The Wheatley
School Alumni Association Newsletter # 223
The
October Luncheon; the October Reunion; the Performance; the Ageless Wildcat;
the Musician; the Motorcycle Man; the Horticulturist; The Endless Friendship
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Welcome to The Wheatley School
Alumni Association Newsletter # 223,
The Wheatley School Alumni Association 2025 New York City
Luncheon - Friday, 10/3/2025 - 12:30-3:30 PM - Rosie O’Grady’s - 148 West
51st Street (between 6th & 7th Aves.) - $125 pp - ALL CLASSES WELCOME!!!
YOU CAN USE ZELLE TO PAY VIA ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM - Several people
have already done so.
Art Engoron (1967) Writes - Rosie O’Grady’s is located a short walk from stops
of the following subway trains 1, B, C, D, E, F, M, N, R, and W.
Our room is private;
spacious; and has its own little bar. Wheelchair accessible. The food is
mostly Italian and quite appealing. Beer, wine, and soft drinks are included,
as are taxes and a 20% gratuity There is no administrative or credit card
fee.
This place is the gold
standard. The event will be classy without being formal (“business casual”).
Mail checks made out to Arthur Engoron to 117 Plandome Road, Manhasset, New
York 11030 or send $ via Zelle to ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM.
Wheatley Class of 1975 Reunion Weekend - October 10-12, 2025
As part of the Wheatley
School Class of 1975's 50th-Year Reunion Weekend, October 10-12, 2025,
several classmates have been working together on forming the Wildcats
Reunion Band. The band consists of Mark Lubin
on guitar, Susan Rotholz on flute and vocals, Michael Sadowsky on drums and
vocals, Toni (Buckner) LaPietra on keyboard and vocals, and Joe Spallina on
bass guitar and vocals. If Joe doesn't sound familiar, that's
because, sadly, he did not attend Wheatley, but he is graciously volunteering
his talents.
“We have been having a
great time selecting and practicing songs from our High School years (and
beyond) for the performance on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 2:00pm, in the
Wheatley cafeteria. But wait! This is not just a performance. We need you to
join us in, hold on to your hats---Wheatley-aoke! No, no, not
karaoke per se, but where any of you can join us 'on stage' with songs of
your choice, on instruments of your choice. This means, we need you! If you
play an instrument and/or sing, tell us your favorite song, and we will be
ready for you to join us. If you wail on harmonica, or play a mean sax, we
want you! We only ask that you send us your requests by August 15, so that we
have time to back you up in style.
The Wheatley-aoke/Wildcats
Reunion Band performance is open to all Wheatley Class of
1975 members, alumni and friends. You don't have to have signed up for the
Sunday dinner to attend, but we really hope to see you there, too!
Contact Toni
(Buckner) LaPietra: musicboxstudios@verizon.net and tell us what
song/instrument etc. you'd like to sing/play.
If you haven’t signed up
for the reunion yet, you can get all information by contacting us at Wheatleyclassof1975@gmail.com.”
Wheatley Wildcat Will Perform in
"Oceans of Music," Even Though "Cats" Supposedly Dislike
Water
On Sat., Aug. 23, at 7:00
PM, Takemi Ueno (Class of 1983) will perform with the Litha
Symphony Orchestra at the Church of St. Paul & St.
Andrew, 263 W. 86th Street, at West
End Ave. The program consists of Debussy's "La Mer," the 4 Sea
Interludes from Britten's "Peter Grimes," selections from Rodgers'
"Victory at Sea," Whitacre's "Water Night," and Pilsner's
"A Light in the Ocean." Tickets are $25 in advance (at https://www.lithasymphony.org/2025oceansofmusic.html)
and $30 at the door. Unfortunately, the church is not air conditioned.
Graduates
1967 - Merrill Stanton - Ageless
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1968 - Ricki Spier Cohn -
“Hi Art, David
Barry's book “The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass and Class Clown” is not the sort of book that I usually read, but I was curious because he is
77 and, thus, only a couple of years older than I, and I often reflect on the
era in which we grew up. I also knew, from reading a humor column many years
ago, that he attended Haverford College, and his roommate was Robert
“Bobby” Stern (1965), who grew up 2 houses from me on
Horseshoe Lane. I was also curious as to whether there was a mention of Bobby
in this humorous autobiography, and it would make for good bed-time reading.
