| 'Crazy Pianos' here we come. This Tuesday evening, the Alumni Association will be hosting the Miami-Dade 2010 Spring Thing. Over 50 Alums have already sent in their RSVP and many more are expected to join us for this exciting event. Crazy Pianos is located on the 2nd Floor of Cocowalk, 3015 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove. The fun begins at 6PM. There will be special happy hour pricing for drinks and complimentary appetizers will be served. All alumni are invited to attend with complimentary admission for all paid members and $10.00 for all others. Their will be good food, great talk and some wonderful entertainment from the Crazy Pianos staff. Crazy Pianos is known for its “dueling pianos” concept of entertainment which is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM. Please join us for a fantastic time and RSVP today on Facebook at Stacey Spector Hipsman so we can plan appropriately. HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS: Nominations for the 2010 Hall of Fame have starting to trickle in to my office. The nomination form is posted on our website in the Hall of Fame section. Don’t wait to the last minute to begin writing your nomination. Work on your nomination now so you can put all necessary thought into it. Competition can be fierce as we have so many phenomenal alumni. All members in good standing of the Association can make a nomination on the official form which must be received by June 1, 2010. A nominee does not have to be a paid member of the Alumni Association. The luncheon will be held on Friday, November 12, 2010, at the Biscayne Bay Marriott in Miami. Seating is limited so make your plans to attend. SPRING THING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT A SUCCESS! Over 75 alums braved the wild rains on Tuesday, April 20th to attend the Spring Thing 2010 Broward Edition at Bonefish Mac’s in Lighthouse Point. Kudos to chairmen Stacey Spector Hipsman ’81 and Howard Fabian ’79 for a great job in planning and organizing this fun event. The food was great, conversation flowed and we all stayed dry on the patio in front of the restaurant. Welcome to our new members who joined at the event, Kenny Pomerance ’71 and Gary Arkin ’79. DEDICATION OF BEACH HIGH'S NEWLY COMPLETED SCHOOL These past few weeks were very busy for the Alumni Association and Miami Beach High. On April 22, the new school campus was dedicated during the early morning on the campus's quadrangle followed by the dedication ceremonies in the lovely new auditorium. Over 300 alumni and guests were in attendance together with many students. Several alumni spoke: including Donald Klein ’58, Carmen Pratt Williams ’76, Paul Novack ’76, and myself. It was amazing to hear each person talk about their years at Beach High, how they truly believe that their time at our school was the best there was. It only goes to show you that each of us enjoyed a remarkable experience at the finest high school in the State of Florida and possibly the nation. Beach High held another grand opening celebration on Saturday, April 24, 2010, which was open to the general public from 1:00 – 3:00 PM. Events were scheduled throughout the afternoon, including a performance from the Jazz Band, which continues to rock on after all these year under the leadership of Doug Burris and our own alumnus, Michael McNamee ‘81. I even got an opportunity to pose for a picture with fellow 1970 alums Steve “Bubba” Cohen and Gerald Goldstein together with the trophy from the 1970 Florida State Baseball Championship (I am told it's the only time Beach High won this prestigious title) which will be used for publicizing a 40 year reunion for the team on Friday, November 19, 2010, as part of the Class of 1970’s Fortieth Reunion festivities.
