The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 211
Reunions, a Former Fire, Fencing, Fotos, Faculty Fan Mail, a Passing, a Carver, Etc.
Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 211.
Class of 1985 40th-Year Reunion
Jared Goldstein (1985) Writes - “The Wheatley School Class of 1985 40th-Year Reunion will be held on Saturday June 21, 2025 at 6:00 pm at Phebe's Tavern, 361 Bowery, at East 4th Street, in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. Anyone who likes someone from our class is welcome. It is a buy-your-own drinks-and-food gathering. We have been using Facebook ‘Wheatley Class of 1985 Reunion’ to check in. If Facebook isn't for you, text Jared at 917-533-1057 or email JAREDG@PIPELINE.COM. Please attend and bring someone.”
Thank you. Best regards, Jared
Class of 1995 30th-Year Reunion
Writes Mark Birnbaum (1995) - “We had the Class of 1995 30th-Year Reunion at my restaurant, Catch, in New York City.”
Wheatley Mock Trial Team is Nassau County Champ - East Islip Wins Suffolk
The North Side School Fire
Mary Lee Holley Cerillo (1963) Writes - “I lived on Ridge Road, three houses in from East Williston Avenue. North Side School was right across the street. I was in Miss Sherman’s sixth-grade class when the fire broke out.
I remember going over to watch the fire, including watching my classroom go up in flames. I will never forget that long night. Georgeann Zacharkow (1963) and I had built a wooden Trojan horse for a school project that was sitting on the windowsill of our classroom. Rumor was that the fire started due to something wrong with the kiln that was in the Art Classroom directly below us.
We completed the sixth grade at Wheatley. I recall feeling that the school was safe from fire, as they assured us that there was plenty of asbestos being placed in the walls. Little did we know.”
Sue Sand (1966) Writes - “The references to the North Side School fire stoked lots of memories for me. For one thing, I wonder how, when we woke up in the morning after the fire, we learned what had happened and that school was cancelled. There was no Internet, no phone chain, and no crisis counselors to help me ‘process the trauma.’ Maybe because I was just a third grader, I never once thought what would have happened if the fire had occurred during the day. I also wonder if our parents were freaked out by the ‘what ifs?’
I think the fire happened on a Wednesday, and by Monday, we were back in the classroom (at the Willets Road School, split session, or Wheatley for some of the other grades). Kudos to the administration for handling all of the logistics and keeping the disruption from interfering with our education. I always thought my grade was particularly lucky, as the following September, we were housed at Wheatley and were able to take advantage of a new building, high school teachers who shared their labs with us, and big kids to idolize. I got to be a Wildcat for seven years instead of six! As someone who does pottery as a hobby, I have enormous respect for the power of kilns. We were very fortunate.”
Barbara Burri (1971) Writes - “Those stories in the Newsletter about the North Side School fire brought back a vivid memory. I had been declared ‘a big girl’ at the age of four, and I had moved to an upstairs bedroom in our house on Barwick Blvd., on the northern side of the house. I don't know why I woke up, but being at a slightly higher elevation, I could see the flames, and I decided that my life was ruined. I was not scheduled to start kindergarten until the following year, but the school burnt down, and in my four-year-old mind, that was it; there would be no place for me to go to school, and what would I do with the rest of my life? We drove by the school the next day or the day after that, and to my little mind the devastation was insurmountable.
I am glad that four-year-olds don't know all that much about life, the universe, and everything.”
Still More Wheatley Fencing
Peter Calderon (1961) - Wins another championship
Re: With the spoils — a trophy and a bottle of Basque wine — after winning the 70+ Foil Championship at the Spanish National Veterans Fencing Championships in San Sebastián on June 14, 2025.
Selfie in bathroom mirror catching my breath during the competition.
On the Stand
Parents
Elizabeth Stone Matho (1963) writes of Sidney Kritzler, father of Eddie (1958) and Helen Kritzler (1960): “Sid was a warm, kind neighbor who enjoyed the neighborhood kids! I remember the fun we had in summers when he'd throw us over his back to do the ‘sliding pond’ trick, where we'd slide down his back to the ground! He enjoyed life and people! And, in return, we enjoyed him.”
Graduates
Eddie Kritzler - 1958 - Remembered
Gene Razzetti (1961) Writes – “Part of my senior year (1961) found Eddie Kritzler in Cuba. He was doing (among Lord knows what else) freelance writing, penning a column titled “Cuba, Castro, and Me.”
