Paul Williams Is Still Alive

Yes, he is still alive. He's been sober for over 20 years and still tours at age 76. The voice may have lost its depth and breadth but his personality shines through in a wonderful documentary:

Paul Williams Still Alive

You might recall:

An Old Fashioned Love Song covered by Three Dog Night


We've Only Just Begun covered by The Carpenters

Evergreen covered by Barbara Streisand 

Out In The Country by  Three Dog Night

Just in case you were wondering, the term a "Three Dog Night" comes from Australia. On cold nights the dogs are invited into the bedroom to provide warmth to their owners. On a particularly cold night three dogs would sleep in the bed.

In any event, if you want to feel the vibe from the 1970s watch the documentary. Paul Williams is an Academy Award winner, Grammy Award winner and is enshrined in the Song Writers Hall of Fame.





 

Helicopter 710

Thought back to the days of Fred Feldman and helicopter 710, while stuck in traffic on the Northern State Parkway on Long Island. There were 4 helicopters covering the traffic, which I could see. Overkill, maybe?

In my youth, on the little radio in the kitchen, there was only one helicopter pilot and that was Fred Feldman.  Here is his obituary from 20 October 1996:

"Fred Feldman, New York radio's first helicopter reporter who spent 16 airborne years monitoring traffic for rush-hour commuters and who invented the term ''rubbernecking delays'' to explain why they would be late for work, died on Friday at his home in Roseland, N.J. He was 63."

 It is amazing to compare our little kitchen radio which gave us school closings on winter days, and Fred Feldman's reports on the roads from his perch in Helicopter 710 on Monday through Friday.

There were not many helicopters reporting on traffic in those days, let alone in wind and snow. Fred did it for a long time and we appreciated his insight even if we we not on the roads he was reporting upon. He provided a soothing patter, as did many of the radio broacasters or the era.

Our mothers were at home and looking out their kitchen windows for trouble on the street. The calming voice of Fred Feldman was often in the background, as well as the generations of John Gamblings:

Rambling with Gambling:

Newsreaders

In Europe the people who give us the news on TV are called Newsreaders. 

In these United States, behind their backs the same people are sarcastically called
"The Talent." On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, these are the folks entrusted by 
government regulatory agencies with the obligation to speak free from ambiguity or 
evasiveness on the public air waves.

Megyn Kelly is not a nitwit. So why is she playing nitwit games? 

Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and John Chancellor were voices from the 1960s and 
1970s, we grew to trust as we watched them "by appointment" each evening on the national
news. When compared to the bunch of average intellects propelled by their looks, 
in our more modern age, and advertised on urban buses as people to listen morning,
noon, and night, this is a travesty.

This works for no one. 

 "And that's the way it is."

RHS in Cuba

Looking forward to the first RHS Reunion aboard a Carnival Cruise Ship to Cuba from Manhattan.

Just throwing an idea into the Internet. I expect this reality to be a potentiality in the Autumn of 2016. So sorry I won't be able to coordinate.

To everyone planning an RHS Reunion. Please imagine a change from the tired, "Let's go to a Football Game."

My concern for our teenagers and our pre-teens, can be summed up in a word: Concussions.

I predict RHS will eliminate the Ridgewood High School Football program within the next 7 years. My choice is to be on the safe side of living. I hope the establishment (Football coach and supporters) consider this a wake-up call.

It is a tough choice, and I will surely be flogged for my opinion. All the feedback will just give me the support I need to carry on.

Peace.

Cuba Allows First Cruise Ship

The Obama legacy will no doubt include the opening of relations with the tiny Communist island 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Today a cruise ship from Carnival was allowed to land. Hopefully, both sides will stand to gain from this momentous event. Yes, there were concessions but both sides win when conversations are allowed by government.