Speaking of reunions, as President of our Alumni Association, I regularly get inquiries about upcoming class reunions. Any information that we receive is posted on the reunion page of our website. This information is readily available to everyone including both registered alumni and all visitors without even logging into our site! If you have any information about an upcoming reunion or class get together, let us know and we will publicize it on our website on this page as well as in our newsletter. Our Board of Directors voted to award $13,000.00 in scholarships to worthy graduating seniors this year. All of the applicants were excellent and deserving of such an award. We wish we could give more to help these young scholars attend college and further their pursuit of higher education. I want to continue to encourage each alumnus reading this message who has not yet joined our Association to please do so. Dues are only $60.00 for 3 years or $100.00 for 6 years. Lifetime membership is only $300.00 with half price for the spouse if both are Miami Beach Senior High School alumni. Monies received for dues are used to pay the expenses of the Association and to fund our annual scholarships for graduating seniors. I look forward to seeing each of you at the Spring Fling 2010 in Coconut Grove on Tuesday. Scott R. Jay ’70, President
Now from your newsletter editor, Rosalind Merritt, '66 Class: A few words here, as below you'll see the full text of a 'Typhoon' who walked on Washington Avenue to become a Hi-Tide, and is pleased to see our school change once again into another beautiful butterfly in its third incarnation. Then, the full text of Donny Klein's speech to our school. The assembly was fantastic, and really exuded the atmosphere of our unique small town that's known throughout the world. But first, some musings about our alumni association: HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS DUE SOON! Our media has too many front-page stories about failures in life: Criminals are paraded over the airwaves, in magazines, and in print, as if they are models to emulate. Today's media sends the wrong message to us by constantly putting fear and loathing into our daily lives. Let's get some GOOD NEWS out there by nominating those who DESERVE RECOGNITION! We really need you all to think long and hard about those you want to see in our Alumni Hall of Fame. THEN: NOMINATE THEM AND SEND IN YOUR NOMINATION FORM! We have less than a month's time to receive detailed accounts of your favorite Beach High grad's qualifications, along with 2 letters of recommendation telling about their character and how they conduct their lives as giving, courageous members of our global and local community. Click onto 'Hall of Fame' in our menu bar to see the NOMINATION FORM, print it out and send it to us. We have outstanding people who deserve to be honored. Especially you Typhoons out there! Remember, we don't have any slouches in our Hall of Fame. Think: Brett Ratner (movie director), Andy Garcia (actor appearing in 'City Island'), Andy Hall (international lawyer who goes after rogue nations), and many more who have literally changed the way we live. Don't you want one of your buddies or girlfriends to be part of their elitist company? Let's hear from you! SPRING THING AT CRAZY PIANOS: ALL ALUMNI INVITED! We're having a SECOND Spring Thing Event in Coconut Grove on Tuesday night: May 11th. We had a successful one in North Broward for those who didn't want to drive into deep Miami-Dade county, and now our more southern alumni can come to CRAZY PIANOS at Cocowalk. From 6:00--7:30PM will be 'meet and greet,' and then there will be a show of dueling pianists while you may opt to have a little dinner with your friends. Complimentary appetizers will be served with a cash bar. Those who are dues-paying members come free of charge. Alumni who aren't up to date with their dues are charged $10.00, the funds going toward a scholarship for a worthy graduating senior. For non-members who join that night, the $10 will be part of your membership fee. Details are in the president's message. Look at our Membership Application form, which will be printed out for you at the event, and also found on our website's menu bar under Documents or Membership.
Announcements & Memories: From Joyce Spitzer Einbender, '60 Class and Janet Simkowitz Vilorio,'78: A Proud grandmother and mother are pleased to announce that Jessica L.Vilorio, from Beach Hi's class of 2003, was awarded the 2010 Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award from Miami-Dade Council! From Gerry Greenhouse, '66 and son of Nautilus's English Teacher, Mrs. Greenhouse: 'I am finishing my 25th year at Garfield Middle School. No retirement in sight since both my kids are teenagers, since I was a drummer full-time for so long. I love jamming at our reunions and will be there to do it again next year. New Mexico is great, and I am also lucky to still have the house in Surfside to visit and keep in touch with all going on in S. FL. As we get older, we realize how important it is to keep in touch with our past and never forget our youth at MBSH. REMEMBER THE AMAZING AZTECS! My best memories of Beach High are of the Beach High Band, with its trip to Washington, DC. We had the funkiest drum section in 12th grade with converted french horn player ken Gruber on bass drum. I use my experiences with Joe Caterino and John B. Coleman as examples for my students. Let's never forget the Aztecs battles with Stanley Solomon and the Mystics. The Visions, Harlequin etc., Sheldon Kahan, and all of us aspiring rock stars. I'm still hoping!!'
