Jon Breen letter to MVHS 6-15-2000

The Jon Breen Memorial Fund

Mount Vernon High School Class of 1963

100 California Road

Mount Vernon, NY 10552

MVHS Class of 1963

www.geocities.com/Tokyo/7970/mvhs1963/reunion.htm

 

June 15, 2000

 

Dear Friends and Classmates,

 

As usual, I hope this letter finds all of you and yours quite well. Recently, as you know from my last letter, I reported on the untimely death of Coach Henry Littlefield, who passed away after a long illness on March 30th. Over the past three months I have received a number of wonderful letters from our class regarding Henry and his legacy of giving, scholarship, committment to a greater, more open society and some poignant personal reflections. MVHS, with my input, has created a memorial plaque for Henry, and I have included a picture of the plaque along with this letter.

 

This year the Jon Breen Memorial Fund has again sponsored an essay contest, based on the public policy question “The Presidency: Who decides? the People, the Press, the Parties, or big money?” This year, again, I worked my way through many, many submissions, along with the educated assisstance of my wife Linda. The 3 winning papers were submitted by: Stephanie Brown, Harvard, Richard Thomas, NYU, and John Boykin, Cornell.

 

Along with the Jon Breen Award, our fund is donating a $500 history prize in the name of Coach Henry Littlefield to Robert McNair, who will be attending Cornell in the fall. Robert is an excellent athlete and scholar, who has especially excelled in the field of Social Studies. He not only achieved a 5.0 on his American History AP exam, but has attained top grades in this discipline throughout his high school career. (FYI, Henry was an AP History grader.)

 

On this past June 14th, I had the pleasure of attending the MVHS Award's evening and was the presenter of these prizes. As usual, as a consequence of this venture, I get to speak to many in our class, and I do receive some wonderful mail. Recently I have been in contact with Jessica Romeo, Matthew Goldberg, Joseph Gherardi, Armel MacDonald, Alan Rosenberg, Larry Reich, Michael Rosenblum, Frank Engel, Stan Goldmark, Lee Jackel, Carol Bellew, Lewis Perelman, Beth Roberts, Al Schultz, Barbara Tucci, Arnold Siegel, Peter Altieri, Lucille Bisesi, Norman Raphael,Warren Adis, and I know there are some others that I have unintentionally ommitted. Meanwhile our old friend Jim Anchin, Davis '61, has donated $90,000 to MVHS Seniors over the past 9 years in the name and memory of his sister Linda. In addition, over $1,000,000 in

grants and scholarships were awarded to the class!

  

Linda and I are heading out to California on July 20th. Hopefully we will meet with Matthew Goldberg in San Fransico, and then we will work our way down to Pacific Grove and spend some time with Madeline Littlefield. We will then proceed southward to Los Angeles, where we will meet up with Dr. Larry Reich. Along the way, we will try to link up with some cousins who have made the trek west at an earlier time.

 

If any of you have any news or thoughts on what I have written, please drop me a line or e-mail, or post your message on our website (see above). Also, if you wish to contribute to the Fund, please send to the above address or mine, that is listed below. For sure, if you send it to me, you will get a personal thank you. Unfortunately, I do not learn about all of the donations sent directly to the school. Again, thank you for your continue support.

 

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

Jon Breen Fund Letter to Paul Court 4-11-2000

The Jon Breen Memorial Fund

Mount Vernon High School Class of 1963

April 11, 2000

 

Mount Vernon High School

100 California Road

Mt. Vernon, NY 10552

Mr. Paul Court

Social Studies Coordinator

 

Dear Mr. Court,

 

In regards to our conversation of today, and reflective of earlier conversations at your office at Mount Vernon High School, I have included information on the Jon Breen Memorial Fund, a biography of Jon Breen, parameters regarding the 2000 essay contest, and my request to fund a Henry Littlefield History Prize.

 

The Jon Breen Fund, which was founded in February of 1994, was established to award prizes to Mount Vernon High School students who write superior essays on public policy issues involving history or politics. Since the founding of this fund, I have taken the responsibility of informing our class, raising the funds, selecting the essay subject, judging the essays and attending the award's night as the representative of the Jon Breen Fund.

 

This year, with your input, I have requested that the subject “The Presidency: Who Decides? the People, the Press, the Parties, or Big Money?” be offered to the student body. This year I would like the fund to offer prizes of $300, 200, and 100 for the three top entries. The essays should be 3 to 4 type-written and double-spaced pages in length with a staple.

