IMPORTANT DATES

SAD SHARING
POSTED 12/2/15
     Anthony (Tony) DeMarco passed away Monday, November 30th after a long illness. The wake will be at Grants Funeral Home. Coram, NY on Friday, Dec 4th 2-4 and 7-9. The address for the funeral home is 3640 NY-112, Coram, NY.
      Condolences can be be sent to Charlotte (Deschamps) DeMarco at:
510 Venetian Blvd.
Lindenhurst, NY 11757
     The following is a beautiful tribute to Tony written by his wife and our colleague, Charlotte DeMarco. It also appeared on Facebook:
     Tony DeMarco 1933-2015 Anthony (Antonio Franklin) DeMarco, Tony as he is known to friends and family, lived life to its fullest. An active skier (nearly 100 days in the past year), hiker, and story teller, he was obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge and the opportunity to teach others. Tony greeted life with a smile and a hug. Tony masked his long parallel battle with various cancers which finally took his life at 82 years young.
     Tony was born on October 5, 1933 in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of 4 children born to Italian Immigrants, Annamaria Giannini DeMarco and Pasquale DeMarco. He grew up in Boston and began his career working at the Ford Motor Company, until he was drafted into the Army in 1953. After returning to the Ford Motor Company as a Korean Veteran, he took advantage of the GI Bill and was the first in his family to attend college being accepted to Boston University in 1958. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Education in 1962 quickly making up for lost time.
     Tony is survived by his wife, Charlotte DeMarco, whom he met and fell in love with while teaching in the Brentwood School District. During his 40 years in Brentwood he was a Junior High School Wrestling Coach, a Junior High School Math and Science teacher, an innovator of the IPS program, a High School Physics Teacher, a Math Lab Consultant and a Computer Lab Consultant.
     He loved his family and was a father and grandfather to his large extended family. His extended family built a vacation retreat on Queechy Lake in the Berkshire Mountains creating many memorable moments. After retiring, Tony and Charlotte spent the winters in Salt Lake City where Tony skied most every winter day in the Wasatch Mountains of Snowbird, Alta, Solitude and Brighton. From June to December he chose to reside in Canaan, NY, and on Long Island, New York where he had time to reacquaint with family and longtime friends.
     Tony is one of the most giving persons to all. He loved sports and was a dedicated runner, running the NYC Marathon in under 3 hours. He loved gardening, dancing, cabinetry, carpentry, reading, tutoring family members in science and math and spending time with friends. Tony had the most generous, loving heart and touched many lives with his presence. His family and friends will always be thankful for the gift that is his life.
     In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Tony and Charlotte DeMarco Scholarship Fund managed by the Brentwood Union Free School District in Brentwood, New York.
     For all whom have loved him, there will be a memorial service honoring him in the coming months (details to follow).
Friday, December 4
2-4 and 7-9
Michael J Grant Funeral Home
3640 NY-112, Coram, NY 11727
(631) 696-0909
Saturday, December 5
2-4 and 7-9
Yannantuono Burr Davis Sharpe Funeral Home
584 Gramatan Ave
Mount Vernon, NY
914 -699-4010
Tony will be buried in West Stockbridge, Ma.

TEACHERS ARE AMAZING
POSTED 12/7/15
The following is an article that appeared in Upwarthy about "11 times teachers totally blew us away with love for their students".

If children are our future, what does that make teachers?
By Evan Porter
November 25, 2015
     I think we'd all agree that the people in charge of teaching the next generation are pretty important. Yet educators are still under-appreciated and underpaid. Thankfully, that doesn't stop them from being amazing.
     Not a day goes by that we don't hear an incredible story of a teacher going way above and beyond for her students. They pay for supplies out of their own pockets. They work extra hours to help kids who are falling behind.
     And that's not even the half of it.
     Here are 11 times teachers completely blew us away with their creativity, generosity, and passion for the job.

