Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Reunion Deadline

It seems that several people have just awakened from a slumber that seemingly began at the beginning of the year, and have discovered that we are having a Reunion on Oct. 5.

To those Rip Van Winkles: I am sorry, but the deadline has passed, passed you right by.

The deadline for getting us your payments was extended twice, and we can no longer add on any more time. September 15 was the absolute, drop-dead date for payments, and none--and I mean none--will be accepted at the door.

Things have been ordered, we have to tell the caterer this weekend the amount of people coming, and well, you had your chance.

One person on Facebook said that I was "threatening" people when I told them that the deadline had passed, but quite frankly, where have these people been the last nine of more months or so?

The committee is meeting this weekend to iron out the final details, and if you are an attendee, and want to have any input into the Reunion, please send me an email at l_lapka@yahoo.com. I would be more than happy to present whatever you have to say to the committee.

So, for those who missed out, sorry, but you missed the boat.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Final Attendee List

OK, here is the final attendee list as of today, September 21, 2013.

I hope you see yourself on this list.

Arkin    Lori
Ashkenazy    Debbie and Hymie
Banks and Spieler    Heide and Barbara
Benson    David and Mrs.
Berman    Jay
Bernstein    Eileen
Blumberg    Beth
Blumenstein    Larry
Bokser    Andrew
Brandon    Nancy
Charney    Gary
Chelmow    Marcy
Cohen    Lenore
Cutler    Arthur
Dean    Daveen
Dobshinsky    Allen and Edie
Eagle    Len
Efran    Howard
Fagen    Craig
Fagen    Brian
Feiwus LoPresti    Martha
Field    Lori
Field    Husband, Son, D-In Law
Fishelman    Joyce
Fredericks    Diane
Gezzi    Debbie
Gezzi    Laura
Godnick (Staloff)    Debbie
Goland    Lois
Gold    Billie
Goldbeck*    Dan
Goldberg    Larry
Goldfisher Levy    Michelle
Goldman    Fred
Goldstein Schain    Linda
Goldstein Winokur    Robin
Gononsky    Gerald
Gorbacz-Daniel    Hilda
Greene    Michael
Greenstein    Alan
Grossman    Gerald
Gugick    Arthur
Heckelman Behar    Sheryl
Higgs    Susan and Guest
James-Jones    Patricia
Jones-Randall    Diane
Kalish    Janet
Kalish    Kenny
Kanter-Wenger    Andrea
Kanzer and Niecestro    Caryn and Robert
Kaplan    Stew
Kirsch Shayowtiz    Fran and Barry
Klein    Hedy
Kornhaber    Joan
Kronenberg    Mindy and Guest
Kurland    Miriam and husband
Kurzer    Paulette
Labow    Alan
Lapidus    Cindy
Lapka    Carl and Phyllis
Lapka    Larry, Elena and Joshua
Levenson    Jeff
Levy    Drew
Lobel    Elliott
Markowitz Jacobs    Seena
Mashin Grosseto    Laure
Mazur    Joyce and Wayne
Mazur    Mitchell
Meginsky    Karen
Mendel    Ira
Mintzer    Barry and Debbie
Mizrahi    David
Moskowitz    Hal
Neiman    Laura
Newstat    Joyce
Orzick Spiegel    Teri
Paige    Billy
Pernick    Joe
Perrick    David
Perry    Susan
Raskin    Deborah
Raskin    Joe
Reich    David
Reisch    Bruce
Rennert    Steve
Roemer    Ira and Bonita
Rose    Helene
Rosen Montesano    Noreen
Rosen Rosenblum    Arlene
Rosing    Larry and Stefanie
Rosoff    Jerry
Scherer    Robert
Scherlag    Gary
Schlussel    Stephen
Schlussel-Oppenheimer    Barbara
Schneider Wahrsager    Miriam
Schulman    Larry
Schuman Kline    Roberta
Schuman Labovsky    Maxine
Schwartz    Arthur
Schwartz    Mara
Schwartz    Norm
Seleznow    Steve and Louise
Sherman    Marc
Siegel Sanders    Ellen
Silberger    Monte and Linda (Freitag)
Slatnick    Linda
Smiley    Margo
Solow    Michael
Sprung-Werbel    Debbie
Srulawitz    Pamela, Helen and Linda
Starr    Anita
Starr Scarfone    Janet
Steinfeld    Trudy
Stolls    Michele
Trink Roffe    Shelley and Saul
Unknown   
Weinrib    Karen and Debra
Weinrib    Mark
Welovnick    Stephen
Williams    Pamela
Yatkowitz    David
Youngworth    David

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Coverage

Yes, what you may have heard, or what perhaps you will read here for the first time, is correct.

Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, is covering our little get together.

They will send out a reporter to the Lynbrook location on Oct. 5, and there will be a story on the event that will run in their Saturday Part 2--generally geared to Baby Boomers--on a future Saturday.

They will be the only news organization there.

Here is a post from the Rochdale Reconnection Facebook site introducing the reporter to the Reunion attendees.

Cara Trager is writing a story about Rochdale Village and Long Island residents who once lived in RV. If you live or have lived on Long Island and are interested in being interviewed for the article or want to find out more about the story first, please send Cara your name, phone number(s) and the best times to reach you. 