The cruise ship with roughly 700 passengers arrived in Havana with no incidents. I can hardly wait till I can take a cab to the pier in New York and travel freely to Cuba. Whether I leave the boat will depend upon the heat. :-)

This set of circumstances is huge. Not as large as the Internet but close.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/travel/us-cuba-cruise/index.html?adkey=bn

Summer of 1977

With today's high in the 80s I thought a picture from the summer of 1977 would be in order. Wildwood, NJ

Earth Day

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. What a hopeful time that was to be young and alive! We believed we could change the world with our thoughts and actions.

Earth Day remains a lofty set of ideas to possess and espouse, nothing in the years since Earth Day's inception has changed this fact. Despite all evidence to the contrary and millions upon millions in lobbying efforts to debunk the gentle genius that we have but one planet and that we ought to consider our impact thoughtfully and carefully. Call me a tree hugger if you will, I just prefer to exercise some caution in face of contaminated water in cities like Flint, Michigan or in the city schools of Newark, NJ. There are scores of other examples I could mention where a little common sense would have made all the difference.

On this day I will hope to preserve a sense of optimism and courage to call out the wrongs being done or that have been done to our planet. It keeps me going and will hopefully help keep us well on our planet for a long time to come.

Then and Now: Geraldo Rivera

It was sad to watch Geraldo Rivera last night on FOX News trashing the President. When Geraldo was starting out in the 1970s as a crusading reporting uncovering the atrocities at Staten Island's Willowbrook State School, Mr Obama might have suited his interests just fine.

This was a long time ago and plenty of silly things have transpired in his life in the interim. Who can forget his 1986 documentary on The Mysteries of Al Capone's Vault? Thankfully, most everybody can because nothing turned up on this live broadcast.

I don't recall if he posed for PlayGirl but there he is looking like a hunk next to the Astrology headline.

What won't people do for a buck these days? Geraldo had a start that most investigative reporters would have leveraged the rest of their lives to examine issues which might make a difference. Now he has expensive suits to pay for, 5 divorces to his credit, and five children to his name. Trash TV pays better than any expose' he might come across, and with his track record it doesn't take a Math expert to see he has bills to pay.

Disposable Workers 2016

There was no talk of this kind around the dinner tables or cocktail parties of my youth. Pensions were largely generous and of the defined benefit variety, colleges were affordable and required no loans which would follow students throughout their lifetimes, and their were numerous institutions which bound people of various educational and monetary backgrounds.

Now workers are the first thing which our investment bankers deem expendable. They figure with a little re-training that these bulwarks of the middle class will be fine, and will soon find jobs which pay almost as much as they made previously.

These same people who fill the volunteer positions which keep our society functioning without friction are now asked to make do with less and keep plugging the holes in our society's safety net. Kinda a tough job for limited satisfaction. The middle class is already working two jobs, and no mothers are around to greet their children when they come home from school. Or better yet, the mothers who used to fix us lunch when we came home. Today in Ridgewood every grade school has a cafeteria and an after school club where children study until their parents pick them up at 6 or 7 PM. What a long boring day! This is the resulting education for our next generation when their parents are considered disposable and just in need of some re-training.

Empty Seats at Yankee Stadium

What are the owners of the New York Yankees thinking? Every night the YES Network shows plenty of high priced seats with no occupants. Yes, some of these people are inside the numerous private bars watching the game on a big screen TV.

Though let's remember when the seats were cheaper, unionized ushers showed you to your seat and wiped it clean, rain or shine. The above picture is from 1961 in September when Roger Maris of the NY Yankees broke Babe Ruth's record for homers in a season. Please notice the empty seats.

When do people realize they are making insane amounts of money for producing a show which at one time was our National Pastime? Couldn't they just use their myriad of computers and make the seats cheaper earlier in the season when the weather is chillier?

I can't mention it enough: these high-rolling owners, trust-fund babies, and people with more money than they know what to do with, are clueless as to how they ought to promote the long term health of their business. Putting fans in the seats while their high-priced talent plays a game most folks would play for free, would seem to be a good idea. What gives? Lower the prices. Fans will eventually turn away and watch NetFlix or stream music on Spotify as opposed to paying ridiculous prices in April for entertainment they could just as easily record.

