SPHS Alumni

Annual SPHS Alumni South Jersey Chapter Brunch and other important SPHS Alumni information

2011-08-29T08:47:00.001-07:00

Fellow Southern Graduates,

The Annual Brunch of the South Jersey Chapter of the SPHS Alumni
Association is just about a month away. Hope to see you there. See
below for details.

ANNUAL SOUTH JERSEY BRUNCH

The South Jersey Chapter of the SPHS Alumni Association will hold its
annual buffet brunch on Sunday, September 18, 2011 at the Mays Landing
Country Club. This event has been held for over 25 years and this
year we have a real treat. Our guest speakers are Gene Alessandrini
and Tom DiRenzo, who will talk about singers that had their roots in
South Philly.

The details of the event are as follows:

Date and Time: Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 11:00 am
Price: $25.00 per person
Place: Mays Landing Country Club
1855 Cates Rd.
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
Tel # 609-641-4411

TO ORDER TICKETS:
Please make checks payable to "SPHS AA of So. Jersey" & mail ticket
requests to:
Rita D'Armi
440 Risley Rd.
Brigantine, NJ 08203

For more information, please contact Rita D'Armi or Sam Chatis at
215-321-1065.

Lost & Found

2011-02-17T16:19:00.001-08:00

Found: SPHS 1967 class ring with the initials DCW.
Contact webmaster@sphsalumni.com

Articles Needed for 2011 Newsletter / Other important SPHS Alumni Info

2011-01-30T17:36:00.001-08:00

Dear Fellow SPHS Graduates:

As you are accustomed to by now, this is an email which contains
several different items of information (We prefer to send out one
large email instead of several emails covering one topic).

ARTICLES NEEDED FOR 2011 SPHS ALUMNI NEWSLETTER - REMINDER OF
AVAILABILITY TO RECEIVE NEWSLETTER ELECTRONICALLY

Our Annual Newsletter is in the process of being prepared. If you
would like to submit an article about yourself or another SPHS
graduate, please send it to Sandy Wizov by email at
sandywiz326@comcast.net NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 10, 2011. Reunion
coordinators should send photos from their 2010 reunions held, as well
as post information about 2011 Reunions. We hope to have the
Newsletter completed and made available electronically by the end of
February. The mailed copies should be delivered by March 15, 2011.
In addition to receiving the newsletter early, you will help us save
money on postage and copies. To receive an electronic copy of the
Newsletter as soon as it is available (in pdf format), please click on
the "E-Newsletter" tab on our website (www.sphsalumni.com). Remember,
you must be a Lifetime Member to sign-up for the E-Newsletter.

ANNUAL HALL OF FAME DINNER - THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 - HOLIDAY INN,
10TH & PACKER, PHILA.

Please mark your calendars now for the Annual Hall of Fame Dinner.
This year's Hall of Fame Dinner will be held on Thursday, May 12, 2011
at the Holiday Inn in South Philadelphia (10th St. and Packer
Avenue). The doors will open at 5:30p.m. The cost for tickets is
still only $35 each. Come and support the inductees (to be named
shortly).

Please note that induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame is based
upon the nominee's athletic achievements while at Southern. Induction
into the Cultural Hall of Fame is based upon the nominee's
contributions to society after graduating from Southern. Nominees for
Southern's Halls of Fame must be Lifetime Members of the Alumni
Association. To nominate an individual for either the Athletic or
Cultural Hall of Fame, please send a resume or biography of the
individual along with the nominee's contact information to Willie
Pollins, Esquire at wpollins@sphsaliumni.com.

Information on the 2011 Hall of Fame Awardees will be posted on our
website shortly and included in the Newsletter.

HELP SOUTH PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SHINE!

On June 6th and June 7th students will perform a show on the world-
class Wilma Theater Stage. Twenty-five students from Southern are
creating an original theatre presentation that celebrates the rich
history and diversity of South Philadelphia High School!

In response to the recent, negative images portrayed by the media,
three professional theater companies (The Wilma Theater, 1812
Productions and Philadelphia Young Playwrights) have come together in
hope of instilling school pride among the current student body and
bringing their accomplishments (as well as those of the Alumni) to
light.

Here's where we (the Alumni) can help!
Our students would like to interview you about your experience as a
student at Southern and your hope for the future of the school. These
interviews are a vital as the students unpack the history of Southern
and its neighborhood and create a show that tells the story of this
incredible high school.

