MARCH 3, 2023

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

Hi Authors of the Orange & Brown Saga, 

New to the WHS E-mail Exchange:

Steve Laddy (6/62);  sladdy923@gmail.com

Robert Malinow (6/62); Robert.malinow@gmail.com

Ira Kent (6/53) and Rita Kravet Rzepka (1/55) share sad news.:

It is with a sad heart that I announce the passing of my older brother Harold Hesh Kent (6/51) on February 1. He was a diligent athletic student. After Weequahic, Hesh attended and graduated from the Syracuse University School of Architecture. He was a gifted architect, land developer and artist. He lived in New York City the last 35 years and was an avid skier and loved the opera. Playing basketball and tennis in Central Park were among things he enjoyed. His obituary can be read at (Harold Kent Obituary. Ira

I am sad to announce that Toby Redlus Goldfinger, Class of June 1954, passed away. She and her husband David (Hillside 6/53) have been our friends for 60 years. I met Toby in 9th grade and we have been good friends ever since. Her obituary can be read at Toby Goldfinger Obituary. Rita

Bergen Street, the avenue to memories:

Joel Enda (6/62)

I worked for Dean Floor Covering above the pharmacy on Lehigh and Bergen Street during the summers. Joel

Warren Sommer (6/58)

To Marty Benoun (6/62), the bakery was called the Bergen Bake Shop, not the “Bergen Street Bakery” as you wrote. Warren

Arnie Kohn (56)

My reward, whenever I received good grades, or to make me feel better after an asthma attack, was "MUN COOKIES" from Bergen Bake Shop. I can still taste them today. I have yet to find any that tasted the same. Arnie

Rita Kravet Rzepka (1/55)

Gudell’s Bakery was on Scheerer Avenue between Hunterdon Avenue and Bergen Street. We lived at 54 Scheerer. My father would give me a quarter, twice a week, to go to Gudell’s and buy a seeded Jewish rye bread. I’m glad someone else remembered that store. It was great. In those days, not only could you buy a loaf of bread for 25 cents but a young girl (7 or 8) could walk to the store alone and buy it. Rita

Arlene Chausmer Swirsky (64)

When I was still a student at Maple Avenue School, every afternoon my mother would give me a quarter and instructions to go to the Bergen Bake Shop to buy a “small quarter of a large rye, sliced." Wish I could get a decent rye bread now in Central Massachusetts. Arlene

Jac Toporek’s (6/63) flashback to visit to Bergen Street Rx for 8^th grade “future profession” project, garnered replies:

Margie Bauman (6/60)

I remember taking a test, maybe in 8th to 10th grade, to determine for what profession I would be best suited. My parents wanted me to be a nurse and it wasn’t rocket-science to figure out how to answer those questions. So, I came out as the perfect future nurse. My parents never asked what I wanted to be. But my dad was a doctor and they both thought nursing would be a rewarding profession and one where a job would always be available. However, by the time I was seven years old I had decided I wanted to be a journalist, but kept my mouth shut about that. Still happy with my choice and still working full time as a journalist.  Margie

Harlee Palan Steinberg (6/63)

Responding to the drug stores on Bergen Street, there were Rubin Brothers Drugs on Bergen Street and Shephard Avenue, Lehigh Drugs at the corner of Bergen Street and Lehigh Avenue and, I believe, also Kay Drugs.  Harlee

Jack Lippman (50)

The pharmacist who was so helpful might have been Herman Shertzer, who ran Lehigh Drug, precisely in the location you described across from the Park Theater. I mentioned him in a recent posting of the “WHS Note.” Or it might have been Jerry Monastersky (WHS 50) who worked there for a while after graduating from pharmacy college. 

But I also remember Ralph Panango and Carl Fuchs who ran the Meeker Pharmacy, and whom you chose not to interview, as a helpful pair especially if you ran into the store with a minor cut or scrape. Just try that in a CVS or Walgreens today. Jack

Rita Bleckner Weisstuch (6/59)

One pharmacy on Bergen Street at Renner Avenue was Rubin Brothers. The pharmacist was Hyman Ginter, a close friend of my father's. Is this the pharmacy you went to? Rita

Sharon Rose Uchitel (64)

The drug store on Bergen Street was Rubin Drugs! Sharon

Bill Jacobs (1/58)

The drug store on Bergen Street was Lehigh Drug Store located on the corner of Lehigh and Bergen Streets, the owner was Herman Scherzer. I worked there in the mid-fifties and the experience convinced me that pharmacy and the retail business was not for me. It was a decision that I never regretted! Bill

Sharon Rous Feinsod (66)

The drug store on Bergen Street was Kaye’s located on the same side of the street as the Park Theatre and a block, or two, closer to Lyons Avenue. Les Isaacson was the RP and owner. In addition to pharmaceuticals, women could buy makeup and perfume. I remember my mother going there for Almay and Hazel Bishop.

The Bergen Bake Shop was across the street, Stein's was nearby, as were Sybil's and Rennet’s (two beautiful women's causal shops), a high-end ladies shop called, I think, Elsie Stone. Brody's sold children's shoe on the corner of Bergen and Lyons, same side. Sharon

Alan Wurtzel (67)

The names of the drug stores on Bergen Street were Kay’s Drug Store and Rubin Brothers. You probably went to Kay’s. Alan

Michael Kessler (1/60)

The pharmacy was Lehigh Pharmacy and the pharmacist was Herman Scherzer. My father owned the pharmacy two blocks above Cheap John’s. My twin brother and I would visit when we had extra change. He had a dingy store but “what treats,” especially, button candy on paper rolls and wax bottles full of very sweet syrup. Michael

Jac Toporek )6/63)

Much appreciation to all who responded to my comment. So many responses, several possibilities and all answers could be correct. At 77 years of age the memory is a bit blurry, but, if I was to opt for one over another of the possibilities, for some reason Lehigh Drugs rings louder than the others.

And, to Jack Lippman (50), the Meeker Pharmacy was in fact approached and the pharmacists helped fill in a lot of the gaps in my report. But they had little published info on the premises. And, besides, as an upstairs neighbor, the Meeker Pharmacy was more utilized as a luncheonette and candy store. Jac

Keeping Weequahic Time: 

Clark Lissner (6/63)

"Holy Cow!" Jack Lippman's (50) father had something in common with the late, great Yankee shortstop/announcer Phil Rizzuto. On his way home from Yankee Stadium to his beautiful house in Hillside, Phil "the Scooter" would routinely pick up an evening newspaper at the corner of Meeker and Elizabeth Avenues. The adult "paper boy," who worked that corner for many years, proudly wore the official Yankee cap given to him by Rizzuto. From the newspapers being sold there, the #107 bus stop, the Weequahic Park Tower apartments building (with its resident stewardesses), the entrance to Weequahic Park, the ambulances with their sirens wailing hurrying to The Beth, Sabin's and Millman's down the block and The Tavern Restaurant and Bakery, that was a pretty busy and memorable corner. Clark

Don Kauffman (1/57)

My class ring was found in a safety deposit box where it had been placed many years ago. I remember buying the ring prior to graduation and wore it proudly. Weequahic High School was a wonderful school and had a reputation for educational excellence throughout the city and state. Don