IMPORTANT DATES

SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/5/14

     Thomas O'Connor, who retired from Sonderling High School in 1992 as a social studies teacher, passed away on Saturday, January 4.
       Tom will be waked on Monday, Jan. 6 at the Overton Funeral Home, 172 Main Street, Islip from 2-5PM and 7-9PM. Funeral Mass is Tuesday, 10:45AM at St Mary's RC Church, East Islip. Interment, Queen of All Saints Cemetery, Central Islip.
View Newsday Obituary

THE WHITE HOUSE - 2013: A YEAR IN PHOTOS
POSTED 1/6/14

     The White House Photography Office picked out some of the best photos from the past year to give the viewers an inside look at the presidency -- and some of the best moments from 2013.
     Click here to check out the photos from 2013.

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HONORING IVY ROSENTHAL
POSTED 1/7/13
     The Brentwood School District will be having a renaming ceremony of the Ross Tennis Courts in honor of Ivy Rosenthal who was Brentwood's first Women's Tennis Coach. It will take place on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 10:00am in the Ross Gymnasium. All are welcome! Light refreshments will be served. For more information you can contact the District Athletic Office at 631-434-2512.
Download or view flyer.

View Photos

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SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/27/14
     Our dear, kind friend, Eileen Sullivan (1920 - 2014) died peacefully on January 19th in Gold Hill, Colorado. Services were held in Boulder, Colorado. Eileen retired from teaching first grade at Hemlock Park and then became a devoted Hemlock Park volunteer tutor until she was eighty years old. Rest in peace, Eileen.

SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/11/14
     It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the sudden and tragic passing of Andrew Ingordo, the son of Jo Ann and Jerry Ingordo. The family is grieving tremendously. Andrew was 31 years old and is survived by his wife, Jennifer, twin brother, James, and brothers Nicholas and Joseph.
     Condolences may also be sent to the Ingordo Family at:
44 South Bay Avenue
Islip, NY 11751

Social Justice Efforts Critical to Union's Mission
Published in NYSUT United: A Union of Professionals, Sept/Oct 2013

     In helping educators plan ahead, NYSUT has provided a selection of social justice events and resources for each month of the school year. The following are those listed for the month of January:

     National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month — Educates people about forced labor and debt bondage, forced commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude. The 2013 winning Speak Truth to Power video, "Modern Slavery and Sex Trafficking," can be viewed at www.rfkcenter.org. Students from the Young Women's Leadership School of Brooklyn created the video.

Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
      Many service opportunities are available in communities today to honor Dr. King. Visit www.mlkday.gov for more information. Also, the AFL-CIO hosts an annual conference and regional events; check www.aflcio.org.

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.

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED HISTORY PROJECT
INTERVIEW:

Evelyn Vannoy
Attendance

    Evelyn Vannoy was born in the Bronx in 1927. Her mother had been a teacher in Puerto Rico for 36 years before emigrating to the United States. It was in P.R she’d married her husband, Evelyn’s father, before settling with him in the U.S. where he worked in management for the Post Office as a dispatcher. Evelyn grew up with a brother and sister in Jamaica where all three children attended school. She studied nursing for three years before changing her mind about medicine as a career.
     Her parents built the summer home of their dreams off Islip Avenue in Brentwood in 1934. It was a three bedroom house at the end of a street surrounded by woods. There were 5 houses between them and Islip Avenue, before Evelyn was 7 or 8 years old. One of the people she remembered from those days was Elizabeth Guanill whose parents (the Sauca family) owned the La Tropical, a small neighborhood store on 5th Avenue in the heart of the Puerto Rican community. Evelyn’s father and Elizabeth’s mother had attended school together when they lived on The Island. Many Puerto Ricans settled in Brentwood along 5th Avenue south of the L.I.R.R. tracks. Puerto Rican’s were already Americans with no INS issues. There were few other Hispanic groups represented in Brentwood between 1930 and 1950.   Evelyn and her husband Fred, moved to “beautiful” Brentwood in 1951 when they built a home to raise their family. They were married for 50 years. He retired in 1973 and died at the age of 53 on Oct 4, 1996. On Feb. 13, 1997 she lost her daughter Nancy at the age of 43 of lung cancer. Her career with the Brentwood School District began when George Klein asked her to come to work for him in the Attendance Office. He needed someone who was bi-lingual and Evelyn was both fluent in Spanish and of Puerto Rican descent.  She took the Civil Service exam at the 3rd Precinct and was hired in 1961 to work on the Census in the Attendance Office. One of her helpers was Mr. Carnevale who was then a senior in Brentwood High School. She worked with Moe Green and established relationships at North Junior High with Administrators like Bill Kiriluk and John Maroka. She also worked with Nurses and the Courts, IBM, Dept of Social Services and Federal Aid while making countless home visits throughout the District. She served as a Truant Officer when the district had such a position. She retired from Attendance in 1985.
     

     Evelyn spoke of her post war memories of rural Brentwood; the lack of roads, electricity, phone service, buses, garbage collection, running water, shopping, & mail service other than RFD. No one locked their doors. It was even perfectly safe to take a bath in their own back yard. If she had to do any of it over again she said she wouldn’t change a thing. She did say she misses the people. Our interview took place on April 11, 1997


You can also view any of these past interviews by visiting History Project Interview Archives :

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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SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/1/14
     Judy Buitenkant's father, Dr. Albert Goldman, passed away on January 30, 2014. Judy is a retired ROBS colleague from Loretta Park Elementary School. She will be in Florida for several weeks if you wish to send her condolences. Her address in Florida is:
2006 Granada Dr.
Apartment 2 L
Coconut Creek, Florida 33066

SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/1/14
     Chuck Calderaro (Sherry's husband), passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2013. The wake will be at Craig Flagler Palms Funeral Home on Friday, January 3 from 1-3 and from 5-7. The funeral service will be at the same place on Saturday morning at 10:30, with a reception following it at the Palm Coast Yacht Club. An obituary is in Wednesday's Daytona News Journal and online at www.craigflaglerpalms.com.
     Condolences can be sent to Sherry Calderaro at 2 Conway Court
Palm Coast, Florida 32137

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SAD SHARING
POSTED 1/6/14

     Jane Lemoine, Peter Di Mento's secretary for twenty years at Southeast, South and Twin Pines Elementary, passed away on Sunday, 1/05 in Florida. Arrangements have been made at the Johnston Wellwood Funeral Home in Lindenhurst. 631-226-2220.
Sunday, 1/12/14 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm Service, Monday, 1/13/14, 9:45am
No particular donations requested at this time.
     Condolences may be sent to:
Janie OConnor
29 Lane St.
Lindenhurst, NY 11757.