THE SCRATCH SHEET

(REVIVED)  Vol. 1  Just in case you don’t remember, Leo Michaluk put out a newsletter for four or five years after we graduated, with news and notes about our comings and goings.   It was called THE SCRATCH SHEET.  LET’S PRAISE LEO, A GREAT HUMAN BEING.     February 5, 2005

 

CLASS OF SIXTY WE ARE NIFTY :A LITTLE LAME, BUT TRUE

 

From:

Rocco D’Amico

Ed DiRomaldo, publisher and distributor

Dennis Gries

John Kane

 

In this issue:

 

A.     Transitions

B.     Found

C.     Class of ’60 50th Year Gift to the Hum

D.     Class of ’60 45th Year Reunion

E.      The Corinthian 60 II

F.      The Alumni Association

 

  1. Transitions

 

    1. Ed Coccagna, our class president, passed away early last year.  He suffered a massive stroke, having previously had heart problems involving multiple by-pass surgery.  His wife, Sylvia, an executive with Cablevision in NYC, was anxious to have some memorial in the Hum, given Ed’s love of the place.  John Myers, Pete Shoemaker, Rich Adams, and John Kane worked with the alumni association to develop a memorial.  They settled on a tree, and a bench with a plaque.  These were installed on Founder’s Day of 2004.  A ceremony was held where Rich Adams, John Myers, and Sylvia Coccagna spoke.  Sylvia had some of Ed’s ashes,  and placed them at the base of the tree.  (A wag in the audience of 60s hummers, noted that the tree was going to be a giant, given Ed’s ashes.)  In the next Scratch Sheet (scheduled for early March) there will be  photos of the occasion.  All of those involved contributed to the cost of the tree and the bench.  The remainder of the funds which were contributed went to the Class of 60 50th Anniversary gift.   The tree and the bench are located at the NE corner of where Banker Hall used to be, closest to the D&S.  For those of you who have not been to the hum lately, both the Infirmary, and Banker have been torn down.
    2. Bob Himmelrich passed away on October 1, while doing yardwork.  He was at the Founder’s day memorial, so you can view some photos of his last days in the next edition.
    3. Also, this summer,  Cathy Kane, John Kane’s wife, passed away.  John and Cathy had spent the previous weekend with Joe Frigiola, Linda O’Hara, Joe’s “significant other”, and Rocco and Joanne D’Amico at Joe’s beach house in Brigantine, NJ.  A very pleasant weekend, aside from the fact that Joe and John wanted to talk about, and play golf all weekend.  One week later John found Cathy, passed away in their bed.  Cathy was a buyer for a major manufacturer in Philadelphia.  She purchased fabrics from China for processing by her firm.  John is retired from positions as a manager with Fedex, and from the National Guard, where he was a Colonel.  John and their two daughters are doing fine.  Our profound regrets.
    4. In the next Scratch Sheet Revived we will attempt to have full biographies of Ed, and Bob. 

 

  1. Found  (The Mightys)

 

    1. The Mighty Skrobiak 

 

Bob Skrobiak has been found.  Our only question is why he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Hit the sandbox in 2-3rd grade.  Hit the mechanical school in 10th grade.  Bob is now a carpenter, (good with lumber).  He spends half his time in FL, the other half in VA.  We need to get an update on what happened to him after he got booted after 10th grade, because of the old 18 year old rule.

 

    1. The Mighty Sosinski

 

Thought lost for all these years.  The Gentle Giant.  Don’t tell Seaman that.  He is a CPA, and has provided major contributions to the Girard College  Development Fund in the last few years.  (But he has neglected to join the Alumni Assoc.)  John: get with the program.  (Plus Seaman won the fight in 58.) 

 

    1. The Mighty Fogarty

 

You probably remember Eugene Fogarty.   He left around the 5th or 6th grade.  We found him through Classmates.com, and he responded.  

 

    1. The Mighty Gearhart

 

John is one of the most prominent scientists in the world.  Go to google.com and search for John D. Gearhart.  He is a renowned stem cell researcher, and is a professor, and Department head at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  In one of the articles you will find  a discussion of his life in the Hum,  with flattering references to Caz, and a less than flattering reference to a guidance counselor, presumably Beaky Cunningham, who told him to go back to Western PA, and farm.

 

5.  The Mighty Don Beck

 

We found a reference to Don Beck on Classmates.com, but have still not been able to locate him.

 

                  6.  The Mighty Mario Rullo            

 

After 40 years of no contact, Mario Rullo appeared at the 2000 Founder’s Day celebration.  Mario was 3 VOed out in the 10th grade, shortly after Percy Miller died in his arm.  He built a successful trucking company in Phila., and it was just great to see him.

 

7.      The Mighty Bruce Lambrecht

 

Bruce also appeared at the 2000 celebration, along with his brother Dennis who has been a regular attender of the 5 year celebrations.  Bruce is a television producer at the University of Delaware.

 

Dennis Gries has volunteered to be in charge of trying to get our lists of classmates complete.  Dennis has some substantial experience in genealogy and is more than willing to track down everyone.  At the end of this missive  there is info on how to contact Dennis.  We’ve also attached our most recent list of addresses, emails, etc. Please let Dennis know whatever you can add to help Dennis track people down.  If you have specific changes to the attached list, please let John Kane know.  John has taken on the responsibility of keeping the list current.   It is also important that you inform John anytime your email address changes.  For the Luddites among us,  who don’t use email,  that’s you Myers, make sure your P.O addresses are current with him.  If you do have email please provide it, and update it, since it is substantially cheaper to communicate with you that way.

