The Class of 1966
60th-Year Reunion Committee is moving full speed ahead with plans for a
get-together in Manhattan on Saturday, October 17, 2026. If you haven’t
already, please send your updated contact information and expression of
interest, along with any questions, to
Diana Noble Rubinger
at
DIANA4425@GMAIL.COM
and/or
Suzanne Stone
at
MSHB2000@AOL.COM
.
James Paley (1964) Writes - “
Art, Thank you for responding to
Paul
Giarmo’s
outlandish right-wing piece in the Alumni Newsletter
(# 254).
Mr. Giamo
has every right to contribute his thoughts,
opinions, and values in the Newsletter, and you acted most responsibly in
printing it in its entirety. I simply cannot believe that members of our
community espouse such ludicrous right-wing views. Perhaps
Mr. Giamo
would like to comment on the murders of
Renée Nicole Goode and Alex
Pretti
in his next contribution to the Newsletter. Best
regards, Jim
Suzanne Stone (1966) Writes -
“Very interesting, educational reply (in Issue # 253)
about racism by
Diana Noble Rubinger
....thanks
for the insight!!”
Dan Ross (1969) -
“The comment accusing you of denying free speech to
conservatives struck me as ironic, given that I tried unsuccessfully to
persuade you to deny some racist speech (which, I know, you don’t remember,
but I do quite clearly).
James Wallach (1969) -
“Yay,
Art
, for not lying down! You
stood your ground.”
Mitch Shapiro (1970) Writes -
“Hey,
Art
, In response to the previous
two Newsletters, I personally don’t recall seeing racism. In the restaurant
business, I worked with people of all backgrounds, in many different job
capacities … everyone worked together and all were treated the same.
As for Wheatley, I do
recall two African Americans: an “exchange student,”
Frank
Tillman
; and a Social Studies teacher, Mr.
David
Workman.
As for Paul Giarmo’s
(1976) rant,,,please spare me his inferiority complex. As for soldiers coming
home from Vietnam…there are enough accounts of them being treated unfairly
and spat on…it’s all true and in the history books…I have also heard this
first hand from many Vets. Perhaps Paul should stop watching hard core right
wing news…kudos to you, Art, on your responses to him.
I like to refer to a
verse in Alan Jackson’s song “where were you when the world stopped turning.”
Faith, hope, and love are
good things……and the greatest is love.
Patricia Juris Berwald Brenner
(1972) Writes -
“Greetings, Art,
I find that conservatives don’t often say what they think to people in the
middle or on the left because they believe that we will just pass judgement
and miss the point.
Paul Giarmo (1976)
is one of the
thousands of people that have turned Long Island red while adjacent to a
great city that helps to keep New York blue. He certainly feels free to say
what he thinks. I am glad you published his statement unedited.
We all grew up in
segregation, yet few will admit that. I have seen and felt embraced where my
children and grandchildren live, one place being Clinton Hill, Brooklyn,
where people of diverse language, color, age, strata and background are
building a community together. Another of my children is raising her kid in
Maplewood, NJ, where ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Everyone is Welcome’ signs are
still posted on front lawns. They chose that area because the school district
is merging and diversifying…. a tricky thing to accomplish, yet they are
making it happen in middle-class suburbia.
My children and their
friends make me feel hopeful for the future.
An angry, accusational
post like
Paul Giarmo’s
reminds me of the worst part of human
nature. Racism is at the root of all evil and is weaponized by politics. Paul
seems to think that it’s just great that Wheatley had almost no diversity. In
fact, even Jews and Catholics lived separately in different neighborhoods,
with Albertson in the middle. My parents purchased in East Williston because
houses were less expensive than in Roslyn Heights. The Jewish kids didn’t
talk to me until I became a cheerleader and
Mrs. Auerbach’s
right hand.”
Laurie P. Cohen (1974) Writes - “
Thanks, Art, for publishing a thoughtful response to
Paul
Giarmo’s
lengthy screed about the publication of an article
about racism in our community. It’s important for us to be reminded of where
we came from.
