ARTHUR ENGORON

April 19, 2025

 

Dear Wheatley Wildcats and other Interested Persons,

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 200.

Pacific Northwest Wildcat Gathering Contemplated

Amy Levenson Morse (1970) Writes - “I live in Seattle, and I wonder whether there are enough Wildcats, and would there be enough interest, in the area to have a ‘Pacific Northwest Wheatley Reunion.’ If interested, please email Art Engoron (1967), ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM, and we’ll see if we can get something going.”]

San Francisco Bay Area Gathering

Larry Rosenthal (1965) Writes - “Art, here’s an update on The Fourth Annual (?) Unofficial San Francisco Bay Area Wheatley Reunion Potluck—TFA(?)USFBAWRP—which will be held on Sunday May 4, 2025, noon - 4pm, in my Berkeley back yard. Planning to attend are Peter Siegel (’66), Barry Gordon (’65). Sue Stone (‘70), Laura Herbst (’74) and yours truly. Interested Wildcats, please email me at larros99@gmail.com. Out-of-towners welcome! Best, Larry”

Class of 1975 50th-Year Reuion

Mark Harvey (1975) Writes - “The Class of 1975 will be having its 50th-Year Reunion the weekend of October 10-12, 2025. We have school visits planned for Friday (Willets Road) and Saturday (Wheatley). The main event will be a buffet on Sunday from 1-5 at the Fox Hollow Inn, 7755 Jericho Turnpike., Woodbury, NY. The events are open to classmates and friends from other grades. For more information and where to send payment, email us at wheatleyclassof1975@gmail.com.”

Class of 1995 30th-Year Reunion

The Class of 1995's 30th-Year Reunion will be held in NYC on Friday, June 13th, 2025. For more information, please email wheatleyrsvp@gmail.com. Peter Krasny

Faculty - Edward Ouchi Reconsidered

Hilary “Lori” Wallach (1968) Writes - “I speak reasonably well, and I write without many corrections from Grammarly. I did not understand a single thing about Boinguage, nor much of any other grammar class I ever had. I understand nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, appositives, etc. That’s pretty much the extent of it. I expected to be required to diagram a sentence as an adult. All of my understanding of grammar was absorbed through reading. I was a voracious reader as a child, and I continue to be. I wonder how many of us Wheatleyites had the same experience.
P.S. After graduating from UConn, I taught English in Connecticut and English-as-a second-language in Mexico.
P.P.S. I wonder how many corrections will be sent in by fellow Wheatleyites.”

Faculty - Jack “Cat” Davis

Matthew Sanzone (1959) Writes - “Nice story by Adam Goldstein (1980) about Jack ‘Cat’ Davis. When he demonstrated how to run a pass route, we observed his superb athletic skills. He was light on his feet and quick as a ‘cat.’”

Wildcat Football - The Glory Years

Art Engoron (1967) Writes - Nothing amazes me about Wheatley more than the camaraderie, affection, long memories…..and winning ways…..of Wheatley’s early football players…..unless it’s Paul Giarmo’s (1976) devotion to keeping the flame alive. I have arranged the following email thread in chronological order (earliest on top). Art

Richard Kopelman (1961) wrote to Anthony Napoli (1965) as follows: “Hi Tony, You probably never knew me……but I'm scheduled to give a short biographic talk next winter. I remember that in the Fall of 1960, Bob Manniello (1961) was the quarterback and captain of our football team. Do you know where I can get information about our win/loss record that season?

Anthony Napoli (1965) wrote back as follows: “I’m class of 1965. My brother Chuck, who played football, was Class of 1960. He’s the guy to speak with.”

Chuck Napoli (1960) wrote to Ken Martin (1960) as follows: “Richard Kopelman asked my brother Anthony, who asked me, and now I am asking you, the question below. Perhaps you can shed some light on the 1961 Wildcats football stats for Mr. Kopelman.”

Ken Martin (1960) wrote as follows: “Hi Chuck - Nice to hear from you. The record of the 1960 Wheatley football team was 5-2-1. The tie was, to the best of my recollection, due to a hurricane postponement. Bob Manniello was in the Class of 1961. Our captains were John Moncure (1960) and George “Dixie” Howell (1960). If John Moncure, Paul “Pablo” Hennessy, and Charlie Zimmerman (all 1960) want to weigh in, go for it.

I hope that all you cats still have some wild in youse.”

Paul Hennessy (1960) wrote - “Hola amigos,

The true historians of Wheatley football are Bob Holley (1958) and Paul Giarmo (1976)

Bob Manniello was likely a running back or split end. Roger Sullivan (1961) was the quarterback for the 1961 team. Manniello and Sullivan were speedsters, both members of a mile relay team that set ( and may still hold) the Wheatley record for that event. They were also 440 champs.

Paul Giarmo (1976) Writes - “Hello Wheatley Gridiron 🏈 Greats, Paul (Hennessy), thank you for sending me this email about football and Robert Manniello. Before I talk about Bob, I want to clear up some confusion about season records for Wildcat football teams:

The 1957 team finished at 8 wins (including 4 shutouts) and 0 losses.

