Wheatley Alumni Monthly Newsletter

No. 8: October 12, 2016

Dear Wheatley Wildcats,

Welcome to the eighth issue of The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter. More stories; more photos; one more death to report. I have lightly edited all text for space (mostly) and clarity.

Meanwhile, The Wheatley School 60th Anniversary Celebration begins in just a few days. If you register NOW we just might have time to get a photo nametag, and a few other goodies, ready for you. Head immediately to wheatleyalumni.org and REGISTER! Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

Wheatley Lives and Pix

Betty Robbins Greenwald, 1959, Then

and Now

Writes Betty: “I have been a Real Estate Broker for the past 25 years (and divorced since I was 33). My older daughter works with an architect as a designer and has a 13-year-old son. My younger daughter succumbed to cancer four years ago. My life is an exploration of different things: I live in the country, outside of New Paltz, NY, but I miss the city. However, I cannot be without the wild landscape I find here in the creative Hudson Valley.”

Jay Weinstein, 1965, is well-positioned.

These 1966 hunks are (L. to R.) Jeff Knetzer, Jay Keillor, and Charles Trantum

Suzanne Zenker Gilbride, 1974

My family lived at 61 Barnyard lane, Roslyn Heights. Sister Barbara Zenker, Class 1966, studied medical technology at Drexel University and worked in medical sales until she retired. She now lives in Wellington, Florida. Brother Steven Zenker would have been Class of 1965 but left Wheatley for The New Hampton School. He then went to Rochester Institute of Technology, studied printing, and worked at and owned printing companies until he retired. Now he lives in Parkland, Florida with his wife, daughter and grandson.

Following Steve’s footsteps, I also went to RIT, where I studied art and photography. This led me down many career paths and odd employments. I, too, am retired, doing Art Quilting and supporting a Quilting Guild that produces quilts for children in need and in hospitals. I do all Photography and Graphics for the Guild and manage two Facebook pages that promote our Guild and share our Guild’s Quilts, kind of a “show-and-tell on line.” I live in Cypress,Texas, just outside Houston, with my husband of 18 years, Thomas Gilbride, and our 11 year old Wheaton Terrier, Dugan. I’ve also been working on my FamilyTree, through Ancestry.Com. DNA testing will blow your mind with how many people you are related to. I have almost 3,000 4th-to-closer cousins and 31,000 5th-to-10th cousins, and growing!

1975 - Mark Lubin

Occasional jazz guitarist Mark Lubin released his debut CD late last year. An original tune he released this summer has been nominated for the Independent Music Awards (jazz instrumental category). Mark has played in diverse venues including jazz festivals, Carnegie Hall, bars, restaurants and private events. He is perennially searching for good drummers and bass players in the northeastern NYC suburbs. A portion of the CD sales proceeds through 12/31/16 will be donated to pet adoption and food allergy/anaphylaxis charities that Mark’s family supports. Further information is available at www.marklubinmusic.com. Mark, an attorney, lives with his wife in Armonk, NY. Their two adult children live in NYC.

Mark with Jim Hall, “One of the greatest guitarists and musical minds that ever lived,” at the National Guitar Workshop, 2011

Alan Peterson, 1975

Writes Alan: “Back in the 1960s, long before social media occupied our free time, there was after-school TV. Old friends like Soupy Sales & Sandy Becker on Channel 5; and Joe Bolton, Jack McCarthy and Chuck McCann on Channel 11, kept us amused and out of Mom's (and harm’s) way all afternoon.

In early 2016 I began wondering whatever happened to Sandy Becker's old collection of TV puppets: characters like Geeba-Geeba, Sir Clive Clyde, and Dorschack added to the lunacy of the show but had pretty much vanished after Sandy's death in 1996. Hoping they weren't discarded or lost, I posted to several TV and puppetry forums around NYC to see if anyone knew.

A professional puppeteer in NYC named Craig Marin responded. As a young man, he helped out on both Sandy's show and Chuck McCann's, and his company now owned most of Sandy's "core" performers. I visited him at his Upper West Side workshop in March 2016 and sure enough, there were my old friends again, in the flesh and in color (I only ever saw them in black and white).

Above is a picture of me with the one and only 1960's Geeba-Geeba. Wouldn't you be grinning too?”

Wheatley Death

Susan Borger Budge, Class of 1960

Born December 11, 1942; died September 26, 2016; age 73; lived in San Bruno, CA. “Gentle Warrior, Loving mother to many, teacher.” Leaves behind brother Alex Borger, age 76 (and apparently pre-Wheatley). For further information: Susan's Obituary

Conclusion

That’s it for this time. I’ve got lots more material (in particular, a treasure trove of early “Wheatliana” from Paul Hennessy, 1960), but no more time……..so “more, later.”