History lessons: Why was our newspaper was called The Flame and why are we the Blue Dragons?

By FRANK BARNING

It was always exciting when an issue of our student newspaper, The Flame, was delivered to Division Avenue. The only problem was that it only came out about three times a year when our high school was new.

I was the sports editor in the early years, the first place that I saw my byline. More than a thousand bylines would follow in the decades to come, but few were more thrilling to see than the ones in The Flame.

Why was it called The Flame? Duh, I had never wondered why. It never crossed my mind. We were called the Blue Dragons, right? I broached the subject with a classmate a year or so ago who asked, "What comes out of a dragon's mouth?" A flame. Such imagination.

It logically followed to ponder why are we the Blue Dragons? This I had wondered about. And after much discussion with other Division oldtimers, including faculty member Armand Tarantelli, this is the story as I have pieced it together. And it seems valid.

When the subject came up to create a nickname for the Division teams, one if not more of those involved in making the decision had gone to what was then known as Cortland State. It was, and probably still is, a teachers' college with an emphasis on physical education.

The Cortland nickname is the Red Dragons. It wasn't much of a leap to label us the Blue Dragons. My guess is that the Union Free School District physical education chairman, the late Hugh Jack, was the power behind the decision making. He was a Cortland man and is in the college's sports hall of fame.

FROM THE CORTLAND SPORTS WEBSITE
Hugh Jack, former baseball and football great at SUNY Cortland, was presented Cortland's “C” Club Hall of Fame Award at a ceremony held in his behalf in Tampa, Fla.
Jack is a member of the Class of 1948 at Cortland. A former resident of Rockville Center, Jack was honored by the New York State Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, which awarded him its Distinguished Service Award. The Nassau County Basketball Coaches Association gave him their Special Service Award in 1970.
Jack was a physical education teacher and freshman football coach at Hofstra University in 1948, later joined the Levittown Public School System and retired in 1972 as district supervisor of physical education and athletics.
A varsity baseball and football player while at Cortland, he is the first president of the Cortland “C” Club and was the founder of Levittown’s Little League program, serving as its commissioner for two years. For 13 years, he was chairman of fund-raising for Operation Fitness in Nassau County.
• • •
Our next blog post will be about The Flame, including photos of pages from the April 1960 issue.

Division Avenue High School's first varsity football team; the 1957 season wasn't pretty

Click on photo to enlarge

By FRANK BARNING

In the fall of 1957, Division Avenue High School had it first sophomore class. As a result, the Blue Dragons were permitted to field a varsity football team. I recall that the schedule included a couple of junior varsity teams from larger schools and varsity squads from small or new schools.

We were at a distinct disadvantage in not having juniors and seniors, players with varsity experience. The results were not particularly good, but it was a start. The first head coach was Al Tarney, well respected and gone prior to the next season.

The picture here was provided by Tom Paturzo Baker who played some football but was best known for his skill as a wrestler. Part of the problem, as in the previous year when the first ever freshman team represented Division, was at the quarterback position. According to Baker, "John Shibilo was the first-string quarterback. He ran all the ground plays out of the wing-t formation. Pete Cybriwsky was also a quarterback that year because he could throw the long passes. The coach would call plays for both quarterbacks and they would alternate plays."

Few passes were completed and the major offensive threat was running back John Koehler. He and lineman Ken "Tiger" Ganim emerged as standout players.

Jim Anton, a freshman at the time and a follower of the football team, had this to say: "All I can remember was it was like little boys, sophomores, playing against seniors who looked like grown men. Some of them were probably old enough to drink at bars."

There was some good news for the Division football team in 1957. There was an excellent freshman team (mostly members of the class of 1961), which would reinforce the varsity in 1958 when a full schedule against other varsities was played and Jerry Jewell became the head coach. Ganim, now a junior, was an all-league guard that season.

Among the best players coming up in 1958 would be Carl Opitz Kielbasa, Ed Fagan Thomas, Ernie Villatore, Bill Goldhammer and finally a quarterback who could throw the ball down the field, Gary Parker. Several other talented players would join the team that in 1957 had been young, small and basically served as cannon fodder. Don Davidson, a lineman on the team, commented that " It was painful in that we did not know that we were going to be cannon fodder."

On the bright side, the games were well attended and the Blue Dragons had really good cheerleaders. "We're from Division and we couldn't be prouder . . ."

The United States' recession has hit everybody really hard . . .

My neighbor got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

CEOs are now playing miniature golf.

Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

A stripper was killed when her audience showered her with rolls of pennies while she danced.

I saw a Mormon with only one wife.

Wives are having sex with their husbands because they can't afford batteries.