The Day The Music Died

I never knew American Pie had so many references.  Though as a parlor game in our Freshmen college dorm it was brought up on more than one occasion. We debated the meaning of the song endlessly, as we would have done in High School had we been closer in proximity. The song demanded it and we had the time to give. Yes, studying was important, though we had so few distractions at my four year residential college in the late 1970s, especially when it rained or snowed, that a digression into Don McLean's words usually ranked as a nice change of pace.

According to Don McLean:
 "American Pie" was the name of the plane that Buddy Holly went down in.

It makes perfect sense now, and all the 1960's references were added to give meaning to each and every word of his song.

Can you imagine how much meaning is given to each and every word of our popular music these days? Not much, I'm afraid.

American Pie was one of the first albums I ever bought. Albums mattered more in my childhood than they do now because the cost is a larger proportional part of my income. 

Now I can stream the entire pantheon of modern music from Spotify for a monthly fee. The math is too obvious! Thank you, Gene Ricci.

This choice in favor of streaming over buying would have been an obvious decision as a teen, if it had been available. 

Don McLean wrote those most memorable words in response to the frustration he felt at the time. To tell the truth not much has changed. We are more divided as a nation now than when Buddy Holly's plane went down on that cold winter's night, or even when Don Mclean penned these words more than a decade later, and he put them to music.


The lyrics of American Pie. 

A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend
Oh and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
They were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die 

Opening Day

After years of chasing away young Baseball fans by scheduling games at night, it appears Major League Baseball is learning the error of its ways. I couldn't believe it when I switched on ESPN to see a 1PM game on a Sunday.

I still recall afternoon World Series games beginning at 1PM, and all the pleading and excuses we made to our teachers to let us listen to the game on our transistor radios. Nobody questioned why the game was played in the afternoon, only that it was a tradition. It was when Ridgewood resident, Bowie Kuhn, succumbed to the lure of big television money, that the World Series and the Playoffs were moved to evening time. Here is a picture of him, no doubt wearing thermal underwear, during the 1979 Series in Pittsburgh, PA. He appears to me when you look at his hands that he wishes he had brought some gloves.

Nobody realized at the time what an incredibly self-defeating idea the shift of Major League Baseball (MLB) from the afternoon to the evening would turn out to be, and that multiple generations of fans would be lost for a short term profit. There were short term profits made but that was only because the owners of Baseball teams believed the Nielson ratings were accurate, and were the best indicator of their future fortunes as owners.

None of the owners remain who weighed in on this momentous decision. If they are in heaven now, I would guess they rue the day they moved MLB to the evening. I know that I certainly do, and will only forgive when the World Series and Playoffs are returned to daytime audiences.

Let's be clear, I love all the additional excitement of the extended playoffs which carries the season well into October and sometimes November. My problem is two fold: The 161 game season is too long and there are not enough playoff games played in daylight.

You would think that after MLB ridded themselves of all the ugly, multipurpose synthetic turf ballparks that they might have learned a significant lesson about America's past time. But no cigar. Look at the old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh:

Pity the ball player who fell on this concrete surface. Or the ones in Philadelphia, St. Louis, or Atlanta.
 
MLB still subscribes to the old totem that they will make more money with games ending well after midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. The joke is now on them as we all tend to tape late games and don't watch any commercials at all!

They might as well play the games when the fans, and the future fans, are awake.

RIP Bowie Kuhn.

Classic Advertisements

We were a captive audience with no "second screens" (cell phones) to distract us, or begging us to comment upon what we were viewing. The commercials were the price we paid for not getting up to mute the sound or change the channel. In our house we took turns choosing the TV show from among the seven we were able to pull in via our roof's antenna. Each person watched for a half an hour then someone else got to choose.

