LEVITTOWN MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1959
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Time is making its inexorable passage through our lives. There are discussions starting now in several quarters regarding LMHS Reunions for the Classes of the '50's. The earlier Classes ('54 to '59) are planning for another combined Reunion. Its hard to believe, but it has been 45 years now since we left LMHS to make our marks on the world. Our 50th Anniversary is coming up in 2009. It may be a bit early to start specific planning, but it is time to start the discussion. What do you think? Please send your comments on the 50th Reunion to:

 rebwebor@earthlink.net

We will post your responses here.

Nan Scharer (Jessup) has created another Newsletter for the "Classes of the 50's" posted here. Those who have committed to going to the "Classes if the Fifties" Reunion in July 2007 will be listed here.

Ten years ago we had our reunion on Long Island. We mingled, we hugged, we reacquainted from years ago, and some even reunited, rekindled old flames and married. That reunion had over 600 attendees and so much has happened since 1997. Sadly, many of our classmates have had serious health issues as none of us are getting any younger. To those, we wish you all our best wishes for healthier days. We even sadly said good-bye to some of our classmates as our numbers diminish.

This July 2007 those of us who can will be attending this reunion at the same place as the last one – the Melville Marriott. So far about 100 have registered. We understand the smaller number. I just wanted to write to share with you the latest newsletter (attached in PDF) and remind you that in about six weeks we will be reuniting once again and those of you who would like to register and join in the fun, there is still time. We will be congregating on Thursday night July 19 with a 50’s DJ. On Friday we will tour LMHS and the museum then return to the Marriott where lunch will be served and the 50’s DJ will provide background music and hopefully wake up some of those memories of those great years of the 1950s. Saturday, we will have a farewell breakfast and wish each other well wishes. More details about your class and the reunion can be found on our website WWW.LEVITTOWNMEMORIAL..ORG .

The committee has been attending to the details of the 2007 reunion for over a year and all systems are GO as in LMHS – GO.

We hope to see you there, but if we don’t, we understand,

Joel Saren

Dear Bob:

Could you please notify the alumni, that there are changes in the itinerary for the reunion...
Thursday, July 19 - Melville Marriott, Cocktail party and buffet

Friday, July 20 - Jones Beach CANCELED
A.M.: self tour of LMHS and museum

PM.: Pool Party with food @ the Melville Marriott*
Saturday, July 21 , Breakfast at Hotel

* No actives planned for Friday evening ... might be a good time to start planning the reunion for our class in 09

CYNTHIA

"The Classes of the 50's" has an update to their 2007 Reunion plans. Original plans placed the proposed 2007 Reunion in Las Vegas. This has recently been changed to Long Island. The details are covered on his web site:

 http://www.levittownmemorial.org/LMHS%20Itinerary%202007.pdf

I will post your comments (unedited - be kind), by date received, on this subject below.

Bob,
I think the plans have progressed enough for you to put on our web site. They are looking for help from alumni that live on the Island . Any suggestions ? Also as you read thru the material , they also want each class to do a presentation one of the nights.

Let me know what you think,
Cynthia

On Thu, 14 Jul 2005 08:27:24 EDT, WILLIAMJESSUP@cs.com wrote:
Hi Sue, Bob and the Class of '59,

The 1997 reunion of the classes of '54-'59 was a unique event because, unlike a class-only reunion which has a special but
different appeal, it afforded all who attended an opportunity to meet with brothers' friends, sisters' friends, neighborhood
friends, teammates (Wasn't that cheerleader get-together fun, Sue?), etc., as well as classmates. The reunion weekend was a
daunting undertaking in 1997 and it is a daunting undertaking to plan for a 2007 reunion of the classes of '54-'59. Regardless of
reservations (trepidations) that may have been expressed initially about the potential size of the participating group and the
committee's ability to pull it off, the volunteer 2007 Steering Committee's final decision was to again attempt a reunion of all
'50s classes, '54-'59. For this they deserve our thanks and our full support.