If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.

McDonald's is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.

Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children's names.

My cousin had an exorcism but couldn't afford to pay for it, and they re-possessed her.

A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.

A picture is now only worth 200 words.

When Bill and Hillary travel together, they now have to share a room.
_________

Author unknown.

With the threat of Hurricane Irene dominating the news, here is a story about a big one that hit Levittown in 1954. Do you remember Hurricane Carol?

These striking photos show the flooded intersection of Hilltop Road and Valley Road

Click on photos to enlarge

With news reports that Hurricane Irene is potentially a serious threat to the east coast of the United States, including Long Island, it might be of interest to revisit blog posts from early December of last year. They were about Hurricane Carol which inundated Levittown in August 1954. So here goes:

At the time of landfall on far eastern Long Island and the eastern Connecticut coast, the sustained winds in Carol were around 110-mph, with gusts in the 125 to 135-mph range. Like a devastating 1938 hurricane, Carol accelerated northward form Virginia to Long Island. The combination of 110-mph sustained winds and a forward speed of near 40-mph... produced some of the strongest wind gusts ever measured in the North Atlantic states. Montauk Point Lighthouse reported gusts to 120-mph.

Along the eastern Connecticut coast, from Saybrook Point to Groton Long Point, wind gusts over 100-mph were reported. Wind gusts of 120 to 135-mph blasted across Southern Rhode Island as the state was hit squarely by the damaging eastern half of the tropical cyclone.

The name Carol was used again in the 1965 season, and was planned for use during the 1969 hurricane season before it was replaced with the name Camille. Due to serious destruction during 1954, however, the name will never again be used for an Atlantic hurricane. Carol was the first Atlantic hurricane name in history to be retired.
_______

READER RESPONSES

Wally Linder, class of 1961:
I remember that day in August 1954 that Carol hit Levittown. We were new residents, just having moved in May of that year. We lived on Haymaker Lane up by the Hicksville border.

My Mother somehow got into work, but my Father, brother and I were home. We had a pear tree in the middle of the front lawn, and my Father really loved that tree. The wind bent the tree all the way over and he feared that it might be lost.

In the middle of the hurricane my Father went out to tie down the pear tree. He barely made it to the tree, and had to turn around, because the wind was too strong. My brother Paul and I watched him crawl back with his fingers dug into the sod. At one point he went completely horizontal, like a flag, and just barely made it back in the house. My brother and I thought it was the funniest thing, not realizing how dangerous it really was.

Joan Bartels Signorelli, class of 1962:
I remember the storm vividly. We were living on Woodpecker Lane in the ranch with the fireplace on both sides, kitchen and living room. The water from the storm just poured down the chimney and we were flooded and mopping for hours.

Sandra Gail Adams, class of 1960:
I also remember Hurricane Carol. When the winds began to really pick up, my mother sent me out into the back yard to hold on to the new, small Weeping Willow, so that it wouldn’t get blown down and uprooted or broken. I didn’t last too long at my assignment – I was having too much trouble trying to keep my (then small) body erect!

Wendy Max Dunford, class of 1968:
I was only four years old then, but I remember my older brother going out to the back yard to tie the patio furniture to the apple tree to keep it from flying away. I remember the storm hitting then seeming to stop, and I thought it was over. I heard my mother say it was just the eye of the storm, but I had no idea what that meant. Then a while later, the storm came back with a vengeance. We lived at the bottom of Schoolhouse Road where it met Valley Road for two years, before moving up Schoolhouse Road to the top of the hill into #37 where we lived from 1954 to 1975.

From Jo-Ann Martin Fink, class of 1966, who provided the photos:
Here is a little info on the flood picture. The one looking across to Hilltop is taken from the upstairs of 6 Hilltop Road. This was the home of Harold and Paulette Gast. They left Levittown a few years later and moved to Lawrence and then to California. Harold Gast was a writer and producer. He co-wrote "A Woman named Golda".
________________

Thank you to Jo-Ann Martin Fink for providing these photos. She lived at 1 Hilltop Road and was one of the first Levittown babies. Her family moved into their house on October 15, 1947, about two weeks after the first residents unpacked.

HURRICANE CAROL HEADLINES FROM AUGUST 1954

Click on photos to enlarge

As east coast residents anxiously brace for Hurricane Irene, you might find of interest the front pages of two newspapers after Hurricane Carol ripped through the New York area 57 years ago.

Our next blog post will be about Carol and the devastation it brought to Levittown and the northeast. Included will be two stunning photos that show the flooded intersection of Hilltop Road and Valley Road in Levittown.

