Summer party/fund raiser at Levittown Hall reunites old friends

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By JIM AYRES '63

Frank Barning asked me to provide the names of the people in this group photo. It was taken by Marilyn Monsrud Frese, class of 1963, last Saturday at Levittown Hall during a Blue Dragon summer party/fund raiser. These guys bring back lots of fine memories for me and for a lot of others who were there.

Seated left to right: Larry Vishnis ('65), Lou Zinser ( '66 -- Lou was having too much fun with sports to want to leave HS and get drafted into the Army -- extremely bright, a born raconteur like his father who pitched for the Washington Senators in 1944), Doug Catalano ('65), Jaime Garthwaithe ('66), and Tom Conway ('64). Standing: Paul Flechner ('64), your humble servant ('63), and Lou DeFrancesco ('64).

Here is background info on these gentlemen:

Larry Vishnis is a mailman in Suffolk County -- very funny guy, also went to Hofstra with him in the mid-late 60s -- graduated with a BA in FA in '69. His dad, Lenny, is a bright, wonderful, articulate 90-something youngster who practically started the Levittown Athletic Club way back in the 1950s.

Jaime Garthwaite is an institution as a mailman in Levittown. Starring in an HBO special (already shot and 'in the can') -- to be aired next spring, he said. Forget the title, but it's about the effect of economic and societal changes on suburban communities such as Levittown. Jaime and his octogenarian father, a WW2 vet and original L'town homeowner, both have significant roles in the show. Jaime said his dad kind of "steals the show."

Doug ("Cat") Catalano, is a partner in a big-time NYC law firm and perhaps one of the most successful (the way success is so often defined in America -- $$$$) DAHS grads. Went to Hofstra with him in the mid-late 1960s. He was on the Hofstra golf team and is still a scratch golfer and a hell-of-a-nice guy.

Tom Conway was a star pitcher at both DAHS and Hofstra, but left HU before graduation and was drafted into the Army and served a stint in Vietnam in a difficult and dangerous job. One of my best friends -- a great and generous guy, which he once again proved by donating his winning half of the party's 50-50 raffle to the family for whom we were raising funds. Did I mention he has always been a lucky guy!

Paul Flechner, like me, was a second-tier athlete at Division who later trained at RPI as an engineer and has dabbled in lots of things, including inventing (don't ask me what). Very bright and uber-articulate; a very good friend to have, steadfast (don't see much of that anymore) and loyal.

Louie DeFrancesco was a fine outfielder at DAHS and later at Hofstra. Very accurate, strong arm -- lots of assists, pretty good hitter. Retired banker -- great record keeper and memorabilia man (DAHS, Hofstra, US Army, early Levittown). 'Twas he who tipped me to your blog, but I don't know if he contributes anything (you might want to ask him). He and I were stationed about a mile apart at Long Binh (the Army's largest post in Vietnam) for almost a full year and each never knew the other was there, though we had been friends in high school and college. Another of my "new" best friends that I'm happy to have re-connected with after a 40-year hiatus.

Lou Zinser (as noted above) is one of the brightest guys and best story-tellers I know. Often misjudged by some of the DAHS faculty, Louie went on to a fine teaching and coaching career after college. Could have had a great career as a stand-up comedian as well. Always makes everyone around him smile, a rare talent in today's world.

Not pictured because he was too busy emceeing the party was one of the behind-the-scenes organizers of the party and a great and loyal friend of mine for over 50 years, Stan Pesner. Stan also is one of Division's most successful grads, a terrific businessman and as generous and good-hearted a person as you will ever meet. Much of this party happened because of Stan's efforts, as well as those of John "Chez" Echezuria, Tom Cummings, Marilyn Monsrud Frese, Mickey Foss and Jim Silvestri. A shout out to them, for sure.

The other photo posted here is of yours truly on the right and Bobby Lombardi. We are singing, not arguing. Bobby is a fantastic singer and was lots of folks' favorite Levittown kid, I suspect. Nice guy who was a great baseball and later softball player. He played on Doc Linnehan's 1968 world championship County Sports team and is a fine professional musician (drummer for several bands; could sing lead occasionally or backup).

