AND PAT SMITH - Email: FOUNTAINLK@aol.com
Population Explosion continues ...
Bill and Hildegard Reynolds became grandparents for the second
time on
Saturday, September 14th, with the arrival of Samantha Elizabeth Klenk.
Baby and her mom Carolyn are doing fine. Her almost 3 year old brother
Scotty, dad Scott, and furry four-legged pal Dozer are taking everything
in stride.
From Betty Ann Sammis
I must say I had one of my best trips to Florida 9/12 to 9/22. The day we flew into Melbourne and drove down US1 to the restaurant "The Shack" in Palm Bay. We had lunch with Jack Olson, Barbara Conroy, her husband Gil and our friend Blanche. We talked about the Web Site and all the news of all our Classmates. We reminisced for a couple of hours. Then on to Vero Beach we went.
Joyfully grandkids had school, so we got extra time for visiting. Jane Asbury came up for lunch with her husband Stan and Barbara Conroy came down. We had a great time.
Stan and my Bill both came from Huntington Station, they had so much in common. They had their own Hunt.Sta. reunion.
We spent another afternoon with Jack Olson, when he came down to Vero. It was wonderful to spend time with them all!
From the September 19, 2002 Huntington News, in an article headed "Schools Mourn Passing Of Former Staff"
...Charlotte Sherman also passed away recently. She was born in 1911 and came
to teach kindergarten in 1934 at Woodbury Avenue School (now a condominium complex).
She stayed there until her retirement 35 years later in 1969. Ms. Sherman's
husband was the first principal of Southdown Elementary School. She was living
in Lansing, New York.
From Barbara Conroy
Gil had his first chemo, and so far, is tolerating it well. We have a very positive attitude, and will fight this horrible disease.
I drove down to Vero Beach today, and had lunch with Betty Ann Sammis,and Jane Asbury. First time I've seen Jane since 1956. I see Betty Ann every time they come down to Florida.
I really appreciate the website. I think it's wonderful the way this class has come together. Looking forward to the March reunion.
From Allan Johnson
I so liked the "Cathy" comic strip Joel submitted that I went to this site and copied the series.
Photo from Elaine Staber
Elaine Staber & Susan
Cahn 8.15.2002
Carlsbad, CA (the left coast)
From Susan Cahn:
It was great seeing Elaine again! She's very cool, no little old lady from
Pasadena there. We had so much to talk about and the day went by at warp
speed. While we were merely friendly in high school ... Louis, this may be the
beginning of a beautiful friendship. I look forward to seeing her again soon
and often, and we're both excited about seeing the rest of you in the near future.
| from Barbara
Conroy Grignon
Just a note asking all of you to please pray for my husband,Gil. He was just diagnosed with lung cancer, which has spread to his bones. He's now on intense chemo treatments. |
The following from Carol Johnson Meinen is particularly poignant on this day of remembrance.
One of my student ambassadors from my summer trip sent this to me. Pretty powerful, especially coming from a 15 year old!