 

Because of the recent tragic passing of Henry M. Littlefield, obituary included with this letter, and his great connection to MVHS and the Class of 1963, I would like to have a $500 used from this fund to establish a Henry M. Littlefield Prize for History. In regards to this prize, I intend to send a major mailing to our class and to many of Henry's friends from all over America. Henry had major connections with the New York State Amateur Wrestling community, Amherst College, where he was Dean of Students, the York School of Monterrey, California, where he was Headmaster, and the Stevenson School of Carmel, California, where he was on the faculty. Since the monies collected would go into either the Jon Breen Fund, or a separate, but similar Littlefield Fund, I would hope that Mount Vernon would contribute some postage to this effort, or allow the Jon Breen Fund to differ some of the mailing costs.

 

Please keep me informed on what your decisions are in this matter. I would like to send out at least two hundred letters in the next few days and I am willing to proceed with this effort and submit to your office any postal receipts. I can also bring addressed letters to the high school for processing through your postage machine.

 

Again, thank you for your cooperation.

 

Regards,

 

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Breen letter to MVHS 4-22-1999

JON BREEN MEMORIAL FUND

 

 

April 22, 1999

 

Dear Friends of the Jon Breen Fund,

 

Once again a year has passed since the last Jon Breen Memorial Fund essay contest. As you can readily see on the opposite side of this letter, the fund has been able to increase its awards this coming year. Over the past five years or so, the fund has raised over $15,000 and currently has over $10,000 in its account.

 

The winners have been a fine group of scholars, and it has been a genuine pleasure to attend the award ceremony and to meet the honorees. We have tried to select a subject that will stimulate some provocative yet introspective thought. Last year we selected  “Trial by Jury,” in the wake of the Simpson and Tyson trials. This year I thought that the subject of Presidential conduct would be appropriate in response to our country's past experience with the Ken Starr investigation and the impeachment hearings and trial. John Alberga, head of the Social Studies Department at Mount Vernon High School, and I ate lunch this past Friday, and we discussed the award's process in depth and future projects.

 

This past year proved quite exciting with our great 35th reunion get-together and its marvelous turnout. As you all should know, we are having a mini-reunion event on the weekend of May 22nd. As a reminder, there is an “Oldies” concert at Westlake High School and an optional dinner at Sir John's in North White Plains after the show. The next day we are having a picnic at the Glen Island Park off Shore Road in New Rochelle. I hope that all of you who are within shouting distance make an effort to attend. Let your hair down, and have some fun! Over the past 6 months we have established a Class of 1963 Fund. We have been able to raise money through the sale of a video tape that encompasses some of the events of the 30th and 35th MVHS reunions.

 

Since  our reunion, we have established an internet website for our MVHS Class through the expertise and generous work of Pierre Malraison. Along with all of that, I have had the fun of communicating with Lee Jackel Egan, Peter Altieri and others through the exchange of “humor” via e-mail. Speaking of our class, my wife Linda and I had the pleasure of being treated to dinner by our classmate Armel MacDonald, who flew into Westchester from his home in Omaha. It was great seeing and talking to him after a 35 year hiatus. Our joint memories of Henry Littlefield made the eveing extra special. Recently I attended services at the old CBI Synagogue on Crary Avenue in Mount Vernon as a guest of Alan Rosenberg. Alan celebrated the 40th anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah, and chanted his haftorah beautifully. Speaking of synagogues, Free Synagogue, where I was a member, has been torn down for a senior citizen living complex, and a smaller building is being constructed.Temple Emmanuel on Lincoln, has become a Baptist Church, and the congregation has linked up with Genesis in Tuckahoe. Meanwhile for all of you Holmes' school people, one of my neighbors and early playmates was one John Petrillo. Noting his father's death notice in the      newspaper, I decided to wander down to the Yannantuono Funeral Home on W. Lincoln Avenue in Mount Vernon. There I met the whole Petrillo family! Though all six children attended Catholic schools, Anthony and John, my contemporaries, did attend the public schools in the lower grades. They are both practicing doctors, and their mother still lives in their pink house on Lorraine Avenue. It was quite a reunion in the most unlikely of places. I had not seen any of that family since 1961! Frank Engel, of Portland is due in the weekend of May 8th and will be our guest for at least one night.  I also was able to visit with Joel Zalvin in his new offices in the MetLife building. For all younonattendees at our past reunion, Joel looks great and is in marvelous shape.