Vintage photos of Division Avenue High and Levittown Memorial High graduates

Click on photos to enlarge

Shown here are:

* Linc Binninger, class of 1963, in his graduation photo.

* Easter girls Sandy Kelly Mincher (taller of the two), class of 1961 with sister Karen in around 1956. Note the cars. "The Hudson was ours," said Sandy. "We also had a Wasp and a Hornet."

* Steve Mohr sent this Jones Beach photo of him and his siblings. He wrote, "Included are my older sister June (Levittown Memorial class of 1957); my sister Barbara (Levittown Memorial 1959); me (Division 1960); and our little brother Eddie who went to high school in California." The photo is from approximately 1953.

* Don Davidson, class of 1960, age 14 months in 1944.

* Jimmy Crescenzo and Jerry Gosse, 1959 Levittown Memorial High School graduates.

The start of basketball at Division Avenue High and the opening of a wonderful gymnasium

Click on photo to enlarge it

1956-57 Division Avenue High School freshman basketball team:

Sitting: Skippy Orr, Doug Lindemyer, John Gentleman, Alan Kurtz

First row: Lefty Carlo, Marty Rosenberg, Ken Ganim, Ben Stark, Dewain Lanfear, Pete Cybriwsky, Mike Newton, Terry Tobey

Standing: Russ Green, Tom Krustangel, coach Jimmy Amen, Artie Dorrmann, (unknown), Richie Glaski

By FRANK BARNING

The previous blog post was about the opening of Division Avenue High School in September 1956. This time we will concentrate on one of the highlights of the new facility.

For guys like me who were gym rats, the crowning jewel of DAHS was the gymnasium. It was huge in comparison to the junior high facility. What became known as "the old gym" became the scene of "Sock Hops" and other school dances, and junior high gym classes.

Below the new gym in the basement were spacious locker rooms for both sexes. There was even a room to wash uniforms and towels, plus drying racks on which sweaty uniforms could be hung. For the wrestling team, there was a spacious room to hold practice. The old gym had small locker rooms adjacent to the gym floor.

The photo here is of coach Jimmy Amen and the freshman team he had chosen. I was one of the last kids cut during tryouts, so I volunteered to be the score keeper, just to be around coach Amen and the guys. A bonus was to be allowed on the team bus for away games with the added attraction that the cheerleaders were onboard.

It was a dream season. The Blue Dragons won all 10 of their games. The home contests, played a few minutes after classes ended, drew standing-room-only crowds and the cheering was so loud that some people put their hands over their ears. There was electricity in the air. It was all so new and exciting. Junior high kids were permitted to attend, so they got in the spirit of the new high school.

Mike Newton and Richie Glaski were the stars of the team. They were legendary in the Levittown school yards, so some of us knew in advance that they would be great players for the first school team. Both were fine scorers and Glaski was a man among boys as a rebounder. The future of Division basketball seemed bright for next year's first varsity season. But that did not come to pass.

Newton, who made all-league as a sophomore, was fantastic. Pete Cybriwsky was a solid point guard and as best as I can recall, Glaski only played a few varsity games as a soph and gave up the sport. His departure was a huge loss, but more importantly, he graduated with his class.

After our freshman year, many of the students who lived in southern Levittown were given the option to attend Levittown Memorial High School. If you lived closer to Memorial, it was an obvious choice for some. Frankly, I cannot define southern Levittown. It had nothing to do with Hempstead Turnpike as a dividing line, my original assumption, which was corrected by my classmate Bill Stanley.

Marty Rosenberg and Al Kurtz, important players on our unbeaten freshman team, left for the other high school. Both became all-league players. I did not see them again until our freshman year at Hofstra.

One of the players on our freshman team was Ed "Skippy" Orr, arguably the best athlete on the squad. The next year he left Division to attend Chaminade High School, another huge loss because he was a great football player. How great? He was a standout receiver for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, a team led by quarterback Roger Staubach that went to the Cotton Bowl in 1964.

In the Cotton Bowl that Navy lost to Texas, Skippy caught nine passes for 112 yards. He and Staubach became best friends and, according to a Google search, Orr is currently employed as a Senior Vice President and partner at a company owned by the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner. Rumor has it that Staubach once joined Orr in Levittown while on leave (vacation) from Annapolis and wowed the guys in touch football games.

The loss of these players was the reason that for the next three years, Division never had a winning basketball season. It wasn't until after the class of 1960 graduated that the sport improved. But at least we had a shiny new gym for our home basketball games and intramurals. Our outstanding wrestling team shared the building and provided a great deal of excitement for the student body.

