The Jenasens

My group was the JENASENS.

We were formed in '54 and had members at Mepham thru '57. Myself & Vic Verelli were the first elected officers. He was President & I was Vice President. Our original hang out was the Bunny Hug soda fountain on Newbridge Road next to the Newbridge Road school. The Koda's, a group made up of fella's a year or two ahead of us, hung out there as well. Kitty the owner & her husband Joe, were great with us teenagers.

When they went out of business, we migrated up Newbridge to the Whitehouse Luncheonette, at the foot of one of the streets that ran east from the school. Finally we ended up hanging out at Phil's Luncheonette, in the shopping center with Benson's Market, next to Angelo's barber shop. For awhile, we had a "Clubhouse" in the basement at Tuffies luncheonette, on Jerusalem Ave. & Bellmore Road.

We started a Dress Up Day, on Fridays to counter the "hood" image we had. The school administration, under Fred Stunt & Stan Versocki, picked up on it and expanded it school wide. We, Vic & I, were also instrumental in working with the American Legion in establishing TABS, Teenagers of the Bellmores; which held organized adult supervised "Socials" on Friday Nites at the Legion Hall on Legion Place in Bellmore for the young people. The legionnaires approached us as the leaders of the JENASENS, since we were looked on as being in a position to attract a more broad participation, in that role.

In front left to right: Tommy Greene '55 & Dick Benske '55. 2nd row left to right: Matt Hand '55, sitting Pete Jackowski '55, Andy Pugliese '57, Gus Myer '57, Vic Verelli '56, President; standing shaking Tuffy's hand. 3rd row ditto: Bob Lopel '55, Joe Horvath '55, partially hidden behind Pete, Larry Lange '55, Jimmy Quiney '55, me, (Roy Probeyahn), Vice president. 4th row ditto:Paul Reilly '57,(behind Joe Horvath) Joey Horan '55, Paul Wenchell '55, Ron Abbey '58,(behind me) & Sam Altschul '56, standing between Vic & Tuffy. 5th row: Juney Rio '58, Jimmy Cataldo '58, (leaning on Juney's shoulder), Charlie Marino '55, Bob Houlihan '54, Back row: Bob Munro '57, (behind Jimmy Cat), Richie Powers '56, Tom Blank '56, Chuck Wagner '57, Pete Castello '57, Richie Triolo '55, Ronny Feld '55, Ben Jackson #42 '58.

Not everyone in the photo is a member of the Jenasens, and there are some members who were not in the picture, so here is a list of the members, with a * before those who are in the photo: