Wolf Tales The Newsletter of Gorton’s Class of ‘65

‘Strength of the wolf is in the pack’

Bring on the Vaccines

January 2021, No. 57

Survey: We’re Eager to Roll Up Our Sleeves What else would you expect from the

generation nicknamed the Polio Pioneers? An overwhelming number of Gorton Wolves say they’re eager to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, according to a recently conducted Wolf Tales/SurveyMonkey. In addition, we had a few choice comments about the vac-cine’s distribution. About 84.4% said they’re ready to take it when available while 9.4% said they would wait for various reasons. While 2.7% are undecided, 3.3% said they were flatly opposed to the vaccine. About 60% of you responded to the sur-vey. “For me, there is only one choice. I be-lieve it is my civic duty to participate. I want to do my part and make a differ-ence. We are all in this together,” one respondent wrote.

See SURVEY on Page 4

A PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE—John E. Marriott of Canmore, Alberta, Canada near Banff National Park captured this striking photo of a lone black wolf. Marriott is the author of Tall Tales, Long Lenses and has his own website.

The COVID Chronicles A lot will be happening, and stories to be told, as hundreds of millions Ameri-cans begin receiving their vaccinations. Wolf Tales would like to hear about your experiences during the pandemic as well as trying to get and, hopefully, re-ceive a vaccination. Share your stories by emailing a short note to alexpoletsky@gmail.com. We’ll be running your comments until all this becomes old news and we can hug our loved ones and friends once again.

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Email your ideas, stories and photos to the editor. alexpoletsky@gmail.com Gorton High School Class of 1965 Drop Box

Missing an issue? Want to catch up? Click on Dropbox link for access to all our Wolf Tales issues.

STARS LIGHT, STARS BRIGHT—The “Christmas Star” (Saturn and Jupiter) shines over Trevor Park and the Glenwood power station. At right, Joe Mikulsky (C65) captures the convergence with a telephoto lens.

LAYING THROUGH—Sam Fried’s tee shot into the rough led to this photo of a Florida cooter turtle in the process of laying eggs. Sam took a free drop; the turtle continued to do the same.

BRINGING HOME THE BACON—This little piggy has become a regular visitor at Don Parry’s (C65) Virginia property. If it stays, Don plans to call the pig, Malion (Don’s pun, not ours.)

RUFFLED FEATHERS—Ever had a really bad hair day? This snowy egret was having a hard time with 50 mph wind gusts that hit the California coast near Joe Mikulsky’s home.

A DOLL’S HOUSE—The Nybelwyck Hall dollhouse at the Trevor Museum (top) takes on life in the Glenview Mansion during the holi-days. The close up (bottom) displays a staircase, intricate details, family members and a special visitor.

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Editor’s Notebook

Thanks, I Needed That No sooner did we get the great news of

COVID-19 vaccines, someone allegedly tried to game the system. I use the word “allegedly” because that’s what we’re told to say to avoid multi-billion dollar lawsuits filed by those with a moral compass of a kumquat. Enter my new hero—Dr. Howard A. Zucker, Health Commissioner for New York. In a moment of candor surpassing Howard Cosell’s “tell it like it is” interview with Eagles quarterback Roman Gabriel (“Tell me Roman, how does it feel to be washed up?”), he cut to the chase. It hap-pened at one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 press conferences. The topic de jour was a Brooklyn urgent care facility that purportedly received a batch of vaccines, administered 800 doses willy-nilly and then shipped some of the others to a mid-Hudson facility. It wasn’t difficult for the state to catch wind of this. For one thing, New Yorkers talk and they will drop a dime on you faster than—drum roll please—a New York minute. How fast is that? Try cutting in line for a dirty water hotdog from a street vendor and you’ll find out. In this case, the alleged inappropriate be-havior rose to the surface a lot faster, thanks to the clinic’s website that proudly boasted vaccines were available on a first-come, first-served basis. When a reporter suggested that the state might be to blame for giving the clinic the doses in the first

See EDITOR on Page 4

Grad Rates Jump for State’s ‘Big 5’ One of the side effects of the pandemic may be higher graduation rates in New York State—including Yonkers. When school districts shifted to remote learning, Regents exams were canceled and statewide graduation rates rose 1.4- percentage points to 84.8%. Yonkers led the way among the state’s Big 5 school districts (New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse, Yonkers and Rochester), be-coming the group’s first district to crack the 90% ceiling (90.6%). Gorton’s gradua-tion rate was 93%. Three years ago, Yon-

kers was the first to break the 80% level. Interim state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa cited Yonkers' strong My Brother's Keeper mentoring program and the city’s attention to students with disa-bilities and English language learners as reasons for the city’s sharp improvement. “The resilience and persistence of the Class of 2020 graduates and their families as well as the relentless commitment of Yonkers administrators and teachers res-onate in the graduation data released today," Yonkers Superintendent Edwin Quezada said.