From Joan E. Gilbert Childs, '57 Class: (bold print added and some phrases omitted by editor) 'Graduation from Beach High was barely a memory in March of 2006. After all, nearly fifty years is a very long time. As the years passed with fluidity and without conscious awareness since graduation, so did our own personal years, as we became college graduates, service men and women, Moms, Dads, active members of the working force and now, grandparents. We advanced from the Victorian Age into the Age of Liberation, to the New Age, the Dot Com Age, Civil Rights, space travel, computers, cell phones, I Pods, global warming and terrorism. All in all, in spite of these major events, genetic engineering, cloning, the homeless, Aids, Jihad and Prozak, we moved forward with our passions to become the people we were intended to be. We met sometime in March 2006. We gathered in an expansive living room high atop a condominium over looking Biscayne Bay. This was the first of a series of committee meetings that created our 50th high school class reunion. We gathered together around a large glass cocktail table, staring at each other with a plethora of emotions. Had we really become old and not known it? We had the same familiar faces, but with signs of the elements of time gone by. I suddenly realized how time had transformed us when I sat face to face with my classmates. As we shared our purpose and goals, the meeting shifted unwittingly into 1957. The conversation drifted into names, places, teachers, songs, movies and dances of our time. We regressed into a time warp and once again became seventeen years old for three hours, but with the experience and knowledge of nearly a lifetime. A year and a half later, the time from that first meeting evolved into more than any of us could imagine. The website created by one of our talented classmates generated communication and information that was endless and even relentless. We negotiated our ideas and thoughts by email almost on a daily basis. Rarely were we in disagreement except with perhaps the professional party planners who were born a quarter of a century after we graduated. The resistance from many of our classmates to attend due to old wounds became a mission of conversion by those on the committee. Old feelings of anger and hurt surfaced through emails that were responded to by many of us with concern, sadness and appreciation. Some were resolved; others accepted with sorrow. Having been in the practice of psychotherapy, I was aware that old wounds often become part of the fabric of our core and who we become. However, many of our committee members were stunned to learn that so many of our classmates had taken the social, moral and emotional injustices and injuries from their formative years and teens into adulthood. So many carried their pain, so that attending such an auspicious occasion was incomprehensible to them. Reflections and self-examination became pervasive for all of us. Looking back through a rear view mirror gave us a glance of what was really important. Philosophical issues emerged. Had we been a microcosm of the universe blending our individuality into a greater sum? Had we, the “Beach Kids” really been so much different than the rest of the nation’s high schools in the 50’s? Had our uniqueness been a figment of our imagination or a skewed perception in the filters of our mind? As our event approached, we realized that indeed, we were special and shared a collective pride and joy that we had brought a legacy of the 50’s, filled with the values of our time into our present lives. We realized we, as the class of ’57, had made remarkable contributions to society and mankind that would remain indelible. And now the common denominator that connected our humanism and finiteness was the recognition that we were the “seniors” once again, but this time, the “senior citizens” of Beach High. This was our tacit and shared communication that sifted through the thought processes while we were deciding the menu, the band, the centerpieces and the budget. We were the lucky ones who survived the trials and tribulations of the years. We were the blessed who have navigated safely through time, turmoil and triumph with a sense of humility and gratitude. We made our mistakes and poor choices at one time or another. We have learned from the past and look to the future with the same grit that we had when we graduated, but with a knowledge that only time and experience can offer. Our youth and impatience transcended into wisdom and tolerance. We’re able to meet challenges with a better understanding and acceptance that things may not go the way we wish. We’ve learned that things happen sometimes the way they are intended and not always the way we would like. We’ve learned that our destiny sometimes transcends our will. We have learned how to forgive others as well as ourselves. We are learning to accept our lot in life and give back to the next generation, so that they can reap what we offer. But most of all, a deep bond with one another has been re-established, cemented with love and respect, and we look forward to our 50th high school reunion with excitement and appreciation to be the Beach High graduates of the class of ’57!'