Paul, I welcome your
thoughts about the publication of this article in our Newsletter, even though
there’s almost nothing you’ve written that I agree with. It is, indeed, your
First Amendment right as an American. Does this disagreement make me a
“radical leftist”? No. It makes me a believer, as you are, in the First
Amendment.”
Ted Lipsky (1976) Writes -
Hi, Art, I hope that you will print this.
Paul Giarmo
(1976)
– Bravo! I agree with you! Two years ago,
Art
shut me down on two occasions, and so I stopped sending in opinions, although
back then
Art
was still a judge, so maybe that explains it.
Anyway, I support what
Paul Giarmo
(1976)
said about this Newsletter being a bastion for the
Wheatley leftists to opine endlessly and put us conservatives and Reagan
Republicans down. Maybe now I will test this theory and write in with an
Op-Ed about things in the country today, which are only getting worse since
2000 with an irreparably corrupt government on both sides. Personally, I wish
we could fire everyone and start over with term limits.
Ted Lipsky - Class of 1976
and originator of the Spirit of ’76 T-shirts that my
father produced, and that we wore proudly.
Dennis Rosen (1979) Writes -
”It seems odd to claim that ‘censorship […] has
permeated this alumni newsletter’ while, at the same time, providing two
personal examples in which your point of view was actually published.
While I personally
believe that political issues do not belong in an alumni newsletter, I was
curious and asked AI to scan the archives. I spot-checked a few entries, but
I cannot vouch for the completeness of the scan or the accuracy of
identifying each article’s political POV as left-leaning or right-leaning.
[[[Dennis’s AI research purports to show four “liberal” articles and three
“conservative” ones.]]]
Takemi Ueno (1983) Writes -
“If you want to get a head start on
Valentine’s
Day
, the
New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra
will perform
Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2
on February 13 at
Symphony
Space
in Manhattan (Broadway & W. 95th St., near the 96th
St. stop on the 1, 2, and 3 subway lines). The other pieces on the program
are
Sibelius’ Finlandia
and
Dvorak’s
Symphony No. 7.
The concert will start at 8 pm. Tickets are
$25 for students and seniors and $27 for Symphony Space members. If you are
none of the above, tickets are usually $32, but Takemi Ueno (Wheatley Class
of 1983 and an orchestra member) can get discounted tickets. Please contact
her at
uenot@hotmail.com
or 212-245-5844 if
interested.
The untold story of one
of the greatest victories and monumental upsets in the storied history of The
Wheatley School football team, as written by
Charles Sanzone, 1963.
“There are stories told
and retold recounting the ‘Glory Days’ of Wheatley football, from the
inaugural ‘JV’ season in 1957, the iconic undefeated 1958 team, and a number
of teams that strived to keep ‘Wheatley’ and ‘football’ synonymous and
relevant. Lost in all these narratives is the story that unfolded on a clear,
crisp October day on the Wheatley home field.
The opponent that day was
the juggernaut team from Carle Place. Coached by future Hall of Fame coach
Joe Cody, the Carle Place Frogs were rated as one of the top teams in all of
Nassau County that year by Newsday and the Long Island Press. Mineola High School
was the only Nassau team ranked higher than them. Newsday rated the game as a
push-over for Carle Place, describing Wheatley’s chances like this: “Big
Frogs in a Small Pond.” In fact, Newsday predicted a score of 33-0, Carle
Place. This didn’t sit very well with the Wildcats, particular
Jeff
Carduner (1963).
As a result, he called a team meeting to
‘rally the troops.’
