APRIL 7, 2023

TO RESPOND WITH A COMMENT OF YOUR OWN, PLEASE WRITE TO OR CLICK ON WHSALUM63@AOL.COM. 

Hi Harvesters of Orange & Brown Memories, 

Gary Prager (1/61) motivated alumsters’ responses to his note mentioning the struggle of those living on the edge of the Weequahic section to maintain the “Weequahic lifestyle:”

Bobby Clark (64)

I lived and was raised on Tillinghast Street one block in from Hawthorne Avenue. My parents worked their asses off to make sure we all had a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food on the table. I don't recall anyone or any family in my neighborhood "struggling" to keep up with the Weequahic lifestyle! I am not sure exactly what point you were trying to make, but I could guess. I watched my friend's parents come home from a tough day at work and never heard anyone refer to the “Weequahic lifestyle.” The "fringe" folks, intended or not, may find your use of words insulting! Bobby

Bette Krupenin Kolodney (6/60) 

I look forward to every Friday when the “WHS Note appears in our email. I was never aware of the Meeker/Elizabeth Avenues neighborhood prior to the blogs of Jac Toporek (6/63) and others describing their growing up experiences there. I also learned that some of our great teachers at WHS resided there, too. I was impressed with their fond memories of the fun they had with their pals despite some of the economic struggles their families contended with. 

I should be working on my 2022 taxes right now, but Gary’s commentary inspired me to write about another area on the edge of the Weequahic section called the Clinton Hill section. As a background, I have written in the past that I lived from age 3 to age 12 1/2 in the attic apartment on Bergen Street between Lehigh and Lyons when my father was honorably discharged from the Army in August 1945. First of all, my parents had no money and, secondly, there were few apartments available for the influx of newly discharged soldiers after the war in Europe ended (the war in the Pacific did not end, yet). 

It interests me to read the many blogs recently published in the weekly newsletter by those who have memories of the Bergen Street neighborhood from Lyons Avenue to Custer Street. So, clearly WHS was populated by students from many different neighborhoods all with their own memories. Yes, the streets from Lyons to Grumman Avenue (the Newark border with Hillside) and from Elizabeth Avenue to Fabyan Place (border with Irvington??) had one- and two-family houses with rooms filled with wall-to-wall carpet. 

I attended K-7th grade at Maple Avenue School and was invited by my school friends to their houses. I won't name the cross street for anonymity, but one house on Elizabeth Avenue was a two-story mansion. The kid's bedroom was bigger than my whole attic apartment. And also, to this day, I have wall to wall carpeting throughout my house. Were the families living in that area doing better financially? Probably so. Did the kids growing up there have more fun? Who Knows?

Anyway, finally to the point of my email, we moved from 1048 Bergen Street to 755 Clinton Avenue in June, 1955 and lived on the corner of Clinton Avenue and South 15th Street. This area from maybe Bergen Street to Fabyan Place and from Clinton Avenue to Avon Avenue was another outlier district. Attending Madison Junior High School, we entered WHS in 10th grade. The other areas probably all attended the Annex on Hawthorne Avenue before entering WHS in 10th grade.

The students attending MJS but living on the other side of Avon Avenue graduated from 9th grade and went to Westside High School.

My experience in the Clinton Hill Section was a very happy one and some of my classmates are still my good friends since 1955. But what was very interesting is that my class at MJH was moved en masse to the same homeroom at Weequahic. We were segregated from the kids from the other neighborhoods. The only integration for our three years at WHS (1957 to 1960) was in the academic and non-academic classes.

So, in conclusion (finally!), there were various outlier neighborhoods feeding the high school on Chancellor Avenue, but from what I have read in the “WHS Note,” we all have our own stories of life where we grew up and have lots of memories of both struggles and fun. Viva la difference!  Bette

Jac Toporek’s inquiry as to class picnics received some comments:

Donna Buchner Wolkstein (6/63)

I can put myself right back to that day and playing HaHa. I remember truly laughing and having so much fun with my friends. I can name just about everyone in that picture and think of them all quite fondly. Thanks for the photos and great memories that it brought up!  Donna

Mel Rubin (56).

The June 1956 class had their picnic at the end of our junior year. We had two busloads that went to Echo Lake Park in Mountainside. I remember hot dogs and burgers and everyone getting wet rowing on the lake. I met my future wife, Sharon Segal (Hillside 56) on the bus. She had just transferred from Weequahic to Hillside HS, but was allowed to attend. We later met at a Purim Carnival a few months later and the sparks flew. We soon will be celebrating 63 years of marriage. So, for me, it was a fantastic picnic.  Mel

Alan Ginter (64/65)

I never knew it had a name but kids still play “Ha-Ha.”. As you said, you put your head on someone's stomach (opposite sex was preferable) until you have lots of kids involved. The more the merrier. Someone starts laughing and, inevitably, everyone will start laughing hysterically. Alan

Barbara Bierbaum Schrob (64)

My Senior Class Picnic was very memorable. I chose to play softball that day even though I am very unathletic. Along came a fly ball right toward me. I reached up and caught it. What a shock! Miss Judson, my stern Homeroom teacher and also a Phys Ed teacher, sat on the grass laughing. Never in the three years that I sat in Homeroom had I ever heard her laugh. That was my second shock of the day! By the way, she wrote me a beautiful note in my yearbook. She really was a nice person. Barbara

Memryquahics:   

Howard Burakof (6/56)

In high school, Weequahic of course. I worked in many stores on Bergen Street; Lehigh Drugs, Sammy Wasserman, Greens 5 & Dime, Joffee’s Deli and Bergen Lehigh Amoco (gas station). While still n grammar school, I delivered meat for Sam Fink whose store was on Mapes Avenue, a few doors down from Bergen. Not all at the same time. Howard

Margie Bauman (6/60)

Pleased to share recent article in the NJ Jewish News as to the renovation taking place at former Temple Bnai Jeshurun in Newark, pictured below. The article and some wonderful pictures of the interiors (empty interior, below) can be viewed at Photos of Bnai Jeshurun in Newark. Margie

Fred Goldman (6/62)

To Margie Bauman (60), the name of the future occupation test you took way back when was the Cooter Preference Test, I think everybody had to take it. That is a hard name to forget. Fred