Athletics

Athletics were very important in Rochdale Village when we lived there.

Especially for the boys, it allowed us to compete against each other in friendly games, everything from baseball to softball to bowling.

And I can attest to the fact that it was lots and lots of fun!

I was in the Rochdale Village Athletic League from its earliest days in 1964, through its end in 1972. I was even in it when I didn't live in Rochdale anymore!

I think I played regular baseball first, then moved onto softball, where the competition, if anyone remembers, was pretty incredible.

I played for a variety of my friends' fathers, and I played for my dad, too. We won one or two softball championships during those years.

Below is a photo of Arnie Epstein. I played with him and his father, Julie, was my coach for several years.

I also bowled. The bowling league, first at United Rec (with the immortal Curt, telling us to "tern on the 'chines, yoo ken begin bowling) and then at Cardinal Lanes, was also extremely competitive.

Beyond the RVAL, there were many other sports, including Pop Warner football, which was also very, very popular, and roller hockey, which I believe was played in one of the playgrounds in Section 4, as was basketball, which was played "in your face" in that section.

I played just about everything in the RVAL, and I wasn't very good, but I loved to play.

I looked foward to those games every week, and every game was like the World Series to me.

One artifact I still have from those days is this video, which has been on YouTube for several years and has received nearly 1,500 hits.

It shows a different time in my life and our lives, and it is really a great time capsule for those years in both the RVAL and Rochdale in general.

For some reason, I can't embed a YouTube video on this blog, so if you are interested, simply paste this address in your browser to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuSm3ZS45Ks.

And sorry, girls, the RVAL's span was before Title 9. Girls at the time were not permitted in the RVAL as players, although many women worked in the background to get this thing going.

I remember one girl who would hang around our games. I can't remember her name, but she so wanted to play softball, but she couldn't because those were the rules at the time.

It was so sad, and I really felt for her.

And who could forget Mr. RVAL himself, Jack Kanner?

He took the game very seriously as an umpire and organizer, and I will never forget his scowl or his growl.

We played baseball and softball on first the dirt fields which soon gave way to I.S. 72, and later in the fabled gravel pit, where every ground ball was an adventure.

And those post-season RVAL award breakfasts--we had Ed Kranepool, Ron Swoboda and other Mets attend, and even though I was and still am an ardent Yankees fan, I was really impressed in meeting these athletes.

Anybody else have any fond memories of the RVAL or any other athletics in those days?

If you do, you can share them here and at the Reunion on Oct. 5, where you can see many of your old teammates again.

Don't hesitate; send in your check today!

Extension!

The Rochdale Village Reconnection Reunion Committee has extended the date by which payments must be made.

THAT DATE IS NOW SEPTEMBER 15, 2013.

This will be the final extension, because the caterer needs to know how many people will be attending.

If you are "on the fence" about whether you are attending or not, now is the time to make a decision.

Please send your checks for $65 each person attending to:

ROCHDALE VILLAGE RECONNECTION REUNION
P.O. BOX 49
MASSAPEQUA PARK, NEW YORK 11762

If you have any questions at all about the Reunion, simply scroll down to the previous posts--mostly the early posts--and I am sure your questions will be answered.

If you have any other questions, please email me at l_lapka@yahoo.com.

Lists of guests have been put up on the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/264933322680/

Thanks, and the committee hopes to see you there on Oct. 5.

Hobbies

Did anybody not have some type of hobby while they lived in Rochdale?

Everything from collecting comic books to dolls to baseball cards were some of the prime hobbies that we all had in Rochdale.

Others collected sports cards, some made lanyards, others somehow put together hundreds of gum wrappers gotten from wads of gum to make intricate chains.

They were all hobbies, and they filled our idle time.

With the boys, most of the time we were collecting comics or sports cards, primarily baseball cards.

We traded them, we flipped them, and some of the baseball cards wound up on our bicycles, flapping away as we rode our bikes from one end of the development to the other.

With girls, it was dolls, lanyards, those crazy gum wrapper chains, and some even collected teen magazines and comic books.

We were the generation that collected just about everything that wasn't nailed down, and I am sure that I didn't list all the hobbies that were prevalent in Rochdale at that time.

Talking about collections, bring your collective memories to the Reunion on Oct. 5.

While there, you can talk about your various hobbies, and how you would be a millionaire if you still had that Tom Seaver rookie card or that particular Barbie or Spider-Man comic book.

It's on Oct. 5, and if you need details, just scroll down and you will find what you are looking for.

Religious Education

Religion was a very big part of our upbringing in Rochdale.

Whatever our religion was, and no matter how religious we were, it was woven into the fabric of our old neighborhood.

I remember how many people I knew took religious training at Christ the King Church. They left during the school day, and I am sure they received a fine religious education from that institution.

Many of us were Jewish, and Rochdale offered every type of Jewish center and school to attend--Reform, Traditional, Conservative, Orthodox.

