Oct. 4
The feeling of brotherhood was overwhelming on Sept. 29, when I attended the 72nd Gold Star Mass at Chaminade High School in Mineola as part of my 50th reunion celebration.
The Mass, celebrated by Air Force major Timothy Hirten, honored our 56 alumni killed during service to their country. I sat with Steve Bovich, a classmate who said he had served 29 years in the Air Force and spent the last 15 years as a contractor. I also talked with Frank Pizza, who was editor in chief of the Crimson & Gold yearbook when I was its sports editor. I met and talked with Marianist Bros. Ray Kane, my former home room teacher, and Peter Pontolillo, who once told me I didn’t have an announcer’s voice. He was right.
I had wanted to go to Fordham University, major in communications arts, and become the next Howard Cosell. Instead, I settled for a 48-year career in print media after attending Nassau Community College and Hofstra University.
At a cocktail party and dinner at the Cherry Valley Club in Garden City, I met school president Bro. Thomas Cleary and senior development officer Christopher Hanley. I also talked with classmates Tom Rooney, Mike Foley, Chris Byczek, Frank Liantonio, Sean Higgins, Frank McEnery and Tony Rizzo.
Hanley and Cleary seemed receptive to my idea of having me speak to eight-graders at predominantly African-American schools to spread the word about what a Chaminade education could do for them. I would like to see more diversity at the school.
At Chaminade, I learned that there’s a time and a place for everything, there are deadlines to be met and hard work is rewarded. Those skills helped me in my 33 months in the Army as well as in my newspaper career. I hope to meet soon with Hanley to discuss the message that Chaminade would like me to impart and the literature that I can distribute.