Schools Pause For Mr. Claus Yonkers schools joined a majority of coun-ty school districts in taking a pause after the holiday recess to go 100% remote until Jan. 11 as an extra precaution. Samantha Rosado-Ciriello, president of the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, told The Journal News that there have been nearly 100 new COVID-19 cases in the district that stemmed from the Thanksgiv-ing holiday, 41% of which were students, 59% of staffers, which has forced hun-dreds into temporary quarantine. Accord-ing to the state records, Gorton has had

one positive testing since the start of the school year until the end of 2020. The following county school districts rec-orded the highest number of positive tests according to state tabulations: New Rochelle: 177 total cases (148 stu-dents, 29 staffers); Ossining: 145 total cases (118 students, 27 staffers); Yonkers: 131 total cases (52 students, 79 staffers); Bedford: 116 total cases (85 students, 31 staffers); Mamaroneck: 115 total cases (89 stu-dents, 26 staffers); Harrison: 111 total cases (76 students, 35 staffers).

—Photo courtesy of Michaela Cirkvova

OH SAY CAN YOU ZEE—A dramatic view of the new Tappan Zee Bridge.

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SURVEY (from Page One)

Sentiments such as “I want to get my life back to normal as soon as possible;” “The more who take it, the faster we can start living again;” and “Bring it on! Time to gather with family and friends” were common themes among those who fa-vored receiving the vaccine as soon as possible. But acceptance of the vaccine was also tempered by certain realities. “There are others at more risk,” one respondent wrote. “I'm hoping that the vaccine first goes to essen-tial workers; those in nurs-ing homes, assisted living facilities and rehab centers; those with compromised immune sys-tems and those 75-years and older be-fore they final-ly get to us.” Others weighed their options based on personal health reasons. “I’m waiting for it to be available for me to receive it at a hospital because of previous allergic reactions.” A common thread throughout the survey was the issue of distribution, especially among Floridians.

“We live in Florida. Our county has no available appointments. All vac-cinations are accounted for and there is no indication when addition-al vaccines will become available. This state is really a mess.”

“ASAP in my county in Florida has little meaning. Ages 65+ sign up online at the county health depart-ment and then wait for a phone call for an appointment. I’m not sure they even have the vaccine yet.”

“So far the system for scheduling appointments is terribly frustrating. Appointment slots are gone within two minutes once they are released. Hoping that the procedure improves soon.”

As the rollout continues, some remain undecided or flatly opposed. “I would like to wait to determine the after-effects on people of our age bracket as well as efficacy of the current vaccine against the mutation strains,” one person wrote.

“I don't take vaccines for anything, flu etc.,” one per-son wrote. “I am 74 and don't plan on living forever anyway, but my health is excellent so I will be here for a while.” An-other added, “Nothing per-taining to COVID-19 has been proven to me beyond a reasonable

doubt at this time that all need this vac-cination.” ABOUT THE SURVEY: The Wolf Tales COVID-19 Vaccine questionnaire was conducted by SurveyMonkey, a global leader in survey aggregation. About 98% of Forbes 500 companies use its services to gauge customer and employee satis-faction. More than 300 Wolf Tales readers were contacted during the Jan. 7-13 period. Precautions were taken to assure the anonymity of the participants as well as their responses. A survey response rate above 50% is deemed excellent. Wolf Tales thanks everyone for your participation.