SAD SHARING
POSTED 12/13/15
     Kay Dillian, retired teacher from Twin Pines and Pine Park Elementary Schools, passed away on December 10, 2015. Her obituary that appeared in Newsday can be viewed online here.
www.legacy.com

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GARY MINTZ 21ST ANNUAL 5K RUN
POSTED 12-17-15

SAVE THE MODERN TIMES SCHOOLHOUSE
POSTED 12/21/15

(Enlarge Photo)
     One focus of the Brentwood Historical Society is the preservation and restoration of the original octagonal, one room school house which was built in 1857 and remained in use until 1907. The Modern Times octagonal schoolhouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Ellen Edelstein, president of the Brentwood Historical Society, just got word that Sen. Boyle got them a $50,000 grant to start stabilizing the building. Now they need to raise enough money to match the funds and keep going.
     Please help them save this iconic piece of Brentwood history. You can donate through its crowdfunding site or you can mail a donation to the Brentwood Historical Society, 34 Second Ave., Brentwood, NY 11717. Thank you!

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.
   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.

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Richard Edwards
High School English Teacher
     Richard Ernest Edwards was born in the Bronx to parents of English and Irish decent. His family moved to Westbury when he was five. His earliest memories come from that time. Miss Bradley was a teacher from Westbury, on whom he had a powerful crush. When she married he refused to call her by anything but Miss Bradley for the rest of that year. He was “crushed” that she didn’t wait for him to grow up and marry her. The family eventually moved to Brentwood when his paternal grandfather came to live with them and they realized they needed more room.
     Rick was about twelve when he entered the 6^th Grade class in the Village School Annex, the building now housing the local history wing of the Brentwood Public Library. His parents died when he was 19 (his mother of cancer), and his father of a heart attack when Rick was 20, shortly after his mother’s passing  Rich was the oldest of three siblings with both brothers having become educators, Pete was a high school Principal and Chuck, a teacher on Florida’s educational TV. Rich’s family consists of four children, Dawn, Steven, Ryan and Meagan with Nicholas a grandchild who was 2 at the time of our interview on June 22, 1998 the year he retired.
      Some memories of Brentwood include playing football on the grounds of the Cemetery in St Joseph Academy. His friends and he couldn’t understand why the Sisters objected to their playing football amidst the headstones where the grounds keepers would often chase them from the property. He remembered sneaking into occasional horse shows held there for “the rich girls” where he and his friends would get dressed up to mingle with guests, passing for family members, knowing there would be free food. 
     Rich entered Ross Building for the first time as a 7^th grade student There were fewer than 200 graduates from Ross the first year. He said his class had about 225 grads. Among his classmates were Eli Acosta, Chico Frankel and Ron Guzman. Two of his fondly remembered mentors were Ruth Rosenthal, and Dick Simmons both of whose dedication and impact on his life he praised endlessly. He remembered Jack Zuckerman, Mary Rufino, Les Black, Joe Hogan, Mike Fasullo, Tony Felicio and especially Fred Weaver who interviewed him for the job and helped get him a deferment during the Vietnam Conflict by writing a letter to the draft board. He remembered there being much more school spirit when he was a student jock, perhaps because there was only one High School and it was smaller then. He remembered the “Warning Bells”, walking on the right side of the stairs and hallway and the Hall Patrol which had more authority when he was a student. He was a mediocre player on the basketball team who was eventually cut from the team. He aimed instead for the ¼ mile and ½ mile track competition where he excelled and became Suffolk County Champion
     His first job had been that of paper boy delivering the L.I. Press to the old houses near the High School. Early on, he knew he wouldn’t like commuting to the City like his father so he thought to become a teacher to avoid that fate. That’s when Dick Simmons became an important influence in his life and with his guidance Rick got a Track scholarship to Syracuse University. He matriculated to attend Adelphi, St John’s University and Stony Brook while teaching in Brentwood,  Applying to Sachem, Bay Shore and Brentwood, he was accepted by all three but chose Brentwood over the others. He began teaching in1968 for a first year salary of $6,200 the year Bobby Kennedy visited Brentwood.     

The Town Crier" was set up a number of years ago so that the retirees of the Brentwood School District could have an email center to stay in touch. Since I began to send out all sorts of information, retirees from all over the country have sent me their email addresses. Some have asked, "Do you have any idea where so and so is?" Others have sent proud news of their accomplishments, their family news, photos,etc. and sadly, we often get bad news. Many retirees whom I have never met write me to thank me for keeping this connection going, as everyone remembers the Brentwood years with warm feelings.

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