MEET ME AT THE FLAGPOLE!

The Look Who’s Turning 60 birthday bash weekend started off with a tour of Berner.  Seven of us met at the flagpole ready to wander through the building, reminisce, find our familiar places and notice the changes that the years had brought to our old school.  We even walked to the bridge.  The most amazing thing about starting the weekend off this way was that a bunch of 60 year olds walked into the school, but when we walked out, we were 17 again!

The weekend was a whirlwind of activity!  Friday night at Big Daddy’s was a Mardi Gras atmosphere with food and drinks provided by our very generous hosts, Paul Hart, Garrett King and Dennis Flanagan.  About 45 classmates attended this party; some of the attendees knew that they couldn’t make the beach party but stopped in at Big Daddy’s to say hello.  We drank, talked, flirted, laughed, ate and caught up with each other across the years.

On Saturday afternoon, the Tanner Park Beach party was just perfect!  The weather was sunny and warm with a light breeze.  The food was very good, the drinks flowed and The Moondogs really rocked it!  We had a great turnout—82 classmates attended and we spent the afternoon dancing, talking, eating, drinking and re-connecting with each other.  When the party was ending at about 8:30, more than a third of us headed over to Giacomo Jack’s in Amityville, down by the water.  There we drank and danced to a great little two piece band and continued the laughter and fun into the wee hours.

 

We are very proud of the way this party took shape and the turnout was amazing.  Our 40^th reunion was run by Reunions of America and they were only able to attract about 150 classmates from BOTH Berner and MHS Class of 1972.  They had the funds to mail letters, email blast and make phone calls.  Using only social media (Facebook) we were able to attract 82 classmates without having the cost of mass mailings to all our classmates.  We plan to hold a 45^th reunion using Facebook and our class blog to contact everyone.  So spread the word to classmates to join our Facebook page:  Berner HS Class of 1972.

It would be very hard to put into words just how much fun our birthday blast weekend was.  The feeling of being 17 again was truly a magical feeling.  It persisted for days afterward…and then it was gone.  I will never forget how much fun we had.  An important thing that I learned that weekend was that age is the great leveler.  It doesn’t matter who you were in high school or how popular you were or weren’t.  At the sensational age of 60 it is easy to connect with each other simply because we grew up together, that basic bond is enough.  We are all looking forward to the 45^th reunion in 2017!

CLASSMATE UPDATE: Donna Kramer Evans

I have not met many people who have as fond memories of high school as I do, and I expect that many of our class do.  We were fortunate to grow up in Massapequa when we did.  We had beautiful beaches and the most amazing city in the world at the end of a short train ride.  I didn’t take academics very seriously in High School; I remember the classes that were fun.  I was rewarded for this by not getting into any of the colleges I  applied to except for Nassau Community College.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I was able to spend more time at home before I lost my Dad when I was 20.  I have had my share of heartache in life, but this was the worst thing that ever happened to me.  He was such a solid, content man and such a source of love, strength and humor in my life.  I miss him still.

I enjoyed Nassau Community College,  and the many classmates who were there with me.  By that time, I had figured out the value of an education, and so, at the end of one year, was able to transfer to almost anywhere I wanted to go.  When I had visited Jane Atanat at Virginia Tech, I had fallen in love with that campus, so I transferred there.   I had wanted to be a Home Economics teacher, but soon realized that most students took Home Ec for an easy “A” and not because they found it as interesting as I did.  Like most in our generation, I wanted to save the world, or at least part of it.  So I became a Social Worker and worked in a variety of programs for mentally challenged adults.  I learned a lot about what is important in life from some of my mentally challenged clients.

I met my husband Dave at Virginia Tech.  My roommate married my husband’s roommate and we are all still close today.  Soon our close knit group of friends had all gotten married and were starting to have kids, but it wasn’t happening for us.   Suddenly we were the only couple in our group of friends who were not parents.  It was a painful time for me, and so when my husband brought up the idea of working overseas, I jumped at the chance.  If we couldn’t have children, we could travel the world instead.