It would be difficult to imagine that students in most of the 50 or so classes that followed my 1960 crew would find the new gym such a wonderful place because to them it had always been there. It was a most interesting time for our school and our community.

Basketball team photo courtesy of Barbara Wittenberg Taylor, class of 1960.

Note: scroll down to "older posts" to see yesterday's story about the opening of Division Avenue High School in September 1956.

Memories of the exciting opening of Division Avenue High School in 1956 and some early Levittown history

Photo of the school from the 1960 yearbook. The 1956 addition to the building is on the left-hand side (behind the flag pole), connected to the original structure.

By FRANK BARNING

It's amazing how an ancient photograph can result in a rush of memories, stuff you haven't thought about in decades.

My 1960 classmate Barbara Wittenberg Taylor recently sent me a package with a treasure chest of old pictures, some Division Avenue publications from our senior year, plus her GO card which was displayed here a couple days ago.

My favorite photo, and a wonderful stimulator of memories, is a shot of Division's first basketball team. That was the 1956-57 season, when the class of 1960 was in its freshman year. We were young, mostly naive kids, but we were pioneers who were creating so many things that would stand the test of time for our school. Some didn't work so well, but we had a healthy percentage of success.

That got me to thinking about what it was like to attend a brand new school, and the anticipation we had as the building was under construction while we were right next door in eighth grade. Sure, it was dusty and noisy, but exciting at the same time. It was a rare experience watching your future high school grow before your eyes, bursting skyward from a crabgrass covered expanse of land. The buildings were attached by common walls.

Before Division became a high school in the fall of 1956, it was a junior high to which many of us in the class of 1960 went.

Here is some history . . .

The first residents of Levitt & Sons' Cape Cod houses moved in on October 1, 1947. Approximately 300 families were that first wave. According to historian Lynne Matarrese, "Lawns weren't yet seeded and there was mud everywhere. Street lights, telephones, schools, mail delivery and bus service were months away, some services a year or more in the future for these first residents."

DAHS was Levittown's second high school. The brand new building was an addition to what had been a junior high for a few years. At times, elementary school classes were held at what had been known as Division Avenue School.

The town's initial high school, Levittown Memorial, was opened in 1953 with construction being completed the following year. For about a half dozen years in our town's early history, high school students attended Hicksville High. After Memorial opened, students from north Levittown were transported there, usually by bus, until Division started receiving high school students. I could be wrong, but I think that Hempstead Turnpike was the dividing line.

However, no one graduated from Division before 1960. If, for example, you were in the class of 1959, even if you lived across the street from the new high school, you had to attend Memorial or a private school.

In addition to the inconvenience of being bused to Memorial, some of the north Levittown kids never felt they were part of that school. It had a different culture, as difficult as that may seem. Memorial had a fair sprinkling of kids from non-Levittown homes so there was a lack of the homogeneity that characterized Division. A few students had Wantagh addresses.

Except for a handful of students at DAHS, we all lived in Levitt Cape Cods or ranches, and most were still the original basic houses with a few having finished attics to provide bedrooms for large families. There was absolutely no class system in our culture (maybe except for the academic elite), which years later we fondly embrace as a reason that our Division Avenue experience was special.

Those of us who were enrolled when Division Avenue High opened in September 1956 and remained for four school years, would proudly become members of Division's first graduating class. The building was a sparkling upgrade for those of us who had attended Division Avenue School, a building that opened in 1949 and was completed April 1950.

Sadly, some of the friends we made freshman year, transferred to Levittown Memorial for their sophomore year. Most of them lived much closer to Memorial than Division and, in many cases, we never saw them again. We were still too young to drive and I suppose, out of sight out of mind. The few connections were at open-house parties and through sports.

This story will be continued in our next blog post along with a photo of Division Avenue High's first basketball team.
_______________________

Information about the opening of schools comes from "The History of Levittown, New York" by Lynne Mataresse.
______________________________

GOOD THINGS ABOUT A NEW HIGH SCHOOL

By Vivian Barning, Babylon High class of 1963. Babylon was in an old building:

New . . .
Text books
Library books
Science lab equipment
PE equipment and locker rooms (no bad smells)
Lockers and locks
Desks, chairs and other furniture
Equipment in Home Economic, typing, auto shop
Musical instruments
Up-to-date maps and globes
Nothing needs to be painted

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive an Economic Stimulus payment . . .

This is indeed a very exciting program, and I'll explain it by using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an 'Economic Stimulus' payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen of it.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

* If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka.

* If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs.

* If you purchase a computer, it will go to India, Taiwan or China.

* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras, Chile and Guatemala.

* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea.

* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan.

* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in America by:

1) Spending it at yard sales, or

2) Going to ball games, or

3) Spending it on prostitutes, or

4) Beer or

5) Tattoos.

(These are the only American businesses still operating in the U.S.)

Conclusion:

Go to a ball game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard sale and drink beer all day.

No need to thank me, I'm just glad I could be of help.
_____________

Author unknown. Submitted by John Tanner, class of 1960.

LEVITTOWN, NEW YORK MEMORABILIA FROM LONG, LONG AGO

Click on pix to enlarge

* Barbara Wittenberg's 1959-60 GO card. Note that it was signed by class of 1960 president Ira Selsky. You must be a pack rat to save a GO card from more than 50 years ago. Thank you, Barbara.

* The cover of a DAHS football game program, circa 1967. Courtesy of Toni Crescenzo Gelfer, class of 1968, the ultimate pack rat. You should see the stuff neatly stored in her garage in San Antonio, Texas.

* Levittown Athletic Club pennant from Toni Crescenzo Gelfer.

* Jim Anton's freshman letters. He graduated in 1961.

* Levittown Roller Rink advertisement, 1961. Your blogger still has burn marks on his butt from the floor of our beloved rink.

My son, Randy Barning, is all a dad could have wished for

By FRANK BARNING

American journalist and humorist Helen Rowland wrote, "A man's desire for a son is usually nothing but the wish to duplicate himself in order that such a remarkable pattern may not be lost to the world".

While Vivian was expecting, friends and family would ask if I wanted a boy or a girl. I lied, saying it didn't matter.

When our son Randy was born on May 7, 1973 at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre, I was overjoyed that Vivian and the baby were healthy, but the icing on the cake was that I had a son.

People knew that Vivian and I were big baseball fans, both rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers until the team moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. Then starting in 1962 when they were created, the New York Mets were our team. So many baby gifts were shirts and other clothing items with baseball themes. Randy even received a couple of miniature baseball gloves.

His best sport turned out to be basketball. The photo of the two of us was taken in our backyard in 1991 when Randy was on the team at La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego. One of our most memorable days was when he made the varsity in junior year and was handed his uniform.

Randy and I played a lot of basketball on a court near our home. Maybe he was around 10 when we started. We'd have shooting contests, games such as H-O-R-S-E and one-on-one competition. Sometimes we would play together in pickup games. In the early years, he was totally overmatched by a dad who was in his early 40s. But as time passed, our skills evened out.

And then came the day, around the time Randy was a freshman in high school, that the torch was passed. The son exceeded the dad and he loved to rub it in my face, in a nice way. He was so pleased with himself, and I was proud of him. Hey, he loved a sport I had played since I was a pre-teen.

When it came time to apply to colleges, Randy already knew which school he wanted. Eventually, he had an impressive choice of universities that offered him admission. The University of California system has some great schools and Randy had his choice. He did not want to stay home, so the San Diego campus was rejected even though I tried to bribe him with a new car. The top schools were the University of California Berkeley and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Randy chose UCLA, about a three-hour drive or train ride from home. Vivian and I were thrilled.

I don't know if many young men who have options pick a college because of its basketball history and tradition, but our son did. He wanted to be a Bruin, the school of fabled coach John Wooden and such immortals as Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) and San Diegan Bill Walton, among others.

The first week of school, he talked to some of the assistant basketball coaches about becoming a team manager, but all the spots were taken. Instead, he played intramural basketball on the team of the fraternity he joined and attended just about all the Bruins' home games at fabled Pauley Pavilion, where all the national championship banners are hung.

In March of 1995, the team won its 11th national title and only one since coach Wooden retired in 1975. Randy was a senior and attended the Final Four games in Seattle. In June, his department's commencement was held in Pauley Pavilion, amid the banners. Three of the other grads in his department were starters on the basketball team. The master of ceremonies, as I recall, mentioned by name only three graduates. They received a standing ovation.

At age 38, Randy Barning continues to be all a dad could have wished for. An unknown author wrote, "Son, you outgrew my lap, but never my heart".

Old photos of Division Avenue High School athletes; Pete Cybriwsky, Jim McGrath and John Koehler were among the early standouts

Click on pix to enlarge

* 1960 baseball team stars included (L-R) Pete Cybriwsky, John Shibilo, John Koehler shown here with coach Joe DiMaggio.

* Class of 1960 voted most athletic: Pete Cybriwsky and Penny Stone.

* Jim McGrath, class of 1960, in 1958 as a sophomore with coach Floyd Kenyon (left). Jim wrestled at about 103 lbs. and was one of Long Island's best. With them is district athletic director Hugh Jack.

