The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 125

November 6, 2023

Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 125.

According to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication, Newsletter # 124 was viewed 4,025 times, was “liked” 25 times, and received nine comments. In all, 4,668 email addresses received Issue # 124. In all of October, # The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter was accessed 12,100 times.

All underlined text is a link-to-a-link. Left-clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then left-clicking on the link that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 124 Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

Wheatley School Alumni Association Website

Also, thanks to Keith is our search engine, prominently displayed on our home page: type in a word or phrase and, wow!, you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other on-site material. I use it all the time; it (usually) works!

I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof. I do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me.

We welcome any and all text and photos relevant to The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, and the people who administered, taught and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

‘Hood History

Westbury Manor was built in the the 1880s by the Titus Family, descendants of Quaker settlers. It was so solidly constructed that its walls were a yard-thick with interior partitions filled with sand and brick. Interior woodwork was all heavy walnut. The house and farm land were sold in 1910 to John R. Hill and the house moved from the north to the south side of Jericho Turnpike. During WWI, Mr. Hill enlisted in the army and rented the house to Mrs. Robert Bacon, wife of the U.S. Secretary of State, who used it as a residence for YMCA young women volunteers at Camp Mills. The Manor House was sold after WWI, but during the Great Depression, it reverted back to the seller when the then owner was unable to pay mortgage interest and taxes. The entire Hill family moved back into the house until 1946, when it was again sold and converted into a restaurant, the Westbury Manor. A large part of the clientele at that time was from the United Nations, then located at the Sperry's facility in Lake Success, and from nearby Roosevelt Raceway patrons. In 1961, the restaurant was acquired by Carl Hoppl, who operated it until 1981. It has been sold twice since, still operates as a restaurant, and is one of Long Island's premier wedding and event venues.

Administration & Faculty Appreciation

Writes William Frankfort (1963) - “I just read that John Lineweaver passed away at 97-years-old. I had him for science at Wheatley, and I am sure hundreds of other students also had their lives enriched by another one of Wheatley's outstanding pedagogical staff.”

Writes Luis Rios (1970) - “Hey Art, I enjoy hearing all the good that we have put out. We had amazing teachers; we were fortunate to experience The Wheatley School.”

Writes Barbara Burri (1971) - “Sigh. The latest news letter reminded me of Mr. Fradkin. ‘If latin is dead, the students killed it.’ ‘A textbook is like a drugstore, open all night.’ I think many of my Wheatley years contain various teacher’s oft-repeated slogans.”

Writes Dan Wolf (1971) - “Here's another Mel Rosenstein story - I was a senior and was doing incredibly poorly in Chemistry. On the last day of class he was, as usual, walking up and down the aisle lecturing us. I still remember him looking at me and saying 'nobody has ever failed my chemistry class.’ I took the final and was opening up my report card in trepidation and somehow, amazingly, I had passed Chemistry. I guess the Chemistry gods were looking down kindly that day. Thanks, Mr. Rosenstein.”

Concert with Wheatley Wildcat

Takemi Ueno (1983) will perform with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra on Fri., Nov. 10, at 8 pm, at Symphony Space in Manhattan (Broadway & W. 95^th St.). The orchestra will play an all-Tchaikovsky program: the Violin Concerto and Fourth Symphony. Tickets for students, seniors, and Symphony Space members are $23. Regular tickets are usually $30, but you can get them for $25 until 3 pm the day of the concert at https://nasorch.org/advance-ticket-sales/”

Graduates

1960 - Ken Martin - Hi Art, I write this sitting in my hotel room in Tel Aviv. Early tomorrow morning I board a flight back to the states.

Plans confirmed three months ago had me giving an address at an Israeli Defense Force professional school to approximately 80 officers on 6 November about the Vietnam War, which was part of their curriculum. I gave the same talk two years ago and was invited back to repeat it to a new class of officers. It was a signature honor in my military career. The attack on 7 October abruptly ended those plans.

I decided to visit Israel anyway, in its moment of need. I had to. Period. Delta was the first airline choice; however, it quickly canceled all flights. So I booked El Al and arrived roughly a week ago. Since then I set out to achieve certain objectives. Upon returning to the states, I’ll put together an essay with photos describing my journey and forward same to you to see if you want to publish it in a future Newsletter.

As I have revealed before in these pages, I’m a Zionist. An unabashed one. For three thousand years the Jews have fought movements to both persecute them and often, indeed, to annihilate them. As we all know, the Holocaust wiped from the face of the earth approximately 40 percent of the world’s Jewish population, and approximately 60 percent of Europe’s Jewish population. Murdered. And on October 7th the beat went on. As many reading this, like countless others through the ages have, we ask -why? I have no answer. However, my anger leads me to rededicate myself to the following: Never again!