 

NOTE ON CLASSMATES.COM:  THIS IS A WEBSITE WHICH PRESUMABLY ALLOWS YOU TO CONTACT OLD CLASSMATES.  WE DON’T RECOMMEND YOU USE IT.  YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO GO THROUGH THEM AT A COST.  WE DID LOCATE JOHN GEARHART, GENE FOGARTY, BOB SKROBIAK, AND DON BECK THROUGH THEM, BUT YOU CERTAINLY SHOULDN’T SUBSCRIBE.  THE CLASS OF 60  WILL MAINTAIN OUR SUBSCRIPTION ON THE HOPE THAT SOME OF THE “LOST” SHOW UP, BUT YOU SHOULD TALK DIRECTLY TO JOHN KANE (See below) TO BE ON OUR MAILING LIST.

 

  1. Class of 60 50th year gift to the Hum

 

It is traditional that on the 50th year of a classes’ graduation from the Hum that they provide a cash gift.  We have established a fund with the Alumni Association which now has over $4000 in it.  This includes over $2500 provided by an anonymous donor, $1000 from John Kane in memory of his wife, Cathy, and  the residue from the Coccagna memorial donations.  It is an interest bearing account, and contributions are tax deductible.  If you would like to contribute please call Rocco D’Amico.  It has been set up so that all contributions will go to the purposes we choose.  There is also a proviso that allows payments to cover mailings like this.  Rocco is looking for a volunteer to take over management of this process, preferably someone in the Phila. area, who has some background in fund management.  We should note that we are way behind.  The Class of ’59 already has over $30,000 in their account.

 

            D,  Class of 60 45th Reunion

 

We would like to have a major reunion this year on the weekend of May 20-22.  Here is the tentative schedule.

 

Friday May, 20

 

Golfing Outing.  The Alumni Association has a golfing outing each Friday before Founder’s Day.  A number of our classmates have participated most years including Ben Bertino, Toby Caplan, Joe Frigiola, Bob Himmerlich, John Kane, Frank Reig, and Pete Shoemaker.  This is a low pressure tournament, where you are paired with your classmates.  This goes off mid-morning on Friday.  If you are a golfer, and would like to participate contact John Kane.  The cost of the outing is around $100. It was held last year at the Melrose Country Club in Cheltenham. 

 

Dinner.  We will have a casual dinner for anyone who can get there around 8PM Friday night.  This will be in the hotel we select as the center of the weekend, or in a Philadelphia restaurant.

 

Saturday May 21

 

9AM  Head for the Hum for the traditional chapel service.  The 50th reunion class enters the chapel as if graduating, so the class of ’55 will be making the trip down the aisle.  The service is about 1 hour.

 

10Am Tour the hum.  Be surprised by the buildings which have been torn down, and the new buildings.

 

12PM  Light lunch in the armory.

 

1PM:

a.       Tour the hum;

b.      Tour Philadelphia with your family

c.       Return to hospitality room at hotel and visit with classmates.

 

6PM   Dinner with speeches by everyone, (who can still talk), about their life in the Hum, and afterwards

 

Sunday, May 22

 

            11AM – Brunch and parting kisses.

 

John Kane will be coordinating all of this.  If you would like to participate please fill out the following form and send it to John.  John is planning to keep the cost as low as possible.  He would also like some help from Philadelphia residents in bringing this all together.  You can send the form by email to John at  JJK91642@aol.com or by mail to 1678 Rockcress Drive, Jamison, PA 18929.    

 

 

Class of 60 45th Reunion

 

NAME  ___________             CONTACT INFO_____________________ ____________________________________________________________

 

I would like to participate in the golfing outing on the 20th.   Yes_____ No______

 

I would like to participate in dinner on Friday the 20th . Yes ___ # of attendees___

 

I will plan to stay in the reunion hotel on the following evenings:

            Thursday, May 19 _____ Number of guests ______

            Friday, May 20      _____ Number of guests ______

            Saturday, May 21  _____ Number of guests ______

 

I will plan to participate in the dinner on Saturday May 21    Yes___ Number ___

 

I would be interested in the tour of Phila on Saturday    Yes___   Number_____

 

I would plan to participate in the brunch on Sunday    Yes___   Number _____

 

I am available to help John Kane organize the 45th Reunion.  Yes_____

 

I am willing to help Dennis Gries track down former classmates.  (Free evening phone service useful.)   Yes_____

 

I am willing to help Ed DiRomaldo with publishing and mailing communications to classmates.    Yes _______

 

I am willing to contribute to the management of the Class of 60 fund.  Yes______

 

I would like to participate in putting together a Corinthian II.  Yes_____

            E.  The Corinthian  60 II

 

We would like to put out a Corinthian II describing our life in the hum, and our lives after.  Tentative date for delivery: our 50th reunion.  Send ideas to Rocco D’Amico

 

F.       The Alumni Association

 

If you are not a member, you need to join the Alumni Association. The annual dues are $30 per year for which you receive the Steel and Garnet, the Association newsletter.  For $250 you become a lifetime member, which gets you the Steel and Garnet for life, plus every year, a very nice calendar with pictures of the Hum,  and the knowledge that you have contributed to the Hum, which is the purpose of the Association.  If hard times have struck you, you are still entitled to membership based on a grant from The Girard College Development Fund.  To exercise any of these options, please call  Charles C. Kalata, ’62, the Director of Alumni Relations at 215-232-8882. 

 

Contacts:

 

            Rocco D’Amico:  301-229-0834  email  Roccodamico1@aol.com

            Ed DiRomaldo    215-365-5965 pomodon@comcast.net

            Dennis Gries  941-927-3757;  email dgries@comcast.net

            John Kane  215-343-5769   EMAIL  JJK91642@AOL.COM