The 1958 team finished at 5 wins (including 2 shutouts), 2 losses and 1 tie (against Great Neck South, home at Wheatley.)

The 1959 team finished at 5 wins (including 4 shutouts) and 2 losses. An 8th game, scheduled away at Oyster Bay on October 24th, was rained out and never rescheduled. We would have won that game, as Oyster Bay was 0-6 that year. But that accounts for only 7 games in 1959, instead of the usual 8 games.

The 1960 team finished at 4 wins, 4 losses. More on this later.

The 1961 team finished at 3 wins, 5 losses……the first-ever losing season for Wheatley.

The 1962 team finished at 4 wins, 4 losses.

The 1963 team finished at 2 wins, 6 losses.

BTW, any additional info on our first ever '56 season would be appreciated!!

Now, about Robert Manniello, he is pictured in the '58 junior varsity football team photo, but he does not appear in any subsequent team photos in the yearbook.

Interestingly, on page 26C of Newsday's Friday, November 11th, 1960 edition, an article, featuring Bob's photo appears. The article describes Wheatley's loss at Herricks by the score of 7-6 on Saturday, October 15th. Herricks scored first, but Roger Sullivan returned a punt for a touchdown. The Wildcat extra point failed when Bob Manniello was tackled short of the goal line.

The 1960 article goes on to say that Bob played defensive end, but I'm assuming he also was in the offensive backfield, along with "new quarterback" Mike Jablon (1961), quoting Coach Jack "Cat" Davis.

On page 36 of Newsday's Saturday, September 12th, 1959 edition, the final paragraph details how "Robert Manniello (1961), Charles Napoli (1960), Mike Harvey (1961) and Charles Hill (1961) are vying for other backfield berths".

Sorry if I've gotten a little too much "into the weeds" here, but this is everything I have on Manniello. Hope you find it useful Paul ("Spirit of '76") Giarmo

John “Monk” Moncure (1960) Wrote Paul (Giarmo) (1976), et al., Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together—and thanks to Paul Hennessy (1960) for bringing you into the loop. I was part of all of the first 3 seasons—and was in total awe of the guys who came over from Mineola—I shared a row in the locker room with two huge guys— Steve Perlin and Michael Stapleton—I kept my mouth shut. The undefeated season sort of set our (the athletes on that team) course for the rest of our Wheatley athletics—(wrestling and baseball for me) — any loss was unacceptable—-we wanted to make Mr. Davis smoke his cigars.

I have many fond memories of playing with “Martino” (Ken Martin), “Dixie” (George Howell, “Zimmy” (Charlie Zimmerman) (all 1960), and all the rest of the team. Thanks, again—John—a/k/a Monk

Paul Hennessy (1960) Writes - “Let’s pay tribute to the stoic spirit of some of those early players, notably Steve Perlin (1958) and Johnny Votano (1959), who sometimes played despite serious injuries, mainly due to feeling they were critical to winning.”

Recognizing that spirit, a group of guys in my class formed a club called the “Spartans” that used Paul Keister’s barn on East Williston Avenue as headquarters for meetings and parties. Some parents and school administrators observed our activities closely to ensure that the Spartan ethic didn’t get too creatively rowdy🙀. The Spartan club ethic influenced our mentality then and later (some of us to the present day).”

Graduates

1961 - Tim Jerome - “Hi Art, When I reflect on my Wheatley experience, I have to say that I never thought of myself as a ‘good student.’ In my own mind, I was always falling short. I guess my problem - in those days - was that I was always comparing myself to my father. Dad was a highly respected electrical engineer, an inventor, an artist (painter and carver), and a builder of fine furniture. I thought of him as a genius but not in those terms. I was supposed to follow in his footsteps and take over his company. However, six months after landing at Cornell, I gave up that idea and transferred to Ithaca College as a Music and Theater Major. My father threatened to disown me, but my dear mother pinched him hard and he relented. (There's a lot I could say about my mom but.. another time.) What I got from them - and what was nurtured by ALL my teachers at Wheatley - especially Dr. Wills, Mr. Signorelli, Mr. Storm, Ms. Bodnar and (yes) Mr. Ouchi - was a love of "discovery". During my career - primarily as a musical theater actor - the experience of ‘discovering’ the character I was to portray depended on my being able - time after time - to let my mind (occasionally ‘under the influence’) wander into uncharted territory and to ‘discover’ the whats and the whys that propelled my guy through the plot. So, when I think of Wheatley, Ithaca, and beyond, gratitude is infused into every thought about the experiences I've had and the friends I've made over the last 60 years. And now, in semi-retirement, I sit in my living room, read the Wheatley Newsletter, and cheerfully run a company I started 40 years ago that, I hope, will bring brand-new high-quality musicals to communities around the country. If that kind of thing interests you, check out MainStreetMusicals.org and, if you feel like it, call me up and say hello. Best,Tim”

1968 - Asoka Bandarage - Another Article - “Towards a New International Order?”

Article By Asoka Bandarage

1969 - Roger P. Gimbel, EDP - Author of “I’m Not Anyone: A Story of Reinvention and Acceptance”