 

The Jon Breen Award will be given out at MVHS in mid-June, and I look forward to reporting on that event. As a reminder, reflective of my role as the Chairperson of the Jon Breen Fund, this is a charitible effort that helps perpetuates the memory of a friend and an outstanding member of our class. Only by investing in the present will we be able to have some control over the unpredictable future. The leaders that come forth from today's generation will have a great deal to do and say about a future America. As I wrote here last year, if we want the next generation to come forth with the same intellectual vigor that Jon possessed, we should encourage it with as much help as possible. There are worse things that you can spend your money on! No check will be refused, and it can be sent to either the address at the top or the bottom of this letter. Also special thanks to Ronnie Breen for her continued support.

 

Regards,

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

Jon Breen letter to MVHS 6-16-1998

Jon Breen Memorial Fund

MVHS

100 California Road

Mount Vernon, NY 10552

 

 

June 16, 1998

 

Dear Friends of the Jon Breen Fund,

 

This past year has been an exciting and interesting one for my family and myself. In regards to my family, we just returned from Princeton, where we were happily able to partake in and enjoy my son Jon's graduation. As you all know and have experienced in one-way or another, it is major milestone in the life of both one's child and family. Officially my wife Linda and I have ascended or descended, depending on one's perspective to the role of empty nesters.  Gratefully, for the moment, he will be living in Boston, within shouting distance of our daughter Dana. He'll be working in the internet-telecom field with BBN/GTE.

 

Aside from all that, I have been involved with Mount Vernon through Project 2000, which is an effort to create a new school of the performing arts, within the current high school, and rehabilitate their existing auditorium into a world class communication and learning center theater complex. Currently we are at the stage where we are forming a tax-exempt entity to begin the process of fund-raising.

 

As all of you hopefully know, we have been working steadily on our 35th high school reunion, which will take place at the Tarrytown Hilton, located on Rte#9, in of course Tarrytown, NY. I am sure that you have received notice from either our own mailings or from Reunions by Design.  With the considerable talents, help and energy of Michael Rosenblum, Susan Satenstein and Ayn Silverman, we have been trying to find other ways to make that whole weekend, October 17th, enjoyable with other activities. I know that we will have a hospitality room available for Friday night and we are looking for another venue, possible MVHS, possibly someone's home, or possibly the hotel for brunch on Sunday.

 

Through all this activity, I have had a great deal of personal contact with many members of our class. I also know that the active members of our committee have also had numerous and rewarding contacts with long lost friends and acquaintances of their youth. As I reported in my letter of March 15, 1998, many people have called me in response to our mailings, and since then I have spoken to a number of others that wish to attend our reunion, but didn't graduate from MVHS. I have talked to Joan Wishnie Cotrone, Roy Pitchall among others, and Sandy Birkenfeld Marks, Carole Bellew, Sue Wallis Field and recently Jimmy Kurtz. I have also received letters and e-mail from Sue Weiss Gitlitz, Alan Wexler, Gail Bland Wilson, Bill Bernstein, Peter Altieri, Richard Hoffman, Pete Sisto, Paul Luciano and Arnold Siegel.

 

Besides the normal interaction, I usually stay in close contact with Warren Adis, Alan Rosenberg, Larry Reich, Lewis Perelman, Stan Goldmark and Henry Littlefield. Henry just sent me a card about his upcoming visit to see his daughter in Concord, Mass.  Meanwhile Warren Adis and I attended the Award’s evening last night, and presented the Jon Breen Memorial Award to Ms. Sasha Clark who will attend Hofstra next year.  As in previous years we were able to say hello to Mickey Boyle, class of 1962, who is now at Education House, and Jim Anchin, class of 1961, who awards a prize in memory of his sister. Warren and I met Commissioner Jim Finch’s lovely wife Charlotte, who was also an award’s presenter. After the festivities Warren and I drove into Pelham, looking for the old Pelham Chateau, but settled at Rockwell’s where we quaffed a few brews and watch the Yankees unfortunately suffer one of their few losses. With all that in mind, please feel free to communicate with me at your convenience or leisure. Both the Jon Breen Fund and the 35th Reunion Committee could use your ideas and wise counsel.