I learned that Dave Barry
and Bobby played together in a band that Barry describes as "never
anything special, though some of my bandmates were genuinely talented,
particularly bassist Bob Stern and keyboardist Ken Stover, who both went on
to play professionally." In a footnote I learned that "Bob was a
classically trained violinist when he got to Haverford. When [the band]
needed somebody to play bass, he learned how in roughly 10 minutes, and he
got to be really good. In later years, he returned to the violin and became a
superb jazz violinist; he now plays regularly in venues like Birdland with
the Gil Gutierrez Trio."
1970 - Greg Fitzpatrick -
Motorcycle Man
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Photos of Greg in Canada
Greg Writes - “Art, I am about to embark on a three-month motorcycle
tour of Europe. It’s taken a week to ride from Carbondale, Colorado to
Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I’m shipping my motorcycle to Paris, and from there
I head north to Sweden and Norway. My goal is to get above the arctic 🥶 circle. I rode my
motorcycle 🏍️ to Alaska from Carbondale overland in my fifties, and
I thought it would be fun to repeat this endeavor on the other side of the
planet. From Scandinavia, I plan to head south to the Alps, Pyrenees, Spain,
Portugal, and then return to Paris. At this point in my journey, I’ll make
tracks for home in Colorado. Cheers, Greg”
1978 - Jonathan Kehoe - Remembered
- From 4/2/20 Newsday
“The Medford man killed
Wednesday morning after he fell from the back of a Lindenhurst garbage truck
was the village's longtime horticulturist, who had volunteered to assist
sanitation during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. Jonathan
Kehoe, 59, of Medford, a village employee for 35 years, had
offered to work with sanitation crews, which have had rotating and revolving
schedules because of the pandemic, according to Lindenhurst Village attorney
Gerard Glass. ‘John was assigned to drive,’ Glass said. ‘He switched with one
of his younger co-workers during the route to do his fair share. We are all
devastated.’ Kehoe was trained to work on the truck and had helped crews over
the years, officials said.
Kehoe was taken to Good
Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he was pronounced
dead. ‘The Village of Lindenhurst sadly mourns the loss of long-time
respected horticulturist John Kehoe,’ according to a statement from
Lindenhurst Mayor Michael Lavorata, Highway Superintendent Rick Sorrentino,
and the village Board. ‘John dedicated himself for 35 years to beautifying
and improving the village. His soft-spoken style, knowledge and willing-ness
to serve and help others will be sorely missed by all.’
1980 - Barbara “Bobbie” Hoffman
Rothman and Robin Starr - Friends Forever
Bobbie Writes - “Hi Art, Robin Starr (1980) and I met in
preschool at Temple Sinai. We were four years old, and as our moms told us,
we were inseparable from that first day. Robin graduated Wheatley early and
moved to Florida, but we never lost touch. There were some years during
college and after that we didn’t see each other, but for the last 25+ years,
we have visited each other at least once a year. Robin went to the University
of Miami and has continued to live in Florida. She is married and lives in
Boca Raton, where she has been working for LexisNexis Risk & Analytics
for 24 years. I went to George Washington University, stayed for graduate
work, worked in the ER at GWU, met my husband, and we moved to St Louis for a
year. In 1993 we moved to Philadelphia, and after a few years we made our
home in the Philadelphia suburbs, where we raised our two children. I worked
at Einstein Hospital as the Administrative Director for Emergency Medicine
for 15 years.
Robin and I are each
others oldest friends… almost like siblings. So, sixty years later, here we
are.”
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L-R - Bobbie
Hoffman and Robin Starr, approximately 1976
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Bobbie, her
siblings, and Robin
L-R - Andrew “Chip”
Hoffman (1983); Julie Hoffman (1979); Bobbie; Robin
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L-R - Bobbie and
Robin
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L-R - Robin and
Bobbie
Fan Mail
1968 (Ricki Spier Cohn) - “I love receiving the Wheatley Alumni Newsletter.”
1970 (Greg Fitzpatrick) - “Thanks for all you do to keep the Wildcats informed.”
1988 (Maya Sabot Paveza) - “I adore the Wheatley Alumni Newsletter. It is a
remarkable feat that I am appreciate.”
The Official Notices
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The Usual Words of Wisdom
Thanks to our fabulous
Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale
yourself with the first 221 or so Wheatley School Alumni Association
Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at
The 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
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I edit all submissions,
even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication
thereof. I cannot and do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me,
as TWSAA does not have a fact-checking department.
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, worked, and/or studied
there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School
Alumni Association Newsletter # 223. Please send me your autobiography before
someone else sends me your obituary.
Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967