THE CONNECTOR A Newsletter By, About, and For Graduates of William Allen High School's Class of 1983 Issue 3 - December 1996

By: Jed Rapoport

"Thirty—the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning brief-case of enthusiasm, thinning hair." F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), U.S. author. The narrator (Nick Carraway), in The Great Gatsby, ch. 7 (1925).

I had to throw my own birthday party. My birthday cake collapsed under the weight of the candles. When they lit all of the candles on my cake, the smoke detector went off. The new cartoons aren’t as funny as the original Bugs Bunny. Most bands from Seattle suck. I used to go out four nights a week and had no ill effects. Now, I need four nights to recover from the one night that I do go out. Body piercing is of no interest. Those college-age girls that I used to seek out at the bars are real bubble heads.

"When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed and when you’re older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out." I. F. Stone (1907–89), U.S. author. International Herald Tribune (Paris, 16 March 1988).

The kids at Allen look much too young to be there. I’m starting to sound like my father when getting up from the comfy chair in my living room. The music they call "Classic Rock" is what we listened to in High School. Before when a new idea or opportunity came along, I went with it. Now, I must talk to my attorney and accountant before doing anything! My parents are relentless with their hints about grandchildren. Never mind that I am not married. I actually had someone refer to me as Mr. Rapoport. I pointed out that used to be my father’s name. My picture in the Comus is looking mighty dated. Don’t laugh, yours is too!

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	Williard Clewell, Jr., an Allentown School board member since 1985, resigned in June for health reasons. Clewell was chairman of the Allen High School chemistry department for 12 years before he retired in 1984.
	Allentown City Council passed an ordinance that forbids the sale of spray paint to anyone under 18 and allows police to arrest minors who possess spray paint outside of their parent's presence. City Council hopes this new ordinance will curb the amount of graffiti around the City.
	The Allentown Downtown Improvement District Authority has revived "The Mouse Before Christmas" display for the holiday season. Pip the Mouse and his pals used to be an attraction at the Hess's store on Allentown's Hamilton Mall.
	The Allentown Parking Authority recently unveiled a cash-key system for downtown parking meters. The system allow residents to purchase a magnetic cash-key for a specific amount, then use the cash-key instead of change in downtown parking meters.
	Dorney Park - Old and New: The carousel at Dorney Park turned 75-years old this year. The carousel was manufactured in 1921 by William and Edward Dentzel of Philadelphia. It is one of 28 operating Dentzel carousels in the country. As a new addition to its park, Dorney Park is planning to build a 200-foot-high roller coaster for the 1997 season.
	Muhlenberg Elementary School entered its second year with multi-age classrooms. This program allows students to bond with the teacher for more than one year and to advance through the curriculum at their own pace.
	The 70-year old Civic Little Theatre is now known as the Civic Theatre of Allentown. The name change was made to reflect the maturity of the theatre and its significant growth.
	Allentown City Council approved the construction of an Off-Track Betting Club at the old Mack Trucks site at 12th and Lehigh Streets. The Club will feature horse racing and a sports bar.
	Baseball is coming to Allentown. The Allentown Ambassadors, an independent baseball team in the Northeast League, will begin playing at Bicentennial Park this spring. Improvements to Bicentennial Park are under way.
	Lehigh County Prison has begun charging inmates for room and board. The prison bills prisoners after they are released a total of $10 per day for each day they were incarcerated.
	To ease overcrowding, the Allentown School District is shifting students between schools. Students at Jackson Elementary, Ritter Elementary, and Cleveland Elementary are affected.

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Charles (Chuck) Sander has been a gypsy since graduating from Allen High School and then Lehigh University with BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering. In 1989, he went to work for a French chemical company where he spent a year in Princeton before his company sent him overseas to France for 8 months. When he returned, his fiancée was still waiting and they married in Lehigh Chapel. After his marriage, he lived in the Lehigh Valley area and commuted to Philadelphia for one and a half years. From Philadelphia, he and his gypsy entourage, which includes his ever patient and understanding wife Staci and their dog Kaiser, moved to South Carolina for one year. From South Carolina, they moved to Charleston, West Virginia where they spent a year before moving back to Pennsylvania. They bought their first house in the summer of 1994 and 3 months later were sent back to France for an 11-month assignment. They just sold their house and have moved back to the Lehigh Valley where Chuck works for Air Products.

Update - Tina (Scholler) Hertel, her husband Mike, daughter Michelle, and dog Kyska are pleased to announce that they have a new Hertel living with them. On Sunday, July 7th at 11:35 p.m., Alyssa Marie made her grand entrance into the world weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 21 1/2 inches. She started out as a brunette with a head full of hair, but is now an almost bald, sandy blonde. She loves to smile and likes to watch her big sister, Michelle. The Hertel family is still living in Bloomington, Indiana.

Update - Wayne Barz rejoined Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) as Director of Industrial Development in July. In this position, he is managing an 80,000 square-foot small business incubator and directing economic development activities in the Allentown Enterprise Zone. Wayne previously worked for the Allentown Economic Development Corporation for three years as his first job after college. Wayne, his wife Lori, son Connor, and Golden Retriever Midas are living in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Wayne and Lori are expecting their second child in January.

Update - Annette Blanar has given up tax preparation to pursue a career in writing and graphic design. She specializes in the design of web sites and business forms and in writing newsletters and other technical documentation. She is currently working part-time for BioDx, a developer of drug discovery and biomedical software, for whom she writes technical manuals, help files, and product demonstrations. Besides editing this newsletter, The Connector, she edits a quarterly newsletter for her township called The Penn Township Pipeline. She is in the process of seeking additional freelance work developing web sites or writing technical or educational materials. She still lives outside of Pittsburgh in Trafford, Pennsylvania with her husband Eric and two cats Tesla and Abby.

Update - Carol (Cope) Mershon has recently accepted a position as a phlebotomist for Omega Health. She is still living in Boyertown, Pennsylvania with her daughter and her cats.

Update - Kerry Moyer has recently accepted a position as an instructor of earth sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Lisa are currently living in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

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