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

Jon Breen Letter to MVHS 3-15-98

                                                                                JON BREEN MEMORIAL FUND

                                                                                      Mount Vernon High School

                                                                                 100 California Road

                                                                             Mount Vernon, NY 10552   

                                                                                914- 5665-5300 FAX 914-665-5281

 

March 15, 1998

 

Dear Classmates and Friends,

 

Hopefully this letter will find you and yours all healthy and happy.  At about this time last year I had written to you about my visit to Mount Vernon High School and about some of the happenings with our fellow classmates.  In recalling the February 12th 1997 letter, I note that Warren & Mary Adis have successfully returned from Israel and their eldest daughter Zana (from Rosie) is finishing her first year at Rutgers, where my daughter graduated in 1994.  Henry Littlefield has been successfully battling colon cancer and his recent conversation with me was quite upbeat. Dave ”Pete” Sisto, who lives in Aptos, went to see HML and also gave me a positive report.  Of course, I continue to correspond with Lew Perelman, Frank Engel and Larry Reich. We see Wendy & Alan Rosenberg, who is an outstanding Knickerbocker round ball aficionado. He attended with 20 or so others our December 7th Reunion brunch. In January, while we were visiting our daughter Dana in Boston, we were able to enjoy the hospitality of Diane Baer Ryan and her husband Tom in their home in Bedford, Ma. Bert Collins and Sue Phillips Collins were also there with their young son who was quite happy to frolic with the Ryan’s young boy.

As I noted last February, MVHS had started an effort to rehabilitate its auditorium. Since that time I have become chairperson of that effort, and it is now known as Project 2000. It has been an interesting experience. To paraphrase, the great Winston Churchill, in regards to the progress of Project 2000, “ it is not the beginning of the end, but certainly the end of the beginning.”  In the last few months I have had the distinct pleasure and opportunity of speaking and getting approval from the MV Board of Education, the Mayor of Mount Vernon and the City Council. I will be addressing the Black Minister’s Interdenominational Breakfast on March 21st as part of our grass-roots communication effort.

 

In the past few months I have been working on our 35th MVHS reunion and I have heard from many of you on the same subject. After our Reunion brunch I was able to receive some excellent advice and help from Michael Rosenblum, Ayn Silverman, Sue Satenstein, Sandy Yorn and Marcia Salonger. Hopefully we will all receive notices from Reunions of Design of Stamford, CT. unless an earthquake happens, the reunion will be held October 17th, at the Tarrytown Hilton.

 

Meanwhile over the past few months I have heard from Stuart Tobin, Judy Lange Godfrey of Action Property Management of Euclid, Ohio, Pete Sisto, Alan Wexler, a lawyer in East Amherst, NY, Paul Luciano, Jimmy Cotton, Lee Jackel, Bill Bernstein and Peter Altieri.  Through the internet and other sources I have spoken to Roger Caro, Patty Kravitt Ellis, who has an outstanding mail order gift business, Andy Mahler, Alice Merker Peters, Vicky Slavin Pinkerton, Harvey Berenger, Ron Pomerance, Ellen Fuchs Abramson, Elaine Knopping Haimes, Barbara Soloff Levy, a famous writer and illustrator of children’s books published by Troll and Dover, (working on three books) Judy Cohen Rosenthal, Jim Kurtz, a retired real-estate magnate upstate, Fran Lazar Ashkin, who’s son will be married in June and has been hiding in Dix Hills, LI, Elaine Turkin, Steve Blankstein, Jimmy Gordon, former MVHS wrestler, Bruce and Phil Dix, and Jane Cutler Feirer. Recently I met with and was treated to breakfast at the Regency Hotel by Richard Kahan, who is also running for Governor of New York. Richard Kahan's campaign can be reached at the Committee to Rebuild New York at 212-572-6340 or email info@kahan98.org. Richard also gave a very generous gift to the Jon Breen Fund and has voiced his support for Project 2000.  By the way our old friend Jim Finch is a member of our Project 2000 Committee and serves as Mount Vernon’s commissioner of Public Works.

 

 

I also had the pleasure of visiting the offices of Michael Fuchs in New York City. He seems to be surviving quite well in his retirement from HBO. Laura  Kosof Fluhr is off to New Zealand and Australia and according to her email, is looking forward to our reunion. I just received a letter and a post high school picture form Elaine Pogostin Brown, who enjoyed hearing from two of our classmates, Shelly Greenberg and Michael Rosenblum.  Barbara Lambert Howard is finishing nursing school and seems as happy and bubbling as usual. She asserts that she will be at the reunion.

