Weldon E Howitt High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Farmingdale, NY)

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—Late Greats Mae West American actress and playwright Mae West died at the age of 87 on November 22, 1980. She was American show business’ bawdy personification of the brazen vamp for more than 60 years. She was known for making the quote, “Come up and see me some time,” universally famous. Elston Howard Star catcher for baseball’s New York Yankees and the first black player with the team, Elston Howard, died at the age of 51 in December 1980. Howard played with the Yankees from 1955 to 1967 and with the Boston Red Sox in 1968. He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1963. Colonel Sanders The founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food chain, known as Colonel Sanders, died of pneumonia on December 16, 1980. Sanders was considered an ingenious entrepreneur and salesman who established a famous worldwide chain of restaurants from a small restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky. He was also the perfect image of a Southern gentleman known for his white hair, black string tie, and double-breasted white suit. Shah of Iran More commonly known as the Shah of Iran, Pahlevi was in power from 1941 to 1979. He applied Iran’s immense oil wealth to a massive modernization program known as the White Revolution. He suppressed all opposition to his absolute power and established working relationships with Western powers, the Soviet bloc, Israel and Arab states. Pahlevi was driven from the throne and into exile in January 1979. He died in a military hospital near Cairo, Egypt, after treatment for cancer in the United States, Panama and later, Egypt. 28 Standing Outside Obituaries Ella Grasso Connecticut governor, 61-year-old Ella Grasso, died of cardiac arrest following a long bout with cancer on February 5, 1981. Grasso was the first woman in America to become a state’s top executive without suc- ceeding a husband. Bill Haley Bill Haley, the Father of Rock and Roll,” died on February 9, 1981 at the age of 56. Haley was best known as the leader of his group, Bill Haley and the Comets. One of his most famous recordings was the 1950s “Rock Around the Clock.” Steve McQueen Steve McQueen, famous Hollywood actor, died on November 7, 1980, at the age of 50. McQueen became one of the highest- paid motion picture stars of the 1960’s and 1970’s through the popularity of his portrayals of tough, cool loners with sex appeal. He was also known to perform dangerous stunts himself in his movies. Peter Sellers British comedian, Peter Sellers, died of a heart attack in London, on July 24, 1980. Sellers was known as one of the most versatile satiric actors of his time and as the screen’s star “great imper- sonator.” He was also the famous star of the Pink Panther series of the movies. Matthew Beard Matthew Beard, “Stymie” from the Our Gang series, died of a stroke on January 8, 1981. Beard began his career joining the Our Gang team in the 1930s. He spent six years in a bat- tle with drugs but recovered from his addiction in 1966. His last ap- pearance was in the T.V. miniseries, Backstairs at the White House.

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Local News Sports New Hue During October and November of 1980, streets throughout the areas under the jurisdiction of the Town of Oyster Bay began to glow with a new hue — orange. The Town had bought the contract for the many streetlights that line our blocks and major roadways from LILCO, the previous operator of the facilities. A worker installing the lights ex- plained that the new lights were more economical. They cost less to operate, saved energy and would actually be brighter than the previous streetlights. The two teams finally met each other and Oakland’s confident spirit led them to victory. Mistake-prone Philadelphia wasn’t able to keep up with the Raiders, and the underdog came out victorious. Doctor Shot Tragedy occurred on December 7, 1980, when Dr. Hugh Ashford of Melville Road, Farmingdale was shot and killed as he was putting up Christmas lights in front of his home. The man who was accused of the shooting was a former patient of Dr. Ashford who was apparently displeased with the doctor’s diagnosis. He drove up to Dr. Ashford’s home, pulled a gun, fired six shots and drove off. He was later arrested and identified as Robert Cohen. Gregory Carman, former Town Councilman and resident of Farm- ingdale, was elected to the United States House of Representatives on November 4, 1980. Carman beat the incumbent Jerome Ambro in a sur- prising race. Former FHS student, Douglas Hynes, was appointed as the new Town Councilman, filling the vacan- cy left by Greg Carman. Local Politicians Phillies Are 1 The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Houston Astros and won its first National League Pennant in 30 years. The Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees to clinch the American League Pennant. But that was only the beginning. These two teams were to become adversaries in a grueling six game competition to decide who would become the 1980 World Champion team. In the action-packed first game of the World Series, the Phillies defeated the Royals by the score of 7 to 6. This was quite an achievement considering that the Royals were leading 4 to 0 in the third inning. The second game was also won by the Phillies by a margin of 6 to 4. The third game was tense and thrilling. Isles Win Cup The Islanders, for a while made Long Island the spotlight for nation- wide attention last year as they won the coveted Stanley Cup by defeating the Bullies of Broad Street — the Philadelphia Flyers. The team had a hard time in the series. Again and again the score was tied and the game went into over- time. But everytime this happened, they won! Long Island went wild for its retur- ning heroes. Crowds turned out wherever any of the team members went, especially Ken Morrow. In ad- dition to being an Islander, Morrow was also a member of the triumphant United States’ Olympic Hockey Team. The Islanders are on their way to doing a repeat performance this season. Mike Bossy had 50 goals in 50 games, equaling Maurice Richards’ unofficial record. The score was tied at 3 at the end of the ninth and the game was forced in- to extra innings. In the tenth the Phillies scored and won the battle. However, the fourth game was won by the Royals, as they tried to tie up the series. The Phillies, filled with determina- tion, charged ahead and won the next two games. They had won the series. They were the champs! This was the first time since 1915 that Philadelphia had won the series. The traditional award of Most Valuable Player was presented to Mike Schmidt for his excellent per- formance on the field. Raiders Come Out Tops The noise level increased, chants began, and the crowd stirred. The two teams were about to take the field in the jampacked New Orleans’ Superdome. The starting offense was introduced to the crowd. The coin flip took place, and the whistle blew to start the action. Six months of hard work all came down to one game. The outcome of the Superbowl would be the final achievement of an outstanding season for one of the participants. For the other it would be a disappointing conclusion to a great season. The Oakland Raiders had just gone through a great season with a record of 12-4. Picked for last place, they were the underdog team of the year. They competed against powerhouses such as Houston, Cleveland and San Diego and came out on top. Philadelphia had been building for years, gradually showing im- provements. This year they proved they could beat the top teams. 'fhe two teams finally met each other and Oakland’s confident spirit led them to victory. Mistake-prone Philadelphia wasn’t able to keep up with the Raiders, and the underdog came out victorious. Photo Credits: Islanders — World Wide Photos Standing Outside Local News and Sports 27

