Have fun with it!

Margot Danziger (Brozost)

Thank  you for the beautiful tribute to Karen's daughter..

Web Admin Terry Kaylin (Smith)

I was housesitting for my parents while they were on vacation in Europe. I figured just the block or the neighborhood had lost power, so I didn't think all that much of it. I got out the flashlight and some candles, and settled in to read a book. My neighbors called to see if I was okay, and proceeded to tell me that this wasn't a local outage...it was MAJOR (they had a transistor radio). My boyfriend called from the City to tell me he was driving out, which of course was stupid given the fact that it was a Tuesday during rush hour. This would have been horrible in the best of circumstances, but without traffic lights it took it to a whole new level. Anyway, he made it to Oceanside in one piece, and we had a "memorable" night. 

Judd Hulbert

During that Great Northeast Blackout, I was in college at Cortland and living in our fraternity house at Delta Kappa. We were all at dinner in the dining room and all of a sudden, the lights went out. We didn't know what was happening but things like that don't really bother 40 guys sitting around eating and laughing. All of a sudden, someone laughed and said, "So that's how you want to play it, huh?"...and pretty soon we realized that someone had spread mashed potatoes across his face. Then we heard a "thump" and realized that someone had thrown a chicken leg against the wall. Then I got hit with a handfull of peas. We all were in uproarious laughter as we got into a full on food fight! It was hilarious and fun!! Of course, we had to clean it all up in the dark but it was a memory that I'll never forget and we all still talk about it whenever we get together.

Judd Hulbert

Roberta Schreiber (Dunn)

    I was up at Bard driving to Dining Commons when the lights went out. since the prospect of a cold meal wasn't appealing I drove to Red Hook where the lights were out as well. I thought it was local so I decided to drive to Kingston. When I got to the Kingston Rhinecliff bridge I saw the lights were out  on the bridge too, but I continued into Kingston where I found a diner that had candles and a grill that was working and heard it was the whole east coast that was out.

    I was pretty happy to get back to Bard thinking since the lights were out in my dorm enforcing the "no boys in the girls dorm after 1100PM"  rule would be hard to enforce, and figured my boyfriend could spend the whole night. No such luck. Since our dorm housed the infirmary there was an emergency generator and my dorm was the only one all lit up!

Ken Burkhardt

I do remember that night. I was also in upstate New York at Zetsa Psi, my fraternity at Cornell University in Ithaca. Our house had a big picture window that looked out on Cayuga Lake and we watched as the power went out from the other side of the lake to our place. Rather than complain we viewed it as an excuse for yet another party and the first thing we did was invite girl friends to the house. It was quite an event that resulted in at least one new fraternity brother nine months later. The funny part was that the brother involved was studying to be a minister. Evryone had a great time that evening even if there wasn't any electricity.

Arthur Levine (OHS '65)

I remember the night of the blackout very well.

I was going to college at Chamberlayne

College in Boston. Mid terms were coming

up the next day when the lights went out. Somehow

we got news of what was happening.

So what did do , I went outside the dorm

in Commonwealth Ave.& spent the nite

directing traffic??

William Manz

At the moment lights went out, I was sitting in my dorm room at Holy Cross, which provided a good view of some of the campus and part of the city of Worcester.  The first thought was that some student had turned off the master switch for the floor, something that had happend before, but a look out the window revealed that the campus and the Worcester were both dark.  I don't recall how long the lights were out in our area, but unfortunately it wasn't long enough for those who hoped that the blackout would result in the postponement of the next day's exams.  Reportedly, a few people on campus were caught in an elevator, and one excitable guy thought the blackout was a prelude to some kind of attack and he hid in a dorm basement.. 

Carolyn Szymanski (Auerhahn)

I remember that night very well.  My experience was a lot different from those described below.

