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After being around high school kids for three years it felt pretty routine and I don't think I paid as much attention to them as I had back in the fall of '56. Besides that, changing classes every period and dealing with 8 different teachers everyday was a lot to think about. I also rediscovered in junior high that it was a lot easier to play hookey and I played it a lot. At one point in '59 I was only going to morning homeroom & afternoon homeroom, spending the rest of the day out of school. I got chased once by the Brookhaven Town Police, but gave them the slip in the woods only to give up later on by turning myself in to Miss Ostroski who called the cops in to catch me. A few months later I was back to my old tricks again, but overplayed that hand and my 8th period English teacher, Mr. Proefreidt caught on. Many kids might not recall him, as he was only there for two years and left after the 1959 school year. The kids in the class of '60 certainly would not have any reason to as he taught special ed classes for the first year and then 7th grade. Funny thing is because of this website we had our own reunion this past summer and toured the school together. It was his first time back inside in 45 years and 40 for me. Lots of changes, and a few memories and laughs for both of us.

Certain events happened in the course of that school year though, that marked it permantly in my mind. Some were comic and some were tragic but all cut across all grades. Mr. Ed Orr arrived that year fresh out of the Marines. He seemed to think yelling at us like a Paris Island Drill Instructor was appropiate. Though I'm sure he wouldn't agree, I think all it ever did was build up resentment to him. My first encounter with him was in the cafeteria where he screamed for quiet at the end of the lunch period. PASS THE ALKA SELTZER PLEASE..... and speaking of indigestion, the Thanksgiving Turkey caper sent most of us that ate lunch that day to the hospital and is reported in full regalia here.

Another new teacher that year was Mr. Richard Hyland who taught shop and Drivers Ed. Like I said this was the first year that the class of '60 kids started to drive. My brother and I both paid close attention to him because he had worked with our father at the phone company during his summers home from teachers college. Our Dad asked him to keep an eye on his boys and sometimes it felt a bit like we almost had a de facto parent. Several kids in the morning before the bell would gather near the shop to watch him back the brand new green and white '59 Ford Drivers Ed car out of the building with some taking sucker bets on whether he would scratch it. He didn't but the kids who learned on it sure put the car through it's paces. I know they replaced the clutch and transmission in it the first year. In fact here's a direct story with the name omitted about Drivers Ed that year from Phil Van Tassel.

I already had my license when they started driver ed, but I needed it for the insurance discount, any way there was this guy in my class, who could not master a straight stick and the clutch at the same time, and they teased him really bad, in fact Hyland would not let him drive anymore until he learned to shift and use the clutch. He had no one to help him so I took him under my wing and we went to work, and I figured as long as I was at it, I might as well teach him to double clutch and speed shift. At the end of the course you had to "solo" with Hyland, so he goes out the road to Floyd Pkwy, stops, and Hyland says pull out, he does, rather "swiftly" winds up that '59 Ford, double clutchs it, speed shifts and chirps the tires, he almost flunked but he didn't rat me out, a few days later Hyland comes up to me and says, "nice job with ______".

By mid term in '59 a few of the juniors started driving their cars to school. There were a handful of interesting ones that could be considered cool or semi - cool accessorised with foxtails, lights in the grille, fender skirts etc by Jack & Jerry's, Strauss Stores, or J.C Whitney and most likely only limited from becoming full fledged customs by the budgets of the owners. Dave Pappa (who's father had a auto body shop?) probably had the baddest car of all a primed '49 Ford with the grille removed, a louvered hood and a '55 Chev V8 under it, but I don't think he had that until his senior year. The first bona fide real hot rod (a dark green 33 Ford Coupe channeled (lowered) and fenderless with an exposed Olds engine belonged to class of '60 George Moraldo, but he didn't appear with it until after he graduated and was driving his girlfriend Barbara Apostolou to school. Several of the kids were driven to school by parents, older brothers and sisters . In the mornings before school I used to hang out in the woods across the street from the parking lot with my brother and his friends. Between the BS and the Lucky Strikes being passed around (I didn't smoke, but kept a lookout for Mr. Bessette or Orr who seemed to delight in stamping out smoking among students) We also watched the cars arrive and comment on the cool or uncoolness of them. Miss Ostroski the school nurse had one of those huge finned '57 Chryslers, Mr. Bessette had a early '50's Chevy Convertible with the typical frosted and taped up rear window. It was pretty sporty though for the type of person he seemed to be. Of all the cars that did pull up, perhaps the one that attracted the most attention was the most unlikely hot rod of all. It was a black Renault Dauphine. These were France's answer to the Volkswagon, 4 cylinder rear engined, with about a top speed of 75mph. We probably never would of paid any attention if not for the manner in which it was driven. It belonged to Irv Rosenblum. He didn't go to Floyd but his sister Diane who was a freshman that year and his girlfriend Sandy Samuelson who was a sophomore did. Irv drove that thing like he was one of Joie Chitwood's Hell Drivers. Racing the engine and burning rubber as much as the little car could. I would watch him in the afternoon do a repeat show from the bus windows and I recall Bessette or Orr warning him one time.

On Monday morning March 8th, 1959, I was in Mr. Hyland's second period wood shop class when Mr. Coles came on the PA System. He told us what most had already known. That the night before Floyd sophomore, Sandra Samuelson, along with Karen Skarka of Eastport High, Ernie Parr (my best friends cousin) and Irving Rosenblum both of Mastic, had died in a car crash. He asked for a minute of silence.

Only a simple twist of fate prevented two more Floyd students, with at least one from the class of '60, from being in that car. Ernie and Karen took their place on the double date to a movie. Irving was driving Karen home when it happened on Montauk Highway in East Moriches. Afterwards Mr. Hyland being a drivers ed teacher naturally talked to us at length about it. (I think until the bell rang)

In the local papers it was front page news "WORST CAR ACCIDENT IN TEN YEARS CLAIMS FOUR YOUTHS" they included some very gruesome photos of what was left of the car and interviews with the emergency crews and residents who lived near the crash. One said "it sounded like someone had dumped a truckload of tin cans." The Renault had hit a large tree head on and having no engine in front, the tree wound up where the dashboard was. Three of the kids were dead at the scene and Irving died in the ambulance. Exactly what happened will never be known, the thing is you didn't have to be speeding in that type of car when you hit an unmovable object. Even 50 mph would of been the equivlent of 100 mph and I don't know if seat belts could of saved them. I don't think any investigation was ever conducted to see if there was a possible mechanical failure in the steering linkage. However the report seemed to be in denial as to what might of happened. "The road was straight, the weather was clear and there was no sign of speeding." No blame was ever assigned by the Brookhaven Town Police, but to say that Irving was a careful driver was really ignoring reality even this dumb little seventh grader knew.