Our first overseas job was in Egypt on the Suez Canal, and it was there that our fate changed and our son Jacob was born in 1985.  Next we lived in Cairo for a year and then returned to the States, where our daughter Brooke was born in 1989. 

When I was 35 years old, we were living in Flemington, NJ, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was a terrifying diagnosis, and I couldn’t believe that when I had finally gotten everything I wanted in life,  I was going to die.  I was lucky, though.  I had top notch medical care at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.  I had surgery but did not need to have chemotherapy or radiation.    I remember that one of my friends at the time commented that I would have to live with a black cloud over my head for the rest of my life.  I am glad she said that because it inspired me to make sure she was not right.  Although this was an important part of my life, I never let it define me.  Part of what sustained me during that time was the warmth and memory of my Massapequa days.  I thought of the people from school and my neighborhood who had touched my life and that became an armor that gave me the strength to handle everything I needed to do to get better.

In early 1991,  we decided that we missed the ex-pat life and so we took a job in Sydney, Australia.  We loved Australia, but found it very expensive to live there.  So when Saudi Aramco came calling, we jumped again and moved to what is affectionately called The Sand Pit, or The Magic Kingdom by the ex-pats living here.

We have been living in Saudi Arabia for 21 years now.  You may think that moving here was quite an adjustment, but really the biggest location adjustment for me was when I left Long Island to go to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.  Leaving suburban Long Island and moving to a rural area was a big adjustment, but I loved it there, and it probably proved to be the thing that made me want to see the interesting differences that the rest of the world had to offer.  

We live in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia in Dhahran on an oil company compound.  Our neighbors are from all over the world.  My husband, Dave, is a water and wastewater treatment plant design Engineer.  I work at the front desk of the company elementary school.  Our compound is about the size of a medium sized town in the USA.  Some of the homes here on the compound are modular homes that were manufactured in Pennsylvania.  Our first house here was a Cape Cod style home that reminded me of Massapequa Park in the 1960s.  All the neighbors knew each other and the kids were able to run all over the neighborhood from house to house, as most of the moms were stay-at-home moms.     

Life in Saudi Arabia is interesting and we find the Arabian people extremely hospitable and generous.  KSA is a religiously conservative country and we are not allowed to have pork or alcohol, and there are no movie theatres.  Those things are available in the neighboring country of Bahrain, which is about a 45 minute drive from here.  Every weekend there is a mass exodus to Bahrain, and all the hungry, thirsty, movie loving Westerners make a beeline there.  Since it is a border crossing involving passport control and vehicle searches, the trip can actually take up to 3 hours each way, but that hasn’t deterred any of us yet.

Women can drive on the compound, but off the compound that is strictly forbidden.  When I leave the compound, I have to wear a black coat like garment called an abaya.  Non-Muslim women are not required to wear a head scarf or veil, but still the muttawas (religious police) often walk around town or through malls telling women to cover their hair.  This happens to me more frequently when my daughter is here with us, because she has red hair.  Once when this happened, we decided to just go home but when we got in our car, we were surrounded by police vehicles.  Not a warm welcome for my daughter who has called the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia home since she was 3 years old!  Fortunately, most Saudi residents are sympathetic people, and we were able to talk our way out of it. 

 

During the month long observance of Ramadan, all people in the kingdom are not allowed to eat or drink (even water) in public as Muslims are fasting during the day.  This is quite a challenge, especially if you have small children and it is the middle of summer when temperatures can reach 120 Fahrenheit.  Restaurants and snack bars close down and open up again after sunset when Muslims are allowed to break their fast.  If you are lucky enough to be invited to an Iftar meal, which is the evening meal to break the fast, you will be treated to a wide variety of traditional rice, lamb and vegetable dishes, preceded by dates and Arabic coffee.

Many U.S. families send their kids “home”  for high school, which for some of them,  is the first time they have lived in the U.S.  My son went to The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, and my daughter to Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts.  One of the most exciting times here is in December, going to the airport to pick up your child and seeing all the other returning students also getting off a plane.  It is a party atmosphere with lots of hugging.  My children and their friends loved growing up here and coming back on school breaks.  We would never have stayed this long if that were not the case.