Yes, as soon as possible (84.5%)

Yes, but I’ll wait (9.5%)

No (3.3%)

Undecided (2.7%)

EDITOR (from Page 3)

place, Dr. Z stepped forward and deliv-ered a “Hold my beer” moment. “We provided them with the vaccine be-cause they fraudulently filled out a form that said they were a qualified health cen-ter. That was incorrect, so that is strike one,” he said. “And number two, they moved it from one area to another area, which was inappropriate. So, that’s strike two. And then they gave it to people who weren’t on the priority list, so that’s strike three.” You could have heard a pin drop had it not been for the state attorney general fainting off camera. A breath of honesty. To quote the old Mennen’s Skin Bracer commercials, “Thanks, I needed that.” The moral of this story? Wait your turn just like Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s parents. CNN’s Sanjay Gupta is easily America’s most recognizable TV doctor named Gup-ta, and there are a bunch of them. His parents live in Lee County, FL, are older than 75 and have pre-existing conditions. Subhash and Damyanti were engineers at the Ford Motor Co. and she was Ford’s first female engineer with an advanced degree. You’d think someone would have let them skip the line or that he’d pull strings on their behalf. Au contraire. They showed up at the Lee County Library at 1:30 a.m. for a shot at the 300 vaccines that would be distributed eight hours later. They drew tickets #288 and #289, waited their turns and were vaccinated. Stay safe and stay healthy. Alex Poletsky (C65) is a retired journalist and managing editor of Wolf Tales.

Zoom on Groundhog Day The Class of ’65 will hold its next monthly Zoom chat on Feb. 2, Groundhog’s Day, at 8 p.m. Contact Janet Guyon Hanford at jthanford@gmail.com if you'd like an invi-tation and haven't joined before.

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Happy 89th Coach Volpe! Time flies when you’re forever young.

On Jan. 11, coach John Volpe turned 89 without the fanfare of the previous BC (Before COVID) year when I helped cele-brate the joyful event at Julio‘s on Park Hill in Yonkers. I asked his son J.R., who is a basketball coach at Saunders, if there were any do-ings planned this year. For obvious rea-sons, they were playing it smart and safe but were making plans for his 90th next year. Not one to take no for an answer, I called his daughter Patrice (Class of 1977) and asked her If I could visit her father some-time that day. She gave me the green light and that started the basketball roll-ing.

See COACH on Page 6

Me and the Coach

Tuers De Force

A New Year & New Inductees Greetings Alumni…

Happy New Year…hard to believe it is 2021 and time is flying by already. We hope the holiday season was a happy, safe and healthy one for you and yours. In our last edition, we mentioned Yonkers’ COVID-19 numbers were rising along with most other U.S. metro areas. Yonkers opt-ed for a remote-learning discipline during an extended holiday break to assess the numbers.

We are happy to report Gorton High School is back in session for both on-site and work-from-home schedules. It’s not the perfect learning environment, but under the circumstances it’s the best at-mosphere available for the safety of the students and faculty. Congratulations to Principal Will Shaggura and his staff for getting the operation back on track. The remainder of this column will be de-voted to our latest Wall of Fame induc-tees. To kick-off this year’s awards, we go back seven decades to recognize two graduates who ventured from Gorton and enjoyed amazing careers and made signifi-cant contributions in their respective fields…one in public service and the other in the arts. And the best part of it all, they are still with us today to receive our accolades. Bill Tolany is the president of the Charles E. Gorton High School Alumni Association and a member of the Class of 1964.

Alumni News

BEN ERMINI: 1954 graduate and former Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He studied Criminal Justice at Westchester Community Col-lege, as well as the University of Virginia, and is a graduate of the FBI National Acade-my. Ben had a distinguished 28-year career with the Yonkers Police Department, retiring as captain in January 1985. Ben subsequently joined the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and oversaw the handling of more than 5,000 cases. He retired from that role in 2006. During his outstanding career, Ben also taught for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Serious Habitual Offender Compre-hensive Action Program, received numerous awards and citations for law enforcement in Westchester County and has been quoted and interviewed by national news sources such as Dateline, Discovery Channel, CNN News, USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post, and The Associated Press. Ben and his family are enjoying retirement in Gainesville, VA. EILEEN HEDY SCHULTZ: 1950 graduate and currently a professor in the BFA Fine Arts Department, School of Visual Arts, in New York City. She studied at Columbia Univer-

sity and Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris, France. Her body of work includes president and creative director of Design International; de-sign director of Hearst Corp.; creative director of Good Housekeeping; and art director of Paradise of the Pacific, Honolulu, HI. Eileen’s curric-ulum vitae also lists “world traveler” in her experience, including being a visiting professor at universities in China, Morocco, Ireland and West Indies, as well as New York. She is an accomplished illustrator and

photographer while traveling in Kilimanjaro, Everest through the Khyber Pass, down the Amazon, Baghdad, Burma, Russia, Australia, Easter Island, Tibet and throughout the Americas. She is the author of numerous articles on design and is a concert pia-nist and soloist.