This commercial for Coca-Cola made a huge impression by capturing the mood of the time. The people were young and singing about wanting to buy the world a coke and live in perfect harmony. The advertisement has been brought back a few times for nostalgia purposes but never has the same impact it did when we first heard it. That's probable true of most things and especially this commercial. We didn't hear it as nostalgia. It was a real sentiment, a hope for a better day. This was an American Dream, admittedly not the loftiest of goals though living and singing in harmony sound pretty good to me these days.

                                                                                

What I Would Say To The RHS Distinguished Alumni

I have a stand-in giving my speech on March 10th. They asked me in the first place because I nominated my classmate, Stephanie Jones. Here is what my pal Siobhan (Thanks, Siobhan) will say:

Stephanie,

So sorry that I couldn’t be here tonight to say these words myself and to revel with you and your father, the Good Judge, on this most joyful occasion.

We all know it’s not everyday that RHS honors their Distinguished Alumni, though I can safely predict that this will not be the last of these events. It’s clear to me that the RHS Alumni support their newly formed Alumni Association and that the Board of Trustees are truly dedicated to furthering important activities such as these Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Now I would like to tell you all why I nominated Stephanie Jones RHS Class of 1977 for this award and am so pleased that she is receiving it here tonight.

Even if you have met Stephanie only one time in your life then you will understand when I say she is a memorable individual. The enthusiasm, good cheer, wisdom, and compassion come pouring out of her all the time. This is not an act. She is 100% true and a single meeting always confirms this fact.

Let me give just one example from among the many which typify the kind of person Stephanie is and why she is deserving of our recognition. I realize one instance does not always make the case, but Stephanie’s sustained and steady appreciation for her parents and all they have done for her throughout her life does speak very highly of her. In addition, she lives the lessons her parents taught her. Among these lessons are a ready show of empathy and kindness, especially to the weak and needy, and a preparedness to do the hard jobs in life no matter who is watching.

In my opinion, this all amounts to the kind of integrity which makes for a role model, as well as a touchstone upon which we can verify the quality of our own beliefs for authenticity.

Please understand me when I state that we all can be very proud of the honor we are bestowing upon Stephanie Jones this evening.

Thank you.

Paul McCubbin, RHS Class of 1977

Was Life Better in the Old Days?

In a word, no. It was just different.

The site of the first crocus in late winter fills me with the same gladness no matter the time or place. The crocus reminds us all that the harsh realities of winter will soon be gone. We may receive another snow or two but none will last.

There's chatter in the press that:

"Men are four times as likely to kill themselves as women. What has gone wrong?"

I have no idea how scientific these claims are, only that they make good headlines and are the basis of Donald Trump's campaign of fear and loathing.

The old chestnut about the good old days has been around for a long time. Hard to say if it ever has been true. I look at the big picture and accept today's reliability of the internal combustion engine, the general availability of electricity, chemicals and pharmaceutical products, and just admit to myself that things aren't so bad. Yes, we are always one atom bomb or incurable virus away from armageddon. Yes, the stresses of today's world are made all too true by our media and their reporting on presidential candidates who are overly self-involved, often vain and selfish. This all can't take away from the fact that I saw my first crocus today while out walking my dog. Those two pleasures have been true and much more valuable to me, whether they have occurred while I was growing up in the suburbs or now while living in an outer borough of New York City.

I can't fix stupid but I can enjoy life's subtle pleasures.

Remembrances of Ridgewood in the 1960s

Bill Nelson, Class of 1974:

This computer screen has brought me back to yesterday
To a place I left behind so long ago
All the faces places memories that I hold dear
Are here again for me to come back to know

Oh Ridgewood days will never leave my memory
Mount Carmel Somerville and Ridgewood High
And once again my heart has come to see
What really made one be a Ridgewood guy

But Time has always been an enemy and a friend
It waits for no one and it never will
We are all given only so much we can spend
Before we have to walk over that eternal hill

So heres to all you people who have shared time with me
and to those who have left us now behind
I will always remember back when we were free
And Forever you all will stay Gentle on my mind

Charitable Giving and the Fabric of America

No question that our country's long held belief in giving time and money to charities is part of the fabric of these United States.