From Stu Jacobs, '47' 'Finding funds left over from the reunions of the classes of 1946, 47 & 48 from 1988 and 2007 and recognizing that our 'kids' are 79, Fred Diamond '48 and Stu Jacobs '47 decided to have a 'one nighter' as none of us buys green bananas. We invited classmates who lived south of Palm Beach and had a wonderful dinner at Shula's in Miami Lakes. Thirty five -along with their spouses, significant others or solo- made up the 66 in attendance. We had a continuous presentation of some 1200 slides put on CDs and the memories just kept on coming. Between reunions there are a number of 'lunch bunch' get togethers held almost three times a year for the 'guys who grew up in Flamingo Park.' We also help back significant funds to place three large wall plaques (the latest project we hear will happen) in the new Beach High.'
MIAMI BEACH SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEDICATION THE LONG WALK TO OUR NEW HOME (Sorry, I don't have name of this author!) It’s a typical Miami Beach afternoon – bright and sunny – but an unusual walk is about to take place. Hundreds of us students, loaded down with all of our textbooks, are streaming out of the only Miami Beach Senior High School we have ever known. Leaving from the Drexel Avenue exit, we begin to walk north on Washington Ave as part of a history-making event. And draped sadly over our shoulders is the invisible black-and-gold cloak of Beach High’s Typhoons. It is hard to believe that we are leaving not only a four-decades-old building but our school colors, our mascot, even our Alma mater behind us. My textbooks are getting heavier but chatter among our friends is beginning to grow. We are pointing out the corner juice bar, the jitney stand, Española Way, Woolworth’s lunch counter. Imperceptively, the pace quickens. Even before we cross the bridge to Dade Boulevard, the black and the gold are fading away. Instead, there is a new glow of scarlet and silver. Choir director Mr. William Triplett is writing lyrics about . . . . a torch, about . . . . “the light of learning,” about . . . . The halls are cool and clean and lead us into the classrooms filled with promise. Then, as we sit down at brand new desks, we are smiling and calling out to each other, “Hey there, Hi Tide!” . . . . More decades, more Hi Tides, and once again it is time for new buildings. We are approaching one hundred years as the only high school on this barrier island where ninth through twelfth grade students learn together on a beautiful campus. Therefore, today we come together to dedicate Miami Beach Senior High School. From Donny Klein, Class of '58: Full Text of his address to School Assembly: They say “you can’t go home again,” but this dedication ceremony is certainly an exception to the rule. What is the attraction of the morning to those of us graduates who returned today? I believe each of us from the Typhoon Era who are here today came for the same reason: It is personal, something we are all part of and nobody can take away from us. The kids of Beach High are together. For the common bond we all share, in terms of families who came here from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and later from Cuba, Haiti, Central and South America and dozens of other places, and fused together in a little island community, there’s something we all share and will always share throughout our lives. We are the kids from South Beach, North Beach, Central Beach and Biscayne Elementary Schools, from Ida M. Fisher and Nautilus Middle Schools, and from Miami Beach Senior High School. The town in which we grew up has changed over the years in many ways. Places we frequented during our days as students have been torn down and rebuilt, only to be torn down and rebuilt again. Yes, you can go home again but “home” has certainly changed. I am here today representing the Typhoon Era, the classes who graduated from “the Old Beach High,” the one whose buildings now are called Ida M. Fisher Middle School; even that has changed: you call it a “middle school,” we called it “junior high.” You are occupying “the New Beach High,” but it is itself already old enough to have been substantially renovated so that today we gather here to celebrate the birth of “the New New Beach High.” A lot has changed besides the obvious re-location of our school from 14th Street and Drexel Avenue to where we stand this morning. The most obvious differences to us old-timers? Let’s begin with the fact – and brace yourselves, students, because you’re not going to believe this, but our Beach High was not air conditioned! It did not have a parking lot for students’ cars – those of us who drove to school had to arrive long before school started and search for parking spots on the street, often blocks away from the school campus. Those whose families could not afford the luxury of a second or third car either walked or took a City of Miami Beach bus . . . at a cost of 5 cents. We had the choice of eating lunch in the school cafeteria or going out to places on Espanola Way, Washington Avenue and beyond. We were served a hot meal in the cafeteria for 35 cents and that included a half pint container of milk. Our meals were served to us by PTA volunteers, our mothers, who in most cases were not burdened by real jobs and when we