Although Joe Cody was a
great and well respected coach, Wheatley’s Jack Davis was every bit his
equal, if not better. But ‘Cat,’ a/k/a ‘Coach Davis,’ flew under the
proverbial radar in the Long Island football world. Among the many football
iterations that lived in the fertile football mind of the “Cat,” one he
imagined was the perfect answer to Carle Place. He decided that a completely
unorthodox ‘game plan’ was needed if Wheatley were to survive the predicted
onslaught that Carle Place threatened. The knowledge and ability to adjust to
meet the current obstacle is what set Coach Davis apart from his
contemporaries. These tactics included wildcat formations, two QBs under the
center, unbalanced lines, Statue of Liberty, hook and ladder plays, the
intentional fumble, and on and on.
And so it began: Wheatley
would change its entire offense from a wing-t to a single wing formation, a
formation that was last used in the 30’s and 40’s. Think Notre Dame, Army,
Princeton, Yale and all collegiate football. To make this successful, the team
committed to practicing two sessions a day, the second one in the evening for
classroom instruction.
What Newsday failed to
recognize in its prediction was the fact that Wheatley had a big interior
offensive line, a future “All NY Metropolitan” QB in
George Gipp
(1964)
, A talented and fleet halfback named
Bob Murphy
(1963)
, a bruising fullback in
Frank
Brescia (1964)
, and a team that coach Davis inspired. The
Frogs were a confident team, probably over-confident, as they had no idea
what lay in store for them, and this included the new look for Wheatley,
which included leather helmets and silver and red uniforms. The Wheatley team
got together the night before at
Walter (“Skip”) Stokes’s (1963)
house
for ping pong, soda, and music. They were ready, relaxed, and confident.
The game began as
predicted, as Carle Place’s first possession resulted in a TD. Wheatley’s
first possession, however, flipped the script. Murphy dashed through the CP
defense to score on a 50-yard run. Murphy had a previous 50-yard touchdown
run that was called back. Wheatley’s new single wing offense had Carle Place
completely confused.
Frank Brescia (‘Binky’) and Robert Murphy
(‘Murph’)
continued to rip off significant chunks of yardage
against the vaunted Carle Place defense, which had no answers.
The unbalanced line,
direct snap to the QB, and the excellent work of the overpowering offensive
line set Carle Place back on its heels. The game went on and the Wildcats put
in a gritty performance. Using the unbalanced line enabled the Wildcats to
maintain ball control and kept Carle Place’s offense on the sideline. The
Wheatley line was anchored by center
Charlie Sanzone (1963), Steve Zazula (1963),
Billy Rutenberg (1964), Skip Stokes, and Jeff Carduner.
Kudos
must go
Coach William Lawson
, the guru of the Wheatley
defense. If any coach could motivate a football player,
Coach
Lawson
was second to none. He would look you in the eye and
the message was always clear. The final score was
Wheatley
13, Carle Place 12
. It needs to be noted here that this was
truly Jeff Carduner’s team. He blocked Carle Place’s extra point attempt,
sealing the win for the ‘Cats.’ A glorious day in the history of Wheatley
football.
As a postscript, Carle
Place went on to defeat Mineola High School the following week. Mineola was
at that time the number one team in Nassau County.
Some of the Wheatley
players included:
John Bindman (1963)
Frank Brescia
Jeff Carduner
Fred Gipp (1964)
George Gipp
Richie Goodman (1963)
Willie Lamparter (1965)
Richard Maxfield (1964)
Robert Murphy
Doug Robinson (1964)
Billy Rutenberg
Charlie Sanzone
Skip Stokes
Brian Stone (1964)
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The caption
reads: “The longtime Roslyn Cinema, closed …. Long Island Press.”
Elyse Rame Beyer (1974) Writes
- “Thought this was Wheatley News Worthy. Spent much of
my life there.”
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1966 - An
International Group (Everyone Wearing a Nametag!)
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L-R - Marta Pesa, Lee
Nagel, Harold Whack, Claude Levy.
Karen Hope Wattel Arenson Writes -
“Marta
, from Argentina, and
Claude
,
from France, were our foreign exchange students, through AFS (American Field
Service).
Harold was from the south and he stayed with Donna Sugarman Chamisa’s (1966)
family and then went to Harvard.”
