The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 111

July 4th Weekend - All News, No Views

Dear Wheatley Wildcats and Other Interested Persons,

Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 111.

According to Substack, in the first 25 hours after publication Newsletter # 110 was viewed 2,866 times, was “liked” 22 times, and received six comments (all positive). In all, 4,650 email addresses received Newsletter # 110.

All underlined text is a link-to-a-link. Left-clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then left-clicking on the link that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 110 Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

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, mirabile dictu, you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other on-site material. I use it all the time; it works!

I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof.  I do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me.

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 and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

The Wheatley School - Why The Name

Writes Karen Strumpfler Tucker (1962) - I remember many stories about why Wheatley was named "The Wheatley School" and not "Wheatley High School.” The one that stuck in my mind was that they were trying to make us look like a prep school. Whatever!”

The ‘Hood - More History

Writes Steve Finkelstein (retired Wheatley environmental science teacher) - “A lot has been written in these pages about the ‘Wheatley’ name, but there has been nothing about ‘North Side.’  In fact, that school is thus named because it was at the north side of the Hempstead Plains, a 40,000 acre tall grass prairie that once stretched across the center of Nassau county, and from what is now Hempstead Turnpike to what is now Jericho Turnpike.

This grassland, the largest east of the Appalachians , shaped world history. It was the first prairie that European settlers ever saw. Back in the 1600s, the British would gather there to race their horses once a month at the first measured race track in North America.  This gave rise to Roosevelt, Aqueduct and Belmont Race Tracks and the very rich and active equine culture that developed here on Long Island and throughout many areas of the country.  

Later, of course, this area became the cradle of aviation, with Charles Lindbergh taking off from Roosevelt Field to make the first solo transatlantic flight.  Many other developments in aviation happened here, right up through the Grumman Corporation building the Lunar Module that landed on the Moon.

The flat, open grassland was perfect for racing horses, landing planes, and, eventually, building houses; the first suburban “planned communities” were built here - Garden City and Levittown.  

Of course, suburban sprawl led to the demise of this once expansive prairie.   

Luckily, 17 acres are now protected at the Hempstead Plains Preserve at Nassau Community College, where Paul VanWie, and I (two former Wheatley faculty members) currently serve on the board.  

In April, we just conducted a controlled burn there, an important technique used in prairie restoration that helps get rid of many species of woody and other invading non-native species.  This favors the native prairie species, including the globally, rare, federally endangered sandplain gerardia (Agalinis acuta), which only exists there and about 10 other places on the entire planet!  This was the first burn since the early 1990s; I hope that our prescribed burns will become an annual practice in maintaining and restoring this critically imperiled fire-dependent tall grass prairie ecosystem.

Around the time the North Side School was built, local farmers were still permitted to graze their livestock in this common, open grassy area.  North of this, the plant community transitions from grasses and wildflowers to the hardwood forests of the North Shore. South of the North Side School, as far as the eye could see, stretched the glacial outwash plans, flat, sandy soils that led to the development of this important natural community.  

Feel free to contact me at earthfink@aol.com if you are ever interested in visiting the preserve and experiencing the beauty of this prairie for yourself. Come in the fall; it is most beautiful at that time of year!”

Wheatley Football - More History

Writes Paul (Spirit of ‘76) Giarmo - “Dear Art, I was fascinated by Matt Sanzone's football relic from 1957. Imagine that, 29 quality VARSITY football players representing a school of less than 700 students. Wildcat football was THE standard back in '57, although I was always curious why the banner in the gym reads ‘1958.’ [Editor’s Note - Because the games were in the fall of 1957, but the senior players graduated in the spring of 1958.] I wonder if those are Jack (“Cat”) Davis's notes.

In going 8-0, our Wildcat defense shut-out 4 of those 8 opponents. All this in the team's first year of existence as a varsity team. Amazing!

Our Wildcat 🏈  gridiron greats continued their winning ways halfway into the 1958 season, winning 3 more games to go 11-0 until Clarke beat us and wound up winning the Conference championship that season. But we still finished with a final record of 5-2-1; the 0-0 tie being against Great Neck South. 👍 

I just wish we could recruit 29 football players today, but we're lucky if we get 5 or 6 for the combined Carle Place/Wheatley Wildfrogs. Just sayin'.

Editor’s Note - Going 8-0 in a first year in the league, and one of the first years of the schools’ existence, is literally amazing. Remember, we didn’t exactly burn up the league in the following years. Can anyone explain this, aside from the fact that coincidentally we just had terrific players with enormous spirit and great grit? Did we raid Mineola or Roslyn High Schools? Did other schools underestimate us? Was there a sociological reason? Was Jack “Cat” Davis a genius? Did we have nothing to lose? Theories welcome.