I have offered my support by volunteering to write a newsletter to help get the word out about the2007 reunion and about our
schoolmates. Everyone wants to know "What happened to this person?" and "What happened to that person?". To help fill in
the gaps, it would be very appreciated if your '59 classmates would send me:

 One or two lines about themselves, a classmate or a schoolmate.  Information on who married whom from your class. A brief bio >(a few paragraphs) with or without a clear recent picture. A favorite LMHS or Levittown memory or anecdote.

My contact information is:
          williamjessup@cs.com
(When e-mailing, PLEASE write "59 LMHS" on the subject line so
that I do not delete your e-mail as spam. Thanks.)
          Nan Scharer Jessup          (class of '58)
          35Sunset Lane
          Patchogue NY 11772
          (631) 475-8625

Any help you and your classmates can provide with regard to the
reunion efforts would be greatly appreciated. I hope you will join
us in 2007 for this once in a life time event. It is always so much
fun to get together with friends from the old neighborhood!

Sincerely,
Nan Scharer Jessup, '58

PS I noticed that you have a lot more names listed for your class than Joel does. I have pointed this out to him and have asked him to include the additional names in his database so that these people will also receive any information that is sent out.

Nan,
We have been keeping up with our class changes as they are reported to us. However, due to retirements and moves since our last major effort in 1999, I know our email list is at least 50% out of date. We will be making another major effort for our 50th Reunion in 2009. I have a link on our home page to the "Master LMHS Website" and I have been posting information about the 2007 Reunion on our site ("50th Reunion" page). Joel has a link on his site to ours. We also have one of our classmates (Cynthia {Roberts} Kaylor) who will attend the 2007 Reunion (she is married to a 57'er). She has written to Joel volunteering to represent our class in this effort.

We wish you luck with this and we will continue to provide information through our website.

-- Bob Benson, rebwebor@earthlink.net on 07/14/2005

Joel,
Bob Benson suggested that I volunteer to be a contact person for the reunion in `07. Please let me know what I can do...

Thanks,
Cynthia ( Roberts ) Kaylor

Update on the next LMHS Reunion - The classes of 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 are planning a 50th reunion celebration at the Monte Carlo Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada - June 18, June 19, June 20, and June 21, 2007. Check out http://www.levittownmemorial.org/
for details

Here is an email received from Joel Saren on 5/22/05:

Your reference to the 50th reunion is incorrect. We ARE including all classes of the 50's. Any previous mention to NOT including the '59 class was premature. Could you correct the web site.

Thanks,

Joel Saren
603-382-5978

Editors Note: It is not incorrect. As you can see below, it was correct. Evidently, the earlier classes have had a change of mind...again.

Bob Benson

Original Info on the LMHS Classes '54 to '58

Hi LMHS mates,

The 50th anniversary reunion planning has begun.

The planning committee is:
a.. Barbara Leary (Rivera)
b.. Patricia Fishback (Davis)
c.. Gary Mauger
d.. Bill Lynch
e.. Tom Lamendola
f.. Joel Saren
The committee has decided that:
a.. the location should be in Las Vegas, Gary to recommend hotel
(thinking Bally's)
b.. the date should be June 2007 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
for best prices. Gary will investigate and get the best prices and best
week in June for us.
c.. classes 54' 55' 56' 57' 58' will be invited to participate
and now the real work begins.

Since 1997 and our last reunion we have managed to keep our website alive,
but funds are running very very low. Please send $5, $10, $25 to help keep
the website alive www.levittownmemorial.org. We will be posting more
information on the website and we get closer.

If you know of anyone in any of those classes who has moved or who has
email, please send that information to me.

If you have been in contact with anyone from LMHS, please spread the word
and keep me in the loop.

The committee's next telephone conf call meeting will be: May 15, 2005,
4pm Eastern time.

Love to you all, (I can't believe I am 65 !)

-----------------------
Joel Saren '57

Joel,

Any reason why the class of '59 isn't invited?

Judy Levy Horowitz
LMHS Class of '59

Hi Judy,

(FYI, Last reunion ('97) we had 388 registered and 70 of them were from
'59.)

We are afraid. There were so many of you in the class of '59.

I will copy the committee. Feel free to suggest we open it up to '59 as
well.