Donna Sugarman Chamisa (1966)
Writes -
“Hal Whack came to us
through a Friend’s program that brought black kids up from the South to go to
a better school and have a better chance of getting into a good college.
I’m finally intimidated
enough by the message at the end of each Newsletter about sending my bio
before someone sends in my obit; I hope to get to that soon.”
1966 - Marta Pesa -
“Hi everyone, Getting in touch with my Class of 1966
Classmates after 60 years is a pleasure! I shared our senior year at The
Wheatley School with all of you. During that time, I lived with a fantastic
family, the
Nobles (Diana, 1966; Barbara, 1968; and Henry (1972), at 56 Shepherd
Lane, Roslyn Heights
, as an
AFS
(American
Field Service) student. I hope to be able to travel to New York City in
October to help celebrate our 60th-Year Anniversary. I plan to visit the U.S.
Embassy in Buenos Aires soon to renew my Visa.
All the
best!
Claude Levy (1966) Writes -
I stayed with
the Gross family
, including
Bob (1967)
and Jean (1969).
1966 - Wheatley’s “It’s
Academic” Team
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L-R - Lee Nagel
and Ned Lagin; Lee Nagel; Steve Hanft
1966 + 1968 - The Nobles
and AFS Exchange Student Marta Pesa
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L-R - Barbara
Noble (1968), Marta Pesa (1966), Diana Noble Rubinger (1966). Diana visited
Marta in Tucuman, Argentina, back in the 1970s.
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L-R - Diana
Noble Rubinger and Virginia Burch (both 1966)
1966 - Senior Prom Photo
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Standing - Robert Sarnoff,
Marta Pesa, Diana Noble Rubinger, Larry Frank, Peggy Coan, ???, Helene Feiner
(1967), Phil Ardell
Seated - ???, Ned Lagin, David
Hurvitz, Bette Spiro Neuman, Harold Whack, Vermelle Burgess
Harold Whack (1966) Writes
- ‘That is me on right with my date, Vermelle Burgess,
who graduated from Port Washington HS in 1965 and also was in the Southern
Student project inspired by MLK Jr and the American Friends Service
Committee. After the prom, we went to The Cheetah disco and then saw Count
Basie with my very good friend Ned Lagin and his date. Ned went to MIT, while
I went to Harvard. We met again while in Cambridge, but eventually we lost
contact.
1966 - Bette Spiro Neuman’s Sweet
Sixteen at the CedarBrook Club in Upper Brookville, NY, January 1965
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Clockwise from
foreground - Ellie Elahi, ???, ???, ???, Joy Glasser, Bette Spiro Neuman,
Susan Cohen, Nancy Zemel (all 1966)
1967 - Art Engoron -
Having reached mandatory retirement age as a judge at
the end of last year, early this year I became a “neutral” at NAM (National
Arbitration and Mediation) and a “senior counsel” at the law firm Phillips
Nizer (“PN”). I am looking forward to both roles. Coincidentally Bob Freiman,
Wheatley 1962, was a Trusts and Estates lawyer at PN from 1969 to 1994, a
field in which he is still practicing.
1970 - Jill Ostrower Trovillion -
“While going through papers, I found this montage from
our 20th-Year Reunion back in 1990.”
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Art Engoron (1967) Writes
-
Robin Halpern gets the “Best
Hair Award,” hands down.
1971 - Dale Ilsley Goldberg -
Remembering Zemoria (“Dena”) Rosemond (1969) - “
Hi Art, I would like to add my memories of
Zemoria
(‘Dena’) Rosemond
. I met Dena when I was in 9th grade
(1967-68) through the choir and the Wheatley spring musical, ‘Brigadoon.’