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‘A Blue-Eyed Polish Lad From Yonkers’ Seven days before the Korean armistice,

Sgt. Dennis A. Pryzgoda Jr. was killed in action on July 20, 1953. His parents were notified by telegram in early August. On that same day, they also received his last letter, dated July 14, saying that there was a lull in the fighting. Dennis was born on Oct. 9, 1931, to Dennis and Rose Pryzgoda. He and his sister Regina and brother Robert were raised in the Nodine Hill section of Yonkers. He attended St. Casimir's School and graduated from Gorton in 1949. During high school, he played on the football, basketball, track and golf teams. He walked from Nodine Hill to and from Gorton every day. Gorton was very fortunate to have him, considering that he lived closer to Yonkers High. Dennis completed three semesters toward a business degree at Columbia University before enlisting in the Marine Corps in Feb-ruary 1951. He attended boot camp at

Parris Island, SC, and, following a 10-day leave at home, re-ceived advanced train-ing at Camp Pendleton, CA. He was shipped to Korea where he rose to the rank of sergeant and leader of a ma-chine gun section in Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Regi-ment, 1st Marine Divi-sion. Lee Ballenger, a Marine veteran and au-thor served alongside Dennis. In his book, The Final Crucible: U.S. Marines In Korea, Vol. 2: 1953, he wrote, “I was bunked next to Dennis Pryzgoda, a tall, blue-eyed

Polish lad from Yonkers…who loved country music. He had a smile for everyone and was almost too good-natured to be a sergeant. But he got the job done. Dennis was as brave as he was good-natured." His family received Dennis’ body in early October and he was buried with full military honors at St. Joseph's Ceme-tery in Yonkers, on what

would have been his 22nd birthday, Oct. 9, 1953. He was the recipient of the Pur-ple Heart and the Combat Action Ribbon. Kevin Henry is a member of the Class of 1965 and a decorated Vietnam veteran.

We’ll Never Forget

COACH (from Page 5)

I contacted Malcolm Brown (C65), who had recently moved to California to be near his children and grandchildren, and

asked him if he could FaceTime with me dur-ing my visit with coach. Another “Yes!” Coach had recently been asking me about another one of his for-mer basketball players, Joe “Three Fingers” Willis (C72). I tracked

down Joe who was recu-perating at St. John’s

hospital and asked him if he could call on coach on his birthday? One more “Yes!” All this was done unbeknownst to coach and I must say he was thrilled from head to toe. Talking to Malcolm on FaceTime and Joe on my phone, I could see so much en-thusiasm in his eyes and his voice be-come alive with excitement. It made for a special day. Steve Tuers was a member of Gorton’s championship basketball team and is a lifelong resident of Yonkers.

Malcolm Brown Dialing in from California

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‘Safari Sam’ Aims His Lens At Wildlife By Sam Fried

In 2013, I organized a small group

"safari" ("journey" in Swahili) to northern Tanzania, employing Dorobo Safaris, a Tan-zanian-based family-owned company to run the trip. Dorobo did an amazingly thorough job with the itinerary and guides, taking us to widely known locations and some that were little known or even open only to them. The experiences and the wildlife we encountered made this trip the most ex-traordinary of all that I have taken. In this two-part series, first I'd like to show you some photos of scenery and wildlife, and followed by my favorite bird photo-graphs. Ndutu Sunrise: Standing next to a sign that read, "Go no further. You will be eat-en", the day's first light filtering through the acacia trees made me forget what a tasty treat I would be for a lion's breakfast. We followed a female cheetah and her cubs for some time across the open Ndutu savannah, near Serengeti National Park,

See SAFARI on Page 8

THAT’S STRETCHING IT—Giraffes at the watering hole. NDUTU SUNRISE—Breakfast calls for the animals, not you.

AL FRESCO DINING—A female cheetah savors her wildebeest.

I’VE BEEN SPOTTED—A nocturnal leopard along the side of the road.

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT—Elephants tusk it out.

‘Z’ IS FOR ZEBRA—And also for their dizzying effect in black and white.

WHAT, NO MARTINI?—An olive baboon with a ‘toothpick.’