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— Culture Prime Time Soaps Bubble Up The delayed start of the '80-’81 televi- sion season due to the actors’ strike was only a foreshadowing of the bad times to come. The season produced flop after flop with a few hits. Many shows, like Charlie’s Angels and Mork and Mindy which drew good ratings in the past, struggled, while new shows came on and off with the blink of an eye. Even shows which received critical acclaim, like Breaking Away, were cancelled, much to the protest of many irate viewers who felt this was one quality show not rely- ing on sex and violence but real characters with depth for high ratings. This was the year Saturday Night Live lost all its familiar faces, replaced by a new group who were not well received by viewers. However, Fridays, a Saturday Night Live clone, fared a bit better and provided some late-night comedy. In the midst of the many failures, there remained some old reliable shows like M‘A S H and One Day at a Time, which continued to entertain audiences. But, because of the lack of quality sit- coms and dramas, networks gave us real life shows, such as Real People, That’s Incredible, and Those Amazing Animals. Also due to the interruption of pro- duction of regular programming, miniseries and special shows provided a large amount of prime time material. Dramatizations of novels such as A Tale of Two Cities, East of Eden, and par- ticularly Shogun did extremely well in the ratings. Shogun, opening up the season for NBC, dominated the ratings with the last episode picking up a televi- sion audience second only to Roots for a miniseries. The biggest story of the season, however, had to do with an evil oil ty- New Sound for '80s As we proceed into this new decade, we find ourselves greeted by many new sounds, as well as some familiar ones left over from the seventies. Punk or New Wave seems prevalent, although disco and good old rock and roll are still holding their own. In any case, the 1980-81 year provided music listeners with a wide assortment of new albums and artists. One newcomer who has become ex- tremely popular is Pat Benatar, who happens to be from Lindenhurst, and has enticed many with her hit album, Crimes of Passion. Other popular novices are New Wavers such as The Clash, Devo, The B-52’s, The Pretenders and The Police, whose album Zenvatta Mondatta, was an especially big success. Several already-established groups and artists came out with new hit albums this year. Among these are the legendary Rolling Stones whose disc en- titled Emotional Rescue quickly rose to the top of the charts. This same plight befell Billy Joel’s Glass Houses and Queen’s The Game as well as Bruce Spr- ingsteen's long-awaited The River album. Then there was the album that marked the return of a great musician and at the same time a farewell, John Lennon’s Double Fantasy. If these albums are any inkling of the direction of music in the eighties, we can surely look forward to a bright future. Heather’s recovery was eagerly ex- changed by girls and boys alike. The season ended with shows thought to be good becoming flops and flops turning out to be the best shows aired. Even though it started off with trouble, the season improved and television brought us some of the finest programs in years. coon named J.R. Ewing of the immense- ly popular series Dallas. The biggest question of the year wasn’t who would win the presidential election, but rather Who shot J.R.?” The night Kristin was revealed as the culprit, Dallas made history with the most viewers for any single episode of a series. The phenomenal success of Dallas prompted the networks to flood the air- waves with nighttime soap, using the same formula as Dallas — wealth, power, sex, and an evil character everyone loves to hate. CBS featured Knots Landing, a spinoff of Dallas, and Secrets of Midland Heights, while NBC and ABC gave us Flamingo Road and Dynasty respectively. Perhaps even more popular that the nighttime dramas to high school students were their predecessors, the daytime soaps. Shows like All My Children and Edge of Night continued to keep audiences addicted. Without a doubt, the most popular soap was General Hospital. Students would race home from school in order to catch it, and in practically any class, the latest news about Laura and Luke or Standing Outside Culture 29