Oddly enough, yesterday I read a New York Times article entitled, "How Posters of Kidnapped Israelis Ignited a Firestorm on American Sidewalks.” It is incomprehensible to me how anyone could rip down posters of kidnapped, innocent civilians-children, women, the elderly, mostly from Israel but also other countries. This was especially so because yesterday morning my journeys took me to the epicenter of the worldwide poster campaign. On a main Tel Aviv thoroughfare there is a place called the ‘hostage tent,’ where family members of hostages sit and will occasionally speak to passersby. I talked to an Israeli man my age whose daughter-in-law was abducted, along with three grandchildren, including a four-year-old boy. Sad. Very. Below are photos of the hostage tent, then the grandfather, followed by his grandson:

It was an emotional week for me but a necessary one. The continued success and survival of this miracle we call Israel is embedded in my soul. I’m honored to say I stood with Israel in Israel:

1963 - 60th-Year Reunion - Writes Keith Aufhauser - “The Friday night gathering was artfully catered mostly by the efforts of Marianne Lamitola Downey and Leslie Schiller Fisher, with Linda Erdmann Brody as chef's assistant. As your webmaster made his way from the parking lot, he passed many other celebrations. The Long Island Marriott was hosting Indian weddings and fashion shows and the strolling guests decorated the halls with colorful saris, sparkling golden necklaces, and bracelets.

The Saturday dinner had about 6-7 persons per round table in a private area. The salmon was very good. There was no left over cheescake; every bit was quickly swept from each dessert plate. Dory Fliegel, Leslie Schiller Fisher, and Jimmy Friedland made brief remarks: Dory about how special Wheatley was and how those experiences still live in us; Leslie about how she's been assisted by Marianne Lamitola Downey, Mery Lee Holley Cerillo, Maida Holzman Ingalls, Donna Kenton and Linda Erdmann Brody; Jimmy Friedland reminded us that EWSD # 2 has its intimate character because it is NOT a consolidated school district unlike most other LI school districts.

Sunday's brunch at Marcia's rivaled the table that Menelaus had set for Telemachus: Smoked salmon, breads and bagels, Quiche Lorraine, fruit salad, pastries, cakes, and apple cider. The Zoom call allowed those gathered to share some looks and words with the teleporting Gary Sugarman, Suzie Schwartz, Roy Nierenberg, Stephen Shikes, and Fran Levy.

The above is a quick summary.

L-R - Seated - Carol Abby Benjamin, Maida Holzman Ingalls, Allyn Mills Kandel, Ellen Litwin Fingerman, Elizabeth Stone Matho, Susan Gross Sprague, Susan Miller Astor, Marcia Friedman Mayer, Nancy Cohen Kram, Linda Erdmann Brody, Rick Weitz

Standing - John Shaffer, Donna Kenton, Dorian (“Dory”) Fliegel, Mark Bond, Allen Cohen, Keith Aufhauser, Jim Friedland, Jeff Ross, Leslier Schiller Fisher, Marianne Lamitola Downey, Leonard Kram

L-R - First Row - Elizabeth Stone Matho; Marcia Friedman Mayer

Second Row - Susan Miller Astor, Maida Holzman Ingalls, Linda Erdmann Brody, Louise Sobin, Fretta Fields Reitzes, Leslie Schiller Fisher, Nancy Cohn Kram

Third Row - Donna Kenton, Jim Friedland, John Shaffer, Keith Aufhauser, Allyn Mills Kandel, Allan Cohen, Marianne Lamitola Downey, Leonard Kram, Art Engoron (1967), Mark Bond

Dorian (“Dory”) Fliegel

1964 - Gene A. Grindlinger - What “America First” Means

Writes Gene - “I hope the following won't be taken as too political. It's not meant to be. But if some construe it as such, so be it. When I was stationed at the 67th Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, I was the only northerner in our small company. Whenever I walked onto the ward to make rounds they would play Buck Owens singing ‘I Wouldn't Live In New York City If They Gave Me the Whole Dang Town.’ We certainly had our political and social differences. But, unlike today's partisan divide, these viewpoints meant nothing and never entered into our interpersonal behaviors. Why? Because of our mutual respect. We had a mission to accomplish, and we did so to the best of our ability, albeit with a little humor. We were responsible for each other. This was what 'America First' meant to us. ‘One Nation, Indivisible.’

And then we came home.”

1968 - L-R - Eric Reuben and Andy Forstenzer

1981 - Laurie Sprung - Small World Story - “Funny story about how I found you and the alumni Newsletter. Several years ago I was doing a general networking call with someone at a small company that I had never heard of, at the request of a colleague. In the course of the conversation, the guy mentioned something about the founders of the company, ‘Scott and Neil,’ and it registered in whatever part of my lizard brain remembers these things, so I asked what their last names were. It was, in fact, Scott Schnell and Neil Solomon (both 1979), friends of my sister Susan Sprung Harris(1979). This was my first encounter with Wheatleyites since graduating. I wound up working with them for a few years, and having Wheatley be a part of daily life for awhile again was very funny.”

The Wheatley School Alumni Association Forum/Soapbox

Writes James Turco (1960) - “I live in the real world and experience the daily drone of all media knocking with their warnings to sell their wares. Yet I survived intact with a great life of six daughters and blessing of a combination of 26 grandchildren and great-grand children, all without the Wheatley School’s ‘soapbox” and its groups of ‘Chicken Littles.’ I always give thanks for the good stuff.”

