Hey! Look what I found. I was going through my closet, the other day and I came across a box of old family photos. Well, when I say old, I'm not talking ancestor old. I mean that I found some neat old black and white photos of the last couple of generations.

Rather than tear apart all the Family Pages that are already on the web site, I will just add these as a post script for your enjoyment.

So, enjoy!
Uncle Sam and Aunt Ila Vroman probably made in The Bronx in the late '30's.
Grandma and her grandchildren. l. to r. rear: Anita Vroman, Grandma Yetta Sherman, Barbara Appel, Dick Kraus. Front row: Carol Kraus, Edward (Buddy) Vroman. Probably made in the late '40's.
Here's another shot of the S.S. Brazil. That's the cruise ship that I worked on in 1950.

Here's Elizabeth and her teddy bear in the living room of our house in Deer Park in 1959.

And here she is all dressed for the Prom (I think) c. 1971.
Barbara Appel
c. 1960
A family gathering at our house in Deer Park in 1959. Clockwise from top left: Aunt Rose Appel holds Jackie, Esther Kraus, Uncle Dave and Aunt Gussie Needleman, my mother, Betty Kraus holding Matthew, Elizabeth, Grandma Yetta Sherman (my mother's mother), Aunt Ila and Uncle Sam Vroman, Steven Alper being held by his father, Marty with Carol Alper (my sister).
While we're looking at Family Gatherings, here's a seder at our house in East Northport in 1968. Clockwise from lower left: Elizabeth Kraus, Craig Alper, peeking over the top of Craig's head is Naomi Kraus, David Benabou on the lap of his grandmother, Odette Hastey, Marty Alper, Grandma Betty Kraus, Steven Alper, Dick Kraus, Matt Kraus, Esther Kraus, Uncle Sam and Aunt Ila Vroman, Michael Alper, Carol Alper, Diana Alper and Aunt Rose Appel.
And one more from 1969 in the living room of our East Northport home. From left: Naomi and Doug Kraus, Grandma Betty Kraus, Matt and Liz Kraus, Aunt Rose Appel and Esther Kraus.
Here I am with Jackie in 1961.
And this is Jackie in 1962.
This is Matt in 1963.
And here he is in 1969.

Doug dressed up in 1970.

Liz, Naomi and Matt with Red, the first of our two Irish Setters. This dog was a runner and was always getting loose and taking off after the scent of something. We always managed to get him back. This was shot in Deer Park, c. 1965. Shortly after we moved to East Northport, he broke loose again, never to be recovered.
Another group shot of the Family at the Alper's house in Melville, probably in the mid-'70's.
Front row, from left: Susan Gilden, Michael Alper, Lisa Gilden, Naomi Kraus, Diana Alper, Marcy Gilden. Back row, from left: Craig Alper, Steven Alper, Esther Kraus, Anita Gilden, Carol and Mart Alper.

 

 

 Brian Lambert helps his dad shovel a heavy snowfall from the steps of their rented house in South Huntington in 1996.

 

 

I had dreamed of owning my own boat, for a long time. I wanted to be able to chase after bluefish and fluke and other species in Long Island Sound. I scraped together some cash and in 1972, I bought an old, old wooden 22 foot cabin cruiser with an old Evinrude outboard motor. The boat and motor were 22 years old, but it looked like the kind of boat that I and my family could enjoy. We slapped a quick coat of paint on it and named her Ish Fick. This was an arabic expression, the closest interpretation of which was "The heck with you." My wife used that expression frequently and it seemed an appropriate name for an old wooden wreck of a boat. I rented a trailer and launched the Ish Fick at the head of Northport Harbor. She didn't immediately sink, so I ran her the mile or so down the harbor to where I had purchased a mooring in front of Seymour's Boat Yard.

We had many an adventure and misadventure with the boat during that first summer. I had a propensity for falling overboard while trying to grab the mooring rope which inevitably led to me losing my glasses or wallet. But, my kids and I caught some fish and the family enjoyed the Sundays that we spent camped out on an isolated sand spit in Huntington Bay, known as Sand City. I called the place San Cité. I felt that it sounded more like the South of France.

That September, the Ish Fick sank at her mooring when the bilge pump failed one night. I had her hauled out and stored at a nearby boat yard for the winter. That spring, the kids and I stripped every bit of paint off the cabin and hull. I caulked every seam and after a few coats of enamel, she looked like a new boat. I replaced the old engine with a used one that was a few years younger and a bit more powerful. But, that engine was cantankerous and hard to start. However, we had some fun that year and even more fun when I broke down and bought a brand new, more powerful motor the next year.

