Fellow Southern Graduates and Friends of Southern,
Please take note of the following information of interest to the SPHS Alumni Community:
ANNUAL HALL OF FAME BANQUET – SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2013, 1P.M.
This year’s Hall of Fame Banquet is just around the corner!! The Banquet will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2013 beginning at 1:pm at Savoy Caterers, 1444 Route 73 North, Pennsauken, New Jersey. If you have not already done so, please purchase your tickets and support these well deserving Alumni who are entering the SPHS Alumni Hall of Fame. The cost per ticket is still just $35. For those of you who have attended past Hall of Fame Banquets held at the Savoy, you know the menu/selection is awesome!.
For door-to-door directions (based upon the starting address you provide), please see the directions available in the Events and Reunions Section of our website.
This year’s Hall of Fame Inductees are:
Athletic Hall of Fame:
Anthony DiPietro ‘68
Bill Rankin ‘62
Lou Sbarra ‘70
Dr. Anthony DiPrimio ‘51
Cultural Hall of Fame:
Dr. Vincent A. Fulginiti ‘ 49 – Physician, Writer, Medical Administrator and Professor
Colonel George E. Hardy ‘ 42 – Tuskegee Airman and Engineer
Dr. Saul Jeck ‘49 – Physician and Professor
(With regret, we inform you of the passing of Dr. Vincent Fulginiti, an Inductee into the 2013 Hall of Fame. A family member will be accepting the award on behalf of Dr. Fulginiti.)
For detailed biographies of the 2013 Hall of Fame Inductees, go to our “Events and Reunions” section on our website (www.sphsalumni.com) and click on the link for the Annual Hall of Fame Banquet.
To purchase tickets and support these amazing Inductees, please use the insert which is in the Newsletter, or download the ticket request form on our website under the “Forms” section.
DEADLINE FOR HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS FOR 2014 IS JUNE 1
The deadline for making nominations for consideration for the 2014 SPHS Alumni Halls of Fame (Athletic and Cultural) is June 1, 2013.
The new Nomination Form can be found on our website (www.sphsalumni.com) under the “Forms” link on our website.
REUNIONS
Remember that 2013 is the “5th year” and “10th year” anniversary for graduating classes ending in “3” and “8”. If your class ends in “3” or “8”, and you have not already begun to plan for your reunion, the time to start is NOW. Of course, classes are encouraged to have reunions as often as they wish.
The following Graduating Classes have information posted about Reunions on our website:
Class of 1978 – 35th Reunion – Saturday, June 22, 2013, 8pm
Boys’ and Girls Classes of June 1953 – 60th Reunion – Sunday, October 6, 2013, 1pm
Classes of 1996 to 2002 – Multi-year Reunion, Saturday, October 12, 2013, 7pm
Class of 1968 – 45th Reunion – Saturday, October 26, 2013, 7pm
Classes of January and June 1958 – 35th Reunion – Sunday, November 3, 2013, 12noon
Class of 1976 – 37th Reunion – Fall 2013 – Planning Underway
Class of June 1964 – 50th Reunion – June 15, 2014 – Planning Underway
Visit our website (www.sphsalumni.com) for details and contact information for these Reunions.
If you have a scheduled reunion which is not listed above, please let us know the details of your Class Reunion (include the coordinator’s contact information) by sending an email to [email protected]. We will post your Class Reunion on our website under the “Events and Reunions” link.
If your Class Reunion details are not posted within seven (7) days of your request (or the details posted require correction), please call the office at 215-468-3377 or email [email protected]. Thank you.
SPHS ROOFTOP GARDEN PROJECT
Help Southern in its Rooftop Garden Project!! Southern and the Lower Moyamensing Civic Association (LoMo) are embarking upon a project to create a rooftop garden. An article regarding the details about the project and how you can contribute can be found here:
https://projexity.com/projects/view/South-Philly-High-Schools-Greening-Plan/3?philly1304051549
excerpt from the article:
“The Greening Master Plan for the entire campus will be undertaken by Roofmeadow, an innovative Philadelphia-based design and engineering firm. Roofmeadow will engage students and teachers during the process of site survey, which will be used to create a conceptual campus plan. The plan will then be shared with the community through open meetings, where the public can share their questions, comments, concerns, and ideas.
The rooftop plan will involve food production zones, perennial beds, extensive vegetation zones, gathering spaces, outdoor classrooms, and solar panel arrays. The roof is one of the neighborhood’s largest “vacant” surfaces, and possibly its most under-utilized resource. Greening this space will fulfill critical environmental priorities by managing stormwater, improving water quality, and cooling the air above the school. In addition to the environmental benefits, this space will function as an educational tool. Students and teachers will be an integral part of the planning and design process to create an outdoor classroom that fits their needs. The rooftop will be open to the public via workshops, tours, community programming, and events.
The ground-level portion of the plan will involve pavement removal and the installation of rain gardens, perennial plantings, street trees, and increased vegetable garden infrastructure. Students, teachers, and neighbors have already begun to plan for a native species arboretum. Linking the arboretum, vegetable gardens, and school building will be a series of veneer landscapes, linear tree islands, porous pavement, cisterns, and seating.”
[end of excerpt]
As you can imagine, several Southern Alumni and Friends of Southern are excited about the project. Here’s an message from Marc Adelman, Class of 1957, and Archives Chair of the SPHS Alumni Association:
“Dear friends and fellow alumni of SPHS,
MAJOR NEWS….The last time a significant campus event occurred at South Philadelphia High School was in 1955 when Boy and Girl schools were razed and a new Coed school was dedicated. For the last 58 years many of us have experienced wonderful memories and benefited from the excellent education and the emotional attachment connecting us as Southern friends and alumni. Today, and for the next 5 weeks, we have the opportunity to pay our benefits forward for generations of SPHS students to follow.
