The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 177

Welcome to the Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 177,

Class of 1974 50th-Year Reunion - 10/19

Please note that people from other classes are welcome to attend. After all, siblings got to know the same friends!

Class of 2004 20th-Year Reunion - 10/26

‘Hood History

Lucy Mullman (1960) Writes - “HI Art, Growing up at 8 Barnyard Lane, my house's backyard abutted the Old Motor Parkway!! I always wondered where it went. I remember seeing some of the old cement road amidst the forest of trees. That our backyard led to a woods and not another house was cool. Now there is a genuine monstrosity there!!”

Ed Roman (1961) Writes - “Art, I read with interest the comments from you and classmate Jerry Mintz on the Long Island Motor Parkway. It was called “the Old Motor Parkway,” as we knew it some seventy years ago. In the early 1950's, in my section of Mineola, we could walk one block down the street to a wooded section just east of Betty Lane (which runs between Arlington and Roselle Streets) that had a section of an old surfaced road, overgrown with shrubs and trees. It extended from Hillside Avenue to Jericho Turnpike, and through an overpass extending a bit south of Jericho Turnpike. A neighbor and I used to spend many summer days going south through the tunnel and investigating the woods there. BTW, we were not supposed to venture on that side of Jericho, so we didn't talk about it too much. I think there was approximately a 1,000 foot stretch of the OMP from Hillside Avenue to the other side of Jericho Turnpike.

It was the only wooded area in the vicinity, and east of the road was an old unused potato field that extended toward the Northern State Parkway. That potato field was later developed into a subdivision that housed many Northside and Wheatley students. The wooded areas are also, apparently, 100% developed.

For an eight year old kid, it was fantasy land, nestled on the edge of suburbia. It was a place where a young kid carrying a slingshot and a hatchet could find trouble just around the corner, literally. Not a good place to ride a bike however, as it was littered with rocks, and other debris, not to mention an occasional homeless guy sleeping in the woods. The older kids would tell us how it was once a road that had no speed limits, which created visions of race cars. It was interesting to research the history of the road, as you and Jerry did. And for me, it has childhood memories that are clear in my mind to this day.

Donna Kenton (1963) writes - “Hi Art, As a very little girl, I played War with some of the neighborhood kids on what we knew as the Old Motor Parkway, which ran in the area between Charles Street and Shortridge Drive. It must have been just a little piece of the original, and I remember it as being pretty overgrown even then.”

Art Engoron (1967) writes - Heading east from Roslyn Road, the Old Motor Parkway (more formally known as “the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway” and “The Long Island Motor Parkway”) veered 90 degrees to the right, southward, through where the Wheatley Hills Golf Club golf course now is. By the time it crossed East Williston Avenue, the Parkway was on a north/south axis. It ran between Charles Street and Shortridge Drive, crossed Jericho Turnpike, crossed Westbury Avenue, crossed Old Country Road, and then started veering eastward, diagonally across Clinton Road (the southern extension of Glen Cove Road), after which it crossed Stewart Avenue, after which it resumed heading east (more precisely, north-east, but towards Eastern Long Island). At or near where it crossed Old Country Road, there currently is a “Vanderbilt Drive North,” the name of which cannot just be a coincidence. Anyone looking to trace the route through these areas and on eastward would do well to follow the high metal towers carrying transmission lines that were built over the parkway when it was decommissioned……like this one (apparently near where the OMP went under Jericho Turnpike):

In his magisterial “The Power Broker,” about Robert Moses, Robert Caro dissects the sharp turn south of the Northern State Parkway, at around this same area, which he attributes to the power of the owners of the North Shore/Gold Coast country estates in Westbury and beyond. The same forces were probably at work when William K. Vanderbilt plotted his Parkway.

My classmate Scott Geery and I once bicycled the road at least as far as Westbury Avenue (a sump and its fence blocked us from going further). Remember that, Scottie?

Ted Rothstein (1964) Writes - “I also used to bicycle on the ‘The Old Motor Parkway,’ but only just a mile or two. I may have even taken one of my motorcycles on that road, which was very near my home on Bengeyfield Drive.”

Graduates

1959 - Stuart Sanderson - “‘Anything Goes’ was also performed at Wheatley (to good reviews, if I recall correctly) in 1958 or 1959.”

1964 - Marilyn Bardo - “Unfortunately, I will be away on a trip to the Baltics when our class reunion (1964) takes place, so I am forwarding a recent picture in order for people to know that I am still here.

Nancy (Gittleson Hodson), Meryl Moritz, and I get together several times a year. One of those times takes place in the summer at Nancy’s gorgeous home on the water in Northport. Below are photos of the view from Nancy’s deck and of the three of us enjoying lunch at the new Northport Hotel.

I send warm regards to my fellow classmates, especially those going to the reunion. I will miss being there!”

Front Row - Michael Janowitz (1969), ???, ???, ???, Rob Rosenthal (1969), ???, ???

Back Row - ???, Doug Terris (1970), Robert Abramowitz (1970), Steven Rosengarten (1970), ???, ???, Robert Bush (1970), ???, Paul Seeth (1970) (?)