Carol
It was late one Tuesday evening, Before a mother could sit down, To tell her only child about The terror that hit downtown. She looked into the eyes of her son God, she loved him so, She felt her heart begin to break And the hurt begin to show. She gathered all her strength and courage, as her story she began to tell. "Baby don't cry, but I'm afraid daddy Might be under a building that fell." The boy looked back at his mother, His eyes made not one blink. And the mother's tears began to fall. What would her baby think? You see, his dad is a firefighter, And his hero from the day of his birth. He loved his dad more than anything else That could ever inherit this earth. The mother's head began to drop, Her forehead resting on palm. She thought her son would be upset. Instead, he was very calm. The boy leaned over towards his Mom, And put his hand upon her head. In her ear he began to whisper, And this is what he said: "Mommy please don't cry, I knew daddy wasn't coming home. I talked to him just a while ago, But it wasn't on the phone. He told me that he loved me, And he promised we'd meet again. He told of his new home, And the job he was to begin." "God is building an army, And there are many angels needed. That, is where daddy and the others went. They weren't all defeated." It was then, the mother lifted her head. The tears streamed down her face. and she could feel her husband's presence, As it filled her heart with grace. It was then she knew her son was right. He was in God's great army now. She also knew her son was safe, That he'd be kept from harm somehow. So, evildoers of the world beware. An army is on the way. Bolstered by new angels, Who left the towers that day.. Their commander has never been beaten. His power has never been matched, And if evil thinks He was almighty before...... Well, the surface has just been scratched! GOD BLESS AMERICA !!!!! |
From Jane Asbury
looky what I fund the other night....Cheers Ginger
From Sheila Ehlinger
I took a day off work (ugh!) on Friday, August 16 to trek way out to the country (Huntington) from Manhattan to meet Betty Ann Sammis Michta for lunch and to pick up Betty Ann's substantial school days memorabilia collection for eventual publication on the website. Later, spent the afternoon with Betty Ann Class Connell and had lots of yuks over BAS's Toaz pictures.
From Fran Moon Webb
Just wanted to share a unscheduled reunion with a class mate and a bus rider lately. I Fran Moon Webb and Richard Klein(we use to call him Moose but don't do it now) got to e-mailing back and forth and a couple of weeks ago he called me at our Alteration Shop that he and his wife Donna were heading home from a visit here in Florida on the East Coast and maybe we could have a quick visit. Well I couldn't wait and thank goodness he wasn't far away. Well I can't tell you what a joy it was to see him and to meet Donna after 45 yrs. he didn't change except of course gotten older but his voice and everything was the same but since it was such a spare of the moment thing I didn't have a cameras to take any pictures. We talked for about 2 hrs. I'm sure boring Donna and Doug(my mate and owner also of the shop) . Well they had to get on to get home before it got dark it was still about 3hrs. home for them. You know it's so nice to see old class mate but one you rode the bus everyday to school too. thank you Rich for a unscheduled stop.
From Nona Roddy
You asked for "happenings".............John Buren and I are taking
our children on a cruise to Bermuda and will be married at St. Peter's Church,
in St. George, Bermuda.
We are leaving New York on the Pacific Princess, October 20th. A number (26
so far) of friends will be witnesses.
Aloha,
Nona
From Kay Holsten
I went to nursing school with the Agnews. Peg as we called her, was the wild
one in the class of 59. I remember the gold fish in the water cooler in the
dorm. I don’t know who was responsible for turning all the furniture over
in the living room, but it was pretty funny. I think the toilet paper in the
tennis court was our doing also. Don’t know if the piano also got it..
I guess all of our class was responsible for driving our house mother crazy.
They will always remember our class as the trouble makers, and some of the best
nurses.
From Elaine Staber
Had a really nice 15 August visit with Susan Cahn Parker. We hadn’t really hung out a lot in high school, so both of us had a little bit of what Susan labeled “blind date jitters.” All unnecessary – we didn’t stop talking the entire 7 hours we spent together. I’m hoping there’ll soon be a repeat get-together.
From Carol Johnson
I just returned from a lifetime experience in Australia and New Zealand.
What a trip! While in Sydney, Australia I met up with Sandy Marshall and we
had a lovely reunion, too short, but great to see her after all these years.
She has really acquired the "British" accent, just as if she was born
with it!
Editor's Note - pictures and a more complete account to follow
Another from Allan Johnson:
Seven male 56ers - Dennis Freres, Bob Jarosak, Allan Johnson, Tom McGuiness, Les Moulder, Jack Provenzano and Dave Smith - met for lunch at The Old Town Dock restaurant at the mouth of the Nissequogue River in Kings Park for several hours of laughs, serious stuff and food.
Bob called Allan when he got the invitation to the June 15 mini-reunion to tell him he wasn't well enough to attend. They agreed to meet for lunch with several others. August 15 was the first open date for these busy boys. Bob’s doctor told him on the 12th that his lung cancer had progressed to Stage IV. He has been getting state of the art chemotherapy treatment and if not for the residuals of the major stroke he had 20 years ago, one wouldn't know much was wrong with him.