Writes Paul Giarmo - “Art: You ask some thought-provoking questions! Through the 1964 season, Wheatley fielded some superb-to-average football teams.  And the school and student body supported those teams. However, by 1965, the bottom seems to have been reached. I have never understood why, given the fact that all 3 teams, (varsity, j.v. and junior high) had at least 30 players. But a Newsday article from 1967 quotes Jack “Cat” Davis as saying that for several years Wheatley hadn't had a player above 175 pounds, so size on the line was a problem. This on a team whose neighbor, and prime rival, one Carle Place, was known for having huge linemen, averaging anywhere from 200 to 260 pounds. And we routinely were dominated by the Frogs and some other teams with bigger players.

Now I know that there were some great players from those mid-to-late 1960s teams, but we were not about to overpower the competition during this time frame. I'm not pointing the finger at anyone, but I can't imagine how we could score only 7 points over the course of 2 seasons (1965 and 1966). I know every school has a rough patch at some point, but this is what in 1967 forced Cat to leave the North Shore 4 League and play in the MAAPS (Metropolitan Athletic Association of Private Schools) League.

When we returned to NS 4, the story was pretty much the same, unfortunately.

By the time I reached Wheatley as an 8th grader, the program had dropped junior high football, so there was no team on which I could play. Wheatley was looking to eliminate the football program altogether, but gave it one last chance in 1973, my sophomore year. We still lacked size, but fielded a respectable team. In 1974, my junior year, we improved to 6-1 with 3 shutouts to our credit. This convinced the school to return Varsity football to the program in 1975. 

Now compare this scenario with the all-time greatest Wildcat team. Consider not just their fighting spirit, their talent, and the newness of the school, but the fact that the 1957 team had, as Newsday put it, "one of the largest lines on Long Island, averaging 203 pounds," which was huge for the time. We have never surpassed that record. And while I doubt we benefitted from Roslyn, we certainly got some great players from Mineola in the first few years, as the "Maroon Mustangs" fielded some exceptional football teams over the years.

I think that there has been a long-standing bias against football and a very strong pro soccer attitude among the Board of Education, the Administration, and the Athletic Department. Soccer at Wheatley, especially for the boys, has been an enormously successful program and enjoys both high popularity as well as a well-funded and supported youth soccer league. The same could not be said for support for the football team. In fact, I have offered on several occasions to be a volunteer coach and have never received the courtesy of a reply from anyone at Wheatley. Football at Wheatley today is almost an after thought, and virtually no Wheatley students attend the combined Carle Place-Wheatley Wildfrog games. (I know, because I attend all of them). Whether this apathy is a legacy of the numerous mediocre football teams of the past, or the ever-present popularity of boys soccer here at Wheatley, or a combination of the two, is a matter for debate. But the school has made no effort to rekindle interest in the sport of football, and that's a sad fact here at Wheatley.”

Faculty

A Faculty Get-Together and Faculty Thoughts

Writes Steven Finkelstein - “I recently attended a get-together at Allison Chanin- Bermudez’s house.  She still works in the Wheatley Science Department. Most of the members of the department were there, plus a few members from other departments, and a number of us who retired from the department were there as well. 

Our camaraderie is really special…..in a way that is similar to the way Wheatley used to be really special. But I hate to point out that, the operative words there are “used to be“.

That sense of community, the connection and mutual respect between every faculty and staff, and teacher and administrator, the close ties with community members…..it was still there when I first started working, back in the mid 90s, but I’m sure if you spoke to anyone who works there now or who retired in the past several years, they would report to you that that’s all a thing of the past. There are plenty of really good schools out there, and Wheatley will always be one of them.  But it seems like the thing that made it really extraordinary and special, that intangible “Wheatley Way,” is gone.

Nevertheless, I’m glad that I worked there and that I still have strong connections with former colleagues and students. Your newsletter certainly helps to perpetuate that. Bravo!  Peace, SF” 

Peter Till (1965) Remembers Coach William (“Wild Bill”) Lawson - On the collective trip down memory lane, allow me to share my fond recollections of Coach William (“Wild Bill”) Lawson.

With little or even possibly no talent, I offered myself up to enter absolutely the least attractive track and field event - - then the 2-mile run. I fought through the years with Coach Lawson, sometimes absorbing his sneer, veiled smile, and sarcasm as he told me that he was really recording my times with a calendar rather than a stopwatch. I learned much later on that behind the gruff exterior was a coach and a man rooting for the underdog.

