JUNE 27, 2025

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Hi Orange & Brown Booster Club Members,  

THE WEEKLY “WHS NOTE’ WILL TAKE A ONE WEEK HIATUS FOR THE COMING JULY 4TH WEEKEND. ENJOY THE 4TH FRIENDS!!! NEXT ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER WILL BE IN YOUR “IN BOX” ON FRIDAY NIGHT JULY 11TH. BUT, YOU CAN STILL SHARE YOUR MEMORIES FOR FUTURE PUBLICATIONS BY RESPONDING TO THE COMMENTS, BELOW, OR TO ANY PREVIOUS ITEMS THAT APPEARED IN THE “WHS NOTE.”

Mimi Lipson Kaufman (6/53) and Lisa Chrystal Herzberg provide notice of passing of close ones of the WHS kind:

My husband Marty Kaufman, Weequahic Class of Jan 1951 passed on June 7th after a brief illness. He was 93 years young and lived a wonderful life with me, his beloved wife for almost 69 years. Marty leaves three beautiful children, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. His obituary can be read at Obituary for Martin Kaufman. Mimi

My mother, Carole Elaine Kay Chrystal died on June 13th of this year. A member of the Weequahic High School Class of June 1951, she always voiced her pride in being Weequahic alumnus. The link to her obituary cat the Menorah Chapels website is Obituary for Carole Elaine Kay Chrystal. Lisa

Highlights from WHS, Class of June 1963’s “80th Birthday Brunch” on June 7, 2025 at Archer Hotel in Florham Park, NJ:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to June 1963 grads who turn 80 years young in 2025.

Picture 1: Front – Lenore Ausborn Ferguson; Middle L-R – Miki London Gordon, Merle Rosen Cohen, Judy Wilson Schwartz, Carole Heller Shapiro, Nor Toporek, Susan Sauders Levinson; Back L-R – Riva Barnett, Jeanette Newby Mills, Jac Toporek, Calvin Schwartz, Michael Kerner, Sandy Markowitz.

Picture 2: L-R; Sandy Markowitz, Janice Rubin Silberman, Bonnie Elson Jarman, Juanita Joyner Hobbs, Merle Rosen Cohen, Jeanie Griffel Sacks, Judy Wilson Schwartz, Miki London Gordon, Hazeltine Beaty Myers.

Jack Lippman (50) shares recollections of the Meeker & Elizabeth Avenues neighborhood:

Although the small apartment house on Hillside Avenue between Watson and Meeker where I lived is long gone, I well remember the apartment building at 225 Meeker where the Lissners (Mel [53] & Clark [6/63]) and the Toporeks twins (Nor & Jac [6/63}) lived. The building burnt down a few years back and, now, also a memory. The Rabbi from the small shul on Belmont Avenue between Watson and Hawthorne, who prepared me for my bar mitzvah, lived there. My first dentist was in that building, too.  

I well remember the two pharmacists who owned the drugstore on the corner, Carl Fuchs and Ralph Panango. One of them patched up my knee which I cut up playing cops and robbers in the big lot across the way that ultimately became the site of a high-rise apartment building. Next to the drugstore was a deli/liquor store run by Phil Rosen. Because they sold liquor, an adult had to be there. When the Rosens took a rare weekend day off, they would ask my father to sit in for them and I joined him. 

Next to Rosen's was a barber shop, where many of the “connected” came to be groomed. Across the street was the Tavern Restaurant. I wrote a lengthy short story some years ago that I prefaced with an introduction that was mostly true, and which might be of interest to the Lissners, Toporeks, current and former residents of the Meeker/Elizabeth Avenue neighborhood and readers of the “WHS Note.” But, be patient the story’s introduction will appear in the next edition of our weekly newsletter. Jack

Jac Toporek’s (6/63) request for Jersey Shore memories were as plentiful as the grains of sand at Bradley Beach (excuse the exaggeration:

Audrey Blumenfeld Posnock (6/53)

From the time that I was 9-years old, my family rented in boarding houses. I, especially, remember the “Newark House” which was a five block walk to the beach. By the time I was in high school, we rented a bungalow on Beach Street.

Naturally, the beach to go to was Brinley Avenue. At night, everybody congregated in front of Syd’s on the block between La Reine and Brinley. I can picture it, me with cigarette in my hand. How cool I was until one day, to my surprise, my mother came walking by and took the cigarette out of my hand and kept on walking! So much for being a sophisticated Weequahic High School student. We had good times. Audrey

Matty Benoun (6/62)

I can still remember to this day the great times at the beach and boardwalk. I tell people I meet that you must see the Jersey Shore. Beautiful people and the summers were the best times. The boardwalk with the games and the best food. I miss those days. We were all lucky to enjoy and remember the fun times. Matty 

Dena Gettleman Greenstein (64)

As soon as school was out, we packed the car and headed to the shore. For 10 weeks we shared a house with my cousins and my grandmother. Our dads would come one night during the week, and on Friday to stay till Sunday night. 

Dances in the boardwalk pavilion, ski ball at the Penny Arcade, long walks through Ocean “Grave” to Asbury Park; just some of the pleasures. Others included glorious carefree days on the beach, swimming between the ropes, riding the waves on rubber rafts, eating kosher griddled hot dogs and crinkle fries with wooden forks, special dinners at Evelyn’s and Mort’s Port, pizzas from Mom’s Kitchen and Vic’s, and meat breads from Piancone’s. And more; mini golf, kiddie rides, nighttime beach walks, family time and lifetime friendships. Bradley summers were the best. Dena

Michael Ritz (6/58)

A few years ago, I wrote this poem which was printed in a special edition of the Asbury Park Press (Friday, May 22, 2015) about visiting the shore. As the APP quoted me, and still true, “I am now older and the beach is a constant source of pleasure.” The poem, which the APP headlined, “A Deep Dive Into Poetry,” can be read at (LINK TO PDF).

Lew Kampel (60) revisits Jack Lippman's (50) post last fall on the Wecquaesgeek Tribe:

I am attaching a map of the lower Hudson River Valley showing the tribe’s location in what is now southern Westchester (lower right-hand corner) and a painting showing Jonas Bronck purchasing the land that would become the Bronx from the Wecquaesgeek tribe.  

According to Wikipedia the tribe migrated to the Raritan Valley in the mid-1640s, which is not that far from the southern end of Newark that we now call the Weequahic section. So, it is not hard to imagine that their reach extended in that direction. Dutch settlers gave the tribe that migrated to the south end of Newark the name which means something like "head of the cove." The names are so similar (Weequahic\Wecquaesgeek) that there must be a connection although we were not all "geeks."  Lew

The WHS NOTE is emailed to you by the WEEQUAHIC HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION for the CLASS OF 1963 ASSOCIATION and editor, Jacob Toporek.



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