March 14
Executive Board Meeting

Events Schedule

Meetings Schedule

PROJECT HOPE
POSTED 1/1/2024
The following is a letter to ROBS members from Barbara Mascaro:

Hi Everyone,
Hope this email finds you and your families doing well! Just wanted to let you all know that we have had another successful Project Hope on behalf of the members of ROBS. Letty, our Chairperson took on three families this year. We know that the need is great and these three families will be having a blessed holiday season because of the kind and caring ways of the following people ... to Letty, what can we say except give our heartfelt thanks for your generous spirit, your excellent organizational skills, and of course, your beautiful wrapping and always going the "extra mile" to see that the families are well taken care of each year! To Lois, for always agreeing to assist Letty with the shopping ... you are truly a "special elf"! To Lori, thank you for choosing "just the right books" for each of the children ... your assistance with Project Hope is most appreciated! To Phyllis, for taking care of the food gift cards for the families Thanksgiving meal. To anyone who has ever donated to Project Hope ... we thank you, too! During this beautiful holiday season, we can be proud as an organization that we have done something special on behalf of three families from our Brentwood community! Wishing everyone happy holidays and peace and all good in the new year 2024! Bless your kind and caring hearts! Fondly, Barbara

HOLIDAY LUNCHEON
POSTED 1//1/2024
    We want to thank Valerie Vismale for organizing another successful event. This year the Holiday Luncheon was held on December 1, 2023 at the Irish Coffee Pub in East Islip. It was a festive occasion and a chance to "meet and greet" with our members, many of whom we hadn't seen since retiring. It was so nice to see such a wonderful turnout. Please select the link below to view some of the photos of the luncheon. You can also check out the Photo Gallery page for photos of previous events.
December Holiday Luncheon

SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/9/24
   On January 7, 2024, Lee Murphy, a retired clerical from the Brentwood Schools, passed away at the age of 85. She will be sadly missed by all.
Visitation:
Tuesday January 9, 2024
2-4:30 & 7-9:30 p.m
Raynor & D'Andrea Funeral Home
683 Montauk Hwy.
Bayport, NY 11705
631-472-0122
Funeral Mass: Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
10:00 a.m.
St. Luke's RC Church Brentwood, NY
Interment: Calverton National Cemetery
Calverton, NY
Raynor & D'Andrea Funeral Home
Obituary

Check Out Member Benefits

Why did we do it?
     What was our purpose in taking on such an open ended “History Project”; for which we evolved a script of questions and got answers from over 150 subjects for two decades?
     We couldn’t answer the question in 1994 when people would ask “What are you going to do with the interviews?” All we could say was that for educational purposes we had to document our record now or lose the chance to preserve so many poignant accounts, funny stories and touching tales told by exemplary educators. We knew these dedicated public servants might shortly, for reasons yet unknown, be leaving Brentwood for good.
     So, we decided to let time sort out the details. We began scheduling appointments. We asked questions and listened saving for generations the essence of what it meant to have been an educator or employed, in this large public school system during the second half of the 20th century. Brentwood remains an exemplar to all others; a diverse microcosm of America reflecting 124 districts on Long Island while simultaneously resembling thousands across the U.S. We’ve accomplished something here to be proud of. Whether we were interviewed or not, ours is a claim of service that few professionals in the State of New York or elsewhere have positioned themselves to share in the way we have.
     INITIALLY the practice of sitting with a subject for an hour and giving them a hundred percent focused attention seemed somewhat daunting to a number of friends and colleagues. So much so in fact that many declined our repeated invitations to speak with us as they left careers or retired from full employment. Despite all assurances that we were not about investigative journalism or invading privacy, they deferred. Now, twenty years after we began, some are saying they may be ready. “Better late than never” we say. However, to all among you who were willing to share not only your classroom experiences and personal stories, but precious memories from your lives along with your fondest hopes for the future, we say “Thanks”. Thanks for allowing us to continue the process by paying it forward as we share these interviews with the Brentwood community and countless professionals and researchers near and far. Through an acceptance of ROBS offer of collaboration with Archivist Dr. Geri Solomon and The Long Island Studies Institute at Hofstra University our History Project lives on in academia as well as in the collection of the Brentwood Public Library, thanks to Director, Thomas A. Tarantowicz.
   You can enjoy unlimited visits to www.robsny.org where you can watch and listen to segments from featured Interviews in the ROBS History Project Section on our Announcements Page each month. Return here to listen and learn again and again.

---