Her email address is: carastrager@gmail.com

I was interviewed by her yesterday, and we had a very nice conversation.

If you are interested, contact her immediately. Thanks.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Reunion Countdown



Today is the 17th of September, and as the days wind down in the summer of 2013, so does the amount of time we have before the Reunion.

We have 18 days to go before the biggest bash of the year is held in Lynbrook, Long Island.

If you are one of the approximately 150 who are going to this event, all I can say is "Thanks."

You knew that this would be something memorable, and you put your money where your mouth was and decided that this was a good investment.

For those who have not paid, you might have missed the boat here.

Yes, I know, $65 is a lot of money during these hard times, and many of us are not employed right now.

For others, you have conflicting schedules, or you live too far away to make the commute.

I understand, believe me I do, and I thank you for at least having interest in this event.

For those who are still sitting on the fence, time is a'wasting.

You must get your checks to the above address this week.

The P.O. Box is being closed on Saturday, so if you send your checks late in the week, they will come right back to you like a boomerang.

So if you have finally made the decision to attend, SEND YOUR CHECKS OUT TODAY.

Please send them to the above address ONLY.

I will check the Box each day this week, but we need a full head count ASAP.

I hate to be so somber and direct here, but we have been publicizing the Reunion for the entire year, and why it has taken some people so long to make a decision is beyond my, or the Committee's, comprehension.

If there is a problem, please let me know pronto. My email address is l_lapka@yahoo.com.

Thanks, and I hope to see you there on Oct. 5.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Lateness



Remember when you were a kid in Rochdale, and you were late for school?

You had to bring in a note from your parents, stating why you were tardy.

Yes, you had a doctor's appointment.

Yes, you overslept.

Yes, you weren't feeling well.

As long as mom signed that note, everything was OK.

Fast forward to the present time, and the deadline for sending payment for the Reunion was September 15.

That deadline has passed, yet people are actually deciding now to come to the Reunion.

The committee needs an accurate tally this week. We cannot accept checks past this week, and actually,  checks really should have been in already.

We need to tell the caterer how many people we are having at this event, and we can't have people sending in checks next week for this thing.

Here is the deal: if you have finally decided to go to the Reunion, and you have not yet sent in a check, I would do it RIGHT NOW, ON MONDAY.

I will be checking the box this week, but there will come a point where we will not be able to accept any late checks, as THE P.O. BOX IS BEING CLOSED THIS WEEK.

So please, SEND IN YOUR CHECKS TODAY, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16.

No, Mom can't help you this time ...

Friday, September 13, 2013

Friday the 13th



I don't know if you are superstitious, but today is Friday, September 13.

Yes, Friday the 13th.

This is supposed to be a day where if you are superstitious, you really watch yourself.

As a kid, you did not step on any lines on the pavement.

You did not walk under any ladders.

You kept your fingers crossed as much as you could.

Maybe you carried a rabbit's foot or a four-leaf clover on you on that day.

I don't have any real Rochdale anecdotes about Friday the 13th, because I am not a superstitious person at all.

But what I do know is that Friday the 13th marks just two days until you can get your checks to us to come to the Reunion.

Please get those checks to us as quickly as possible. The Committee meets again next week, and we really have to have our final headcount in place so we can alert the caterer as to how many people we are going to have.

No, you won't have bad luck the rest of your life if you aren't there, but you will miss out on the bash of the season, that is for sure, and probably the last large reunion of the Rochdale "kids" and others that will be held.

So please, send out your payments now!

Believe me, that will be the luckiest thing you do right now, because this is an event you do not want to miss!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Clothing

I am not much of a clothes horse, but there was a style of dress that we saw in Rochdale when we were kids.

The 1960s itself was a transitional period in dress. Just look at old TV shows and movies, and you will see us move from more formal attire to much more casual clothing as the decade played itself out.

So the years 1963-1975 were the real transitional wardrobe years in Rochdale, reflecting the times we lived in.

Kids dressed in dungarees and polo shirts early on, but later, that morphed into more free-flowing attire, certainly led by the emergence of such items as bell bottoms.



Bell bottoms certainly mirrored the time, and for many of us kids, they were so much preferred than the usual tighter pants, because you could get them on and off so easily, especially if you had your shoes on.

And the bigger the better. I think the big ones were known as "stove pipes," but I can't clearly remember.

And directly for the girls ...



Remember hot pants?

I guess they were kind of risque for the time, but to me, they were basically short shorts, shorter than the normal short.

But the girls loved them, and I guess us guys enjoyed them too, if you know what I mean.

Again, I don't know anything about clothes, but the styles were a'changing in Rochdale at that time, as they were in society, and Rochdale mirrored what was happening outside the gates, so to speak.

As for the Reunion, wear what you feel comfortable wearing, but take note of one very important thing:  many of the people you will be reconnecting with are probably people you haven't seen in decades. How do you want to appear to them after all that time?

No one will be turned away if they are wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but honestly, I would go with business casual, sort of dress-down attire that you would wear at work, so no suits, no ties, no gowns, nothing like that ... unless you are comfortable wearing those items.

Quite frankly, it is up to you to wear what you want at the Reunion, but wear something.

No nudes will be allowed in!