I was a nursing student at Bellevue School of Nursing in the city.  Was in the shower getting ready to go out for an evening of fun when the lights went out.  Thought someone was playing a joke until I got out of the shower and realized there were no lights on anywhere.  Because our dorm was across the street from Bellevue Hospital all the nursing students were told to put on their uniforms and go over to the hospital to work. The entire city was paralyzed - mass transit was not working and hospital staff could not make it in.  So we all worked from about 7 pm to 6am when the lights came back on.  FDNY brought fire trucks with generators so that there could be an Emergency Triage area on the ground floor of the hospital.  The hospital did not have their own generators so elevators and lights were not working.  People were streaming in all night with injuries, illness, and delivering babies - and we handled it all.  Admissions were escorted through the hospital and up stairways by candlelight.  A friend and I had to walk up nine flights of stairs using candles in the dark to the operating room (which did have a small generator) to get surgical equipment because one section of the Triage area was also functioning as an operating room.  Learned how to make coffee by boiling it in water with egg shells - tasted sort of like Community brand French Roast from New Orleans.  Once the day staff started coming in to work we were permitted to go back to our dorm.  As we came into the dorm front door the woman at the desk told us we had better get cleaned up fast because were due on duty for our clinicals at 8 am - I don't know of anyone who actually went!

It was truly a memorable night!

Les Goldschmidt

Unlike many of you who have written about your upstate college blackout parties, I was a commuter, still living in Oceanside and traveling daily to Columbia Univ.
I was on the 5:24 LIRR out of Penn Station when the power went out.  We initially thought some genius had driven a backhoe into the power lines during the Penn Station reconstruction.   We were stuck in the tunnel under the East River, with two trains behind us and 1 or 2 ahead of us.  

One of my friends had a transistor radio (remember those modern tech miracles?), and we soon learned of the magnitude of the outage.   We began walking the length of the train with the transistor radio, bringing each car the latest news.  In one car a woman was getting hysterical screaming “the Russians bombed New York!  We could be the last ones alive”   I helped the conductor get her off the train into the tunnel to try to calm her down before her hysteria infected /affected others.

Around midnight (6.5 hrs later) we were pulled by diesel out of the tunnel - only because a passenger on the train behind us had suffered a heart attack and they needed to get him out of the tunnel to an ambulance.  We were told to stay on the train, because if the power suddenly came on, we could get zapped by the 3rd rail.  Many ignored this and jumped off.  Two guys came over to us and handed me a large box.  They explained that they had been going out to a shiva (condolence call), and were bringing all this food out, but now were just abandoning the train. The appreciated that we had gone from car to car to keep everyone updated on the news and wanted us to have the food.  No one had eaten since lunch, over 12 hours earlier.  You can imagine how we were attacked by other passengers when they saw we had food.

Around 1:30am we all decided to get off the train.  We found our way to a bar that had a generator, and I was able to call my parents.  We were stuck in Queens, and spent some time directing traffic on or near Queens Blvd.  I finally found a bus that ran to the Hempstead Bus Terminal, where my parents picked me up around 4:30 am.

Post script:  During the Great Blackout of 2003, I once again got stuck underground in NYC…this time on a subway.  After many hours of over 100 degree temperature, we were finally rescued by transit police. We had to walk several blocks (you can only imagine what conditions the tracks were in) and climb up an emergency ladder to the street.  I commandeered a cab..I flashed my ID and told him it was a hospital emergency…and got myself and two other hospital employees back up to Columbia Presby, where we stayed until power came back on.

Michael Barnett

During the blackout I was in my junior year at Princeton's Russian study language program in preparation for spending the summer in the Soviet Union and studying at Moscow State University.

I was clueless about the blackout since it did not affect that part of New Jersey.  I was first told about it when another student in my dorm told me to look toward NYC - nothing to see, the lights were out!

The next blackout was in 1977 and I was in my apartment in midtown Manhattan on the 16th floor.  I believe that was the first time I heard the saying: "If it's yellow, let it mellow.  If it's brown, flush it down".

Joanne Novick (Steckler)

What fun to read about that dark night so many years ago when the lights went out.  Since I lived at home while going to Queens College, I was at home with my mom waiting for my dad to come home from the City for dinner via the LIRR.  When we learned the lights were out across the Northeast, we worried about my dad and Dan, who was working in NYC for his co-op studies.  Somehow we heard that both of them ended up at my sister's apartment on Ninth St. at Sixth Avenue and they slept in my brother in law's dental office in the same building.  I don't remember how it is that we learned this.  Did the telephones work during the blackout?

Roberta Schreiber (Dunn)

Isn't it strange about the phones then? I don't remember if they worked. We had one phone on each floor in my dorm, and we hardly ever used it, unless it was an incoming call from someone, or the weekly call you made to your parents. How did we ever get along? Pretty well if I remember. Now it's almost impossible to be out of touch. No wonder we're all so stressed!