Writes James Paley (1964) - “Art, As one of the first people to insert political positions into your alumni Newsletter, I thought I would add a brief follow-up note to comment on your ‘Soapbox’ Section of the Newsletter. I am fully supportive of your putting in comments that have political significance in a separate section. That way people who do not want to read about people’s political views can simply skip this section of the Newsletter.

I also thank Liz Zoob (1965) for her insightful and particularly relevant comments in the last alumni newsletter. I hope that you're doing well, Liz!”

Writes Paul Giarmo (1976) - “Although I continue to believe that politics has no place in an alumni newsletter, I have to commend Jay Cummings’s (1960) essay in Newsletter # 122.”

Fan Mail

Faculty (Karen Bartscherer) - “As we are living in such terribly sad and frightful times, when unending uncertainty and ambient anxiety comprise our daily diet, here—amid the posted anecdotes, updates, announcements, and memories— it’s comfort, reassurance, and warm camaraderie on offer. Intimations of a more embracing world and snapshots evoking a seemingly simpler time soothe us in these troubling times and connect us across decades.”

Faculty (Phoebe Gordon) - ❤️

Faculty (Georgette Macrina) - ❤️

Friend (Non-Wheatley) - “Newsletter # 124 was a great read. As with prior issues, I enjoyed reading the names listed under the sixth-grade graduation photo. I wonder if there is a book about the history of trends in names—I would like to read that!

While I of course did not know Ronald Fradkin (1966,) I felt that I got a really good sense of him in the obituary that his classmates shared. The entrepreneurship and spunk evident in his using the Wheatley gym payphone to plan a ‘Comic Con” fan convention’ are terrific!”

1959 (Tracy Lanthier) - “Great job. Another wonderful newsletter.”

1960 (Raymond Roller) - ❤️

1960 (James Turco) - “A delightful read that always yanks on my memory box lid.”

1962 (Richard Glassman) - ❤️

1963 (William Frankfort) - “I read Art's Wheatley Alumni Newsletter and enjoy the comments by fellow Wheatleyites.”

1963 (Marcia Friedman Mayer) - “Art, you are absolutely amazing to put this newsletter together with such frequency, thoroughness, and editing.” ❤️

1964 (Gene A. Grindlinger) - “Can anyone believe this? There have been 124 issues of The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter. What a treasure! Perhaps there are other high schools with an alumni newsletter, but I certainly don't know of any. I doubt any are as elegantly conceived and produced. Art, what a brilliant endeavor on behalf of us Wheatley graduates.” ❤️

1964 (Richard Ilsley) - ❤️

1964 (James Paley) - “Keep up the good work.”

1965 (Clifford Montgomery) - ❤️

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Thanks Art! It's always a hoot to tag along on your trips back to our roots.”

1965 (Caren Putterman Bass) - “Thank you for your ongoing commitment! I enjoy the Newsletters.”

1966 (Richard Jalonack) - “One of the best things I see is the names of children of my classmates.”

1967 (Douglas Brautigam) - ❤️

1967 (Jill Simon Forte) - “I always enjoy reading the Newsletter and bringing my memories back to the years when I was young, slender, and had lots of energy. Even with Bob (Forte, 1965) here right next to me, I slip into thoughts of our teen years.”

1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - “Great Job, Art” ❤️

1968 (Ken Gallard) - “I love the photos in Issue # 122.”

1969 (Richard Frankfort) - “Thank you for all your efforts.” ❤️

1969 (Paula Panzeca Foresto) - ❤️

1970 - Andrew Krakauer - ❤️

1970 (Pam Panzarino Hyde) - “Thanks for doing the Newsletter.”

1970 (Michael Rubin) - ❤️

1971 (Barbara Burri) - ❤️

1971 (Larry Koenigsberg) - ❤️

1971 (Claudio Nassau) - “Art, Great job (from Mexico City).”

1971 (Dan Wolf) - “Arthur (and Keith), Thanks so much for all the effort you put into the newsletter – It’s nice to hear from the group, although I am getting a little frustrated that it has become more and more a political ‘soap box.’”

1973 (Todd Luttinger) - ❤️

1974 (Melanie Artim) - ❤️

1974 (Linda Jordan Samuels) - ❤️

1975 (Richard Tanner) - “The fact that you STILL manage to put out this Newsletter is, quite simply, astounding.”

1976 (Mary Costello Willis) - ❤️

1976 (Robin Hegyi Sisskind) - ❤️

1977 (Peter Fitzpatrick) - ❤️

1981 (Laurie Sprung) - “Thanks for the work that you do on the Newsletter.”

1984 (Peter Saridakis) - “Another good one. Great memories of the 1983 basketball team and the Seacrest Diner after the games. :) ❤️

1989 - (Paige Buonocore) - ❤️

1991 (David Sakhai) - “Hi Art. Thanks for another great Newsletter.”

1996 (Erica Brickner Misorek) - ❤️