The party last Saturday was a very nice time, some good fun was had certainly, but only 70 people showed up. I think the organizers were disappointed in the turn-out, but it did raise some funds for a hurting former Blue Dragon, which was part of the point. Would be great to see this event annualized, and for more of the alumni to attend, especially younger grads. The most recent class I saw on a name tag was 1978 -- 33 classes ago.

Jim Ayres has led a life in full; he has taught, coached, was an MP in the Army, belongs to the Ancient Order of Blue Dragons

A daring Jim Ayres on a winter day in his Audi convertible

A comment was posted on the blog concerning a wonderful story written by Jack Jacobsen, class of 1962, that appeared on March 19. Jim Ayres, Division Avenue High School class of 1963, had submitted the following:

"All the time you spent over at my house next to Don Kanarvogel's playing APBA baseball, stinking up the house with smoke (and getting me in trouble for it), eating my food, playing stickball on Gun Lane, and I didn't get a mention as a friend? What's up with that? ... lol. Lost track of you after the Navy --I went into the Army as a Lieutenant in the Military Police and spent a year in Nam. Email one time, buddy (gave his address) -- like to catch up. Jim Ayres Class of '63."

I wrote to Ayers and included Jacobsen's email address. In my note, it was mentioned that my buddies in Levittown and I had an APBA board game baseball league in the late 1950s. Ayres replied with the following:

By Jim Ayres, class of 1963
My, that was a fast response. Was having lunch the other day with Louie DeFrancesco, Tom Conway, Paul Flechner (all '64 grads from DAHS) and Armand Tarentelli (Mr. T from woodshop) and your blog came up. We are all part of a group of Division grads and athletes who call ourselves the AOBD (Ancient Order of the Blue Dragons) with emphasis on the ancient part.

We were chatting about people we remembered from school and I brought up Jack Jacobsen's name. He spent lots of time lounging around my house (next to his buddy Donny Kanarvogel's) and we got waaaayy into APBA baseball. Jack and I even constructed our own cards using a version of their formula, which was not too hard to figure out and to shape in such a way that Jack and I became the two best hitters in the National League ... lol ... though we seldom used those two cards.

Yes, we had a draft, kept stats, but never got too "artsy." I recall Jack had terrific handwriting when he put his mind to it and so he became our statistician. He used to smoke (cigarettes, of course -- pot was unthinkable in our crowd back then) quite a bit as we played, and in fact got me into it, hence the "smoke in the house" comment. Think I played APBA a few times at Tim Lavey's (class of 1963).

Like you, many of the AOBD guys also have a Hofstra connection, as do I (Class of '68 -- I was red-shirted one year ... lol). You wrote for the Hofstra Chronicle I think, did you not? Sorry was in a hurry this afternoon to find the Jacobsen piece they told me about and did not read your bio, though I know it's there.)

If you are interested I could get you the names and email addresses of some of our attendees for your blog mailing list; some regulars, some "guests," so to speak who stop in from out of town or still work (most of us don't) and can't make many of the luncheons. One of our regulars is Bob Ellerkamp from my class, whose brother Jack was in your class (1960).

I only work part-time as a public address announcer for East Rockaway High School, for which I coached four different sports and wound up in their Coaching Hall of Fame, so I have the time to follow it.

The big benefit of my coaching stint has been the announcing gig for football, basketball and, on occasion, volleyball and soccer. Also coached and announced at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, and have announced three times at Madison Square Garden (what a fabulous sound system -- could make Mickey Mouse sound great).

I am working slowly on my second novel (the first went "unloved" by the publishing industry), and recording CDs (oldies, of course) for an R & R hobby band (sing lead and bass backup on separate tracks) and those don't take much time either. Trying hard not to age (losing battle there), and to not look or feel my 65 years. Enclosing a recent picture -- always wanted to drive top-down in the snow, but not for long ... brrrr .

Thanks for putting me on the mailing list for your blog. I shall be a frequent visitor.