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Thanks to All

I’m hoping this reaches those who attended my retirement celebration on Nov. 13. I was overwhelmed and grateful to reconnect with so many people. Thanks to all who put this together, starting with Dave Mikos and Mike Proto. I never learned the identities of their committee but I can guess that Tom and Bob Jermine, Frank LaMonica, Mark Genovese, and Ed (Blue Dart) Pepe were contributors. Thank you Ken Vollone (master MC), the Tomahawk Club, and those who spoke, including Steve Kesses and Arnie Mann.

There were many stories recounted throughout the afternoon, all received with smiles, head nods, and laughter. The six decades of team pictures hung were phenomenal; bringing back many wonderful memories (and interesting hair styles). Thank you to Dave Frost for taking more pictures that day. Along with many players, I was able to reconnect with assistant coaches, North Haven faculty, administrators, and parents and friends of our football and baseball programs. Of course, I would never have survived the modern age of technology without the help of my athletics director Steve Blumenthal and his assistant Jen Forbes.

Special thanks go to First Selectman Mike Freda, Representative Dave Yaccarino, and Senators Paul Cicarella and Martin Looney for the official citations and kind words. I also want to thank Wallingford Country Club for making this day special. I’m grateful for my family and wife, Bette, who has been my source of strength for 46 years. This day was a magnificent reunion and I can’t thank you enough.

Mostly, I would like to thank the young men I’ve been lucky to coach – they understood that ours was more than a win/loss program, it was learning to handle yourself in life. These young men achieved any success attributed to me.

Bob DeMayo

North Haven