Joel Saren
603-382-5978
Joel@JSaren.com

Hi, Committee,
I was just wondering why the class of '59 wasn't invited. As you can
see, Joel says there are too many of us. Actually, I don't think there are
any more of us than in the other class. We just seem to be more active. I
don't know how the others in the Class of '59 feel about this. Eddie and I
live in Florida, but if there's anything we can do from here to help, we'd
be happy to.

Eddie and Judy (nee Levy) Horowitz

Judy,

You are more active because you are so much younger.

Hey, Gary, she says more active !!!! Than you, NOT! four year old twins,
who can beat that?

Joel Saren
4/4/05

Judy,
We should start looking at a 50th for ourselves.

Bob Benson
4/4/05

Boy that stinks. They didn't invite us because we come?????? That makes no sense to me at all. Maybe we'll all have to get together and do something ourselves as long as there are so many of us.

Let me know if anything is happening and if I can help.

Happy spring finally!! Well, that's for us up North folks to appreciate a bit more than you down south people. Boy, did we envy you this winter.

Donna (Matthews) Ryan
4/4/05

Ain't that a kick in the head? I think we had more at our '99 reunion than they had in '97 of all the classes of the 50's combined. I'm sure there's a hotel in Las Vegas that would accommodate us all, but we could have our own reunion. Ours is four years away. We can start thinking about where we would want to have it. Any suggestions?

Judy (Levy) Horowitz
4/5/05

Does anyone want to put something on the LMHS59 website regarding an '09 reunion to get more ideas?

Judy, we've been to the Orleans (Ed's daughters live in Vegas). It's a nice hotel, but too far off the strip. For an event like this, there will be some people who have never been to Las Vegas and others who go infrequently. Part of the fun is going to see the different hotels. If we're on the strip, no one will have to rent a car. Everything is within walking distance. We've stayed at the Boardwalk, which is a moderately priced hotel in the center of the strip (it's actually a Holiday Inn with a casino). They might give us a good deal. Also, New York New York might, since we're from New York. Another possibility is Circus Circus, which is very moderately priced, but there are always a lot of children there.

Any other comments or ideas?

Judy (Levy) Horowitz
4/6/05

Dear Classmates:

It's hard to believe how quickly time passes. It seems as though we are just waking up from our 40th reunion and the 50th is just around the corner. The classes of the 60's are planning theirs and the classes of '54, '55, '56, '56, '57, and '58 are planning theirs. They are not inviting us because they say they are "afraid" of us. Apparently, we had a large group at the '97 reunion and they're afraid that we will have an even larger group in '07. We were always the class with "spirit" and that hasn't changed! Sooooooo, it's time to think about planning our own reunion in '09. A few of us have been kicking it around and we've come up with Las Vegas as the venue. Please give us your ideas and suggestions. If you can help, please let us know. You can post here and/or join and write to the LMHS59 list at LMHS59@yahoogroups.com.

Regards to all,

Judy (Levy) and Eddie Horowitz
4/7/05

There have also been some discussion on LI about a Reunion in '09. There is a good deal of emotional desire to hold it on LI.  Personally, I had lived in Las Vegas for over a year and always liked the town as a vacation destination. I probably will be back there a number of times before '09. However, I would feel more "at home" with our "official 50th Reunion"  on LI where it all began. We'll see how this plays out.
 
Bob Benson
4/7/05

Bob Benson gave us a page on the LMHS59 web page. He also suggested going back to Levittown. 50 is a good idea. If people
would rather have the reunion in Levittown, we could still get a group together for a "Senior" Class trip to Vegas.

Judy (Levy) Horowitz
4/8/05

Judy - try it with a total of 50 people & see how it flies - the Bellagio is outrageously expensive - the MGM, Mirage, or New York New York would be great.

Bob Eldi
4/8/05

Judy (et al)

I think the "Class Trip" to Vegas is a good idea. The first one in DC was fun (as far as I can remember :-) - see pictures on our web. As with the original Class Trip, it was voluntary and specifically designed to get us out of town. Based on timing, I'd be in. I'm a lot closer here in Oregon. I may be in Vegas in mid June as part of my "Annual Cross Country Trip". I'll be back East from June 1 to June 15 to visit my brother and others.