* Football standout John "Chez" Echezuria from the class of 1962.

* Artie Dorrmann on the freshman baseball team in 1957. He graduated in 1960.

Sports in the early years at Division Avenue High School featured a mixed bag of good teams and really bad ones. Wrestling and baseball were outstanding from the very beginning. It took a few years to establish football and basketball generally sucked.

Some interesting early Blue Dragons athletes are depicted here. Pete Cybriwsky, a fantastic pitcher, was the first Division graduate to play professional baseball. He had a brief minor league career and died tragically in his mid 20s. He is among the most fondly remembered of those in the pioneer class of 1960.

John Koehler, all league in baseball and football, was the first Blue Dragon to play varsity football in college. Now a resident of The Villages in Florida, running back Koehler started as a plebe (freshman) for Kings Point (United States Merchant Marine Academy) on Long Island.

Jim McGrath made a career out of his sport, wrestling. After winning many honors for Division, he wrestled at Wayne State in Nebraska. After college, he became a highly successful and influential high school coach in the Cornhusker State. Jim is retired, still lives in Nebraska and is grooving on the success of his son Nicholas, a high school star in, of course, wrestling.

RETIRE WHERE: Phoenix, Colorado, California, NYC, Florida, Deep South?

You can retire to Phoenix , Arizona where...

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.

2. You've experienced condensation on your hiney from the hot water in the toilet bowl.

3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.

4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.

5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.

6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

OR

You can retire to California where...

1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.

2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.

3. You know how to eat an artichoke.

4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.

5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.

6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.

OR
You can retire to New York City where...

1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan.

2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.

3. You think Central Park is "nature."

4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.

5. You've worn out a car horn. (Ed. Note: if you have a car).

6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

OR

You can retire to Minnesota where...

1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.

2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas.

3. You have more than one recipe for casserole.

4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.

5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and construction.

OR
You can retire to the Deep South where...

1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.

2. "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.

3. "He needed killin" is a valid defense.

4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Ellen, Betty Jean, Mary Beth, etc.

5. Everything is either "over yonder" or "out yonder." It's important to know the difference, too.

OR
You can retire to Colorado where...

1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.

2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and so he stops at the day care center.

3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.

4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

OR

You can retire to the Midwest where...

1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.

2. Your idea of a traffic jam is 10 cars waiting to pass a tractor.

3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.

4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at?"

5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different!"

OR

FINALLY You can retire to Florida where...

1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.

2.. All purchases include a coupon of some kind -- even houses and cars.

3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.

4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.

5. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.
_________

Forwarded to us by Lilette Levy Bagwin, class of 1960, who lives in Colorado. Author unknown.

American Bandstand part 2: The memories linger after a half century

Click on photos to enlarge

Shown here are:

* Dick Clark.

* Famous Bandstand couple Arlene Sullivan and Kenny Rossi on the cover of Teen magazine in 1959. Behind them is Pat Molittieri, another viewer favorite.

* Dick Clark interviews Bobby Rydell.

* America's favorite television dancing couple, Justine Carelli and Bob Clayton.

* Frani Giordano, one of the Bandstand regulars

SWEET MEMORIES OF THE BANDSTAND GANG:

Arnie Galeota
I was one of those Bandstand junkies. I learned how to dance well enough not to make a fool of myself just by watching that show.

My favorites were Frani Giordano and Arlene Sullivan. Justine was too pretty and seemed a little aloof to me. Pat Molittieri was the one with the big personality. Kenny Rossi was the cool guy. Bob Clayton seemed aloof to me also, so he was perfect for Justine.

Not being a star athlete with no practices to attend, my afternoons were taken up with that show but only after my afterschool visit to Whalen's drug store on the corner of Hempstead Turnpike and Division Avenue. I never bought anything so I was quickly asked to leave. I rarely made it past a 15 minute visit. Life was so simple then.

Marilyn Monsrud Frese
Always rushed home to see AB. We would learn the dances watching the show, and it was always a big deal to see what Justine was wearing. You would see so many of the girls in similar outfits the next day: cardigan sweaters buttoned up backwards with the scarf or white collar at the neck, a pleated skirt, a different hair style.

But looking at her photo now, I see someone who looks so much older than I remember her looking! I think we all looked like our mothers back then. Dresses and skirts and garter belts and stockings everyday to school! What were we thinking?

Joan Bartels Signorelli
I loved American Bandstand. Every day after school a bunch of us girls would go to each others' homes to dance, Philly style, of course. That was how we learned the Lindy. My friends included Sue Bova, Paula Vogt and Donna Allison. Those were the best times, watching American Bandstand.