SPHS Principal Otis D. Hackney, III, the Lower Moyamensing Civic Association (LoMo) along with Projexity have proposed a ROOF GARDEN AND GREEN GROUNDS project that will compliment our school’s commitment to excellent education, enhance SPHS’s image in the community and improve the living environment of South Philly itself.
You can help by financially investing in the future of SPHS and South Philly by going to projexity.com, click on the short video featuring our school and projections for this ROOF & GROUNDS GARDEN PROJECT. Review the donation schedule starting at $10 as well as the benefits at each donation level. If you cannot make your donation on line, please write a check, to LoMo. Send it to P.O. Box 37522, Philadelphia, PA 19148 and notate: projexity/alumni.
Think of it. Your donation will significantly and positively enhance the physical environment of SPHS and South Philly. It will alter the scope of the horticulture and environment curriculum offered to the students that will meet the needs and inspire future generations. Your generosity will enable SPHS to become the “Greenest spot in South Philly.” South Philly High School was a flagship of our community and will become one again with your help. What an awesome opportunity.
The majority of us have physically left behind South Philly but has the “community” of South Philly and SPHS ever left us?
Personal and business donations will be appreciated and all are tax deductible. Donate within your means and please DONATE NOW.
Thank you,
Marc Adelman, ’57
SPHS Alumni
Archive Chair”
[end of message from M. Adelman]
To make a donation to the SPHS Rooftop Project, go to:
https://projexity.com/signinorup?next=%2Fprojects%2Fsponsor%2FSouth-Philly-High-Schools-Greening-Plan%2F3
Thank you for your support in advance.
NATIONAL SOUTHERN HIGH HERO TO VISIT SOUTHERN (RSVP Required by May 10, 2013)
Tuskegee Airman, Colonel George E. Hardy, Southern Class of 1942, decorated war hero of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor (collectively with all the Tuskegee Airmen) and one of this year’s South Philadelphia High School Cultural Hall of Fame inductees will be visiting Southern students and alumni on Friday, May 17, 2013. The students and alumni will gather in room 105 at 11:30 AM at the school. If you would like to attend, you must RSVP to Gene R. Alessandrini, SPHS Cultural Hall of Fame Committee Chair, at [email protected] or call 856-228-2250, by May 10, 2013, as space is limited.
About the Visit
Colonel Hardy will participate in a patriotic program to honor him and all members of the armed forces (the following day, May 18th is Armed Forces Day). The program will include the presentation of the colors by Southern’s award-winning JROTC, several short videos about our armed forces and the Tuskegee Airmen, and an introduction of the colonel with a listing of his accomplishments. The Colonel will then speak to about 75 students and alumni about his experiences fighting for our country and about how he and his fellow pilots and crews fought a civil-rights battle at home and in the military as they fought the Nazis in World War II. Colonel Hardy will answer questions from students and alumni. The program will close with a video of the Tuskegee Airmen receiving the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in 2007 at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington.
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST TO THE SPHS ALUMNI COMMUNITY
National Southern High Hero to Visit Southern – Friday, May 17, 2013, 11:30am (See above – Those interested in attending must RSVP to Mr. Alessandrini by May 10, 2013.)
Annual South Jersey Buffet Brunch – Sunday, September 22, 2013, 11am
Annual Award of Excellence Luncheon – Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 12noon
Details for these events are posted on our website under the “Events and Reunions” section..
HOW YOU CAN HELP CURRENT SPHS STUDENTS
In addition to making a contribution to the Rooftop Green Project at Southern, if you and/or your company can provide a venue for SPHS seniors to complete their 15 hour Community Service requirements, for please contact Assistant Principal Cecelia Merritt, at [email protected], or contact her at 215-952-6220.
NEW WEBSITE DESIGN!! CHECK US OUT!!
The SPHS Alumni Association has a new look. Check us out at www.sphsalumni.com. Feel free to send us feedback on the new look.
SPHS ALUMNI ONLINE DIRECTORY
The Online Directory on our website (www.sphsalumni.com) is now operational again. Any graduate of Southern (whether a Lifetime Member of the Alumni Association or not) can add himself/herself to the Online Directory. Southern graduates may enter as much or as little information as he/she wishes to share.
SPHS ALUMNI UPDATED FORMS
The following forms have been revised and available under the “Forms” section on our website.
Lifetime Membership Application
Hall of Fame Nomination Form (Note: Deadline is June 1 of each year)
LIFETIME MEMBERSHIPS AS GIFT
Hopefully, you are already a Lifetime member of the SPHS Alumni Association. Lifetime (or Memorial) Memberships make a great gift for the Southern graduate who has not yet become a Lifetime Member. Perhaps your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, or other relative graduated from Southern. Surprise them on their birthday or anniversary with a gift of a lifetime – a Lifetime Membership. Lifetime Memberships may be conveniently purchased online at www.sphsalumni.com for the one-time cost of just $25 (please indicate the name of the SPHS graduate and new Lifetime Member in the box for Lifetime Member’s name. Thank you.).
ADDITIONAL YEARBOOKS LOCATED
We have located an additional 30+ yearbooks from various years/classes. For those of you who received the “out of stock” message when you attempted to order a 1966, 1974, 1976, 1990, or 2005 yearbooks on our website, we now have at least one of these original yearbooks for sale at the $15 price to persons who are Lifetime Members of the Alumni Association. Remember, first come, first served. We also found additional yearbooks for classes in the 1990s and 2000s where we already had 15+ yearbooks available.
SPHS Alumni Association
Visit us online at www.sphsalumni.com
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