As did some others, I spent part of the Summer before my senior year at his camp in New Hampshire with two-a-day practices over some dreadful hills. I didn’t think he was watching those long runs, but later I learned that he often watched from his car secreted off the run route.

Of course, when discouraged he threw up to me the early Wheatley track and field legends of Matt Sanzone (1959), Roger Sullivan (1961), Anthony Conti (1961), Robert Manniello (1961), and Robert Murphy (1963). As training became more challenging and sometimes discouraging, it was always, always about the no quit in ‘Sanzone’ and others.

Things changed dramatically in my senior year, as I came in 11th in Section 8 (Nassau County) cross country and then indoor success at the NYU Classic. I was truly a “project” on an incredibly talented track and field team with the likes of George Glaser (1965), Marc Messing (1965), Dick Rogers (1965) and quite possibly the greatest “freak” track and field athlete ever, Richard Michael (“Mike”) Roman (1965). Then, in the outdoor season, the doors really opened for me winning Division 4 (2 mile) and ultimately through the North Shore Championships and onto the Section 8 Championships at Sewanhaka.

The real turning point of the 1965 outdoor season came against Great Neck South. South was a legendarily powerful squad, coached by Lawson’s uncle, the venerated Ernie Clarke. Clarke and Great Neck South had dominated Nassau County for decades. Never to be forgotten will be Lawsons’ pre-meet speech - if that’s what you want to call it. Lawson wanted very badly to win this meet against his uncle, but never came out and said so. Instead, he issued a rare challenge to all of us and said “Well, Wheatley, you’re really up with the big boys now…..let’s see if you can be among the best.” He walked off the bus, not uttering another word. From that moment we understood what was to be done, as he challenged us, then and forever, to be something more.

We prevailed and repeated that success at the North Shore Championships. He made us believe and taste collective success, a feeling that I so wanted and did repeat as a college track athlete (Penn Relays), Big Ten Championships (Ohio State) and finally in a career as a trial lawyer.

He had allowed myself and my teammates to experience that we had real worth. These recollections were no secret, as I delivered the very same remarks in a eulogy at his funeral, along with his earlier high school national champion Warren “Chip” Rockwell (1964).

Coach Lawson was unique.

The photograph below, taken in June 1965, of Stevenson, Lawson and Davis captures three men who believed they were making a difference.

It was many of their own hopes and ideas that stirred up so much toward the individuals that we hoped to become.

The impact of Coach Lawson forever gave further meaning to the words, “The exalted shall be humbled and the humbled shall be exalted.”

L-R - Bill Stevenson, Wild Bill Lawson, Peter Till (1965), Jack “Cat” Davis

Robert Abramowitz (1970) Remembers Dr. Irwin August - “Reading the remembrances of the (often misunderstood) Dr. August brought back fond memories for me as well. In 7th grade I saw that the physical fitness team was maybe the most challenging of the sports teams. So I trained myself for the next few years doing push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, and wall sits, in my room, nightly, in between doing homework. During this time and forever since, I was concentrating on tennis. I was on the team my junior and senior years, placing third in the NYC metro area at the annual meet at the Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. Only two guys from, {yeah} Carle Place scored better. I also had the school record for the number of sit-ups, in two minutes: 110. I'll always remember Dr. August for his charisma and inspiration and for the support he gave to us. We wanted to do well for HIM. I also appreciated how he respected the tennis team at a time when tennis was barely considered a sport by many.”

Graduates

1958 - Bob Holley - Admired. Writes Gene Razzetti (1961) -“Bob Holley's research shows every bit of the intelligence and professionalism that I remember admiring as a lowly underclassman. In 1957, when my family moved from Roslyn Heights to Red Ground Road in Old Westbury, our new temporary phone number (party line) was Wheatley Hills 5-0575J.  Within a few months, it was changed to Mayfair 6-0348. Best to all, Gene”

1958 - Steve Nelson, commenting on the origin of The Wheatley School name, says that he was actually told while he was at Wheatley that “high school” was omitted from the school name to make it seem like a private school and give its students a better chance of admission to top colleges. He can’t recall by whom, but the explanation was meant to encourage him, as a top-ranked student, to apply to such colleges and help Wheatley establish a track record with their admissions offices. He also now thinks that the name “Wheatley” was chosen in part because it had local connections but also in support of the “private school” strategy. What could sound more preppy and WASPy? Andover, Exeter, Trinity, Wheatley. Steve adds that if anyone should be given credit for the name, it was the school’s founding principal, Norman J. Boyan, whom he believes was the kind of far-sighted leader who would think that way. He also credits the naming as one of the most lasting lessons he learned at Wheatley: the importance of creating an image for an institution, a product, or for that matter yourself.