got home from school in the afternoon, they were there waiting for us, making sure we did our homework and ate our dinner, which we sat down to eat as a family. At “our” Beach High, everybody knew everybody else, and there was a camaraderie among the students and teachers that seems no longer to exist. Indeed, those friendships with our teachers continued long after we graduated and still continue today for many of us. Disrespect for teachers and other adults, especially our parents, was virtually unheard of. Chewing gum in class was considered a major offense and while fights in school and after school did occur, they were fought with fists, not guns and knives. Bullying was almost unheard of, and the bullies were themselves quickly dispatched by well-known “enforcers” – some of whom I see in the audience today – who protected the meek and the weak. Our school was administered by a Principal and two deans – a Dean of Boys and a Dean of Girls. Being summoned to either Dean’s Office was the closest thing to a prison sentence we could imagine. The Dean of Boys had a large wooden paddle and as punishment for a major transgression, you were told to “assume the position” and get whacked. Today, most students come under the jurisdiction of a series of Assistant Principals who are prohibited from administering what was, in our day, known as “corporal punishment.” Back then, the prevailing philosophy was known as “spare the rod and spoil the child.” Today, it would be known as “child abuse.” Our athletic teams were the “Typhoons.” When the school moved to its current location, they became the “High Tides.” Our colors were black and gold, yours became red and silver. On the day of a football game, everyone came to school in black and gold; we players wore our game jerseys with our numbers. After each game, there was a victory dance, even when we lost . . . which, even back then, was the way it often turned out. Our Beach High was ethnically homogeneous – predominately Jewish, about 97%. But Jews and non-Jews alike got along and truly liked each other. Today, ethnic diversity is the rule, with a student population representing more than fifty different nationalities. Brown vs. Board of Education, by which racial segregation was held to be illegal in 1954, was not implemented until years later. Our Beach High had no African Americans and a small handful of Latinos. Our Miami Beach was a small town. We witnessed the development of its northern fringes, Normandy Isle, Surfside and Bay Harbor Islands. The “Art Deco” hotels weren’t even “deco” yet but current and stylish. Black and white TV was in its infancy, the screens were 10' and radio was king. We listened to – not watched – shows like the Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, the Shadow and Walter Winchell. And, by the way, what was air conditioning? I only remember electric fans of all sizes and shapes to carry you through the summer, when all the hotels shuttered down because of the heat and lack of tourists. We drove Chevy Impalas and Buick Roadmasters, Oldsmobiles were ‘88s and ‘98s, Chryslers had “fluid drive,” and gas was a quarter a gallon. You bought a buck’s worth and everyone in the car chipped in. We had Royal Castle restaurants at 10th Street and Alton Road and on 41st Street – before it came to be known as Arthur Godfrey Road – and you could get two burgers and a birch beer for a quarter plus a penny tax, a large tomato and cheese pizza at Sonny’s on 23rd Street near Dade Boulevard cost a dollar, we went to the beach behind private mansions on Collins Avenue north of 48th Street Beach, vacant during the blistering hot summers while their owners went back home up North. And how many of you students out there have any idea who Arthur Godfrey was? We didn’t belong to “gangs,” we belonged to fraternities and sororities, but they made us call them “clubs.” We were something different, something very special, something we all seem to carry with us and feel that is difficult to describe and even more difficult to explain. We are “Beach Kids” and that makes us special. I think the thing that set us apart from all the other subgroups is the strong and enduring sense that we are a family, albeit a very large one, of individuals who care about each other and about what we are doing, who take pride in each others’ successes and grieve over each others’ bad tidings and who, when we encounter a classmate on the street, don’t just say “hi” but stop to talk, to catch up on what is going on, who are interested in, and feel a part of, each others’ lives. Most of us are also graduates of other institutions – colleges, graduate and professional schools – but I have never heard anyone speak with the same sense of affection and, perhaps more important, kinship, with those fellow graduates, as we Beach Kids feel for each other. To some extent, this phenomenon sprang from our isolation, literally growing up on the island of Miami Beach, with our homogeneous ethnicity and economic backgrounds. To the kids on the mainland, we were the outsiders. It made us clannish and it caused us to bond together and to be loyal to each other. We have carried this mutual love for each other with us for over 50 years now. It is a treasure which I, for one, do not intend to let go of .... ever.
