In this edition of the Prep '58 Blog...
We're republishing the Summa Bash Reunion story just in case you missed it in last month's Blog. And if you have already seen it, it's worth another look.
A few photos from Vince & Stephanie's trip to France (a full report will be included in the next Blog edition), and a report from Bill Wittman on a trip to Locherbie, Scotland.
Dennis Bier and the Editor go back and forth on a 50's musical memory jogger, along with a reference to the amusement park that started them all...
A recipe from Desserts With Stephanie for a fun No-Bake Smores Pie that will wow your guests.
...and a story about a Grillo Gang Get-together for their annual "Cousins Day" celebration in Seaside Park, NJ.
A gang of 32 assembled on July 14th at Bar-A in Belmar, NJ, to make this the biggest Reunion Summa Bash yet. It was a great day - we had a private space, with plenty of room and great food, at a reasonable price.
We got together for an afternoon of catching up with folks, some of whom we hadn't seen since the last reunion. We mingled, noshed and raffled off a few dozen cookies, to boot.
From Dennis Bier...
"Vince,
After I sent the obit, I realized that Palisades Park opened before Walt Disney was born!
And that Disneyland didn’t open until we were already at Prep.
Besides, who would travel 3,000 miles to LA when the biggest amusement park in the world, New York City, was just across the Hudson?
Dennis "
Dennis Bier sent in a link to Freddie Cannon info in the NY Times that brought back some memories.
Besides the music of Freddie Cannon, it brought back memories of Palisades Park, and the whole scene back in the 50's, when things seemed a little simpler than they are today, without internet, email or Tik-Tok.
The Editor offers a memory of his own, about the occasions during the summer when Uncle Freddie would load up his '52 Dodge and treat all the first cousins to a day at Palisades Park. Those were the days!
Here's the link to the story that was featured in the NY Times.
Enjoy the trip!
The Petroc
The Petroc was a regular publication for many years at Prep, carrying stories about what was happening on campus, including sports, reports on various clubs and events and a bit of gossip now and then. During our senior year, Bob Comizzoli was the editor, and Dennis Bier wrote a regular column for the centerfold pages.
We have a complete set of Petroc editions from all our academic years at Prep, thanks to the foresight and generosity of John Wefing '60, who saved them and later donated them to Prep.
John is the brother of our own Hank Wefing, who left us in 2015. Our thanks to John, and to Mike Murcia, Director of Alumni Relations, who allowed us to scan them.
We have been spotlighting issues from each month in our 4 years at Prep, but with summer break, we will have to wait 'til September to see the next issue. In the meantime, we thought you might want to look thru all the Petrocs on your own, which you can do here.
As we were putting these new editions on the site, we were told that more recent copies of the Petroc magazine are online. The new format includes what is going on at Prep, but also reflects current news stories, cultural topics and other areas that are of interest to the current student population. You can see copies of current Petrocs here.
Here's the main stories from the NYT front page from August 15, 1955. Dutch Airliner lost - 99 lost; House approves farm prop cuts; Nelson Rockefeller seen as getting Republican nomination; Transit unions fail in unity talks.
Just in case your memory is as iffy as the Editor's, we found a site that lets you access the top news stories from back in the day. You can select the year and month, and the major news events for that period will be shown. Below are a few of the stories we found from 1955 from the thousands that are available.
- February 24: Formation of the Central Treaty Organization.
- April 12: The Salk polio vaccine having passed large-scale trials earlier in the United States, receives full approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
- April 18: Death of Albert Einstein.
- May 14: Signing of the Warsaw Pact.
- August 18: First Sudanese Civil War begins.
You can see all the headlines and stories from the 50's right here!
Bill Wittman tells us...
"In 2007, Peggy and I were in northern Scotland. We had an opportunity to visit the site of the crash memorial. It is referred to as the Lockerbie Disaster - December 21, 1988.
259 passengers are remembered, as well as 11 residents of the town. All are named on a master plaque.
There are many individual memorials. Several people were quietly visiting. It was very touching to be there. I made a couple of photographs.
As you can see - 19 years later - the memorial was still very well kept And reverenced."