I can recall many examples, which I saw and was involved with at a young age, including my parents participation in the PTA (Parent Teachers Association), the Boy Scouts, the Upper Ridgewood Community Church, and our elementary school's Safety Patrol.

It was not out of the ordinary to be associated with altruistic and community-based organizations during my youth. Philanthropy was not a word we thought much upon while we were doing our civic duties.  Though in fact, these efforts were crucial in making Ridgewood such a special place for children and adults to have grown up and raised families.

Now I must remind you all that many remarkable things have come about in our time, as well as the times we spent in Ridgewood, through the aggregation of our dispersed efforts towards charitable giving.

Everyone of the Distinguished Alumni we are honoring on March 10th 2016 have held a strong belief in the wisdom of villages like Ridgewood having common goals. These Distinguished individuals, living and dead, maintained a responsible stance regarding the use of common sense towards advancing public goals. With great pride I can report our Alumni Association will justifiably honor these most ethical individuals with portraits in the main lobby of Ridgewood High School.

My wish now is that the better angels of our nature will prompt vigorous support of the collective works of our Distinguished Alumni. Please contribute by attending the Ridgewood High School Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony on March 10th 2016 or making a generous donation to the RHS Alumni Association.

If you would like to make a donation to support this effort or the general fund, please do so online at rhsalumniassociation.org.

RHS Distinguished Alumni

Stephanie Jones will be accompanied by her Dad, Nathaniel Jones, a retired judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as she accepts an award, along with 4 others, on March 10th for being RHS Distinguished Alumni. If you haven't been back to RHS in a while there is a spot near the front doors where pictures hang of the previous winners. Stephanie and the newest members of this cohort will be honored with a dinner at the Park West Loft in Ridgewood beginning at 7PM.

Tickets are available at http://www.rhsalumniassociation.org

 

The rest of the honorees:

Steven C. Mannion, Class of 1986

Kimberly Parsons Daub, Class of 1985

Sybil Space Gibson, Class of 1940

Elizabeth Hawes, Class of 1921

There's No Place Like Home

Wherever you call home now, there once was a time in your life when Ridgewood was that home. As the old joke saying goes, home is the place when you show up they have to take you in. I am exaggerating, of course.

The point is that now our old home is an easily avoidable frustration. One that we only visit in our minds and can leave as quickly as we begin to think about something else. "But oh, that magic feeling" never strays far in our thoughts.  How could it?

Where you grow up and call home influences you for the rest of your life. Might as well get used to it and try just to recall the good stuff. There are always good memories of home, if we allow ourselves to believe in them.

Happy New Year!

Meadowlark Lemon RIP

Before the National Basketball Association was on TV 24 hours a day, there were the Harlem Globetrotters television specials and even a Saturday morning cartoon which featured their voices. The Globetrotters were funny and very athletic. They inspired us to go outside and try to do the moves they did. Though it only took a minute of trying to realize these guys were athletes and had practice long and hard to master the techniques they performed on TV and in person around the world.

Meadowlark Lemon was their leader in those days. He was famous for half court hook shoots and for making the lives of his opponents miserable, with his large hands, hugely long arms, and comic persona which everyone had to at least smile at. His opponents really had no chance and nobody cared it was scripted like Professional Wrestling.

According to the Internet:

"Lemon played 24 seasons and by his own estimate more than 16,000 games with the Globetrotters, the touring exhibition basketball team known for its slick ball-handling, practical jokes, red-white-and-blue uniforms and multiyear winning streaks against overmatched opponents."

