50 Years Later: The SHS Class of 1968 Returns for a Memorable Reunion

They came from as far as Switzerland and San Diego and as near as Edgewood and Edgemont to remember their high school years, which for some, were the best in their lives. 220 members of The Scarsdale High School Class of 1968 returned to the ‘Dale from October 12-14, 2018 to reconnect with old friends, tour former haunts and examine how their classmates and Scarsdale has changed in the past 50 years.

The original class of over 400 students has already lost 50 members, who were memorialized with a video and ceremony on Saturday October 13th. However, the bonds among class members remain strong as more than half of the class made the trip back.

5th Grade Class Heathcote School circa 1960The celebration began on Friday October 12 with tours of the elementary schools. This class (pictured above) was among the first to attend the newly built Heathcote Elementary School. In the words of Gary Marcus, who forwarded the class picture above, “In the 1950’s Heathcote was seen as a new model school for a modern era - from its open architecture to hiring Charity Bailey as our music teacher. Ms. Bailey was African American singer and actress teaching white suburban kids songs that slaves sang while picking cotton "Cotton needs picken so bad." This alone was emblematic of the forward looking tenor of Heathcote at that time.”

50 years later, the class of ’68 was among the first alumni to have lunch in the new learning commons at Scarsdale High School, completed in the spring of 2018. Accustomed to more traditional classrooms, some asked what this type of space was for, and why it was needed. Principal Kenneth Bonamo explained that the learning commons was “designed with the modern adolescent in mind and reflects today’s methods of teaching and learning.”

Superintendent Thomas Hagerman welcomed the visitors, telling them, “Our goal is to create people like you!”

Following lunch, the group joined three classes of students in the Little Theater for a forum led by Social Studies Department Chair John Harrison titled, “1968-Then and Now.” He opened by telling the group about the remarkable historic events of the spring of 1968 when the country was involved in the controversial Vietnam War, Martin Luther King was assassinated, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek a second term and Robert F. Kennedy was murdered while campaigning for the presidency.

The returning class said that these events defined their senior year. They remembered boarding buses to Washington DC to attend the Poor People’s March to protest homelessness, where one woman said she helped to build a symbolic lean-to in Resurrection City for Ralph Abernathy.

Others said that SHS grads who were then students at Columbia University returned to Scarsdale to discuss whether or not the students should stage a strike, and many graduated wearing black arm bands to protest the war. Speaking about the events of 1968, Marcia Bell said, “We were serious and somber.”

The men of the class discussed the lottery for the draft that was held that year. During the war years the government held a lottery by birthdates and drafted those in the top third of the draw. SHS class member Bob Green said, “Four days after I graduated from high school I was on a plane to Vietnam. It was a shock to go from Scarsdale to Vietnam. “ He warned the students, “Don’t blow away your grades.”

Another big difference between 1968 and 2018 were the rules for female students. In those days, girls could not wear pants, and short skirts were not allowed. One woman remembered having the length of her skirt checked with a ruler.

Girls could play only club, not varsity sports. However, Pamela Lessing noted that these were changing times for women. She was the only girl interested in marksmanship and a friend invited her to shoot with the team at the SHS rifle range, no longer present on the grounds. She earned a varsity letter but was initially not permitted into the all male Varsity Club. After the dean’s prevailed she was the first woman in the club, but had to hunt down her own varsity jacket.

Another alum noted that when the class entered their freshman year at SHS, no one had heard of marijuana. But by the time they graduated, a good number of them had tried it.

What did they do for fun? Some rode the bus up Post Road to go to one of the many movie theaters in White Plains while others had fond memories of ice skating on Library Pond and Duck Pond.

Technology has also revolutionized education. Stephanie Diamond told the teens, “We didn’t have computers or smart phones. We had Texas Instrument calculators. We had to know how to do the math in our heads or on our slide rules.”

Diana Raphael remembered history class with famed teacher Eric Rothschild. She said, “I never had a teacher like Mr. Rothschild again. On the first day of class he threw the history text book into the trash can and said we would be using all original sources.”