Bob Benson
4/8/05

Why not consider having it with the other classes - they will be in Las Vegas. I don't know what the geographic distribution of out class is - probably all over the US by now. So having it on Long Island does not seem that important.

Bob Fetten
Riverdale, NY 10471
4/8/05

Bob,

If the classes of '53-'58 don't want us, then I say we do it on our own - we did a great job last time & everyone enjoyed it. We can do it our way, at our leisure, and to our satisfaction - we are the best.

Hey Bob - I appreciate all the work you do - I would love to see us have a reunion in Vegas, but I don't know what the turnout would be - some people might think it too extravagant, but it would be just as expensive for the people who have to fly to NY - I don't have $$$$ issues, but I know some people do - I'll fly with the majority opinion.

Bob Eldi
4/8/05

Bob,

No matter where you schedule the Class of ’59 reunion, I’ll be there! Although I missed out on all previous reunions, it wasn’t by intention. I’ve moved from place to place, pursuing my career (as a “migrant scientist”) – never having much time to stop and look back. Despite all that, I’ve never forgotten our class and look forward to the next reunion, wherever it is held. Living (and working) here in British Columbia, I don’t suppose there are many people for me to coordinate with -- J. Regardless of that, let me know what I can do to help plan the big event.

Best Regards,
Stephen Robinson
4/8/05

Bob,
Please note that my Florida address is now:
5351 Landon Circle
Boynton Beach, FL 33437-1673
(561)732-4993.

I'll attend a 50th reunion wherever it might be held.

Thanks,
Sandy Witlin
4/8/05

Just a few thoughts on the discussion. Unless we are having the reunion at LMHS , why have it on LI ? ... there would be lots more to do in Las Vegas.

Cynthia (Roberts) Kaylor
4/09/05

I feel somewhat hesitant to comment since I missed the prior reunions. After perusing the pictures on the web site, however, it's obvious to me that you all had a blast. I agree with the two Bobs in that the official 50th should be held on LI. I also agree with Judy that a pre reunion "class trip" would be fun.

Semper Fi.
John Schmidt
04/09/05

Hey Bob,
Glad to hear talk of our reunion.

News: Jack Brown and I were married on October 10, 2004 in a garden ceremony under the stars, in which all our children participated (mine: Brian, Jordan and daughter, Nikki, along with her daughter...and my granddaughter...Jade, 2 years old, as flower girl...she stole the show! Jack's: Deborah and Arthur).

Our wedding invitation began..."Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breathe away," Jack and I feel truly blessed.

Hope all is well.
Jeannie (Kleitman) Lesavoy Brown
04/09/05

To the Class of '59,

I am inquiring about a reunion in Las Vegas to get an idea of the price. I'm sure that wherever we decide to have it, most of you will come. Maybe we can do both.  Let's see what I get back.

Judy Levy Horowitz
4/10/05

I like Las Vegas. Or, what about a 4 day cruise? Or a 7 day cruise? Or something here in Florida during the winter? Our little group down here knows very well that you Northeners would like to get out of the cold and snow for a few days........

Phyllis Martin-Hirsch
4/11/05

A "Class Reunion" has a special significance. However, I like the idea of a "Class Trip". Since many of us have retired, we now have more control of our schedules. We have a central point for this discussion - our web site. I am always open to new ideas such as a "Class Trip Page" where any classmate could post a proposed trip at any time . I suspect there would be interest in this more often than once every ten years - possibly once a year somewhere (eg Florida in January, Southern California in the Spring, Jones Beach in Summer, New England in the Fall). What do you think?

Bob Benson
4/11/05

Dear Bob

I am interested in coming to the reunion in 09.  I live in Bucharest, Romania and will need to know the schedule time well
ahead to make plans.  Please greet all for Dwight Stone.  Bye for now

Dwight Stone
4/12/05

Dear Bob:
Just found the notice about possible reunion, sounds like fun, it sure would be great to see everyone again. In checking the directory, I see a wrong address for me. Our correct address is 380 Back Nine Drive, Moneta, VA 24121.

Jeanne Slingo/Eichhorn
4/12/05