Kenny Wolny:
CLASS OF 1973
Panas High SchoolClass of 1973
Cortlandt manor, NY
Kennedy High SchoolClass of 1974
Somers, NY
Hendrick Hudson High SchoolClass of 1973
Montrose, NY
Lakeland High SchoolClass of 1973
Shrub oak, NY
St. Columbanus SchoolClass of 1970
Cortlandt manor, NY
Kenny's Story
Didn't really think about needing to write this 35 years ago - had my mind on other stuff then. God has it been that long ago?
I left the Peekskill/Cortland area in 1988 - I go back yearly to visit my brother in Staten Island and sister in Pa - but for the most part I stay out here in the Midwest. Yes compared to NY and the east coast in general it is slow and boring - but the pace of life is different and the cost of living is much lower. The last person from my class that I saw before leaving was Jay Roberts - he was behind me in line at Pergaments in the Beach Shopping Center - heck are those places still there and does anybody know where Jay Roberts even is nowadays.
After graduating Panas - now wasn't that a hoot - start us out in Lakeland and then split us - I really don't know where I should place my High School years - there are people I met while we were on splits in Lakeland that I never saw again after they separated us in 71-72.
Anyone know what ever happened to Sing Out Peekskill?
Well after graduation it was off to college - rather uneventful - started out at Camp U HA - University of Hartford in Connecticut and oh yes there was an explosion my father and I got caught in at Quinns' house in Lake Allendale - 2 weeks before his oldest daughter's wedding - spent the summer at Peekskill hospital recovering - so any rumors you hear of Rudy and Kenny dying in that fire are not true - transferred to Western Connecticut State and graduated from Western Connecticut College (I now see that it is Western Ct. University - whats the difference outside the cost of tuition) in 78 - no job, no prospect of one in the near future - NY State wanting me to begin paying on a student loan for a Degree which was not getting me a job at that time and my wisdom teeth needed pulling - the teeth is what pushed me to join the Air Force.
Air Force Basic Training has got to be the easiest of the Basic Training experiences of all the services - turned 22 in Basic at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Tx, had some training in x-ray at Sheppard AFB in Witchita Falls, Tx.
Met my wife at Shappard AFB, ended up overseas in England - daughter born in England - daughter now lives in England. Finished tour of Duty at KI Sawyer AFB (affectionately named KI Siberia) in Marquette, Mi - was going to settle in wife's hometown (Galesburg, Il) but in 1983 that area of the country was very depressed job wise.
We ended up settling back in Cortland Manor for a bit - I went back sanding and finishing floors - which is what my dad did (Rudy's Floor Service) and I did for awhile (Kenny's Floors Service) and what my brother did while he attended college (Petes's Floor service). I left the business name as Pete's while working from 83 to 88 sanding floors while in NY after getting out of the...Expand for more
service.
I also started working at the Bronx VA as an x-ray tech - did a lot of portable x-rays on AIDS patients - saw a lot of AIDS patients die during that time.
Got fed up with the 1 hour commute from Jack Road to Kingsbridge road in the Bronx and took a job at FDR VA hospital in Montrose, NY - better known as Montrose VA hospital. Worked in RMS as an Educational Therapist specializing in computer training - PTSD became an accepted diagnosis then - I dont' think they had any cure or treatment for the disorder - just a name for it.
I also continued sanding and finishing floors while working at Montrose - was going to buy a house in Cortland - much to my wife's fussing and then a funny thing happened. My father-in-law had to send the Christmas Packages early because he was going to be on a cruise during the time he normally sent the packages. I already had a "ernest money" down on a house and the closing was not going to be till the following year - keep in mind this was 1986 when the real estate boom was still going on in Westchester County.
Anyway the packages come and the local Galesburg newspaper was used as padding to prevent the Christmas packages from bouncing around too much. To this day I still remember this incident. I am standing at the kitchen table with my daughter sitting in a chair - getting all excited about the packages that were in this box and I distinctly remember saying to my daughter "Well Jessica - lets see who's pet pig died in Galesburg"; at that point I realized I was looking at the real estate page. Just out of curiosity I looked to see what houses were going for in Galesburg, Il. I looked at a listing for a comparable house that I was about to buy - looked at the price of the house and said to the wife -"Honey how come they only list the down payments for the houses in Galesburg?". What we were putting up as down payments on houses back then was the cost of a house in a small town in the midwest. This was a no-brainer to me - we moved in June 1988 to Galesburg.
Got divorced 7 years later but decided to stay here and really have no regrets doing that. True I don't make as much money and culturally this place is a vacuum - outside of Knox College and sometimes I believe that parents send their children to that college because there is not much trouble a college freshman can get into here in Galesburg, Il in comparison to a bigger city. It is different here - people are actually friendlier and more polite than on the east coast. I can feel the pulse quicken when I drive back every year to visit my brother - its like you hit the eastern part of Pa and "wham" that NY minute thing hits you. Will I ever go back and live there - probably not - I've gotten used to this area and have no desire to pack up and move again.
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