 

Yesterday, we had our second in a series of pre-reunion brunches. We first met at my home, and then ventured two blocks to Ernesto’s Restaurant on Rte#22. Because of the slight threat of inclement weather some of the less hearty were frightened off. But, be that as it may, we still had a great time with Warren Adis, Stan Goldmark, Sue Satenstein, Ayn Silverman, (her friend Jeff), Joel Grossman, Diane McGinnis Fleck, Elaine Turkin, Richard Levin, Bob Mayer, Linda Garfunkel and our special guests from Portland, Oregon, Frank and Pam Engel.  Our informal committee is sending out a letter and a list of our missing persons to every classmate with an address (that we know of). Please send me the addresses of anyone on that missing list. Hopefully we will find someone with a great backyard and pool to host another one of these events in June or July!

 

The 1998 MVHS Award’s night will be held on June 15, 1998 at 7:30 PM. I look forward to reporting on that event. As a reminder, reflective of my role as the Chairperson of the Jon Breen Fund, this is a charitable effort that builds bridges between the past and the present. It perpetuates the memory of an outstanding member of our class and an outstanding citizen whose life reflected only the best and brightest. If we want the next generation to come forth with the same intellectual vigor that Jon possessed, we should encourage it with as much help as possible. There are worse things that you could spend your money on! No check of any size will be refused and it can be sent to either address at the top or the bottom.

 

Regards,

 

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

John Breen letter to MVHS 7-7-97

                                       JON BREEN MEMORIAL FUND

                                         Mt. Vernon High School                 

                                                  c/o 101 Prospect Street

                                                                               White Plains, NY 10606

                                                                               

July 7, 1997

 

Dear Classmates and Friends,

 

I had the pleasure of attending the MVHS Senior Awards Convocation on a warm June 10th evening. As usual there was very large amount of recipients, awards and scholarships. I have included a copy of the program with this letter. I had the pleasure and pain of reading over two hundred essays and I can say with sincerity that there were many very good ones. The topic this year was Celebrating One’s Freedom.

The three winners were Ms. Joby George, Ms Jyoti Elavunkal and Mr.Lee Bulgin. Linda, who ably assisted me in narrowing down the field, and I were unbelievably impressed by the essay written by Ms. George. In fact, I called Mr. John Alberga, the Chairman of the Social Studies Dept. because we both doubted a high school student could author such a great and profound piece. I had no idea who she was, and I had questioned whether she was she capable of such work! Happily, Mr. Alberga related to me that Ms. George was the number one student in the class and a National Merit Scholar! It was a good feeling that all three of our winners were high ranking and award winning students. By the way Ms. George and Elavunkel were two very attractive and mature young adults.

 

As usual I have remained in contact with a number of you over the past months and years. Frank Engel, Larry Reich, Lew Perelman, among others keep up a pretty decent stream of communications. Henry and Madeline Littlefield have been on a trip to Europe and I have recently received rave reviews from their visit to Austria. I may have reported to you earlier that I have also heard from Arnold Siegel and Mike Rosenblum. I have also received a post card from Alan & Wendy Rosenberg who are visiting Pearl Harbor and our 5oth State. Warren and Mary Adis, along with their children are returningafter a year-long trip to Israel. We have received numerous letters and e-mails, and I envied their remarkable courage to uproot themselves and make and enjoy such a marvelous adventure.

 

This past weekend, July 4th, I traveled back to Mt. Vernon’s old St.Paul’s Church. At that location, the Declaration of Independence has been read for the past 115 years. Remarkably three generations of the Banning family have continuously read this most famous and cherished document. The star of the whole event, and the main reason for my attendance, was the 47th straight appearance of one Dr. Randall, who was leading the Mt. Vernon Municipal Band, which he founded 47 years ago. Though I’m sure Doc did not really remember me, I never played an instrument, but he did remember Stan Goldmark and Frank Engel who were two of his loyal students and fans. Hope all of you have a marvelous summer and stay healthy.

 

Regards,

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

 

Jon Breen letter to MVHS 2-12-97

JON BREEN MEMORIAL

 MOUNT VERNON HIGH SCHOOL

 100 CALIFORNIA ROAD

 MOUNT VERNON, NY 10552

914-665-5300

February 12, 1997

Dear Friends and Classmates,

 

I wish to extend to all our contributors and friends a belated Happy New Year and hope that 1997 brings for all of you and yours peace, prosperity and good health.