Some may remember that I was very involved in choir, and most of the time I
accompanied the choir in practices and performances, as well as for the
musicals. Dena had an incredibly beautiful voice, and was cast by Doctor
Wills as the female lead, playing opposite
James (“Jay” or “Jimmy”) Doyle
(1970)
, I believe. I wish I had an old program. Anyway, Dena
and I became quite friendly, as I often “ran” the musical component of the
dance rehearsals for the show. Not only was she incredibly talented, she was
very intelligent and warm. We would spend several afternoons together during
the week.
To Doc Wills’s credit, he
was race blind in his selection of Dena for the female lead, and there was
much anticipation about the romantic kiss between Dena and Jay Doyle in the
show. And boy, did they kiss! I do not remember any blowback from this interracial
kiss - if there was any, I was unaware.
We remained good friends
until the assassination of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
. After
that, Dena became very withdrawn and shut down. Looking back, I have a
greater understanding now of her response then than I did at 14-years-old.
But, I felt the loss of a friend, and I wish now that I had had the words to
speak to her emotions. We lost touch after that year.
I looked her up
approximately five years ago, and I found, sadly, that she died in 2009. Too
young. Anyway, I just wanted to share my memories of her. Her voice was a
gift.”
1981 - Angelo Carbone - “
Good Morning, Living on Ogden Ave in East Williston,
right down the block from the East Williston Fire Department (“EWFD”) fire
house, coupled with my father, Angelo Senior, being a New York City FDNY Fire
Lieutenant (and a Patton’s 3rd Army World War Two Vet), made all three of his
sons join the EWFD……not sure if that was a choice on our part or not, so Rich
(1970), Micheal (1976) and I (1981) were EWFD firefighters as soon as we
turned 18. My Father was an Ex-Chief and Ex-Commissioner, and I am also an
Ex-Chief of Department. Someday, you can make a pretty interesting read on
all the Wheatley grads that were and still are EWFD firefighters.
Yes, I knew
Kenny Lang
(1967)
very well. Kenny was a dentist in Williston Park for
many years, and he moved out of state many years ago. Kenny was an excellent
firefighter and a great person.”
1984 - Scott Barshay
was elected as Chairperson of the powerhouse law firm
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, in the wake of Brad Karp’s
resigning from that position due to negative publicity about his
correspondence with “disgraced financier” (as the mainstream press usually
refers to him) Jeffrey Epstein.
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Sweetie is Ted
Lipsky’s (1976) rescue that he fostered, then adopted.
1964 (Richard Ilsley) -
❤️
1965 (Sharon Neely Halm) -
❤️
-
“I always love to see the Newsletter in my email. It
brings back so many wonderful memories of my time at Wheatley. Thanks for all
you do in putting this together, Art.”
1969 (Dan Ross) -
“Very enjoyable issue, especially the other comments
about the article describing Long Island racism.”
1973 (Denise Paine) -
🧡💙❤️💚
- “Thanks, Art, for another interesting Newsletter. Long live the First
Amendment!
1974 (Melanie Artim) -
“Art, thanks for being the glue of all things
Wheatley.”
1974 (Laurie P. Cohen) - “
Thanks to you and Keith (a/k/a your ‘staff’) for your
work on this Newsletter. I am always happy to read it and learn a lot from
it.
❤️
”
1975 (George Hopper) -
❤️
1981 (Barbara E. Schwartz) -
“Well handled, as always! I appreciate what you are
doing and how you handle challenges.”
1987 (Catherine Pries Voisinet) -
“Thank you for all you do!”
All underlined text is a
link-to-a-link or a link-to-an-email-address. Clicking anywhere on underlined
text, and then clicking on the text that pops up will get you to your on-line
destination or will address an email.
Thanks to our fabulous
Webmaster,
Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963),
you can regale
yourself with the first 252 or so Wheatley School Alumni Association
Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at our website:
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
Newsletters and other on-site material.
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
New Yorker
style 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, performed, and/or
studied there.
Art Engoron, Class of 1967
That’s it for The Wheatley School
Alumni Association Newsletter # 255. Please send me your autobiography before
someone else sends me your obituary.
Art
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Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967