For more information and to be scheduled for an interview, please
contact Monica Stephenson, 1812 Productions' Education Director at
(215) 592-9560 or by email at monica@1812productions.org. Sample
interview questions can be provided in advance.

Don't have time for an interview? …Share a significant memory or
event from your days at Southern by sending an email as soon as
possible to monica@1812productions.org. Thanks in advance for your
support.

REUNIONS

Last year was a very successful year for class reunions. Please
remember to advertise your reunions (or planning for a reunion) on our
website by sending an email to wpollins@sphsalumni.com. Don't forget
to also advertise your class reunion in the South Philly Review
(www.southphillyreview.com).

YEARBOOKS

Yearbooks are still available for purchase to Lifetime Members of the
Alumni Association for the low cost of $15 (including shipping). We
have yearbooks dating back to the first graduating class of 1910. To
Order a yearbook, simply go to our website (www.sphsalumni.com) and
click on the link, "Order Yearbooks - Lifetime Members Only" on the
left panel of our home page.

REMEMBERING FRANK DEFLAVIA, JR.

For those of you who are not aware, Frank DeFlavia, Jr. passed away on
December 5, 2010. Frank was the former Membership Committee
Chairperson for over 40 years (prior to that, Frank was President of
the Alumni Association for several years). Frank was known as "Mr.
Southern" as he could recall stories about hundreds of Southern
graduates, both while the students were at Southern and post-
Southern. Frank will be missed.

MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

The Executive Board of the SPHS Alumni Association meets once every
month (except July & August). The meetings are held on the 3rd
Wednesday of each month at 7p.m. The meetings usually last just over
an hour. The meetings are held at the Prudential Savings Bank at 19th
& Oregon in South Philly. Please feel free to stop by and share your
ideas of how we can bring the prestige back to our Alma Mater.

MEETINGS OF OTHER GROUPS WHICH SPRANG FROM SOUTHERN

We know that there are other groups which sprang from Southern that
hold regular get-togethers based upon graduating class, neighborhoods,
clubs, etc. If you would like your get-togethers publicized in the
Newsletter and on our website, send the information by email to
wpollins@sphsalumni.com.

SPHS Alumni Update

2009-01-28T08:58:00.001-08:00

Greetings Fellow Southern Graduate:

As new co-chairs of the Membership Committee, we would first like to
thank Frank DeFlavia for the excellent job he has done as chairman of
the Membership Committee for 50 years. As a result of Frank's tireless
work and dedication, we have reached 3,421 lifetime memberships of the
SPHS Alumni Association. While the number of lifetime memberships is
good, we believe that we can do better. Lifetime memberships can now
be purchased on our website at www.sphsalumni.com.

For those of you who are already lifetime members, THANK YOU. We need
your help in our goal to pass the 4,000 lifetime members mark by 2010.
So we ask in conversations with family, friends, neighbors, etc., who
graduated from Southern, that you ask them if they are a lifetime
member of the Association. If they are not sure, ask them if they get
mailings from the Association (we do at least two mailings per year).
If not, then they are not a lifetime member.

Many of us wrongfully assumed that because we received a mailing or
two in the year following our graduation, that we were automatically
lifetime members of the Association. Others of us who received
scholarships and
awards from the Association, or were class officers, also wrongfully
made this assumption. All Southern graduates receive a 1-year limited
membership to the Association immediately after graduation. We will
strive to better communicate this limitation to future classes.

It appears that the existence of our Association and what we do is the
best kept secret in the world. It is our goal to change that. We are
always surprised at the number of Southern graduates who do not know
that we exist. If you should come across such a person, please give
them the Association's website, www.sphsalumni.com, or tell them to
Google "South Philadelphia High School Alumni Association". If they
don't know what that means, tell them to have their children or
grandchildren do it for them to get information about the Association
and how to join us.

As a quick recap, the Association awards approximately $40,000 per
year in scholarships to Southern graduates. In addition, we give funds
to the less fortunate of the student population for essentials. The
Association inducts alumni into the Hall of Fame every year at a
dinner held in May. This year's Hall of Fame Dinner will be held on
May 20, 2009 at the Holiday Inn at 10th Street and Packer Avenue in
South Philly (visit our website for more details). A portion of money
raised during the Hall of Fame Dinner raffle is donated to Southern.
These reasons alone, should be enough for you to persuade others to
join us. Although the price of everything else has skyrocketed, the
one-time cost of a lifetime membership in the Association has remained
at only $25.