You really had your pick about what shul you would go to.

My family was Conservative, and my religious education was at Rochdale Village Jewish Center.

I have to say that I hated every moment of it.

Led by Mrs. Wechsler--we called her "Wacky," but she did mean well--I was a horror at that synagogue, not doubt about it.

And it wasn't just me, no, many of us were off the wall when we had our religious studies.

After a long day at regular school, we had to sit and learn even more in Hebrew School, and I just wasn't about to be able to sit still to do this.

However, somehow, I received my Jewish education, and like many of my Jewish friends, I had my bar mitzvah, a day I will never forget.

And I did learn things in that Hebrew school, in between the flipping of baseball cards and acting up. Yes, I am amazed that I was able to learn, even though I could not sit still.

And I won't ever forget those Hebrew school days, where it wasn't just me, but we all seemed to run amuck in the respective synagogues we attended.

Was it how we were, the time we lived in, or something else that would not let us sit still for one moment?

Relive those days with your friends at the Reunion. I am sure everyone has stories about their religious training, or lack thereof, to share.

TV Shows

We were the first generation to be raised on television.

No, I didn't say that our parents necessarily plopped us down in front of the TV and used it as a baby sitter, but we were the first generation that literally grew up with TV as a presence in our lives.

And once the 1960s came about, TV was our way to learn about the world we lived in.

There were so many great TV shows that came out of the 1960s, and certainly during our Rochdale experience, everybody has their favorites.

Situation comedies were part of our regular viewing, as were action shows, westerns, science fiction, the news, and certainly sports.

Some great shows that were originally on when we lived in Rochdale were "Batman," "Gilligan's Island," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Bewitched," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and later on, "All in the Family."

We loved those shows, we really did, and a lot of times, our first "water cooler" talks we ever experienced were in school after we watched one of those shows.

What happened? What would happen next? How silly was the show? Who was on the show?

These questions all came up the next day after a show ran the previous evening.

At the Reunion, you can talk about these shows, current programs, or really anything else that comes to mind with your old friends.

And yes, that is Batman carrying away a bomb so it does not hurt the population of Gotham City.

Since Gotham City actually represents Manhattan, what could Rochdale Village have been called in this alternate universe of the "Batman" TV show?

Just thinking out loud ...

Hair-Raising Tales

Hair is one of our most important attributes.

We comb it, brush it, wash it, color it, braid it, and often try to replace it, but it never is the same as it was in our childhoods.

And Rochdale had plenty of places that you could go for the latest mod hairstyle or 'fro.

My friends and I generally went to the barber shop in the first mall.

I remember it had mirrors and more mirrors on the wall, and if you looked at it just right, you could see the reflection of the mirror that was behind you in the mirror in front of you, making for an illusion of a scene that would never end.

And I remember two barbers in particular: Hyman and Miss Elsie.

Hyman cut my hair on a number of occasions.

He would hold your head literally in his hand from the top, as it you were in a vice.

He held it so tight that if you moved, your felt as if your neck would snap.

I know I had Miss Elsie maybe once or twice.

She was the only female barber that I can recall there, and I think she was specifically brought in to cater to those kids who wanted the latest afro hairstyle.

The other barbers were all old and old school, and I don't know if they could handle such a style.

I know that for the ladies, there was a beauty parlor in the first mall that my mom went to.

When I was little, I would accompany her there on occasion, and the place reeked of hair spray, probably Adorn.

I would leave there with her, and couldn't wait for the next shower.

There were also some places outside the development, but those are the two hair salons that I remember the most, err, fondly.

Maybe it was the Rochdale air, but today, I wouldn't mind Hyman or Miss Elsie working on my hair, or even having it done in the beauty parlor ...

That's if I had any hair to work with.

I am pretty bald on the top, and I swear that Hyman's vice grip had a lot to do with this.

Of course, the nasal ingestion of the hair spray vapors could have done it, but one thing I know for sure is that Miss Elsie had nothing to do with it at all.

Anyway, you can talk about your own hair-raising stories at the Reunion.

Hair, Hair, to a great Reunion!

School Days

Do you remember your days of school at P.S. 80, P.S. 30. I.S. 72, Springfield Gardens High School, and whatever other school(s) you might have attended while you lived in Rochdale?

Those were fun days, and they were difficult days too.

But that is where we were not only educated, but where we socialized, often meeting friends that we have kept to this day ...

Or friends that were special to us way back when but whom we haven't seen in years and years.

And that is what will make this Reunion extra special.

Funny, it has been my experience that when we meet up with friends like this, we speak with them without missing a heartbeat.

It's like the years evaporate before our eyes as we speak with them.

And I can almost guarantee that feeling at the Reunion.

By the way, the entire 1971 I.S. 72 Yearbook has been posted at the Rochdale Village Reconnection Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/groups/264933322680/. This photo posted here is just a sample of some of our schoolmates, kids we knew way back when.