SIMBA—A future ‘King of the Jungle’ pays a visit.

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SAFARI (from Page 7)

watching the juvies play with old body parts like kittens with a ball of yarn and chase each other around in play fighting. Then mom got to work. "Wow, that's good wildebeest!" At a water hole in Arusha National Park, numerous Maasai giraffes knelt to drink. After dark, we traveled by open jeep across the savannah, looking for noctur-nally inclined creatures. A leopard, close by the side of the road, watched us care-fully before disappearing into the tall grass. Tarangire National Park features hun-dreds of elephants, in every possible size, including two males settling their differences. A tusk in the rear only add-ed insult to injury.

Nearby, herds of white-bearded wildebeests were beginning their annu-al northbound trek. As they crossed this small stream, I directed the driver to park so I could get an ideal composition. Burchell's zebras were very common and readily demonstrated why they have never been domesticated. A study in black-and-white, their patterns become almost dizzying. In Ngorongoro Crater, an olive baboon uses the world's largest toothpick. Final-ly, a lion cub checks us out, while its mother lounges nearby. Of the thousands of images I gathered during our journey, these are some of my favorites. It was not only the wild places, but the wildness of it all that creeped into my soul. I yearn to return.

START SPREADING THE GNUS—A herd of white-bearded wildebeests begin their northward migration with a stop at a Tarangire National Park stream.

Free Digital Copy Available Of Sam’s ‘Continental Drift’ Want a taste of the outdoors from the comfort and safety of your living room? How about a free digital copy of Continental Drift, a photographic birding road trip across North America by Sam Fried and a very supportive and understanding Gale Donnelly? Sam (C65) has seen and photographed almost every bird species in North America. Contact him at Sam.Fried@live.com for a free copy.

Wolf Center Sends a Thanks And a Reminder With the Wolf Moon rising again on Jan. 28, the Wolf Conservation Center in South Sa-lem, NY, issued a thank you and a renewed pledge to continue its mission to save an endangered species. “Thank you for standing by us, for believing in us, and for supporting our vision. With your help, we have been able to continue our work to protect wolves and restore them to their rightful places in our land-scapes, in our hearts, and in our culture, despite the challenges. “After our doors closed to the public in ear-ly March, we continued and expanded our remote education initiatives virtually, deliv-ering free wolf and wildlife programs to over 2,000 children and adults in areas im-

pacted by COVID-19. De-spite many of our employ-ees still working remotely, we have continued to pro-vide a safe and nurturing environment for the critical-ly endangered red wolves and endangered Mexican gray wolves entrusted to our care. “As we turn the corner into a new year full of uncertain-ty, wolves are doing the same. The recent govern-

ment decision to remove Endangered Spe-cies Act protections from gray wolves in the lower 48 states will elicit severe and grave conservation challenges. With only eight red wolves known to remain in the wild, 2021 could be the turning point for this imperiled species, toward recovery or ex-tinction. “There is a lot at stake for wolves, but we will keep fighting for them with you at our side. After all, wolves are essential. And so are you.” For more information, go to https://nywolf.org/

Dancing With The Wolves

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Fighting Off Boredom is An Artform Dear Janet, I’m tired of crossword puzzles, Monopoly and old movies. In your December column, you suggested getting new hobbies. Can you suggest some here? Thanks.

Bored with Board Games Dear Bored

“Hi, Mimi. Do you want to draw a picture

with Bubbie and me?” That’s the way the conversation began with Taylor, my 6-year-old granddaughter. “Of course.” I replied and so our art lesson be-gan. Taylor and her other grandmother, Bubbie, live in Massachusetts, more than 300 miles away, so how did this work? The three of us had our computer or tablet and cell phones nearby for a Zoom chat and we Googled “Art for Kids Hub” on YouTube. It’s a web-site that offers lessons on how to draw sim-ple pictures for kids (and not-so-artistic adults). We had our paper, markers and crayons handy to follow Rob’s simple directions and together we created some relatively great pictures. You can see my “Olaf” from Dis-ney’s Frozen. We also made candy canes and a Taco Santa. Sticking with the non-artistic ability that I have and using gift cards I received for step-by-step painting lessons, I ordered some paint-at-home kits from

See ASK JANET on Page 10

Ask Janet Where Are They Now?