Southern graduates are located all over the U.S. and throughout the
world. Because of this, many times we lose touch with our members who
forget to inform us of address changes. Please note that some of our
mailings are sent via bulk mail at a discount rate. Under postal
regulations, bulk mail does not get forwarded. Therefore, it is very
important that you drop us a note to give us your new address. This
can be done by regular mail to the Association or by email to
wpoll...@sphsalumni.com.

Our Executive Board is comprised of the most dedicated people you can
find. We are always looking for new people with new ideas to join the
Board. The Board meets once per month. The meetings are held on the
3rd Wednesday of each month at the Prudential Savings Bank at 20th
Street and Oregon Avenue at 7:30p.m. The Board meetings last one hour.

We are pleased to see the number of class reunions are increasing. We
remind reunion coordinators to take advantage of the free advertising
for their event on the Association's website, and with the South
Philly Review. For
those of you who are no longer in South Philadelphia, you can view the
Reunions section of the South Philly Review online at
www.southphillyreview.com/calendar.php#reunions.

Again, THANK YOU to those of us who are already lifetime members. We
ask that you share the information in this message to those graduates
who are not yet lifetime members of this great Association. In
addition to signing yourself up as a lifetime member, you can give a
lifetime membership as a gift to another Southern graduate. Lifetime
memberships may also be purchased as a memorial to deceased Southern
graduates. For lifetime memberships purchased as memorials, please
indicate that the member is deceased.

We especially plea to MEMBERS OF THE CLASSES OF 1975 TO PRESENT. For
these classes, we have very few graduates who are also lifetime
members. While the tendency is to ask yourself, "how will the $25
benefit me?", we ask that you look at it from the perspective of
helping others. Who knows? Your membership might benefit your child or
grandchild if he/she attends Southern.

It is now more convenient than ever to join our Association. YOU MAY
NOW BECOME A LIFETIME MEMBER BY SIGNING UP ONLINE! No more filling out
the application by hand, writing a check, addressing the envelope, and
paying postage. In less than 5 minutes, you can become a lifetime
member. We have teamed up with PayPal, the world recognized secure
portal for handling financial transactions online, to provide you with
the ease and convenience of paying for your lifetime membership online
by credit card, debit card, or by direct debit from your bank account.
There is no requirement that you have a PayPal account. Please help us
reach our goal of 4,000 members by 2010 by clicking on the link below
and joining us. Thank you.

www.sphsalumni.com
Charles Lagrossa '54 & Willie Pollins, Esq. '84
Membership Committee Co-Chairpersons

New Reunion Update: June 1959 50th Reunion

2008-04-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

June 1959 50th Reunion

STATUS: ACTIVE
WHEN: Saturday, May 2, 2009
Lunch Buffet(1 - 5 p.m.)
WHERE: Swan Waterfall Room
2015 S. Water Street
Phila. Pa. 19148
CONTACT(S):
Estelle Caplan Kabbani 408-238-7246 marchstar@sbcglobal.net
Myron Urofsky 215-443-8668 myronu@comcast.net
Jennie DeAngelis Matarese 215-462-6003 madame41@comcast.net

NOTES
Seeking Classmates.
More information will be available Jan. 2009
Want to comment on this reunion? Click Here!

100th Birthday Celebration

2007-09-25T13:51:00.001-07:00

Dear Fellow Southern Graduates,

By now, you should have received a copy of our invitation brochure
about
Southern’s upcoming 100th Birthday Celebration in the mail. This email
is just in case we missed you in the mailing. We are inviting all
graduates and teachers from all classes to this once in a lifetime
event.

The event will take place at Southern on Saturday, October 6, 2007 from

3:30pm to 7:30pm. Tickets are $30 each. Tickets may be purchased by
downloading a ticket request form from our website at
www.sphsalumni.com
and sending in a check or money order in the amount of $30 for each
ticket purchased, or you may purchase tickets at the following two (2)
branch locations of Prudential Savings Bank: Oregon Avenue Branch (1834

Oregon Avenue) or the Pennsport Mall Branch (238A Moore Street).

There will be lots of music, food, and reminiscing about our days at
Southern. We look forward to seeing you on October 6!!! When you see
other graduates, remember to remind them as well. Thanks!

Willie Pollins, Esq.
Class of ‘84
(wpollins@sphsalumni.com)

Post News and Events

2007-06-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

You can post news and events, and other members can leave comments!

Welcome to the SPHS Alumni Blog!

2007-06-21T18:15:00.001-07:00

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