We had to deal with changing classrooms after each class in three minutes, and trying to figure out what purpose homeroom really had. Study Hall was a foreign concept. How nice of the school board to provide us 45 minutes to socialize, gossip, make after school plans, and copy other peoples’ homework at a desk in a well-lighted room. We had to learn to deal with gym and how to rush to the locker room, shower, dry off, and dress in ten minutes. We stored our wet sweaty gym clothes in an airless locker for the week; no wonder the gym hallway always had a distinctive aroma. We had to learn how to avoid Mr. Faulkner and his paddle. Stepping on the gym floor with anything other than sneakers or socks was a paddleable offense. We learned about credit debt. If you charged a pretzel and didn’t pay back the ten cents in a timely fashion you got the paddle. We learned about competition. If your team lost whatever you were playing in gym, you got the paddle. As you can see most of our education was directed to our posteriors.

The faculty was a great source of inspiration and amusement. What strong mouthwash Miss Palmer used in the afternoons. What really went on in those private teacher conferences between Mr. Linn and Miss Powell? Was Mr. Roscoe as cool as he looked? Did Mr. Keyes moonlight as an adult beverage server? Did we really have a teacher named Beecher Aschoff? Where did Mrs. Suits keep her Kleenex? How many of us appreciated Mr. Kallman? How many people did Mrs. Merson call despicable? Why was Mrs. Smith a Senorita? Could Harry ever dunk? Who said semi colon, semi colon, semi colon, space a thousand times a day? Did Mr. Forbes ever smile? Did Mr. Linn own NY Times stock? Mr. Fisher was as cool as Mr. Roscoe looked. Was Jack really an athlete? Chemistry with McCartney? HXP wrote a book. What did Bop mean and who was he? Flash taught people how to drive. Was Mr. Schmidts’ first name really Dean? Mr. Kusel was not too too good or too too bad.

We had to deal with nutrition. Mrs. Herrick’s meatball heroes were a culinary delight; Freddy Shorenstein jumping off her roof onto the s-curve of Ocean Ave, using an umbrella for a parachute, was another story. The jukebox had 5 songs on it and cost a nickel each to play. Tastes changed and Santinos became the”in” place. You had to get there early to get a seat on the freezer. You got to work on your math skills by helping Mr. Santino make change. Coins always seemed to baffle him. The cafeteria was famous for its watery chicken noodle soup and tuna sandwiches, followed by that mouthwatering vanilla cake. In the evenings after basketball games on Fri. nights there was the rush to get a table at Lari”s on Main St. That gave way to the new Golden Coach or Golden Roach as we promptly renamed it. They were never as friendly as Lari’s and soon declared a $1.00 minimum to be seated, which was highway robbery in the 60’s.

Fraternities and Sororities made their appearance and there was something for everyone. There were the “big ones” Omega and LBZ. ABD was for the bad boys. The Lettermen created their own niche. If that wasn’t enough Chapel decided to start his own and called it the Patriots. There was another group that was called the Basement Boys. They rented the basement of the notorious Henry’s Patio. In keeping with the underground theme, there was Walters basement on Williamson St. where many a brew was quaffed. The girls had a lot of choices because they kept starting new ones. There was Sigma Rho, Sigma Lamba, Phi Tau, Omicron Delta, Sigma Alpha Chi, Iota Delta Phi, Omega Kappa, and Theta Kappa. All of this was done to insure everyone would have a fantastic social life and never lack for friends. Brothers and sisters forever. Well you know how all that turned out. Don’t see too many of those jackets and sweaters anymore.

As we got older we had to consider employment. Baby sitting and paper routes were the early popular choices. Jack Barsin and Tommy Johnson were early employees of the Golden Roach. Charlie Longo was the first Mr. Softee assistant, as well as the first in our class to be paid to play an instrument as a guitarist for the ever popular Mosaics. Why they named their band after a tile remains a mystery to this day. There was a group of us who toiled in the drug trade at Angels Pharmacy as delivery boys. The job that provided the best benefits for the friends of the employees was supermarket checkout clerk. Huge bargains were realized by checking out at your friend’s register. Beer could also be obtained without the customary government documents. That could explain why there are scanners now. Through these and many other jobs, we learned that who you knew could be just as important as what you knew when it came to getting ahead.

No history of our education would be complete without the mention of Rock Rivalry. To this day I believe that no other activity had more influence on us in school. We learned that each person had a talent or skill that could help the entire class. We learned to work together and overcome problems. However, Steve and Huey missed a few planning meetings and dropped the bell, I mean ball. and got us all in trouble.

The main reason we showed up at school was the opportunity it provided for contact with the opposite sex. Everyone liked someone who liked someone else, who liked someone else, until you got the "note". The "Note" was passed to you from a person you barely knew, who told you they got it from someone they barely knew. The "Note" said that someone might be interested in you, if you were interested in them. At the end of the day, if you were very lucky, you may have established the identity of your mysterious admirer. It was now your turn to get a "Note" to a third party, expressing your interest in pursuing a sit-down with your new object of affection, to find out if the "Note" was true. Unfortunately many a hoax was perpetrated on a few gullible ego maniacs and this method proved unreliable. However this was the beginning of many a high school romance and it was as close to literature as many people ever got.

Forty years have gone by faster then the six years we spent at the Rock Pile. I still have flashbacks to those days. Images and memories of things that have disappeared come back fleetingly to put a smile on my face. See if these things bring back memories to you. Can of Blam, Berets, The Towne, Audrey’s Lounge, The Take Fives, The Eighth Day, Huey is a surfer, Schatzle has a Beatle haircut, Tick Tock lunch, Gerard’s Lounge or the Two Way, Ranks, Juicy Joints, Soupy Sales, Senior Skit, Humphrey Hoover, Johnny GTO, Ryans, Comets Go, King of Sting, Bluies, Group, Take it Away, Ace, Hall Cops, You Knew, Schmock Schmock, Houdini, Hula Hoops, Hewlett Point Beach, Hitch Hiking to Long Beach, Sadie Hawkins Day Dance, Sock Hop, Rescued From the Waste Paper Basket, Ten Minute Bell, Wetsons, Hickeys, Johnny Bananas, Spiro, Mr. Whipple, Tommy’s Basement, The Plow, Worlds Fair, Simpson St., Chug a Mugs, Patti’s Garage, Field Hockey, Amelia’s Basement, Cappy’s, Luckners, Nussbaums, Shapiros, Rye Beach Playland, Josephs, Metal Garbage Pails, Wolf’s, Peters Beverages, Sunrise Supermarket, Stop and Play, Joe the Hacker, Toys for Tots Dance, Roadside Rest, Sea View, Lou’s Deli, Nebbishes, Criterion, The Moorings, Miss Rheingold, Rag a Muffin Parade, Stickball at the Band shell, Teen Night at Hewlett Point Beach, 57 Chevies, Bonnevilles, Turn Your Head and Cough, Jack’s Candy Store, Pep Rally ( Parade and Bonfire), The Mousetrap, Moving the Gristmill, White Cannon, Zanetti’s, Le Mel, Johnny’s Sinclair, Tom Sunoco, Pig Latin, One A, Detention, Latin 1, Jahns Ice Cream Parlor, Senior Will, Firemen’s Parade and Drill at Memorial Park, Playing Bunnies, Pic Design, Murray the K and Submarine Race Watching, and Vacant Lots All Around the Village.

Yes, we have survived the loss of these places and things easier than we would a misplaced cell phone or iPod. Not all of us have made it this far, and as time goes by there will be fewer of us left to reminisce. I urge you all to hang on to the good memories of growing up in a small Long Island village and forget the bad ones. I hope we can continue to gather from time to time to keep these memories alive. Somewhere down the road when there aren’t enough of us left to celebrate, the last one out should have a toast to the past, erase the blackboard, turn out the lights, and close the door.