It was duly noted that the discussions centered, not on babes and cars, but on children, grandchildren, aches, pains, medications, etc!
We agreed we would meet again around the second week of November and, if the
webmeister accepts this for posting as a "happening", we would extend
the invitation to whoever wants to come...even "girls"!
From Allan Johnson:
I picked upa CD of some more local shots from Kmart .
As I was walking to the photo department, I saw a familiar face - Miss Harris of Toaz! Although I never had her as a teacher, I introduced myself as a Toazite 1950 - 1953. I told her my homeroom teacher was Miss Johnston and that she was an interesting woman (that estimation solely from Sue Kurshan's recent telephone account of Miss Johnston sitting on my lap, rubbing my cheeks with her sleeve and saying that she was going to erase those freckles! I had long repressed that memory! I still can't recall it!). Miss Harris said, "Interesting, indeed. She would never get away today with what she did then". In that vein, someone at the mini said, "Mr. Travis (our sixth grade teacher) tied you to your chair with your student patrol halter to keep you in your seat and boy, did your face get red!" I was blissfully oblivious two months ago. Now there is no doubt I have other repressed memories! I shudder to think of them!
Mis Harris was in a wheelchair with an attendant and was wearing a neck brace. She was very alert and friendly. She shook hands with her left hand so she may have had a stroke. I had wondered about her because she had been an occasional writer on educational topics to the editor of "The Long Islander" and I hadn't seen anything from her in several years.
From Judi Lopman:
Just had to drop you a line to let you know how much I'm enjoying the website you have engineered. It is FANTASTIC......MARVELOUS.......WONDERFUL......can't say enough about it. I'm having such a grand time reading the bios over and over. What a lot of interesting things our classmates have done and the places they've been. It makes for some very enjoyable reading. From the small world department.......because of this I have been in touch with Carol Johnson Meinen. Very dear friends of ours have four daughters and we have attended all of their weddings. The last three years ago, as it turns out, to Carols son. We must have changed so drastically that we didn't recognize each other. Guess we have to pay more attention to the mother of the groom in the future. As a result Carol and I plan to lunch together next week. I have submitted my bio to Jane this past week and have heard from a few people already. It has been a blast. Thank you so very much. Will follow up with a picture or two to you next week. That is if the ones taken are smashing. Will keep in touch, thanks to you. Kindest regards, Judi Lopman Miranda
I
can't believe we were driving back home while there was a party going on at
Finnegans--somebody forgot to tell the Agnew sisters and they are not
pleased. Could the revenge of the kool korner raise it's ugly head?
Imagine elaine staber missing a party! It was a major mistake for me not
to have attended at last week’s mini. I should have listened to Emily
Agnew – she always did know best! I definitely intend to be at the Florida
mini, and hope to see lots of you there. elaine
Hi, Guys!
What a magical mystery tour! I loved the pictures of the mini-reunion but could someone please put names under them? Everyone still looks beautiful, though. I wish I'd been there.
Hugs to all,
Susan (Cahn) Parker
Dear Mini-Reunion Attendees,
Haha...Doesn't that sound official? It's just me again, looking for your help.
In the words of the suave Bill Reynolds, I suggest you send copies ( prints
or electronic) of exciting poses to Ford 56@allusa.com for inclusion on the
website.
Dear Folks,
I just wanted you to know we now know Melba Hiller Sykes is living in NYC
and has an email address! We also picked up Jim Murphy's email address at
the mini. Rabbit (Bob) Badeer is a computer illiterate (as so often happens
when women do all the work). We need to urge all our classmates to come with
us into the computer age, cause I DON'T DO SNAIL MAIL!