Steve will present a talk on The Memoir of a Female Soldier, an historical novel by his late wife, Jan Lewis Nelson, which he recently published. It will take place on July 11 at 7:00 pm at Berkshire Community College, in Pittsfield, MA. It will also be available for viewing online via Zoom, with link information and more details at https://berkshireolli.org/event-5310958. The book is based on the true story of Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man and served in the Revolutionary War for 17 months. Later, she was the first woman to do a lecture tour, in support of her quest to become the first woman to receive a veteran’s pension.

1960 - Elaine Kent Abrams - Tragedy

Elaine’s grandson, Isaac Rockwell Llewellyn, age 25, passed away on June 23, 2023, as a result of an automobile accident.  Isaac was an outstanding, kind, and considerate son and grandson and brought Elaine many terrific memories.

1966 - Suzanne Stone - Scene from an Italian Restaurant

Suzanne Stone and Art Engoron in Amata Restaurant, 209 E. 56th St., on June 29, 2023

1967 - Celebrating the Marriage of Sandra Pullman (Henry Pullman’s Daughter)

L-R - Henry, Sandra, and Art

Two Amigos

Father and Son (Scott Pullman)

2010 - Alexander Estis - Man About Town

At Jewish Lawyers Guild Dinner, NYC, June 22, 2023

Fan Mail

Faculty (Robert Brandt) - ❤️

Faculty (Steven Finkelstein) - “Thanks again for this great service that you provide to everyone. It really is, obviously, so appreciated.”

Faculty (Georgette Macrina) - “I especially enjoyed reading about the naming of the Wheatley School. Great job, as usual!” ❤️

1958 (Audrey Warde Muccio) - ❤️

1959 (Tracey Lanthier) - “Another great Newsletter. Thanks for the update.”

1960 (Paul Keister) - “Art, Thank you for another wonderful Newsletter. You are a GEM for all you do for us Wheatley grads. At my age of 81, it is a joy to get your emails! I hope you are well and happy! Best regards, Paul (& Betsy) Keister. GO WHEATLEY!”

1961 (Camille Napoli Cannizzo) - ❤️

1961 (Elaine Sirota Coel) - ❤️

1962 (Jon Bagdon) - “Wonderful as always.”

1962 (Lois Kass Kleinberg) - ❤️

1962 (Karen Strumpfler Tucker) - “Great job!”

1964 (Gene Grindlinger) - “This Newsletter is such a joy. What a contribution to our collective memories of Wheatley. Art, you and Keith deserve accolades beyond measure!” ❤️

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Thanks, Art, always a good read.”

1967 (Bob Jacobs) - “Thanks again for all you do!”

1967 (Howard Senft) - “All in all, learning about the area in which we grew up is always interesting. I'm sure many of us remember walking along the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway and the Roosevelt Field Mall before it was enclosed. Keep those cards and letters coming; Wildcats are great people to know.”

1967 (Jill Simon Forte) - “I love reading the Newsletter. This last one surprised me; the 2023 Yearbook 😳 looks nothing like ours 😉. I still have a couple of Bob’s and mine, with all the super-fun writings from friends.” ❤️☮️

1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - “Thank you again, Art, for your hard work.” ❤️

1968 (Wendy Woods) - ❤️

1969 (Richard Frankfort) - ❤️

1970 (Robert Abramowitz) - “We appreciate your efforts to put out the newsletter.”

1970 (Beatrice Thiel Zasowski) - “Art, Such a wonderful Newsletter. I look forward to reading all about our classmates. This last one set me back a bit when I saw that the Class of 2003 is already celebrating its 20th-Year Reunion. Time goes by so quickly/ ... Great job. Thank you so much for putting this all together. Enjoy your summer…..”

1971 (Claudio Nassau) - ❤️

1972 (Suellyn Karben Giserman) - ❤️

1972 (Jeffrey Kargman) - ❤️

1973 (Peter Simel) - ❤️

1975 (Daniel Warren) - ❤️

1976 (Paul “Spirit of ‘76” Giarmo) - Dear Art, Thank you so much for letting this grizzled old Wildcat speak his mind. I appreciate 🙏 it! Paul”

1976 (Leigh Tessler) - ❤️

1977 - Peter Fitzpatrick - ❤️

1980 (Alison Katz Wolfson) - ❤️

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 111.  Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.

Art

Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967

WHEATLEYALUMNI@AOL.COM

ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM

WWW.WHEATLEYALUMNI.ORG

646-872-4833