As a viewer and fan of the Globetrotter art form, it has taken the passing of one of their leaders to cause me to reflect upon the tremendous service they did for society. Do youngsters today even know how he is and how much we looked forward to seeing him on our small TV screens? In an age when we were still coming to grips with segregation of blacks and whites, Meadowlark Lemon broke down barriers and made it okay to laugh at a team of hapless white guys being outplayed by all sorts of means in basketball by a talented group of Ambassadors of Good Will. That was the message and the moral of their story, repeated thousands upon thousands of times. It's as important today and in the future as it ever was when Meadowlark was preaching its gospel.

Beatles Are Streaming!

Whatever you believe, the fact that the Beatles are now streaming on Spotify is a good thing.

Apologies to Taylor Swift, but she is 100% wrong about withholding her so-called music from Spotify. It was all a public relations stunt and the last gasp of the 20th Century music moguls to keep their customers buying overpriced CDs. I much prefer to rent all the music in the world for $9.99 a month to paying $15.95 of a CD of a single artist.

Hello, this is basic math.

Books Read in our Youth

 The books we read in our youth contain the fables, metaphors, and lessons we carry with us the rest of our lives. At this point in my life to go back and investigate the likes of Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald gives me great satisfaction, as it does for many I presume.

The same cannot be said of newspapers. I don't know when they became a seemingly guilty pleasure, but they are now. Maybe when they became $3.00 on the newsstand and the old newspaper boxes were sent to warehouses and converted to other uses. I still read the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal and even have them delivered to my apartment building. The Times, "The Gray Lady", remains a link to my youth and a source of opinions and news from around the world for me.

Here's the opening paragraph of a 1951 Life article entitled "The Gray Lady Reaches 100":

The Old Gray Lady will celebrate her 100th birthday this Sept. 18. The "lady" is a newspaper -- the New York Times -- regarded by many in the world at large (and all within its own world) as the world's greatest. And newsmen generally hail it as "old" and "gray" by way of acknowledging its traditional special marks: starch conservatism and circumspection.

I support the term circumspect but not starch conservatism. I am wary of the risks that some politicians would like to take with our society's safety net and I am firmly in support of government being the mechanism to regulate the greedy, educate our children, build our roads, and provide for the common defense. These ideas cannot be produced and maintained by any private entity. The more people sit back and rail against the poor, malnourished, and ill-educated who are rapidly becoming a majority, the more I find solace in firebrands like John Steinbeck.

 I can also take comfort from reading Fitzgerald who is mostly remembered for the elegance of Gatsby but who was really critiquing a time similar to our own today. The huge parties and the vast income disparity can be seen on today's Long Island just as clearly as Fitzgerald described it so eloquently. He may have been an actor taking part in these outrageous events, especially when he came into money for The Great Gatsby. Though this takes nothing away from what he was writing about and the heartfelt reflection it contains.

July Weather on Christmas Day

Today is Christmas. I can never recall a temperature prediction quite like the one we are receiving: highs in the 70s. Today I will be in Ridgewood to visit relatives and I will be wearing shorts. In honor of the weather here is a Vintage Bergen County photo of Graydon Pool taken in the early 1960s. It is Graydon the way I remember it: filled with people, and much less manicured than today's pool. Graydon was a place to go for hours at a time, in an age when mothers stayed at home, and there wasn't air conditioning in every house and a pool on every block in town. We went to Graydon to escape the heat and see how other people had fun in the water.

Ridgewood (NJ) High School Alumni Association

James Stroker Retirement After 35 Years in Ridgewood Public Schools

It nice to remember that I was in Ridgewood Public Schools and James Stroker was around. Forty years have gone by and while I was away Jimmy Stroker was doing what he had always done: teach life lessons through sports.

I remember him well as an athlete and as an umpire doing the Summer Recreation Softball season. He called a good game, usually alone, but always in command of the diamond, never out of position, or made an errant call. I would have known if he had missed one as I stood in front him pitching, while he called balls and strikes and made the final decisions on all the bases. He was completely impartial and at the same time had a nice smile and demeanor. It was a job for the summer and one he executed with the utmost professionalism.