The autobiographies are really a delight to read. One of the most commonly
heard remarks at the mini was, "I can't wait to get home and read my
email!" We all vote ourselves the most wonderful class ever! Those of
you who still have to send yours in to me, please do it soon. There is no
such thing as too long, too short, just tell us what you have been doing,
what has made you happy.
We are hoping to have the next mini-reunion in Florida, location still pending,
but it will be in late February or early March, while the tourists are still
here. (Hint....save your money and come. ) The warm glow of being together
again still lingers, and I wish you could all share it.
By the way, if anyone is in touch with Ted Pullen, tell him his mailbox is
full and his mail is coming back.
We have quite a few new autobiographies. Take a few minutes to read them.
It is a breath of fresh air :}}}
Jane
6/16/2002 from Bill Reynolds
I had a wonderful time yesterday being with many of the 'gang'
from
1956. I look forward to seeing photos of the web site so I can share
them with Hildegard.
I offer a special thanks to each of you for the effort you expended
in
making this day a special one for me (and I assume) many of our classmates.
Best Regards
Bill
Hi!
You folks were good enough to respond to our invitation to the mini-reunion
even though you couldn't make it so we want to let you know how it went!
Great!
We had 50 classmates and 23 spouses/guests for four hours of nonstop chatting
and happy faces. The only time it quieted down a bit was when we sat down
to a really good lunch. The overwhelming sentiment seemed to be that we should
do it again next year and invite the whole class to a "maxi-reunion",
probably in Huntington. No more "mini-reunions for the Class of '56!
Ford Prime has set up a web site, http://allusa.com/Classmates/ , which, among
other things, has photos he took at the party. He will soon have a ton of
others now being processed to CDs.
Jack and Allan
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 5:35 PM
Subject: RE: Mini Reunion
Thank you so very much for today. It was the best. George & Diana Robedee
The mini-reunion was SUPER!!!!!
You just have to picture a group of 80 or so old people, some of whom looked
suspiciously young, standing around with huge grins on their faces for 4 straight
hours!
It was fabulous just to see everyone! And we really did have a blast! You
Huntington folks are making it tough for us Florida folks to outdo you next
year....Stay tuned...........
Jane
June
14, 2002 – Ford Prime, Jack Downing and Allan Johnson got together
for breakfast at TK’s |
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After an hour and a half of non-stop talk…. |
….Downing is still cracking jokes! |
June 14, 2002 - from Jane Asbury:
Hi Folks,
Thank you all so much for sending in the autobiographies so quickly. The
Class of '56 was and is the BEST!
Just so you all know, Jim Sweenie approached me last summer about finding
all of you early and so we started. By last Fall, Allan Johnson had joined
the fray, with information from previous reunions, and kind words of wisdom
for me in my searches. He did most of the internet searches, with help fromSheila
Ehlinger and Jack Provenzano.
Ruth Williams came up with the idea of the autobiographies. What a great
one! Ford Prime, of course, has developed the excellent webpage for us.
But it was all of you, one by one, sending clues and whatever information
you could find that really made the difference. The correspondence has made
my life a joy, and made me realize how unique we were, and are. The spirit
of our class lives on. The mini-reunion will be good practice, but we really
look forward to 2006, and our big 50th!
Jane
Thursday, June 13, 2002 6:10 PM Subject: To all classmates of 56
Jane i'm sending this to you hoping
that you can forward this to all our
56 friend's, i don't have all email addresses. Here goes: Since we've been
reunited through the email for our reunion in 2006, we've come accross names
we didn't hear for over 40 years and found out that a lot of us live pretty
close to each other. As for myself i came accross Joel Smith, found out that
we lived about 10 miles from one another, so we decided to make plans to meet
and have lunch. Today we met and boy it was great. getting to know about our
families and talking about the wonderful friendships and times we had way
back when. Times we'll always remember and cherish back in Huntington High.
Find time to talk to each other, you won't regret it, for life is short. A
special thanks to Jane and Ford for setting this up. Hope to see you all in
2006.Classmates and friends forever. Jim Duffy
