25th aniv. header
Ripley Grier Studios NewsletterDecember 2012
Annual Toy Drive!

presents
Ripley-Grier will be collecting new toys for all ages to be distributed to the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy. Please help us make the holidays a little brighter by bringing joy to these children who have lost so much. The collection will be at 520 8th ave, 16th floor, and run seven days per week until December 20th. Contact Shakira Moran at 212-799-5433 for more info.
Help is still needed!!
sandy clearer

Kung Fu at RG!!!
darnell Kung Fu
Darnell Wright has been with us for many years, bringing an authentic Kung-Fu practice to Midtown Manhattan. At Yee's Hung-Ga Kung Fu Midtown, students learn an authentic Shaolin Kung Fu system. This system has been passed down by  Grandmaster Frank Yee (Yee Chi Wai) and is now passed on at many branches throughout the United States, Europe and China.

Hung-Ga is a Southern Shaolin style of kung fu originating in the 1800s by the great Hung Hei Guen and made famous by the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung - is a system which infuses the Five Animal characteristics of the Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake and Dragon with the Five Element strengths of Water, Metal, Wood, Fire and Earth.

A balanced and complete system of martial arts, the Yee's Hung-Ga Kung Fu Midtown curriculum addresses the development and maintenance of health, well-being and self-defense skills. It is a system which all people can benefit from.

Of his choice of studio, Darnell Wright says,

 

"Ripley Grier is a wonderful place.

From my first booking back in 2006, I knew this was the environment I wanted my school to grow in.
With the consistent support, thoughtfulness and care of the RG family my experience has only been positive. Ripley Grier is an oasis!"

Learn more at
hungfamilykungfu.com/

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Greetings!

john norman Happy Kwanzukkamas! (Just trying to be inclusive). Hope the holiday season is shaping up for all of you in a good way. Here at RG, we are working on a super-secret project that we'll be sharing with all of you in the new year, and coming up with new ways to save you big bucks over the holidays.
 
John Norman
Ripley Grier Studios
212-799-5433
 
A Message from Patricia Ripley
"Thank you for all your support and contributions to the Sandy Relief Fund.  We are continuing to accept contributions these next few months as it is going to be a long recovery". 

The Aftermath of Sandy:

   As we got ourselves together on the morning of the 30th, Tuesday, we looked around our small street. Parts of decks and fences were strewn around the street and yards.  Huge chunks of the 2 mile boardwalk had crashed through our fence and the house across the street. We had a car bumper in our yard, 3 feet of sand was covering the back lawn along with flower pots, glass blocks, kids toys, debris  Our storage shed was in pieces.  Plants which had been growing on the sand dunes fifty feet from our house were sticking out of every crevice, even in the bottom of cars. Cars were strewn everywhere. During the night of the storm our neighbor's car across the street had been picked up by the rushing water and had floated out of the driveway. It was sitting askew in the street, full of water and seaweed.  We looked between the houses out toward the ocean and we were shocked to see that the beautiful massive dunes that had been nurtured and grown to protect the houses and the town had been decimated, washed away. They were gone, you could see clear to the shore break. The sand was everywhere, the beach and the dunes had washed clear across our island to the channel. The ocean had met the bay.  Every street was covered with two to three feet of sand.  We all stuck our heads out  then walked out and made sure everyone on our street was ok.  It was windy and the sky was still stormy and grey.  No one could drive anywhere, it was too dangerous.  There were huge chunks of wood, piles of sand and debris on every street.  We all realized that this storm was unprecedented;  no one had expected it to be this devastating.
There was no phone service, including cellphones, no electric, no radio or TV, no way to find out what was going on and who was safe or not. Then the helicopters began to fly.  They were loud and huge, army copters, like the ones you see in the movies.  They were flying low and often, assessing the situation and looking for ways to get to us. We felt like we were in a war zone.
 We checked our cars which had been put up on the paved parking area next to our house,  They definitely got water in them.  Would they start?  The beautiful little Cruiser started right away, Yay!  But the Volvo SUV had to be jump started by our neighbor, Steve. They were running, we had some mobility, we were lucky.
  The seawater had come in fast and a few hours later it was gone. Folks at ground level had 4 feet invade their houses and wash out in two hours. Many of the houses are one story cottages, they are ruined,  Our son, Shayne and his family got 2 feet of water in their first floor because they were 2 feet up from the street level, They watched it come up their porch and when it began to come up through the living room floor they fled up one flight and waited. Everyone who had a basement apartment lost everything,  All street level garages were washed out and if you had a basement area like ours you had 4 to 5 feet of water in it.  Those areas did not drain back like the street level spaces.  We had brown smelly water in our basement storage areas and our garage. Everything was lost:  bicycles, skis, golf clubs, scooters, skateboards, boogie boards (yeah, we're jocks) winter clothes, toys, books, records, cassette collections, CD collections, photo albums (that was heartbreaking).  All our systems were in the basement, all gone, electric panel, heater, hot water tank, filtered water system and our central Vac.  But the worst loss was Butch's classic motorcycle that he had restored and painted to match our Cruiser. It sat in that nasty water for days until we could get help pumping that stuff out.  All our files of important documents were under water.   It was such a mess. 
  Later we found out the tidal surge had put the whole town underwater, some places as high as 5 feet.  Some friends of ours who live near the channel that runs on the other side of the island heard sirens on their street and they went outside during the storm along with their neighbors.  She said when they walked out the door there was 6 inches of water in the street, but 30 seconds later the water rushed at them and they were running through water up their chest.  They pushed their way back into their house and ran up the stairs to the 2nd floor. No one knew how high it would get, some got on their roofs.  The surge hit fast and folks were in shock.
 Later that day Butch walked over to Shayne's house and they were shook up but safe. We all had to hunker down and wait.

The rescue, the cleanup and the stories..... To be continued....... 

RG Holiday Party:
We're not just the hardworking pros you see everyday. We do cut loose once in a while. Here's the proof!