I don't remember any of the names of the young people on the show, however, we all certainly had crushes on most of the boys. That's why it was such fun seeing Hairspray, a blast from the past.

Frank Barning
I was into the music and live performers on Bandstand. Some of the songs had to be sanitized to be on the show. For example, the recording of Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee" was considered too violent, so the version he sang on the show was cleaned up.

My wife thinks that Ryan Seacrest is the Dick Clark of the 21st Century.

Recently arrived photos of Division Avenue High School alumni

Click on pix to enlarge

* Gary Parker, class of 1962, and grandson 11-year old Will Cole. Gary lives in Georgia.

* Dewain Lanfear and Ken Plass, class of 1960. They are sitting in Ken's living room in Spokane. "We played three days of golf and had a great time," Dewain, who lives in South Carolina, informed us.

* Michelle Fromm-Lewis, class of 1963, with her twin nine-year old grandsons Walter and Jesse on a recent trip to Durango, CO.

* Tommy Paturzo Baker (left) and Kenny Bram at age 16. Their varsity wrestling coach paid for crew-cuts for the entire wrestling team. This photo was taken at the Azalea Road pool in 1958 and they graduated in 1960.

* John Koehler's wedding in 1963. Left to right are Bob Castro, John, Tom Koehler and Mal Karman. All are class of 1960, except Tom who graduated in 1963.

WAS AMERICAN BANDSTAND PART OF YOUR YOUTH?

By FRANK BARNING

Many of us who eventually graduated from Division Avenue High School in the early years of our school rushed home in order to not miss American Bandstand. Were you one of those people?

We loved the songs, Dick Clark, the style of the kids on the show and how they danced. One of the hooks was that the Levittown girls fell in love with some of the guys on the show. And speaking for the guys, we flipped (good 1950s word) over the blond bombshell, Justine Carelli.

The star of the show was ringmaster Clark. Then came Justine Carelli. Other favorites were Bandstand regulars Arlene Sullivan, Kenny Rossi, Pat Molittieri, Frani Giordano and Justine's dance partner, Bob Clayton. The girls thought that Clayton was "gorgeous", or as many pronounced it, "Gawgeous".

We watched the show in grainy black and white on our small screen televisions. It was part of the after school hours for many Levittown youngsters. A favorite segment was Rate the Records and we would give the songs played our ratings, too. It may have been the first time we heard Short Shorts, Who's Sorry Now?, Tequila, Get a Job and hundreds of others. I remember many voters saying, "I like the beat," and "It would be good to dance to."

In the early years of the show, it came out of Philadelphia. Clark made several Phily kids into stars including Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell. In the 1978 movie "Grease", the kids went to Rydell High. Avalon is known by later generations as the old guy in the white suit in "Grease". He played a character named Teen Angel and sang "Beauty School Drop Out."

If you have any American Bandstand memories, send them to Frank Barning, fbarning@gmail.com.

1961 DIVISION AVENUE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PROGRAM

Click on images to enlarge

Roberta Landry Bremmer sent us these pages from her class's graduation program. It's keepsakes such as these that can be lost forever, but when included here they continue to be part of the history of our school and now can be found on the internet via a Google search. The class of 1961 was the second to graduate from Division Avenue High School.

According to Roberta, "The program was tucked away inside my yearbook so is in better shape than the yearbook. It travelled from New York to Vermont where I now live. When I lived in England it stayed behind with my parents in New York."

Imagine how few copies of the 1961 graduation program have been saved from 50 years ago. It's amazing what comes your blogger's way.

The photo of Roberta was taken three years after she participated in her high school class commencement. In 1964, she graduated from the Mt Sinai Hospital School of Nursing.

CULTURE CAME TO EARLY LEVITTOWNERS VIA THE BOOKMOBILE

By FRANK BARNING

You old timers may remember a TV commercial with the jingle-like theme song, "It's the latest, it's the greatest, it's the library (li-berry)." But do you remember Levittown's blue bus-like bookmobile?

In the late 1940s and 1950s, most families in our cozy little part of the world had only one car. Dad took the vehicle to work, leaving mom stuck at home while the kids had to get around by foot or bicycle. Carpools were a thing of the future.

The Barnings had a 1947 Studebaker which one friend described as having the color of vomit. Dad worked six days a week and the Studebaker spent many hours at the Hicksville railroad station.