TINA BUONAGURIO HOEGLER Class of 1959

Punta Gorda, FL Retired Teacher, Theater Producer

After a rewarding career as a high school

mathematics teacher where she won the Presidential Teaching Award for New Jer-sey, Tina Buonagurio Hoegler retired 10 years ago and moved to Florida along with her adopted grandson.

It was there that she embraced her love of the arts and be-came founder and director of a com-munity theater group. Tina was first bitten by the theater bug when she began

directing elementary school shows. She also did a little theater of her own and became part of an acting ensemble at the First Avenue Playhouse in New Jersey. Tina became an accomplished song and dance artist, singing and directing barber-shop music through-out the state while winning gold medals in ballroom dancing. “I guess I was a late bloomer,” she said. “I always loved the stage.” So it was no wonder that when she was asked to provide entertainment for a so-cial club’s Christmas celebration in Flori-da, Tina jumped right in. She did that for several years, even writing a few musicals that were takes on well-known stories: The Night Before Christmas as Seen Through the Eyes of an Old Man;

See TINA on Page 10

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ASK JANET (from Page 9)

“Painting With a Twist.” With the pandem-ic still raging, I choose to avoid indoor ac-tivities but didn’t want to lose my cards in case the place has to close either tempo-rarily or permanently. I had painted Rustic Santa in the studio along with Mike, my son, long before COVID-19 hit. I truly lack artistic ability and if Mrs. Mangialetti (sic), our Gorton Junior High art teacher, was alive today, she would heartily back up my claim. The process was fun and the results not too bad if I do say so myself. Everyone in the studio the night we painted the Santa went home with the same picture but with individual variations on the theme. You can always change the details, especially if you’re someone who likes to “color out-side the lines”.

If painting isn’t your thing, how about tak-ing a trip back in time and make loop pot-holders? You can get a kit at Michael’s for a few dollars. You can multitask as you watch those old movies, too. You say you don’t need potholders? Donate them to a local charity. To be more active, pick up a few hockey sticks and get your spouse, friends and relatives for a pick-up game on the drive-way or park. Like the tango, it only takes two. For a little added effect, pour water on a spot to freeze for more authentic shooting practice. Recycle bins work nicely in place of nets. Or learn the tango! Grow mushrooms! My son Mike gave us a kit for Christmas. We're on Day 5 and we

should see results tomorrow. Watch this column for an update in February. Of course there are the traditional activi-ties, like pickle ball, tennis, knitting, read-ing, etc., but how about something differ-ent? I Googled “What to do when you’re bored” and came up with an article at Pa-rade.com that has 50 suggestions. While they may not all be potential hobbies, they offer unique ways to spend your days. Create your own signature cocktail? Have an indoor picnic? Start a daily journal? So on that note, I’m signing off to put on my hiking boots. Fairport wasn’t nominat-ed for Trail Town USA for nothing!

Good luck. Janet

Janet Guyon Hanford (C65) is a former cheerleader and was voted Most Versa-tile by her ’65 senior class.

TINA (from Page 9)

The Real Story of Scrooge; and The Nut-cracker and Marie. From there, her acting troupe evolved, doing one full-length play a year. When the pandemic struck, however, Tina didn’t want to lose the group’s enthusiasm so she relied on a familiar and socially distant mode of entertainment—radio. “We rehearse on Zoom, record, put in sound effects and post on our YouTube channel, the PPYC Players,” Tina said. The ensemble recently performed an outdoors radio play of A Christmas Carol complete with costumes, music and sound effects. The actors used separate microphones and seating on the lawn followed COVID guidelines. “Everyone seemed to enjoy

themselves,” Tina said, “and it gave my actors a chance to get that audience re-sponse actors so like to achieve.” Tina is currently casting for an Our Miss Brooks old time radio show Puppy Love and working on adapting Arsenic and Old Lace for the group. Tina’s adopted grandson lives with her while he attends school and works part time. Through her second marriage, she’s added to her family and that now numbers eight children and 15 grandchildren. She is also a Guardian ad Litem for the State of Florida dealing with children in foster care and acting as their advocate. “I decided that I may be growing older,” Tina said, “but I am not going ever ‘so gen-tly into the night.’ I have a lot more curtain calls to make.”

THE PLAY’S THE THING—A lawn performance of A Christmas Carol.

