Larry Rosenthal, Aldine Gordon, Shelly Levinthal

The North Side Fire Flares Again

Mark Bond (1963) Writes - “It might be every young boy’s dream to be called in the morning and hear a friend shout, “THE SCHOOL BURNED DOWN!!!”

I promptly raced to the North Side School to see a vision that very closely resembled that of my winning fire prevention poster. The contest I had entered and won 1st Place in was sponsored by the East Williston Fire Department and the school Art Department. My prize was a Schaefer Snorkel Ink fountain pen. My cherished pen was unfortunately in my school desk and destroyed, and the cruelest of ironies was that the fire was caused by the Art Department’s ceramics kiln!

Val Gomes (1978) Writes - “Hi, Art, I found the following link when I was researching the fire at North Side. Others might appreciate it, too.
http://www.oldlongisland.com/2014/04/the-northside-school.html

June 19th

What anniversaries occur on June 19, 2026? The 161st Anniversary of June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of slavery; the Fifth Anniversary of June 19, 2021, the first Juneteenth Federal Holiday; and the 10th Anniversary of the first edition of The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter. Edition # 1, modest in scope but immodest in ambition, is printed below in full:

• Alumni Site
• 60th Anniversary
• Register

Wheatley Alumni Monthly Newsletter

Number 1: June 19, 2016

Welcome to the first issue of The Wheatley School Alumni Association Monthly (more or less) Newsletter.

The Wheatley School 60th Anniversary Celebration

Of course, the Big News is that alma mater is celebrating its 60th Anniversary with a festive, all-classes gathering over the weekend of October 14-16, 2016. Details, registration information, and an up-to-date list of the 355 or so (and counting) graduates who have already registered (or indicated that they intend to) are easily accessible at www.wheatleyalumni.org In all likelihood, the next such event won’t be until 2031, 15 years from now.......so what are you waiting for? Register now (and save fifteen bucks over the walk-in price).

Smart Kids

Elliot (”Ike”) Evans, the Class of 1965’s stalwart Class Correspondent, brought to our attention that Wheatley’s most recent average SAT scores were the sixth highest on Long Island. Here are the top six districts, in descending order, and our interpretation thereof:

• Jericho School District: A bunch of nerds; their football teams are so bad they even lose to ours.
• Roslyn Public Schools - Teach to the test.
• Great Neck Public Schools - (No snide remarks; the editor’s kids go there.)
• Herricks Union Free School District - Teach to the test.
• Syosset Central School District - Teach to the test. Basically a bunch of Jericho wannabes.
• East Williston Union Free School District (i.e., Wheatley) - Smart kids; great teachers.

Recent Departures

We note with sadness the recent passing of several alumni:

Class of 1965: James Sanford (”Sandy”) Dickey - Died June 4, 2016. Was a marine engineer. Leaves behind sisters Alice, 1962, and Elizabeth, 1963.

Class of 1967: John Farnsworth Stedman - Died June 5, 2016. Was a church (Presbyterian) elder and community leader. Leaves behind brothers Jim and Matt; was predeceased by brother Michael, 1970.

Class of 1974: Stuart Raeburn Strachan - Died March 1, 2016. Was a lawyer, surfer, and sailor. Leaves behind sister Leslie, 1967, and brother Kenneth, 1968.

In Closing

Especially as this is our inaugural issue, we welcome suggestions and items for inclusion (and any corrections).

Editor

Art Engoron
The Wheatley School Class of 1967

Contact Art:

artengoron@gmail.com Tel: 646-872-4833

© Wheatley Alumni Association 2016

Graduates

1958 - Steve Nelson - “I’ve started a blog on Substack about topics related to human evolution past, present and future. I’ll be posting about once a week, as inspiration strikes. I hope you’ll check it out.

With Mount Everest in the news recently after the miraculous escape from death of a Nepali guide, my post this week is about surviving at high altitude and evolving to live there.