Getting to the library, unless you lived within walking distance, was a Saturday thing. My family moved to Levittown in late 1954. According to Levittown historian Lynne Matarrese, "The Levittown Public Library opened its doors on June 30, 1951 at the South Village Green with a 3,000-book collection." That was a long haul for those of us who lived on the north side. The current library on Bluegrass Lane opened 12-years later.
Three hundred houses were occupied starting on October 1, 1947, so the town was without a library building for nearly four years.

Fortunately for those of us who enjoyed reading, Levittown had a bookmobile. It had a specific route around town and our family calendar was sure to include a notation of its next stop near our home on Hyacinth Road.

I was wondering when the bookmobile program started, how many vehicles were in the fleet (probably there was only one) and how often did one arrive at the stops on its route? When was this service discontinued?

I emailed a few old friends, asking them to provide information that I did not have and to contribute their bookmobile memories. The response was sparse. Some had no memory at all and two said they didn't read books.

What follows are memories from the few of my contacts who remember the bookmobile:

Rob O'Boyle (brother of Dr. Michael O'Boyle, 1960)
I drove a bookmobile. Helen Clinch was the librarian for the bookmobile when I first worked at Levittown Public Library. Herb Blinder and John Burlingame were the drivers. There were two bookmobiles in the late 1960s and 1970s. Florence Thomas and Mrs. Tremebley were there in the 1970s.

Midge Bollinger Finck, 1960
I remember it coming to the front of Mays on Friday nights. Pat Kraft, Flo Cornell and I used to be waiting there. The gentleman who drove was still driving the bookmobile in the 1980s and he always drove in the Memorial Day parade.

Lillian Smith Handleman, 1962
Whenever the Bookmobile rolled onto our street, my mother would insist I take out a book. It was a special occasion to look forward to--like the ice cream man coming, or the Dugan's pastry truck, or the milkman delivering glass bottles of milk to our doorstep. The first book I ever borrowed from the bookmobile was Pippy Longstockings. I can't believe I remember that.

Jim Urban, 1961
My mother was pretty much bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis. She loved to read. When the bookmobile came to our block, one of us was tasked with taking out as many books as were allowed. Yaaaayyy for the Bookmobile.

Bill Newman, 1963
I remember the bookmobile coming down Carnation Road. I had no thought of ever going into it. Books, school or anything that had to do with learning was not the highest priority for me or the crowd I hung with.

We were more interested in distracting the Good Humor man and stealing ice cream from him. We played poker for cigarettes and when they got so ragged we smoked them or repacked them.
____________

If you have Bookmobile memories, forward them to your blogger.

1953-54 Northside School; Mr. Ouderkirk's 6th grade class

Click on photo to enlarge it

First row: Ava Berg, Pat Miscovsky, Mike Gittleman

Second row: Steven Fink, Luther Kuhlman, Florence Pratt, Donna Hitchcock, x, Mal Karman

Third row: Kenny or Artie? Abelson (they were twins), Frank Colluci, Betty Barger?, Ellen Rees, Janet Goldberg, Kathleen O'Brien, Richard Fuchs

Fourth row: John Koehler, Phil Adrian, x, x, Betty Syvertsen, David Duer.

Fifth row: x, Artie Dorrmann, x

Back row: Mr. Robert J. Ouderkirk

Photo courtesy of John Koehler. Captioning by Mal Karman and John Koehler.

Not everyone has been identified (indicated with an X) and we are not sure of a few of the students (see question marks).

Our records show that there were three sixth-grade classes at Northside in the 1953-54 school year. The teachers for the other classes were Mr. Bob Torrance and Mr. James Donovan. Many of these students were in the first DAHS graduating class, 1960.

WILL YOU LIVE TO THE AGE OF 80?

Here's something to think about.

I recently picked a new primary care doctor. After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well for my age." I had just turned 68.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do you think I'll live to be 80?" He asked, "Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer, wine or hard liquor?" "Oh no," I replied. "I'm not doing drugs, either."

Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?" I said, "Not much... my former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy."

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, boating, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?" "No, I don't," I said. He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have lots of sex?" '"No," I said.

He looked at me and said, "Then, why do you even give a shit?"
____

Author unknown

More vintage photos of Division Avenue High School grads

Click on photos to enlarge

Shown here are:

* Howard Whidden, class of 1962, Marine boot camp photo.

* Sandy Kelly Mincher, class of 1961, in 1958 or so. She lived at 34 Honeysuckle Road. The Renault and Hudson Hornet were her family's cars. Sandy said that her dad "was a car enthusiast, of sorts."

* Toni Crescenzo Gelfer, class of 1968 at about age six. The construction behind her is the Crescenzo kitchen being squared off.

* Don Davidson, class of 1960, age 10 months in 1944.

* Tom Filiberto, class of 1963, at age two with his mother.