Parry’s Ponderings

Muffle What You Say in Your Car Although oil changes and other routine

maintenance are important, the most important thing you can do to keep your car trouble-free is never, ever, under any circumstances, let the vehicle know if you have any "extra" money. Earlier this month my wife and I were in the car, discussing our $600 stimulus checks. Obviously, the car overheard us and the very next day it required a trip to the shop for repairs. If the car knows you have any extra money, guaranteed it will want some of it. Don Parry (C65) was awarded Westchester’s Safest Teenage Driver Award and is a Vietnam War veteran.

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Bright Elusive Butterfly Of Love I’ve come to realize that there is a certain

theme that I keep returning to in my col-umns and because I am a person who carries songs in my head 24/7, the one that seems to be in sync with that theme is an oldie by Jewel Akens from 1965. You might recall The Birds and The Bees. It begins, “Let me tell you ‘bout” and goes on from there. The words then deviate from my more specific concerns about actual wildlife, but it provides me with a good introduction this time around. Since I’ve already stumped here for the birds and the bees, as well as bats, this time, let me tell you ‘bout the butterflies and in particular, the iconic Monarch. I’m sure we’ve all enjoyed some Perry Como Magic Moments marveling at these beau-tiful orange and black beauties at some time, somewhere, over the years. Maybe we’ve even experienced the de-light of having one land on us for a fleeting few seconds. Therefore, when I read a few weeks ago that there is a move to put them on the endangered species list, I was taken completely by surprise. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that saving bats is probably a hard sell and possibly bees as well, for some, but Monarch butterflies, come on! Here are some of the facts. Although they are found throughout the

See PRICELESS on Page 12

“The roaring thundering clang of the energy of the weaving-rooms was a big and exciting thing. Sometimes I felt that it was an enormous drag-on and that my mind was going against it with one little purpose, to get at its secret springs and master it.”

—John Masefield, In the Mill

Masefield’s Magic Carpet Ride

U.K.’s Poet Laureate John Masefield’s book on his experiences at the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company Mills.

What does a poet laureate from the

U.K. have to do with Yonkers? Actually, quite a bit. John Masefield was born in Ledbury, Her-efordshore, U.K. in 1878. By the age of six, he was an orphan. He went to live with an aunt and was soon sent to board-ing school. Around the age of 11, he left school to train for a life at sea and to break his “addiction” to reading. He spent several years at sea and found he had plenty of time for reading and writing. It was at sea that his love of sto-rytelling grew. He listened to the stories of the seamen and decided he wanted to become a storyteller as well. In 1895, while on a ship bound for New

York City, he decided he had enough of seafaring and jumped ship when it docked. He traveled around the country-side for several months, found various part-time jobs and finally decided to settle in The City of Gracious Living--Yonkers. In 1895, Yonkers was at the far fringe of New York City; with a 15 minute-walk, a person could find himself in the middle of a wild forest.

See MASEFIELD on Page 12

Did You Know?

Priceless Memories

Wolf Tales, Page 12

PRICELESS (from Page 11)

world and are in less danger in places like Spain, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand, surveys over the last two decades have shown deep declines in the two migrating groups in North America—the one that travels 3,000 miles up and down the East Coast to and from its wintering grounds in Mexico and the second one on the West Coast, that travels to the Southern Califor-nia coast in the fall. Both groups have fallen to levels that threaten extinction. These two groups also make up more than 90% of all North American Monarchs. The reasons for the decline will surprise no one and include illegal logging at win-tering grounds in Mexico, use of pesticides that kill milkweed, the only plant the lar-vae eat, the one that provides nectar for

migrating adults, but also the only one they lay eggs on. We can also include drought, fires and climate change as part of the problem. As before with my other con-cerns for endan-gered creatures, I encourage you to research the peril

of the Monarch. There are things we can each do now. Some, like creating Monarch Way Stations and planting native milk-weed, could be fun projects to undertake with grandkids. Others are far easier and include not using pesticides and backing programs that sup-port and sustain Monarch habitats, such as Monarch Watch and Save Our Mon-archs. This is where I say, “Google!” I would hate to wake up some morning and NOT see that bright, elusive butterfly of love. Yvonne Sullivan Price was queen of the ‘65 senior prom and is a retired school administrator.

Nella Poletsky does her butterfly dance.