REUNION NEWS Class of 1960 announces plans for 50th Reunion: The class of 1960 will hold its 50th Reunion to be held on the weekend of October 8th--10th, 2010, at the Eden Roc Hotel. The committee needs our help to locate missing classmates. Please contact Blanche 'Cookie' Weiss, committee member, at blanchecookieweiss@gmail.com Further information will be given in upcoming issues.
From: Madelyn Lorber, Class of 1955's 55th Reunion! email: mjl2125@aol.com Our reunion will be at Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Aventura, FL. on June 10th thru 13th, 2010. All classmates: Please contact our Chairperson Bobbi, at Bobbi55BHi@aol.com for attachments of the events choices, agenda and prices. We'll have a welcome cocktail party on Thursday in the Lobby lounge, a golf tournament on Friday morning at Turnberry's course, a luncheon cruise on the Yacht 'Celebration' starting from at Dinner Key's Marina, then a Barbeque at LaGorce Country Club that nite. Saturday night's Cocktail Party, Dinner and Dancing will be back at Turnberry Isle's Resort & Club, with the daytime free to do your own thing. Sunday is the farewell breakfast from 7:30 -- 10:30 AM-- or whenever. See you there! ...'Until we meet again'
Class of 1965 Announces Plans for 'Casual' 45th Reunion From Judy Shapiro Gale, Class of '65: Our 45th reunion and it will be held at The Grand Beach Hotel in Miami Beach on Nov 12th and 13th. Again everything is on our web site at www.beachhigh65.com Editor's note: This class is 'smart' to have their reunion the same date as our Hall of Fame luncheon, so that their out-of-towners & their class who normally do not see people from other years of Beach Hi alumni can visit with each other at the luncheon.
CLASS OF 1970: 40th REUNION
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The Class of 1970's 40th Reunion Committee is planning their event for the weekend of November 19 - 21, 2010. It will be at the Deauville Hotel. There will be a Friday night cocktail party followed by a formal dinner and dance on Saturday and a pool party/barbecue on Sunday, according to Steve 'Bubba Cohen' Reunion Spokesperson. For more information please contact Steve 'Bubba' Cohen' (305) 674-1799 or visit http://www.miamibeachhigh1970.com/. From Stacey Spector Hipsman, Class of '81: Memorial Day Weekend 2011 will be the 30th reunion for the Class of 1981. For more details, please contact either Stacey, Leslie Schermer, Hillary Blumberg, or Charlie Ratner. Charlie's email is Ratner@CRatnerLaw.com
Attention: Classes of 1980's: Let's get your classmates together for your reunion. We've had inquiries about wanting the 1980 and 1982 reunions, but we need you to organize yourselves to make it happen. Note: If you are involved in a class reunion committee or class get together, please send your information of inclusion to rosalindmerrittinc@me.com CLASSES OF 1990 - 1999 MEGA REUNION The Classes of 1990 - 1999 have formed several committees to plan a 'Mega Reunion' to be held the weekend of September 3 - 5, 2010. The planning is not yet formalized and more plans will be announced as they firm up. For more information on this exciting event, please contact Rosanne Amira '97 at beachhigh97@gmail.com CLASS OF 2000 ANNOUNCES 10th REUNION A committee has been formed to begin planning the Class of 2000's 10th Reunion which will be held the weekend of June 18th - 20th, 2010, The event will kickoff on Friday evening with a tour of the new Miami Beach High School and followed by a night on South Beach. There will be a dinner/dance on Saturday evening with tentative plans to hold it on a yacht which will be determined. Sunday will have a family event consisting of a barbecue on Virginia Key Beach. All class members are invited to participate in planning the reunion. For more information please contact Scott Brian Grenald at 305-759-6244/305-308-7085 or email: scottbrian82@grenald.com . UPDATE ON REUNION: the price is 125/per person. Friday Night is free (drinks at your own expense) Saturday Night is 95.00/person (Price is 115/per person if you're just doing Sat. night: includes dinner and drinks plus your gift card and other misc items.) |