Graduation was different as well. The date was June 21, 1968. For the first time the ceremony was held outside, in a courtyard of the school that no longer exists. Fred Friendly was the speaker. Echoing the tone of the times, he told the graduating seniors, “The one thing I am going to ask you is “help!” The prom was held in the school’s cafeteria that same night and following a tradition, after the prom, everyone piled into the car and headed for Jones Beach where they slept outside overnight.

Robin Schaffer, now of Edgemont, spoke wistfully about changes in parenting style. He said, “When we were growing up our parents were somewhat remote. They were busy doing what they were doing. We had a certain amount of freedom. We were our own actors. In each successive decade the kids have less freedom, less ability to make decisions. We were set loose in 1968 – but we had choices. Kids have no choices today. Their parents are into their lives eight ways until Sunday.”

Linda Hillman Chayes, a member of the Class of '68 and a former member of the Scarsdale School Board said the following about the weekend:

"We graduated from Scarsdale High in 1968 in the midst of a cultural upheaval. The Vietnam War was raging and we witnessed the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. We were leaving home, going off to college, at a point in time that called into question many of the assumptions and beliefs we had grown up with.

Maybe this is one reason why our class created such a strong community – such that 50 years later--our reunion this past weekend brought back together 220 Scarsdale alums. With the energies of many great leaders and doers in the class we had a wonderful three-day reunion full of moving and engaging activities that created their own new set of memories.

It was at our 20th year reunion in 1988 that I looked around at my fellow classmates and felt that if my kids turned out like them, I would be very happy. Three years later, we left New York City and moved the family back to Scarsdale."

The three-day reunion continued with dinners, a memorial celebration for the 50 classmates who have passed away, a trivia contest, a roundtable discussion and Sunday brunch at Chat in Scarsdale.

In the few hours I spent with the class of ’68 it was evident that Scarsdale had been pivotal in their lives; when they attended school here and in the decades that followed.

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Deb Pekarek to Chair Scarsdale Bowl Committee

Deb Pekarek has been named Chair of the 2019 Scarsdale Bowl Committee. Randy Guggenheimer, President of the Scarsdale Foundation, announced the appointment.

Mr. Guggenheimer also announced that Abby Sroka will be joining the Bowl Committee as Secretary/Treasurer.

The Scarsdale Bowl is awarded annually to a Scarsdale resident in recognition of their outstanding volunteer service to the community.

As Bowl Committee Chair, Deb Pekarek will head the Scarsdale Bowl nominating committee and the community celebration dinner to be held on Wednesday April 10, 2019 at Mulino’s at Lake Isle. When she accepted her appointment, Ms. Pekarek noted, “Volunteerism and Scarsdale are synonymous. To be part of the process to recognize one of our many volunteers is a great honor. I look forward to our Scarsdale Bowl Dinner! Please join us!”

Deb has been an active volunteer in a multitude of Scarsdale organizations and boards most recently as a Village Trustee and Police Commissioner, chaired Personnel, Sustainability, Municipal Services, and was Fire Commissioner. She has also served as Vice President and chaired Planning & Zoning with the Scarsdale League of Women Voters, was a director of the Friends of Scarsdale Parks, President of the Greenacres Neighborhood Association, vice chair of the School Board Nominating Committee, Scarsdale Forum Sustainability Committee chair, Junior League of Central Westchester

Finance and Training Chair and Greenacres PTA Carnival Chair. Deb graduated from Elizabethtown College with a degree in business administration and received her Masters of Teaching from Manhattanville College. She was a product manager for ten years and then was a teacher in Mamaroneck and the Bronx. She and her husband Jon Leslie lived in many communities across the country and moved to Greenacres in 1992 with their son Jeffrey, who graduated from SHS.

The Scarsdale Bowl is administered by the Scarsdale Foundation, which operates as a not-for-profit community foundation to promote the civic welfare. The Foundation provides need-based financial aid to Scarsdale High School graduates who are entering their sophomore, junior and senior years in college and to children attending the Recreation Department summer day camp. It also administers a number of special purpose funds and makes grants for various community needs, which have included the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps, the Scarsdale/Edgemont Family Counseling Service and the Scarsdale Public Library.

Additional information about the Scarsdale Foundation and the Scarsdale Bowl can be found at www.scarsdalefoundation.org.