Sorry to all the folks who didn't have a fun during the blackout. I didn't mean to make light of the situation. Different events affect different people.

Allida Stauber

Ah, yes. I remember the Great Northeast Blackout of '66  well. I was at Columbia University, living in a graduate women's dorm, trembling in anticipation of the next day's anthropology test. It was about 5:56 PM that I swallowed 5mg of dextroamphetamine in anticipation of my nightlong study for this daunting exam.. 

It was a long long dark and creepy night.  Long and dark with shadows from candles everywhere.

The exam was cancelled the next day.

Lesson learned.

Web Admin Terry Kaylin (Smith)

What a hoot!  I don't remember any, except maybe  - but I could be confusing this with the NEW Bob Cummings Show! In any case, looking at these clips, it's easy to understand how they became one-season bombs! 

Judd Hulbert

Terry, I don't remember many of them, either. I guess I wasn't a big TV watcher back then. Maybe I had better things to do with my time!  :-)  Judd

Roger Bennett

Greetings to all you OHS citizens of the world!....

We've been going through one heck of a winter this year, and here in New Hampshire the severe cold, economic pressure, and one HEAVY snow after another has been, and is, an emotional strain!...                 For "some" people it's been worse than usual!

I just got an email message from the girlfriend of a long time flea market and business friend, who lived a few towns away. She briefly indicated that my friend Mike was dead, and included her phone number.                   I immediately telephoned her, and she explained that he'd taken his own life last week.

Mike was a tall, good looking, thoughtful, sensitive, talented and pleasant fellow, who was barely 50.       Karrie explained to me that he had been deeply depressed and overcome by financial and personal problems. I had NO idea of the "demons" he lived with, the financial pressures of his mounting debt, or of the desolation he apparently felt. I'm wishing now that he'd confided in me. Perhaps I could have helped... perhaps not.

Overwhelmed by what he thought were insurmountable problems, one night last week Mike deliberately overdosed on the anti-depressants that had been prescribed for him. Now it's for remaining family and this poor girl to try to make sense of what should have never happend. Disposing of debt, property, and possessions... plus the funeral itself will be a nightmare! I know of many others who are also going through rough financial times because of our damaged economy. Add in Muslim terror, plus International Political Insantity, and it would seem that the world itself is now upside down! Not much makes sense and I'm deeply concerned.

My heartfelt message for all is that "life" is always an up and down affair! As sure as there are "dark" days... the sun ALWAYS comes out again... and NOTHING is as bad as it might seem! All of us know despair, failure and sadness. All of us eventally suffer from the slings and arrows of life. It DOES get better though...             it ALWAYS does!

We all have disappointments, frustrations, and regret... and we all have seen dark days. It's inevitable! Important I think for us to remember that we are really NEVER alone! In the broad sense, we are all FAMILY! Burdened by problems and fear?... you WILL get through it! Jobs, Money, and Loved ones may go away. That's NOT the end though by any means... rather it's a NEW beginning!

Oft repeated.. A door may close, but another one always opens in it's place. I've been there, and seen it happen to me many times! For those of us now suffering through this rotten cold winter as Mike did, with financial or personal problems... know that I care, and that others do too! Keep plugging away with a smile on your face, and remember that tomorrow morning the sun WILL come up (unless of course it snows again!)

Arlene Goldstein (Trigg)

I'm so sorry for your loss and the sense of helplessness you feel. These are such hard and depressing times for so many, a Roger. Stay positive..this to shall pass.

With sympathy,

Arlene

Vivia Day (Tatum)

Roger, I feel bad for you in your loss.  As old as we all are now, I know many of us have gone through similar situations and the feeling of helplessness of those who have been left behind a tragic event.  winter is a vulnerable time for those who are depressed.  To be snowed in the way you folks in New England have been makes it that much worse!  I hope Spring is good for you and yours...     Vivia Day Tatum

Margot Danziger (Brozost)

 Roger,

Thank you for sharing that with us. Sharing your story was difficult but also a labor of love. In the great scheme of life , we from OHS , have the basic similar roots but our branches went in different directions. How special that we can all communicate now (thank you Terry!!)

Wishing everyone strength, sunshine and the knowledge that friends "do care"....Margot

Roger Bennett

Bless you folks... I know that you care, and can relate. Mike's story is only one of MANY today. We're ALL feeling the strain. Me? Oh heck.. things could always be better, and as usual I have too many irons in the fire, but I'm fine! My suspicion has always been that when we have a plan.. a purpose to our lives.. and are doing "positive" things we're happy! It's when life begins to control US and we feel put upon, victimized, and helpless that it all comes apart.