The company provides us with six weeks of vacation time each year so that we can repatriate to our home countries.  Many families use this time to wander the globe, so if you want travel advice for any place on earth, there is always someone who has been there and who would love to tell you all about it.  This time is also used to make up for the lack of pork and alcohol in our lives, so Facebook is filled with pictures of our meals and drinks, posted to torture each other!  

We are planning to retire this summer, unfortunately only a month after the Look Who’s Turning 60! Birthday party.  Our home base in the US is in Vermont.  I chose Vermont because when I was growing up, my family always spent two weeks there each summer and I loved it so much.  My son Jake is finishing up his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, and my daughter Brooke graduated from Tufts University and is in Boston working in public health.  We are looking forward to driving them crazy with our proximity, and also visiting our friends all over the US.  We would love to get meaningful volunteer jobs with lots of flexibility to allow us to travel.

I am thankful that Facebook has given our class a way to connect.  Before we had Facebook, I would often think about friends from Berner and wish I knew what they were doing and that they were happy.  So even though I won’t be able to attend the birthday bash next month, know that I will be thinking of you all and looking forward to the next great event our class plans.  

Dave and me in Rome

Dave, Brook, Jake and me

Written by Carolyn Hammer through email interviews with Donna Kramer Evans

Classmate Update: Joanne Heine Neville

Walter and me in High School

 Like everyone else, I grew up in Massapequa Park, the second oldest of six children.  We lived on East Lake Avenue and my mom is still in the same house 60 years now.  Out of six siblings, only one moved away to Texas.  I am fortunate enough to have all my other siblings here on the island after all these years.  We love doing holidays and vacations together, now adding all the grandchildren.

Back in 1972, you graduated school, went to work or college and got married.  That’s what I did, leaving out the college part.  To people who really remember me, they would remember that my junior and senior years were spent with my boyfriend, Walter Neville, who graduated in 1971.  We were inseparable then, got married in 1974 and just celebrated our 40^th wedding anniversary.  So we remained inseparable for 43 years.  And, we still even like each other!  We are very fortunate.  I included a picture of us because my high school insecurities tell me no one is going to know who I am anyway!

By 25 years of age, we had three children and a home in Holbrook where we still live today.  We have been blessed with a son, two daughters and nine grandchildren under the age of nine.  My two daughters and their seven kids live less than ten minutes from my home, so I see them all the time which is such a joy.  My son moved away to Georgia, where he and his wife are raising their two children, but we are able to travel to see them at least 4 times a year.

Life has been good to us.  I was a stay-at-home mom for 13 years and then went to work for a bank once the kids were in junior high.  I have worked my way up the ladder to a wonderful job . . . still in banking.

We are looking forward to retiring now.   I have been convinced, especially after this awful winter, that “snowbirding” is the way to go.   I am definitely looking forward to that!  Right now, our life is all about our 3 children and our 9 grandchildren and we are loving it!

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the Look Who's Turning 60! birthday party next month!

This is my family.  Walter and I are in the middle and my  two daughters are the tall one on the right and the small one directly behind me, along with their spouses.  My son is front, left with his wife.

These are my nine grandchildren


This classmate update was written by Joanne Heine Neville

CLASSMATE UPDATE: Jane Atanat Embry

Jane hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains

 

I always tell people that I had an idyllic childhood, and I did.  I grew up in Nassau Shores, with Peninsula Golf Course in my backyard and the Great South Bay down the street.  I have many happy memories of tooling around the bay on my friends’ boats, or getting chased by the golf course attendant for playing some game on the course.  There was always a gang of kids playing outside.  We’d ride our bicycles, chasing ice cream men, milkmen, fire trucks, and even the fogger man who allowed us to follow him, with us breathing his fog of poison breathed directly into our lungs.  We made almost daily treks to “Tony’s,” the delicatessen, to buy candy.  A quarter bought you five candy bars, and there was no tax.  I really loved my childhood.

