Newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of  Hicksville High School   Hicksville, New York ------------------------------------------------------ The Editors: Buffalo Bob Casale '61 Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '60 Pat (Koziuk) Driscoll '56 Bob (Gleason) Wesley '61  Contributing Editors:  Bob Gillette & Walter Schmidt Webmaster:  Roger Whitaker To contact the editors, email editors@hixnews.com

You should all know that Pat spent the last few days of her life, working on the newsletter, until she was too exhausted to continue.
She will be missed by all!

The editors...

Please see our "Remembering Pat" page.

The Legacy.com Guest Book on chronicleonline.com for Patricia Driscoll has received one or more new entries or photo album submissions.  Visit the Guest Book  The Guest Book for Patricia Driscoll will remain online until Jun 06, 2009. You may sponsor the Guest Book for a longer period or purchase a professionally printed and bound version as a gift or personal keepsake.

Robert A. Casale
335 Patton Court
Martinez, GA 30907

Hospice of Citrus County
P.O. Box 641270
Beverly Hills, FL 34464

To Whom It May Concern:

Recently, Patricia Driscoll a resident of Inverness, was brought to your facility for comfort and care. Her prognosis was not good and, eventually, she passed away.

Pat, as we lovingly referred to her, was responsible for bringing much joy to many friends who knew her. Her family, who mourn her passing deeply, cherished her.

They realize the care you provided in her final days was awesome and, although that is your ultimate responsibility, the reaction to her demise was beyond expectation.

It is appropriate to mention that Pat was an editor of the Hicksville High School Newsletter (Hicksville, New York) that is published on a monthly basis. What began as a typed newsletter, sent to several hundred alumni via email, evolved into a professionally produced newsletter that is published to a website each month and viewed by almost two thousand former students. The newsletter can be viewed at http://hixnews.com

The newsletter is published “Free” and is supported by our many alumni through contributions that help defray expense. The newsletter was started by Pat and she considered the newsletter “her baby!” While in your care, she continued to email alumni and put together the many pieces of correspondence that are the bulk of the publication.

The family has asked for friends to donate to your facility in lieu of the traditional means of showing respect, flowers, mass cards, etc. I am forwarding a check to your facility that is not only a gift of the Newsletter Staff, but is a contribution, too, from all Hicksville alumni from the 1930’s to 2009 who loved Pat Driscoll.

Thanks so much for providing comfort to Pat in her final days. 

Sincerely yours,
Robert Casale

Save this date: October 3,2009

For The Class of 1959

50th YEAR REUNION!

The Reunion Committee includes Joyce and Mickey Anglim, Mike Anselmo, 
Joan Gabriel, Ghyll Owen Simoneschi, Carl Probst, Mike Sherin and Eileen Toscano.  
For information
write to Carl or Joyce.

See http://59.hixreunion.com ( and help find some missing alumni)

Event Type: Hicksville High School Class of 1984 25 Year Reunion

When:
Aug 01 2009 6:00 PM -
Aug 01 2009 10:00 PM

Where:
Zacharys
1916 Hempstead Tpke 
East Meadow Shopping Center
East Meadow, NY 11554 USA

Event Information:

Event price: $ 98.00 per person – Open Bar included

Payment must be received by: Jul 01 2009

You can pay with: checks, credit cards

Additional payment instructions: 
Make checks payable to: Christine Flanagan 243 N. Albany Ave N. Massapequa, NY 11758. (Please write HHS84 in the Memo.)There is a $10 fee for all returned checks. For credit card or bank transfer payments, go to www.Paypal.com (email address= cflanagan6@gmail.com) Enter ticket amount & send. We're having an EARLY BIRD Raffle. Pay by 6/1/09 & you could win $50. (Cash prize to be given at the Reunion.)

If you have any questions contact Christine Turner at cflanagan6@gmail.com.

PRESS RELEASE

Reunion of West Point’s first rock group

is a Long Island story

Two inaugural inductees to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame along with two of their Hicksville High School classmates are being featured at the 30^th annual USMA Band Alumni Association concert at West Point on Sunday June 28.

      Tommy Sullivan and his ex-wife Carolyn Imbrie were inducted into the LIMHOF as original members of Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge...but the band Sullivan led just prior to the Bridge has a largely unknown place in pop music and military history.

       Tommy’s LI band the Nite-Riders broke up when he enlisted in the Army in 1965 to become a member of the West Point Band. But a year later, after Jim Walker and Bill Jordan had been drafted and Vietnam-bound, Tommy was tapped to form the first Rock group in the Army, whereupon he floated the idea of providing an instant rock group to the Cadets if his high school buddies/ex- band mates could be reassigned to West Point.

       The Commanding Officer pulled some strings and made it happen... and West Point got their instant rock group-which was rounded out by Tommy’s then fiancée Carolyn Wood. 

       The group kicked into high gear shortly after Tommy and Carolyn’s wedding in 1966. The re-formed Nite-Riders were a huge hit not only at Cadet dances, but at the Officer’s Clubs at West Point and Stewart Air Force Base as well, and were featured with the entire Concert Band at a summer concert at Trophy Point in 1967...the site of this summer’s reunion concert.

From West Point to the Ed Sullivan Show

       Upon leaving the West Point Band in February 1968, Tommy and Carolyn Sullivan returned to Long Island to help start a new group with other former Hicksville classmates- which quickly evolved into the enduringly popular recording group Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge.

       Less than nine months after returning to civilian life, Tommy and Carolyn and four other Hicksville classmates appeared as members of the Bridge on the Ed Sullivan Show to launch a career which included gold records and appearances on every other major TV show and live performance venue. 

Nite-Riders to ride again

Reuniting the original USMA Nite-Riders onstage together for the first time in over forty years, the group will be augmented by a horn section consisting of several other USMA Band alumnus for a performance which promises to be historic and electric!

       Coincidentally, Tommy Sullivan has just completed his first book, Rockin’ the Long Grey Line: the rock & roll Infiltration of West Point During the Vietnam War, which chronicles the entire Nite-Riders/West Point experience...including some great photos

from the period which were lovingly preserved and generously provided by Carolyn Imbrie.

       The big show is happening Sunday June 28^th 2009 at West Point’s Trophy Point (Eisenhower Hall in case of inclement weather) starting at 6 PM. The concert is free, and open to the public.

People Looking for People

To all HixNews subscribers

We are interested in adding an art page to the newsletter. As we seem to have quite a few subscribers who are involved in the arts, we thought that this might be a good venue to showcase their endeavors. It is envisioned that we would showcase one or two artists per month depending on the response. 
This would not be restricted to painting, but would encompass pottery, wood carvings, sculptures and any craft that could be considered an Art form.  It can be works from the part time hobbyist, to those actively pursuing a career in the Arts. We are interested in hearing from you and any ideas that you have on the way it should be presented.

For submissions, we would like a few photos of a piece of work that you would like to share, plus any information about the piece, as well as any biographical info on your involvement with that art form.