Yes, life was simpler in those days on the baseball diamonds that are no longer in town. The old dusty ball fields with patches of grass and swamps of mud in the outfield after a good rain have long ago been supplanted by well-cared for fields. In some cases, artificial turf has been installed and no rock strewn infields remain. All we have, as usual, are the memories, and as we grow older a reasonable certainty that our past ways of playing were just as good as that which passes on these new fields. The difference now being we won't have James Stroker on the field as much, and we might not have the opportunity to learn something about life by just watching him doing his job.

RHS Distinguished Alumni Award 2016

The Ridgewood High School Alumni Association is currently accepting nominations for this year's Distinguished Alumni event. The event will take place on Thursday, March 10th, 2016. The deadline for nominations is January 23rd, 2016.

Please submit all nominations via the website (RHSalumniassociation.org) under the Contact Us section. Please make sure to include the full name of the graduate, year of graduation and a brief write up detailing the person's distinguished achievements. Any questions or inquiries can be sent directly to info@rhsalumniassociation.org.

Claire Eddins, Author

Coming soon to a bookstore near you and of course to Amazon. Don't let the pen name fool you. This is Claire Talbot of the class of 1977.

From the book jacket:

"First in a delicious new mystery series about Eva Knox and her family’s Georgia olive plantation.

In the sweet Southern town of Abundance, Georgia, home of the Knox family’s olive farm, gossip isn’t the only thing that can kill you...

After leaving a man at the altar for the second time in her life, Eva Knox decides to head home to her family’s plantation to regroup and soak in some Southern charm. But hiding from her woes is a slipperier proposition than Eva imagined. For one thing, most people in town still haven’t forgiven her for leaving local boy Buck Tanner at the altar and hightailing it up north eighteen years ago. For another, a death on her family’s farm soon makes her the lead suspect in a murder case—and the sheriff investigating is none other than Eva’s old flame Buck.

With the police putting the squeeze on her, it’s up to Eva and her sisters, Pep and Daphne, to figure out who could have possibly left a dead body in their olive grove. And they’ll have to catch the greasy killer quickly—because it looks like Eva has been picked as the murderer’s next victim..."

RHS Class of 2016

At a recent lunch welcoming back the class of 2016, the RHSAA registered the class on our new website: http://RHSAlumniAssociation.org

Turkey Bowl 2015

These old pals of mine have been playing this game at or near Glen School for over 50 years, since they were kids. The players have mostly changed but the non-contact, comradery remains intact. In an age where day by day we learn the truth of what the contact version of football is doing to people's brains long after they have taken off their football pads for good, it's quaint to say that these guys probably are not risking too much other than some sore muscles.

11th Annual Ridgewood (NJ) High School Alumni Art Show

From the Ridgewood Blog:

11TH Annual Ridgewood High School Alumni ART SHOW!

Call for Entries: 11TH ANNUAL RHS ALUMNI ART SHOW
The RHS Department of Fine & Applied Arts will host the eleventh annual Alumni Art Show. The works being shown will be of those created by artists after graduating from RHS.

Entries are due in the RHS Arts office by Wednesday, December 9.
Questions may be directed to the Department of Fine & Applied Arts at 201-670-2800, ext. 20542, or by email to Arts Supervisor Chris McCullough (cmccullough@ridgewood.k12.nj.us).

The show will be mounted in the Carroll Art Gallery, Room 137.  An artists’ reception will be held on Thursday, January 7 at 7 p.m.

All students, alumni, friends, family and staff are invited to the reception as well as to view the exhibition during school hours.
Event information and other news is continually updated on the Arts at Ridgewood Public Schools Facebook page,  www.facebook.com/TheArtsatRPS

Class of 1970 Announces Plans for a 50th Reunion in 2020

News from my old neighbor in Ridgewood, Judy Schoneman Beirne:

RHS Class of 1970, 45th Class Reunion is now a fond memory.... and what a wonderful memory it is!