Next week: how fire became the foundation of human existence and fueled our evolution, until the Titanic struck an underwater mountain of ice.

The week after: when the Artemis II crew saw the Earth from space, they shared with all astronauts an evolutionary awareness about life on what Carl Sagan called that “pale blue dot.”

Who knows where I’ll go from there.

“Steve is a very innovative thinker.” – Julien Hennefeld, Wheatley ’58, Harvard ‘62

1959 - Nan Bauer-Maglin Writes - “I am announcing my new book: LOVING ARRANGEMENTS: Stories About Modern Living and Loving

Love songs and Hollywood romances make it all sound so simple: you find your soul mate, move in together, get married, never stray from the path of monogamy, and live happily ever after. But real life tends to be more complicated. Many couples pursue alternative living arrangements, and some even pursue alternative loving arrangements.

The twenty-nine personal essays in this collection offer a variety of perspectives and experiences with nontraditional relationships and forms of cohabitation. The contributors include married couples who live in separate cities and single people who find companionship through communes and cohousing. These essays also present varied outlooks on the practice and ethics of having multiple partners, with some embracing large polycules while others opt for ‘monogamish’ relationships. Everyone has a different story to tell, from close friends living together to form a chosen family, to couples navigating the shifting boundaries of their relationship as one partner begins a gender transition. With contributors across generations and representing the full ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States, “Loving Arrangements” demonstrates the myriad ways that we live and love today.

---------

Dr. Nan Bauer-Maglin, Professor Emerita

The City University of New York

nan.bauermaglin99@ret.gc.cuny.edu

212.260.0771

Widows’ Words: Women Write on the Experience of Grief, The First Year, The Long Haul, and Everything In Between (Rutgers University Press, May 2019)

Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60 (Rutgers University Press, January 2023)

Loving Arrangements: Stories of Modern Living and Loving (as of June 2026)

1965 - Roger Nierenberg - The Name Game

Lorraine Gallard Writes - “Dear Art: In a recent Newsletter, someone reminisces about ‘Rodney’ Nierenberg. The correct name is ‘Roger Nierenberg,’ though during high school we called him ‘Roddy.’” (((His formal name was “Roger”; his nickname was “Roddy,” not “Rodney” - AFE)

1974 - Cleo Cacoulidis - “I graduated from Wheatley in 1974 and have not kept up with anyone from high school days. Moreover, I have been living and working overseas for the last 18 years, so I’ve really not had much contact with New York, particularly Long Island, in quite a while. However, I recently learned that someone I once knew well died, also quite a bit ago, in July 2000. He would have also been in the Class of 1974, although he never graduated from Wheatley.

I hope that someone may have heard something about his passing or kept up with him over the years. I felt so sad to know that he died at only 44 years, and I’d like to know what happened. Anyone with information could contact me by email: CDC.CLEO@GMAIL.COM

His name was Frank A. Schwalbach, Class of 1974. He passed on 25 July 2000.

Fan Mail

1964 (Richard Ilsley) - ❤️

1964 (Davida Tunis Philips) - ❤️

1965 (Jeffrey Orling) - “Terrific!!!”

1966 (Lorraine Gallard) - “Thanks as always for the Newsletter. VI definitely enjoyed seeing the program for ‘John Brown’s Body’ in an earlier edition.”

1966 (Diana Noble Rubinger) - ❤️

1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - ❤️

1974 (Bob Berta) - “Hey Keith and Art----Always a great item to find in the email. Keep up the exceptional work.... always a good read......./s/ Bob Berta, Class of 1974

1978 (Val Gomes) - “Thanks again for all you do for all of us, Art.🌷”

1996 (Joshua Effron) - ❤️

2007 (Stacey Engoron) - ❤️

Non-Wheatley (MBDE) - ❤️

The Usual Words of Wisdom

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.

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

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 vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me, as TWSAA does not have a New Yorker style 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, performed, and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 272. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.

Art,Class of 1967