Then and now: Gardiners Avenue looking south from Hempstead Turnpike, late 1920s and 2010

Click on photos to enlarge


It's difficult to imagine that this vintage photo of Gardiners Avenue is on land that came to be known as Levittown. The 1920s photo illustrates how rural our town was way back when.
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Photo by Marilyn Monsrud Frese, class of 1963. No, she did not take both pictures.

About social networking and your early Levittown blog; posting Mr. Lasker's obituary yesterday took teamwork

By Frank Barning

Yesterday we posted the obituary of long-time Levittown teacher and administrator Lawrence Lasker. Many of the early Division Avenue High School students had him as a teacher prior to his becoming an assistant principal.

How did your blogger obtain Mr. Lasker's obituary? At about 10:30 a.m. on Friday, it was forwarded to me by Lou Zinser, class of 1966 who had received it from a friend. I did a Google search of Mr. Lasker and found a recent photo of him, which I included with the obituary yesterday.

At about 5 p.m., I contacted Marilyn Monsrud Frese, class of 1963, and asked her to scan any worthwhile yearbook photos of Mr. Lasker. Marilyn has the first four DAHS yearbooks and has been a valuable ally in my blogging efforts. Three hours later, yearbook scans were received. Yesterday, the obituary and photos were posted at 6:15 a.m.

Within five minute after the obituary and photos were posted, under the story this comment was posted by Joan Bartels Signorelli, class of 1962. "I remember Larry Lasker fondly, not only as a teacher, but as a friend of my parents through the Masonic organization. I am sorry to hear of his passing. He was a great person and a great teacher." Several more glowing tributes from former students were posted.

The blog is important to Joan who follows it very closely, and often posts comments. To many of our blog readers, our stories are like letters from home. Some of the letters provide memories and others, such as the occasional obituary, result in tears. Whatever the case, we are connected to our Levittown roots, which run deep in many of us.

Rarely do I write about how the blog and its nearly 240 posts have been put together. Such information is not about the major theme, early Levittown, so I tend to stay away from it. However, the combination of Zinser to Barning to Monsrud leading to a post on our blog is a wonderful example of social networking.

A year or so ago, most of us had never heard of social networking. Now it's an international phenomenon. Facebook has been a leader. It spawned a movie, The Social Network which has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. The winners will be announced tonight. And the fall of the tyrannical government in Egypt has been credited to social networking with Facebook a major vehicle for change.

What is social networking. Here is one definition:

"Social networking is defined as bringing individuals together into specific groups, often like a small community or a neighborhood. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in schools or in the workplace, it is most popular on the internet. This is because unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with billions of individuals who are looking to meet other internet users and develop friendships.

"When it comes to social networking on the internet, websites are used. These websites are known as social networking websites. Social networking websites are just like an online community of internet users. Depending on which social networking websites, most of these online community members share a common passion, whether that passion be hobbies, religion, or politics. Once you are given access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This socialization includes reading the profiles or profile pages of other members or even contacting them."

My blog has created a neighborhood of people, most of whom lived and attended school in Levittown in the early years of our town, plus others who are interested in the subject for a variety of reasons. The blog is viewed by people around the globe, including old Levittowners who now live in England, Germany, Canada and Israel. Regular blog readers take their laptops and other devices on vacation to keep up with what we are posting.

My blog is not part of Facebook, although I use Facebook to connect my Facebook friends to the blog. The blog is part of a website called Blogspot.com, which is a free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text and photos.

Much terminology is new to us senior citizens and sometimes needs explaining. It has been a learning experience for me and I do want to point out one thing that many of us get wrong. I did at first. Someone will write, for example, "I really liked your blog yesterday." What is really meant is I liked the story you posted on your blog. A post is like a chapter in a book. A blog is the book. Please forgive me for being picky but that is my nature. Just ask my wife of 42 years.

Most blogs that I have seen are entirely written by one person, with no contributions from others, except comments. That is not the concept of our/your blog.

Thanks to all of you for helping me build a community of like minded people. Without an audience as well as contributors such as Lou and Marilyn and many others, there is no community and there is no blog. I look forward to putting many more chapters in the book, with a little help from my friends.

What readers are saying about our Levittown, New York blog

Frank Barning hasn't lived in Levittown since 1966 but still calls it home.

This is the 200th post since we started the Early Levittown blog on July 13, 2010. It has received more than 16,000 hits and has been read around the globe. Here are some encouraging comments:

Polly Dwyer, President of the Levittown Historical Society
You are keeping that time (early Levittown) alive.

Annajoy Herman Romdalvik 1960
Just love your blog. It is so nice to go down memory lane. I break out into a smile with each post.

Franne Newman Lee 1960
You are a blast from the past!

Marilyn Monsrud Frese 1963
I'm learning more from your blog than I learned in four years at Division Avenue High School.

Arnie Galeota 1961
You always manage to come up with something new and interesting.

Jim Urban 1961
Love your blog, love your comments. Keep up the fabulous work.

Damon Solomon 1960
I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy and look forward to receiving your blog. You are “The Memory Keeper “of our lives.

Don Davidson, 1960
Your blog has the feeling for me of the movie "Play It Forward". The emotion it evokes, the feeling and thoughts that have been dormant for five decades.

Perry Berns 1960
Thanks for bringing us all together.

Jackie Bernstein Karp
I am so glad that I get to reminisce every day with Frank’s blog.

Ed Gifford 1960
I think your blog is great - I read it every day.

Phil Spector, an old friend from Philly, not the song writer
I love your stories.

Pat Henry Gehrmann 1963
A very "big" thank you for all your time and effort in making it possible for us to walk down memory lane.

Kathy Donlin Eisenbarth 1960
I just love your stuff... You should put all these great stories into a book.

Ginger Hollenstein DelGaudio DiCicco 1963
It's so great to go back and recall all the things that were so good back then.

Terri Morse Klein 1962
I love reading your blog. Thanks for refreshing such good memories.

Matthew Adamic, a friend for many years
I love what you are doing with your blog.....you've become an archivist/librarian for a part of your past, which I think is an admirable service.