Bill
We had a good crew for the call on Monday, Aug 10th. Rich Campion and Billl Wittman joined us from from Canada; Phil Campana TN, Tom Reilly CO, and Jim Heaney MD joined the NJ Crew: Peter Donnelly and Vince.
We usually have a video of the call, but something happened on the way to the Forum, and there's no video to show.
I think they call this "pilot error" when they report it on the news. At any rate, here's a brief synopsis of the call.
We started off with the weather, which has been the lead story on all the evening news shows lately. Vince reported that it was in the 90's every day while he and Stephanie were in France, but lower humidity made it bearable. Most everyone else reported high temps.
We have been having lunch at the Reo Diner in Woodbridge since we started the Cuppa Club more than 10 years ago.
We catch up on Prep news, and share a story or two about travels, G'kids and the like. But the real reason we get together is to keep the Prep '58 spirit alive. After lunch we take a photo to prove we were there and head home.
Frank Geremia, Joe Machewirth and Vince got together at the Reo for lunch and some catching up.
We started the Blogtoons feature to share some of the humorous cartoons we get from time to time.
Some of them are not technically cartoons, but they all got a chuckle out of the Editor.
Most of them are from '58 guys, but occasionally we will get contributions from a few others...
If you come across one you think the gang would enjoy, send it in to Vince in an email.
Here's a peek at the best of the bunch, so far.
42 Bio's, and counting...
We are still on the hunt for After '58 Bio's and we know there are dozens of 58'ers out there who read the Blog, but have yet to submit a Bio. Every one we get has an interesting tale to tell, and we hope you will add to our library.
And... remember those cookies! Send yours in and we will get them right out to you! Take a look at the Bio's we have.
'After '58' got started in March, 2017, when we received this suggestion from Bill Kretzer to collect stories from the '58 gang about what they did after graduation.
"I think there would be a bushel of interest in interviews with each & every ‘58 graduate. I for one, since I went away to college and never returned to NJ, didn’t keep in touch as much as I should have and would be curious to hear how everyone’s life turned out."
Bill sent in his Bio, and 8 years later, we are at 42. We hope every one of the '58 gang will pick up on Bill's suggestion and send in their story in an email to Vince.
It takes no more time to put your story together than it would to tell it to your grandkids, so how about it? We will return the favor by sending a baker's dozen of Stephanie Grillo's famous Chocolate Chunk cookies. We've already shipped out over 500 of the best cookies you've ever tasted, and there's more where they came from.
No-Bake Smores Pie
Vince's wife Stephanie publishes a Baking Blog - Desserts With Stephanie - featuring 100's of recipes for cakes, cookies, pies and other delicious desserts. Her recipes produce delicious results, and are easy to follow. We have been featuring them in our '58 Blog.
This No-Bake Smores Pie is delicious, comforting and nostalgic - evoking memories of those cozy campfire gatherings from your past. But you don't have to pitch a tent or build a campfire to enjoy this dessert!
We thought you might like to try it as your next family dessert. It will definitely generate a 'Yummy" or two.
Click here to take a peek at the recipe.
If you like it, give it a Thumbs up. For more delicious recipes, support Stephanie by becoming a Subscriber.
Click here to subscribe to Stephanie's channel.
BTW, in addition to his duties as videographer, the Editor offers his services as an official dessert taster, and looks forward to sampling them every month. These cookies are delicious and the recipe makes it easy to make. Try it!
The Cousins
Every year, since his G'kids were toddlers, Vince would get them together for a group photo. He called them the Cousins. You can see the very first one on the right.
For perspective, the infant in the photo is Vince's G'daughter Kendall, who starts her senior year at Pace University this fall.
Recently, his daughter Lisa started hosting a "Cousins Day," where she would invite the whole gang of them to come to the NJ shore, for a day on the beach, dinner, a sunset photo and a trip to a local ice cream store for dessert.
This year, as in recent years, with everyone growing up and starting their adult lives, Cousins Day has a few less attendees, but they carried out the tradition, nonetheless, with a sunset photo on the 5th Avenue pier in Seaside Park.
Here they are in this year's Sunset Shot, from oldest to youngest - from Vince to his GG'son RJ (in the orange trunks). it was a great time, and there's nothing like a little ice cream to top off the day. See you next year - on Cousins Day.