MASEFIELD (from Page 11)

One morning, Masefield walked into the Alexander Smith carpet factory and was hired on the spot. The days were long and speed was of the utmost importance. Masefield did not find these to be hard-ships since he was used to long days at sea. He liked going floor to floor, stopping looms, getting others going, solving problems and interaction with the other workers. Most of his joy in his job came from its independ-ence. He was a mistake finder, running the job pretty much as he saw fit. His superiors had complete trust in his abilities. With his salary, Masefield was able to buy many books each week. He described his living conditions as “having fallen on a fair ground, beauty all around him, leisure such as I had not thought possible, books so cheap that I could have a library of them, and a great, romantic capital City only half an hour away.” In 1897, Masefield decided to return to England. His supervisor at Alexander Smith, impressed with Masefield’s work,

advised him that he could have his own factory floor to run. “Macey,” as he was called, declined the offer, sold off most of his books and got a berth on a merchant ship headed for England. Masefield wrote about his time in Yonkers

and the mill in his book, In The Mill, published in 1941. In hind-sight, Masefield thought he may have seen the factory system in its best light “in a land which held very strongly the concepts of equality and dignity.” He ad-mitted that his memories of the mill were not always glowing. Masefield went on to write many more books of poetry, 12 novels and lectured throughout the world. In 1930, he was named the United Kingdom’s Poet Laure-

ate, a position he held until his death in 1967. His ashes were placed in Poets’ Cor-ner in Westminster Abbey. John Masefield’s time in Yonkers was not found in any book I read, but rather shared with me and my classmates by Miss Gertrude Braslow in her history class at Gorton High School. Joan Lawless Kennedy (C65) is a member of the Yonkers Historical Society.

—Photo courtesy of Mosconi Photography

A VIEW ABOVE NODINE HILL—The season’s first snowfall coats Yonkers.

Wolf Tales, Page 13

Mayor: City Needs A Vaccine Center Mayor Mike Spano is calling on the state to open a vaccine distribution center in Yonkers, similar to Westchester’s use of the County Center in White Plains. “Since Yonkers is the fourth largest city in the state and the largest in the Hudson Valley, it is imperative that we meet the vaccine needs of our region by opening an additional center in our city,” Spano said in a press release. More than 17,000 Yonkers residents have contracted the virus since the pandemic began last year and three of its zip codes have been designated as “yellow zones” with higher than average infection rates. “We can’t expect Westchester County Center alone to mass service most of those who live in the lower Hudson Valley. We need to expedite the vaccine to the areas where it’s needed most.”

TZ Bike Path A Wheel Deal Six months after opening a dedicated pathway for bikers and hikers on the new Tappan Zee, the response has been any-thing but pedestrian. According to the New York State Thruway, nearly a quarter-million cyclists, runners and pedestrians ventured out or across the path on the Tapp (aka Gov. Mario Cuo-mo Bridge). Further north, the 1.28-mile Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie has attracted nearly 700,000 visitors a year since it opened in 2009.

State to Tourists: Go Take a Hike If you don’t want to take a Greyhound on the Hudson River line or shuffle off to Buffalo you can now pedal or walk your way around the state from New York City to Canada or from Albany to Buffalo. New York recently added its finishing

touches to the Empire State Trail, a 750-mile collection of new and existing paths. The project, which began in 2017, cobbled together 30 disconnected segments at a cost of $200 million.

Macy’s Galleria Closing; Cross County Stays Open Macy’s at The Galleria in White Plains will close by the end of the first quarter but its Yonkers store in the revitalized Cross County Center will remain open for busi-ness. The Macy’s closing would come on the heels of the planned closing of the Sears store in The Galleria next month.

Hudson Oil Barge Anchorages Scuttled The recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act has finally sunk the idea of new oil barge anchorages on the Hud-son River, an idea first floated in 2016 by

the Coast Guard. The plan, which originally called for 10 sites near Yonkers, Montrose and Stony Point where oil barges could drop anchor, was put on hold for environmental con-cerns. The 2021 Act included a provision by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, to ban such operations.

First Black to Head State Board of Regents Lester Young, a former Brooklyn principal with a 50-year career in public education, has been named the first person of color to be Chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. Young was appointed to the Regents as a member at large in 2008 and has served four terms. He has led the Regents' efforts to establish former President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative. Yonkers is on the forefront of the state’s program.

CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES BY ZIP CODE

CITY OF YONKERS

Source: Westchester County Department of Health

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in 2020 by Zip Codes since tracking began in March 2020.

4,681

1,782

2,910 2,332

683

1,962 213

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