     Fifty-five classmates gathered to laugh and recall wonderful times at Ridgewood High School and the old neighborhoods on Saturday, October 10, 2015.  The gathering at Double Tree in Mahwah, NJ was a success! About the same number of some different faces gathered at the Elks Club on Friday night for a more casual event.  Again, although damp, a success!   Alas, the tailgate was rained out, but Chuck's RHS varsity football team managed to cream Clifton (30-14)!  Besides those opportunities to meet and greet, I know small groups walked through town and met at friend's homes or familiar restaurants; a tour of George Washington (now) Middle School, a gathering of Willard friends and another for Ridge, HoHoKus friends united, several outings to The Fireplace, ice cream at VanDykes, and familiar, yet classic delis and diners were revisited. Saturday was so clear you could see the cables on the GW bridge from Crest Road as well as the new World One Tower!  Thank you to those who came out to help us celebrate!
     Even if you were not able to attend in person, you have the opportunity to see your classmates through some of the photos we captured from the weekend.  Please enjoy (and tag yourself in) the photos on our Facebook page.  Also updated, is our Shutterfly website initiated 5 years ago for our 40th reunion.  Relive the pictures from then and check out the new photos recently added. You may download pictures from the Shutterfly site and/or you can add your own!  This site also has the added feature of a conversation page.  Let's start a dialog of what you would like to see at our 50th and what you enjoyed about the 45th. Or start your own conversation and let's keep it going!  Stay well so that we can do this again in 5 years!

SAVE THE DATE: 10/10 in 2020 for our 50th Reunion!

Halloween

Found these thoughts on FaceBook written by Robert Eisenhardt an RHS graduate from the 1970s.

"There was a time when we were young, and our parents trusted the world. We would be dressed up in costumes, often made last minute by our elders, and just let out into the local neighborhood to collect candy. That was all there was too it. We came back alive and looked forward to the next year when we would tramp those same streets through odd leaf piles and wonder what was ahead of us. Then ... one year ... we decided to pass it all by and at that moment, we began to grow up. Such was Halloween."

I would like to add that often times the costumes were made at the last minute and took the form of a hobo. It was easy to grab one of our father's old hats, rub charcoal on our faces, and stuff leaves into our shirts as if we had just awoken from a nap in a leaf pile. I think it was the simplicity of the effort which captured our fancy, running around the neighborhood with our friends gathering candy from all our neighbors without a thought as to what might be hidden behind the doors of the houses we visited. If the lights were on we came to visit. We knew that after a while people turning their lights out meant they were out of candy.

RAHP (Ridgewood Academy of Health Professionals)

This is exactly the sort of program I envision the RHS Alumni Association creating, sponsoring and providing volunteers for. Until today I had never heard about this program for students interested in health care professions. It is in its 10th year. Please read:

"Dr. Earl Wheaton, RHS '46, returned to school to talk with Caroline Richards' (RHS '91) current 10th grade RAHP students about medical ethics. Dr. Wheaton, who helped initiate a medical ethics department at Valley Hospital spoke about the need for such a department and how doctors and staff use four basic principles to negotiate tough ethical decisions regarding patient care. Here he explains the possible scenarios one might consider as he or she fills out an advance directive. The issue of medical ethics connects to the 10th grade curriculum through four texts - Flowers for Algernon, Frankenstein, Better and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - as students try to answer the overarching questions, "Just because we can do something, should we?" and, "What responsibilities do we have to those to whom we commit ourselves?"

RAHP (Ridgewood Academy of Health Professionals) is a three year, interdisciplinary program for students who think they might be interested in the health care professions. Students enjoy group explorations to Valley Hospital and 1:1 mentorships with its professionals, as well as integrated English, science and health classes. The program is celebrating its tenth year."