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Scarsdale Forum Recommends Organic Landscape Practices For All Village Properties

The Scarsdale Forum Sustainability and Municipal Services Committees have released a joint report recommending that Scarsdale Village discontinue the use of toxic chemicals on all village properties and adopt an official organic landscape management policy. This supports the committees' finding that the use of toxic pesticides in our landscape can lead to significant, harmful health and environmental consequences.

For many years, the Village of Scarsdale has maintained an organic program for most of its properties; the committees recommend that these practices now should be extended to the few remaining locations where toxic chemicals continue to be used. These chemicals may include insecticides, rodenticides, herbicides, fungicides and synthetic fertilizers.

Committee members learned that, since 2009, Scarsdale has, at times, worked with Osborne Organics, which specializes in organic landscape management, to provide customized programs for village properties. While village staff and landscaping contractors largely have implemented these programs, they occasionally have applied certain hazardous chemicals in localized areas. One notable example is the Scarsdale pool complex, where such chemicals are used to treat flowering clover to discourage bees. When using the pool facility, many residents, particularly children, touch grass with bare feet and hands, increasing their exposure to these substances. In their report, committee members endorse a non-toxic method to eradicate clover and suggest organic alternatives to harmful chemicals used elsewhere.

Specifically, the report states that:

The use of toxic chemicals at the pool complex and any other village properties should be discontinued; and
The elimination of this practice should be codified, along with a requirement to implement organic landscape management practices on all village properties.

According to Municipal Services Committee Chair Madelaine Eppenstein, "Scarsdale is fortunate that, over the years, current and prior park superintendents and staff have understood the importance and effectiveness of organic landscape management. Thanks to them, public properties have thrived. It is now time to codify this practice villagewide to further ensure the health and safety of our residents, pets, wildlife and environment."

The report also recommends that Scarsdale should encourage residents to learn more about organic landscaping practices and promote more sustainable options for residential properties. "The toxic products that many residents and their landscapers apply to their individual properties affect neighbors, local wildlife and local waterways," said Michelle Sterling, co-chair of the Sustainability Committee. "The village should encourage the use of organic landscape management as a benefit to the entire community."

Darlene LeFrancois-Haber, Sustainability Committee co-chair, said, “I think it’s important to note, and for residents to understand, that aside from behavioral issues children are at increased risk of pesticide-induced harms based on physiologic and body size issues. Specifically children’s’ cells are turning over faster (they are growing!) and therefore more susceptible to the “hit” of toxins which may translate into downstream harms; and also, relative to their weight, they breathe and drink and eat more thereby increasing the concentration of these toxins when controlled for outdoor exposure time. And same argument, amplified, goes for fetuses. Unfortunately exposure to these pesticides is happening to all of us, pesticides are carried into our homes and remain active there for months, unable to be broken down by sunlight, rain, etc.. We don’t see it, but these toxins are measurable in our bodies, and over 750 studies have been compiled documenting harms of these pesticides that have then been the basis for guideline and consensus reports, recommendations statements, and reviews, including a 2012 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The basis for harm, is well captured I think in this quote: “Pesticides can cause harm to humans, animals, and the environment because they are designed to kill or otherwise affect living organisms.” Environmental Protection Agency.

A copy of the full report is available here.

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Scarsdale Girls Varsity Swim and Dive Team's Historic Season

The Scarsdale Girls Varsity Swim & Dive team has followed up last year’s break out season with an historical 2018 campaign. They started the season at the long standing White Plains Relay event, where they broke many records and came in first out of ten schools. They continued their run by winning all eight of their dual meets, with one last meet scheduled for Thursday October 18 when they are expected to complete the first ever undefeated season in school history.

The team has already qualified multiple relay teams and swimmers for the New York State Championships. Their three divers are hopeful that they will return to the States and improving on their impressive results from 2017.

The Post Season begins on Friday, October 19th with the Conferences. This will be followed up with Sectionals that commence on October 29. Scarsdale is hoping to improve on their 2017 second place finishes in both Conferences and Sectionals.

To view Scarsdale Girls Varsity Swim & Dive team’s most recent home victory meet (and Senior Night) against North Rockland on October 11th, please click here.

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