1970s - Jill Simon Forte (1967) - “Wow, I never realized how many kids enjoyed being in the musicals that we had at Wheatley. Fun to see the names of siblings of people I remember.”

1970 - Nina Galerstein - “I was so excited to see the program for “Guys and Dolls” as performed in 1970. I played flute in the orchestra and had a wonderful time! I believe I had the great privilege of sharing a stand with Mr. Pane! It was awesome! Seeing all those names brought back great memories. I forgot that my dear friend Naomi Goodman (1971) was involved. Naomi passed away in her mid 20's (leukemia).....I still miss her.”

1978 - Joanna Faber - Interesting to me that there are several alumni accounts of Mrs. Gunderson telling students to look for her window display so we could wave out the car window as our parents drove by. That little detail really stuck in our brains over all these decades. I think for a lot of kids, it was a real thrill. It was like a teacher sharing an important part of her life, outside of the classroom, with us. She lived right THERE!

But unbeknownst to me, Mrs. G apparently kept changing the display. One alumnus, from an earlier class than mine, wrote that it was a rooster in the window. Another, from a later class, wrote that it was doves. For our class of 1978, it was ducks, definitely ducks! I thought that was because she lived near the Roslyn Duck Pond.

The RDP was a magical spot, with a waterwheel and hungry ducks who would swim right up to you, and where as a little girl, I once leaned over and dropped my expensive eyeglasses in the water. My mom told two older boys that she would pay a $5 prize to either one of them if they could get in there and fish the glasses out of the muck. The two boys eagerly jumped into the very shallow water, and one soon came up with the glasses. The other one looked so disappointed that my mom gave each of them $5.

But I digress! I wonder if any other of Mrs. G’s alumni remember a different winged statue in her window. Did she graduate from ducks and doves to dodos and dragons?

Glenn’s Gerstner’s (1977) mention of Mr. Heroy brought back a long forgotten vision of a towering, bald man with a big smile who would come to the lunch room and bend down to talk and joke with us. He was an awesome and kindly figure. My best friend from first grade, Julie King (who is still my best friend and writing partner!), reminded me of Mr. Heroy’s fantastic trick. He would hold one of our empty brown paper lunch sacks in one hand and toss an invisible object into the air with the other. Then he would “catch it” in the bag by snapping his fingers on the bag (thumb on the inside and fingers on the outside) to make the sound effect of something dropping into the bag. He was “Heroy the Hero” because of his extraordinary skills and beaming joyfulness.

Back in 1966, when I was in first grade, the girls were supposed to wear dresses every day. Even when it was bitterly cold out. (Sort of gives the lie to the idea that those traditionalists were trying to protect us delicate females from…what? Certainly not from freezing our butts off.) But to me the more important issue was that you couldn’t climb on the monkey bars or do a skin-the-cat while wearing a dress. Or rather, you could if you didn’t mind being subjected to the humiliation of the boys yelling ‘I can see your underwear!’ Which you knew was a very, very bad thing even though it was unclear why. So, boys get to climb and play freely while girls sit and shiver with their legs crossed? How is that fair? I wore pants in spite of the rules. I do not remember any discussions with my mom about this, but she wore pants and apparently did not object to her daughter doing the same. One day a lunch lady told me that if I didn’t wear a dress the next day, I would not get served any food. I thought, Okay then I will not eat lunch. I wondered how hungry I would be. The next day I came into the lunchroom wearing pants. I held out my tray, braced for the confrontation. The lunch lady put food on it without comment. I remember feeling proud that I won against an adult. I don’t know why I never told my mom about it.

Writes Julie - Joanna and I co-authored the popular books How To Talk So Little Kids Will Listen and How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen.

L-R - Sandeep (dad), Aarushi, Priti (Mom), and Siddhant Jain, House of Dosas, Hicksville, NY - August 28, 2024

Aarushi is entering her senior year at Dartmouth, double majoring in “Politics, Philosophy and Economics” as well as Psychology. Sid is going into his junior year at Princeton and is majoring in “Operations Research and Financial Engineering” with minors in Computer Science and Math. Older brother Arihant Jain (2016) was in Philadelphia the night of the dinner.

Fan Mail

1959 (Stu Sanderson) - “Art, as always, I enjoyed the current Newsletter.”

1961 (Ed Roman) - “As usual, Art, you are doing a great job. For us octogenarians, this site creates a welcome source of nostalgia. Thank you. Ed”

1964 - (Marilyn Bardo) - “I join all the other Wheatleyites in praising your and Keith’s efforts to keep us all close. Best, Marilyn”

1964 (Ted Rothstein) - “I’m loving the increased frequency of the Newsletters. Thanks, Arthur!”

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Art.….Wow, Another great read. Thank you so much for awakening memories. Warm regards, Jeffrey Orling, 1965”

1968 (Leslie Wolowitz) - ”Art, I look forward to reading the notes about the classes and the neighborhood.”

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 # 176 was viewed 2.807 times, was liked five times and was commented on three times. In all, 4,719 email addresses received Newsletter # 176.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 176 or so Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

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 # 177. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.