I’m not sure for whom he was writing it (or whether it was being published), but this larger-than-life guy would send copies to our larger-than-life History teacher: Mr. (Warren J.) Loring. Mr. Loring would read Eddie’s reports to our class. We all knew Eddie and listened intently.
Eddie cautioned in his initial submission that he might be taking risks and that his reports would be ‘controversial.’ His next submission described being out on a city street after dark (risky) and being picked up by the local police (super risky). This nocturnal escapade eventually brought him before Raul Roa-Garcia, Cuba’s foreign minister from 1959 to 1976.
Eddie returned to the United States later in the year and dropped in unexpectedly on Miss Bodnar and my English class. We were glad that he made it back.
In the many years that followed, I have read the ‘controversial’ writings of many authors, analysts, consultants, and subject matter experts. ‘Controversial’ can be another way of saying ‘Total BS.’
Not so with Eddie.
Best to all, Gene”
L-R - Helen Kritzler (1960) and Eddie Kritzler (1958) - Helen Writes - “I became kind of a beatnik in my senior year. I skipped school and went to Greenwich Village.”
1960 - Helen Kritzler - Present at a Defining Women’s Liberation Protest
“On the Atlantic City Boardwalk, demonstrators, including Helen Kritzler (1960), front left, some waving high heels or underwear, protest the Miss America pageant on September 7, 1968. The protest, organized by the New York Radical Women Group, aimed to highlight the pageant’s objectification of women, treating them as meat, treating them as sex objects.”
“A member of the Women’s Liberation Party drops a bra into a trash bin to protest the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City on September 7, 1968. The demonstration ‘felt very joyous and free,’ says Helen Kritzler (1968).”
Eddie Kritzler, 1958, and his father Sidney were not the only progressive members of their family!
1961 - Edwin Roman - “I found out late in life that ‘Roman’ is a common Hispanic name, and it is very common in Puerto Rico. My grandfather's actual name when he came to Ellis Island was ‘Andersson.’ For whatever reason, he changed it to ‘Roman.’”
1964 and 1971 - Michael Garin and Dan Wolf
L-R - Michael Garin (1964) and Dan Wolf (1971)
Michael Writes - “Hi Art, Bienvenue de Paris. Thanks for putting Dan Wolf and me together. I had a chance to meet him and his wife Cindy this morning during their brief stop in Paris on their trip through Europe. They have a great plan: to visit the south of France, Italy and Copenhagen. Take care and best regards, Michael.”
1966 - Claude Lévy (Exchange Student from France) - “A Diversion”
Claude Writes - “I have ‘hereditary polycystic liver.’ From time to time, a cyst bursts and triggers chills. I always (except when I stupidly forget) carry a strong antibiotic to address the crisis, and it usually works.
I had such a crisis in the hotel room where I stayed near Charles de Gaulle Airport prior to my June 10, 2025, morning flight back to NY. The antibiotic did work, and I boarded the plane with no problems on Monday. But after about an hour of flying, I had another episode. A flight attendant asked on the P.A. system if there was a doctor among the passengers, and one came to talk with me and assess the situation. I understand he advised the captain that it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep me on board for the remaining 6 hours or so. They very generously decided not to drop me through a door but, rather, diverted the plane to Dublin, where an ambulance took me to the nearest hospital.
I first had the same kind of experience I would have had in any US hospital (I guess): in an overcrowded ED* room, I waited hours in an armchair. Then, a nurse told me that they had found a bed for me. I’ll never know why I got this privilege, but I was taken to a two-bed little room already occupied by a very friendly and talkative lad. He told me about this life as a mechanic, and when, eventually, I was transferred to a specialized unit, he said, ‘Don’t worry, Jesus is the solution to all problems.’ As I am not a theologian, I refrained from arguing.
*not a typo: in Ireland, that’s what they call ER (Emergency Department). I of course couldn’t help but share some jokes with the staff about it and was told they were used to these.
From then on, I interacted with a very compassionate and knowledgeable staff - from cleaning persons to doctors. Incidentally, this hospitalization gave me the opportunity to learn that the infectious disease specialist who follows me at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center was born an Irishman and got his medical education in Dublin! He and the local team got in touch with each other about my case, which was reassuring.
On Friday morning, I was deemed fit to fly again, and here I am. I think it fair to note that Delta provided free disabled service at Dublin and JFK, and didn’t charge a cent or a penny for the DUB-JFK leg of the continuation of my journey. The only thing is that I’m not writing to Michelin to have the airline mentioned in their gastronomic guide book, but that wasn’t the purpose of my flying with them.
Though there is only one chance in a million that one of our readers was on that plane, I offer them my deepest apologies, as I learned that the plane was grounded on Monday after landing in Dublin and that everyone had to spend the night in a local hotel, courtesy of Delta, I presume. But I can now add to my resume that I diverted a plane.”
1967 and 1969 - Art Engoron and Robin Brinn - Dinner at a Legendary Steakhouse
Art Writes - Robin and I had a lovely dinner at Keens Steakhouse, 72 West 36th Street, NYC, on June 16, 2025. The oysters, lobster bisque, mutton chop, and, of course, steak, were superb…..as was the conversation.
1971 - Marjorie Dubb Rosing - Deceased
Michael Dubb (1974) Writes - “It is with sadness that can’t be described that I am sorry to report the passing of my sister, Marjorie Dubb Rosing, Class of 1971. Marjorie was an incredible woman who in her mid 30s was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, after treatments of chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant, and radiation, She was given just nine months to live, but through her brave determination and alternative medicine (which was not easy to research, as there was no Internet and Whole Foods, etc.), she was able to live another 30+ years. Growing up on Bengeyfield Drive in East Williston and doing everything the right way, she moved after college to Atlanta, Georgia, where she raised three incredible children. Unfortunately, this past April, when the cancer returned, it was too much to fight off.”
1974 - Clifford Struhl - Stone Carver
Clifford Writes - “At Wheatley, I never took an art class, although I studied at a private art school in Port Washington for more than 10 years, during which my focus in later years was sculpture. I am working on multiple pieces in Vermont, all with different themes. I have had two public shows.
I like to work large; the stones are generally 1500-4500 lbs., so not easy to transport or display. I also do small pieces. My last one-man show in NYC pre-covid was all wood pieces and was attended by many Wheatley Class of 1974 graduates. All of the larger stone work is done at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, VT, where I am a long time member. They give classes for those interested in exploring stone. My home studio is where I do all of my wood pieces, generally 300-500 lbs., and stone pieces under 1500 lbs.
Carving is a great hobby and a fantastic way to relax and express yourself. The trick is to let the medium control things. The work is physically demanding and mentally refreshing. ‘Go Big or Go Home.’”
Fan Mail
Faculty (Karen Bartscherer) - “These Newsletters are my ‘dessert’ after I've done at least some worthy ‘vegetables’ to earn the slow and lovely trip down the many memory lanes here provided. Even though many of the anecdotes and personal narratives come from before my time--where are those post '70's alums?--I still greatly enjoy reading about all things East Williston and especially of Wheatley, where I spent such a big part of my adult life. Thanks over and over again to Art and Keith and to all those who send in such terrific material!”
1961 (Ed Roman) - Art, I absolutely love Wheatley Alumni Newsletter # 209, with the photos of old Wheatley Wildcat issues. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Thank you.”
1968 (Leslie Wolowitz) - “Art, I look forward to receiving your notes and reading about the school, classmates, and the area. Keep up the good work.”
The Official Notices
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.
In the first 24 or so hours after publication, Wheatley Alumni Newsletter # 210 was viewed 3,543 times and was liked seven times. In all, 4,758 email addresses received Newsletter # 210.
The Usual Words of Wisdom
Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 210 Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at
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 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, and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967
Closing
That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 211. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.
Art
Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967
646-872-4833
Hi Art, I enjoyed the recollections of the North Side fire in the newsletter. I was in fourth grade, Mrs. Mingus' class, and I had decided to learn to play the trumpet. The night of the fire my parents and I went over to Hillside Avenue across from the school and witnessed the firemen doing their work. My Uncle Henry Hill was a volunteer fireman with the East Williston Fire Department, and he was out there where "the rubber meets the road". In time he would become Chief of the EWFD, along with his work as one of the top partners of Price Waterhouse & Co. As for me, I was quoted in Newsday lamenting the loss of my trumpet (which I'd left at school) and my precious gold fish. But it was one hell of a fire!
As always, a splendid newsletter.
This may be a good time to mention that the class of 1965 will be having a 60th reunion on October 4th at the Viana hotel and spa in Westbury. There is a Wheatley class of 1965 Facebook page, or you can email me at:
ltriano@gmail.com if you want more info.