I loved High School, too.  I had so many great friends and had so much fun.  I played all kinds of sports.  Field Hockey, Volleyball, Softball, Gymnastics and Cheerleading took up most of my time after school.  In the summer it was off to Tobay Beach.  I had a surfboard that I bought from Garrett King, and the Tasker twins and I would go surfing.  The beach was all I did in the summer.  I remember hanging out at Marjorie Post Park, too.  I spent a lot of time at the pool, the handball courts and the ice skating rink.  No wonder I loved Massapequa---there was so much to do.

One thing I remembered about High School is that girls still had to wear dresses to school.  One morning my friend Jane Bockman and I snuck to her house and put on jeans and went to school.  Our parents did not know.  We caused a bit of a stir at school, but the winds of change were blowing and soon girls could wear pants to school.  But I do remember that rebellious feeling it gave me.  We returned to Jane’s house and changed back into our skirts.  We weren’t that brave to go home on the bus still wearing jeans.

The biggest game changer in my life was when I decided to go to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia for college.  I wanted to go somewhere different from where all my friends were going.  My brother attended there, so I thought I would give it a try.  It was very intimidating to go to a large school and know no one.  It was sort of like reinventing one’s self.

I fell in love with Virginia, it was so beautiful.  Since I had never really traveled much outside of New York, I hadn’t realized how much open land there was.  I was so smitten with Virginia and my college town that I knew I would never return to New York.  Being there made me realize that I wanted to live in the country, and have a little farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

I majored in Art Education, and after graduation, I got a job teaching Art at a High School in Buchanan, Virginia.  I taught for a couple of years but I wasn’t very happy.  I left that job and moved back to Blacksburg, where I met my husband, Reed.

Reed and I dated for 7 years before we married, and we have moved many times for business opportunities.  We have lived in Winston Salem, NC; Lynchburg, VA; Charlotte, NC; Huntington, WV and Roanoke, VA, where we live now.  Moving around provided a lot of new experiences and many friends in different places.  Our daughter Sally was born in 1986 and our son Reilly was born in 1991.  Sally attended Colorado State University on a full academic scholarship, obtained 2 Master’s Degrees at Emory University in Atlanta, and a PhD in Environmental Engineering at Stanford University.  She lives in California.  Reilly attended Hargrave Military Academy and currently plays in a band.  They are both great kids.

Today my husband and I own and run a quaint little restaurant in Floyd, VA.  The Pine Tavern was first established in 1927 in a colorful little town with the only stoplight in the county.  We have a small staff, but most of them have been with us for years, so they feel like family.  We serve Blue Ridge cuisine like fried chicken, mashed potatoes and other comfort foods.  Working with my husband has been a great experience, and we both enjoy serving people good food.

We have a beautiful home on 30 acres just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Wildlife abounds here and we often see bear, deer, turkeys and the occasional coyote.  With our spectacular views and serene lifestyle, I never want to leave home, which is good, since the nearest town is 15 miles away!   My dream of having a little farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains has been realized since I grow shitake mushrooms here and cultivate a wild chanterelle mushroom patch.  In the springtime we hunt for morels and in the summer we search for “chicken of the woods” mushrooms.  

My favorite way to spend any day is to be outdoors.  Reed and I enjoy hiking in the mountains, biking, kayaking, swimming and everything outdoors.  We love to take car rides, discovering new places we haven’t seen before.  Virginia is a wonderful place and there is still so much of it that we haven’t seen yet.  We are also both big fans of the craft beer craze, so we enjoy driving to breweries and sampling great beers. 

In just a couple of years, Reed will retire and we have lots of plans.  Traveling will top the list, and there are so many places we’d like to see right here in the USA.  I would also love to tour the English countryside, where the books by authors Jane Austen and Charles Dickens took place.  I made it a personal goal to read everything those two authors had written.  Considering the length and general difficulty of both writers, I consider it a real accomplishment. 

 Reed will golf more when he retires, but since it isn’t a passion of mine, I have other plans.  As an art major, I love creating beautiful things and have dabbled in just about every art medium, but lately have been concentrating on Stained Glass.  I might like to go into business for myself creating beautiful things to sell.  Whatever we do, I know it will be fun and I will continually be inspired by all the beauty and serenity that surrounds us here in our home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

by Jane Atanat, edited by Carolyn Hammer