Having only resided in Roslyn for 34 years there has never been a time in my memory when we had a school board without Alvin Silverman. It's a little frightening to think of a board without him, not unlike the feeling I had at age 10 when FDR, the only president I have ever known died.

Of course, Alvin will still be around to speak out if the new Silverman-free board does anything that is not pro-public education and pro-separation of church and state. I first interacted with Alvin when we debated at-large voting for the board and I later spent 12 years sitting beside him on the board. Spending time with Alvin was one of the real perks of the job. When I left the board it was to encourage much needed "new blood" in what can become an all too complacent environment, but the quest for new blood never contemplated a Silverman-less board.

Alvin is an institution, a given, a reliable fount of experience and wisdom. Alvin will be sorely missed.

He has always been there, for all of the students, for an equal educational opportunity. He has been a source of strength not only for the Roslyn Schools but all of the public schools of this state. He truly is "Mister School Board" if anyone throughout the state can claim that title.

Thank you, my dear friend Alvin, for your devotion and dedication to our children and our children's children. It is only through the selfless donation of time and the involvement by lay people like you that our educational system maintains its integrity and continues to work.

Ronald Wohl