 

Today I visited Ms Brenda Smith, the new Principal of Mount Vernon High School. The purpose of my visit was to hand over two checks totaling $2700.00 to the JON BREEN FUND.  As usual it was great personal pleasure to return to Mount Vernon and to visit Ms Smith, who’s dynamism, personal dedication and charm are remarkable. Her contribution to the success and stability of MVHS is not measurable. Part of my role as the trustee of this fund, which has reached over $6100, is to insure that the fund is self-sustaining. I am exploring ways that we can receive a much better rate of return than the Mt. Vernon Teacher’s Credit Union can provide. We have handed out awards for three years now and personally I would like to be able to grant larger awards to the winners of the JON BREEN MEMORIAL ESSAY CONTEST. I believe that our contributions serve as a necessary bridge to the community of our youth. If you, or some of your friends from the class that have not given, would like to make a donation or a second contribution please send it to me or directly to MVHS.

 

Since my last letter, Lew & Isabella Perelman have traveled back and forth from South America, where Lewis was lecturing. I can report that he enjoyed his trip immensely and his post card from Montevideo was the first I have ever received from that famous port. Warren & Mary Adis and their daughters are living in Israel for a year. (His address is 18 Neve Sha’anan #28, Jerusalem, Israel 93707- wadis@iona.edu) . Henry & Madeline Littlefield are quite well and I hear from them with appreciated regularity. Frank & Pam Engel have survived the floods of Oregon and he has turned into a prolific correspondent. Stan & Ellen Goldmark are busy with their young daughters in Cold Spring Harbor, LI. Dr.Larry Reich is quite busy with plastic surgery in Beverly Hills. I am hoping that he will fly east in 1997. Bill & Joan Bernstein weathered the Olympic torching of Atlanta. Victor Seff’s son and my son Jon ran track together at White Plains High School and they are now friendly intellectual rivals at U of P and Princeton, respectively (Juniors). Diane Baer Ryan’s sons are off to college and when I heard that one of her twins was attending Princeton I gave her a ring.  While at MVHS I was able to the view their Hall of Fame and saw the new Mickey Fuchs Plaque. Alan & Wendy Rosenberg are quite well. Their older son is at U of P and their younger son is enjoying New Rochelle High School. Alan’s interest in basketball and the Knicks is legendary! We went to the fabled 92nd Street “Y” to see George Mikan, Bob Cousy, Dolph Schayes and Wes Unseld. Gene Ridenour is retired and enjoying life in Florida. I was able to pass his address on to Henry Littlefield who will enjoy having another pen-pall. I also hear from Barbara Tucci Parent of Fort Lauderdale, whose beautiful daughter is attending Tulane. She has one young one left at home and two handsome older sons who have graduated college. Jon Lovett practices law in White Plains with his partner Jane Gould and has had great success fighting for the underdog. I constantly read about him in the local paper and admire his success. I may have reported earlier that he was in my home not to long ago, and that he was still sharp as ever! Sue Nassau Farber is helping her husband Dr Jack and his practice out there in the open spaces of Ogden, Utah. Linda & I sold our family business in 1995 and she is working for Coral Reef Capital and I am with Professional Compensation Planners, both of the Big Apple! It is different for both of us! Meanwhile I have enclosed a copy of the wonderful letter that I received from Ronnie Breen. I had tried to reach her when we were last in the Boston area. Our daughter Dana lives in Greater Boston after receiving her MS from Boston University, my Alma Mater. Ronnie’s daughter Melanie, a Brown grad, was heavily involved with the successful Clinton campaign in New Jersey. I always knew Jon Breen liked Teddy Roosevelt, but I had never heard him to be enthusiastic about the Democrats! My wife and I were active Democrats for many years and our daughter Dana was involved in the victorious Kerry election. In our case  “the apple did not fall far from the tree”. MVHS is starting a campaign to raise money to rehabilitate its magnificent auditorium. I hope to help them with that effort. If any of you have some connectivity with any corporations that would like to sponsor or underwrite some of the costs please contact Ms Brenda Smith or me.

 

Again, thank you for your past help, and if you could see clear to make a new contribution or even an additional one, it will be well appreciated. Young people are the future of our country and it is important that all have a chance to make the American Dream work.

 

Yours,

 

Richard J. Garfunkel

 

also Lew Perelman’s E-mail  Kanbrain@concentric.Net

       Warren Adis other E-mail 76305.42@CompuServe.com

        Henry Littlefield’s E-mail Scuffler@aol