I'm doing a lot of reflecting these days as the clock runs down. Sure wish I could go back in time to the Oceanside we all loved, and once more see, speak with and hug those who I loved and cared for. Life certainly was easier back then wasn't it? We all had our lives ahead of us, and looking in the rear view mirror wasn't in our minds.

Another observation is that at this point in our lives, we probably are all now suffering from the SAME physical ailments.. right?  Aches, pains, bad joints, back issues, weak eyes, etc... plus the worst... wrinkling!.. Ha Ha!  Yeh, I've got treated high blood pressure, a repaired back that still aches occasionaly, and Glaucoma with Cataracts forming (oh joy)... but it's the "skin itch" that's been driving me nuts since our reunion! A burning stinging sensation that moves around and defies my doctors. UV light therapy helps, but isn't this interesting! Apparently it's very common as people age... Groan! I've been suspecting it's withdrawl from lack of eating Bigelows Fried Clams, and White Castle hamburgers!...

There's 2 1/2 to 3 ft of snow outside the cabin, with some drifting up to 5 ft. Our hill looks like Antarctica! Temperature this morning was 8 below... Oh Crap!  MORE snow is predicted, and everyone here in "New Hampster" is lamenting... "Will this ever end?"... I need more coffee!

Judd Hulbert

Roger, I too am so sorry for the sense of loss that you feel but as you said, we have all experienced some of that in our lives so far, and some more than others. I still feel a sense of loss for all of our classmates that are no longer on this earth and they are people we all knew and respected and hung out with every day. It's never easy trying to handle the emotions tied up in all of that. I loved reading your thoughts because in many ways, they matched mine exactly when I think back to some of the people that I have lost. Sorry that you have to put up with all of that snow and cold right now, though, too. I moved to San Diego in 1978 and when my family and friends asked me when I was going to move back to New York, the answer was easy...never. It's way too beautiful out here and always being a "beach kid" on Long Island anyway, this area is perfect for me. It was 80 degrees and sunny yesterday and I was out in the bay on my kayak.  :-)  Take care and thanks again for your thoughts.

Roger Bennett

Hi Judd... Oh man does YOUR weather sound good to me! Today (Sunday) it's warmed into the low 30's, and as the snow melts (?) I had a chance to tidy up last nights 3 inches of fresh snow! The temps are supposed to be dropping once more these next few days, and there's talk of MORE snow! SOB, but this winter has been HORRIBLE for the East Coast and New England!... So enjoy yourself out there in "La La land" and catch a wave for this old sailor. Sure wish I was there with you!..... "putting another log on the fire, Roger"

Roger Bennett

6 below Zero on the porch this morning... It's getting WORSE here in New England!... All you Oceanside Clams and Clamettes in Florida are darned lucky today, I tell ya. The deer below the porch are looking for their apples, and Roger has to drive to Concord to get a filling replaced at the dentist. Hope that all you folks are well and doing good things!  Would anyone like me to send them some snow? There's 4 feet of it outside the kitchen door......... R

Judd Hulbert

Well, if you can believe it, Roger, I am actually driving up INTO the snow this weekend to go skiing! I can tell you that I will then be looking forward to getting back here to San Diego where it's warm and the sun is out!!  LOL  Stay warm up there!!

Roger Bennett

Hi Judd!... As they say in show business.. "Break a leg!"... Ha Ha.. No, not really!  Hope you have a Terrific time in the snow, and certainly better than I'm having! Was bright eye'd this morning, and going to post some funny creative stuff... but this day has been a doozy! So much going on that needs my involvement. "Work and obligations". I wanna have fun!   Do hope that others will be chatting with eachother on this thing. Seems to me this is a GREAT way for bouncing messages and such! Was commenting to Chip Hawkins this morning about doing Acapela with some of the guys in the kitchen of Shore's restaurant on Sunrise Hwy in RVC. We'd try to replicate Dion and the Belmonts style plus others. Great fun, but Morty Shore would yell at us. It seemed that EVERYONE worked there at one time or another. Richy Day was always on the grill, while I bussed and did the Kitchen.  Someone was always being locked in the bathroom while we poured Amonia under the door... Whaaaaaaaaa!