The following year I bought an even older cabin cruiser with an inboard engine which I named Tern. Until I was able to sell the Ish Fick I owned two boats for awhile. The kids thought that was great. Not too many families in our neck of the woods owned one boat, much less two. We had each boat for about four years for each one. But, the kids remember the fun we had with the old Ish Fick.

Esther and I toast the successful launch of the Ish Fick in 1972
Esther with the Ish Fick tied up at Seymour's Dock. That's our battered dinghy next to her.
Me at the helm. Oh, man! Am I ever one happy camper
Out on Long Island Sound; full throttle, looking for fish.
OK! Now we all know who catches the biggest fish. Right, Doug?
But, sometimes I have my day. Here's a couple of bluefish.

 

These last few shots are from my career at Newsday.

I'm sitting on a bench in a Hempstead park in 1968, waiting for an assignment to start.
In 1968, I won Best In Show in the Press Photographer's Association of Long Island Photo Contest. Nassau County Executive Eugene Nickerson looks over my award winning entry and he autographed this photo for me.
In 1970 I had put in 10 years at Newsday and then Publisher Bill Moyers presented me with my Ten Year Medallion. He said to me, as this shot was made, "Congratulations, Dick. I hope that I'm here long enough to get my Ten Year Award." He didn't make it.

 

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Here are some updates on May Green (nee Clayman) that just came to light.
May Green and her daughter Claudia.
May Green & Frank Carter happily announce that they joined together in a committed relationship on November 12.2006
May Green and Frank Carter celebrate their committed relationship.

I asked May, recently (December 2006) to fill in the gaps in the life of her family. She graciously agreed and sent the following.

May starts off talking about her father's relationship with the Sherman Family. She describes my Grandmother, Yetta Sherman, as being a real Jewish Grandmother. But, there is still some question about how the Clayman's are related to the Shermans. Also, she refers to Grandma cooking with Hazel. Hazel was a young mulatto girl who showed up on their doorstep, begging for a job. They took her in and gave her a room. She lived her whole life in their service, taking care of their house and practically raising May and then May's children. She was a treasured part of our families.

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A long story to write who he is...but his grandmother was the real Jewish Grandmother. I loved her. Going to the Bronx to visit them was a high lite for me. I was always told she saved my parents from throwing me away. I guess today we call it Colic. I cried morning, noon and night. She came out to rescue my mother and father and decided I was a hungry child. She fed me cereal and I stopped crying. And since that day I have not stopped eating. I was told she gave me orange juice.

She had three daughters. Dick is the son of Betty. She use to sorta play with me. I remember I was about 12 and she would have been 18+.


The girls would have dinner with us and then leave on dates. When they were getting ready to go out, they would also put make-up on me.

Auntie Sherman, as I called her, would arrive a few days before Passover and cook with Hazel. I was in college so I was in and out of the house. I remember my mother asking, "What is she doing with so many eggs. I just bought three dozen and we need more?"

The food was superior. Betty, her husband Moe and their two kids, Dick and Carol had moved to Hempstead.
They were soon followed by the other sister, Ila, her husband,Sam and their daughter Anita.


Anita was a beautiful red head and I had her join the Adelphi College May Day Daisy Chain as the flower girl. I ran the event. Adelphi was big on May Pole dancing. This was 1944. The year that Adelphi opened its Nursing School. I had the pleasure of introducing Eleanor Roosevelt. All I can remember, because I was so scared ,was her height. She stood so tall next to me.She was quiet, cordial, but no small talk.

I was under the impression that my Dad's sister married Mr Sherman's brother.

Who knows? We never asked. Now how badly we wish we knew.

The cemetery plots on LI are in joint with the Sherman family and Aunt Sherman's sister and family, The Needlemans.


My two kids are Jeff and Claudia. Jerry Bloom is their father. We were divorced in 1963.

I married Milt Green who had two children. Peter and Carol. They decided to be out of my life when Milt became ill.

Jeff has three kids. Alex, the frosh in college, Justin, graduating Brown in May and Courtney who just received her Masters at Emory. She is now headed for the PHD program at Emory. She plans to be married in November .

Claudia has two boys. She is a Juvenile Diabetic. She and Mitch divorced about 5 years ago. Matthew was born with CP. He lives with 4 others in an assisted living environment in Gaithersburg. Aj is the younger (25) and is in Iraq. His name is Andrew Jacob..A for my mother and J for my father.

I said your grandmother was like a grandmother to me.

Milt passed away about 5 years ago. I met Frank three years ago. He will be retiring on Jan 19, 2007. We are both looking forward to it.

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Well, that's all for now. I hope that you've enjoyed these photos.

 

THE END