1964 - 2024

60 Years of Catholic, College Prep Education,

Serving the Families of Hudson County

Many fine things continue to occur

at the corner of Mercer and Bergen

Where dreams begin!

Challenge Met!

$50,000 McGraw Gift Earned in Full

Thank You, Hawks & Friends!

Hawk Pride continues to manifest itself in the support of alumni and friends who have risen to meet another challenge, this one put forward by Gerry McGraw ’72 at the start of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, offering a $50,000 match of first gifts and increased year-over-year giving.

We are thrilled to report that as of the end of January, such qualifying gifts had exceeded the Challenge total and landed at $54,899!

The great majority of this total came from the first-time gifts of alumni and friends that have totaled $42,708, which shows that our mission is resonating with more and more of our community members, therefore bodes well for the future.

Additionally, certain graduating years were challenged to increase their giving over last year, and that total to date has brought in an increase of $3,822, yet we sustain hopes that this figure will accelerate, with multiple classes nearing the threshold for increased class giving at this juncture. And year over year giving by certain challenged decades has brought in $8,369 over the prior year.

We’ll continue to tally gifts in this regard and report out on it again in future. Hopefully, the spirit continues to spread and Hudson Catholic may enjoy the support of further newfound and increased giving!

Celebrate 60 Years of Hudson Catholic

Mark Our Milestone by Giving to The Fund for Hudson Catholic Your Support Honors Our Past and Fuels Our Future



Visit www.hudsoncatholic.org/1964

Next Challenge:

3^rd Annual HC 'Day of Giving'

is April 7th

This stained glass and statue of St. John Baptist de La Salle can be found when visiting Paris, in a side chapel dedicated to our patron in St. Sulpice Church on Ile-de-France. There, de LaSalle studied for priesthood, but had to leave after his parents died, to raise and educate his siblings.

Life is a series of challenges. A Hudson Catholic education was challenging. Our athletic competition is challenging. Our careers are challenging. Got it? We grow accustomed to challenges all our lives, often replacing one completed challenge with a new one, whether it presents itself to us or we seek it out as a test of personal fortitude.

And this is no difference in what we do to help our alma mater, and our young Hawks, thrive. In December of 2021, we made a decision not to actively participate in International Giving Day, having concluded that the space was way too crowded for our liking in getting the attention of our supporters and friends. In its place, we opted to create our very own Day of Giving, with a spotlight to ourselves. And we landed on April 7th, The Feast Day of Our Patron, St. John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

The FSC were founded in France, and their North American counterparts were the religious order of the day who were asked by the Archbishop of Newark Thomas Boland, in 1964, and accepted, to form a community in Jersey City and administer Hudson Catholic, as the lettering on the outside wall of our school facing Montgomery Street proclaims. In August of that year, as their Hall of Fame plaque in the school lobby commemorates, six Christian Brothers arrived on the scene and began the important mission and work that continues 60 years later.

In April 2022, we raised $28,632 on our Day of Giving. In April 2023, we surpassed that $35,278. For 2024, we are offered two challenges by an anonymous alumnus, who is willing to match all gifts, dollar for dollar, up to $20,000, and is offering an additional $5,000 if we can attract 60 donors from the Classes of 2014 through 2023 with a minimum gift of $10. All in, the goal for our 3^rd Annual Day of Giving would be $45,600 or better. Go Hawks!

Be sure to visit hudsoncatholic.org/givingday on April 7^th, or before, because early gifts also count toward the challenge matches.

Be The Hawk!

Friday, February 23rd

The 5th-seeded Hawks take on 12th-seeded DePaul

in the first round of the Boys Basketball State Playoffs

at xxxxx, xpm

https://hudsoncatholic.org/bingo for tickets

Saturday, April 2

Watch our All American, Tahaad Pettiford,

playing for the East Squad

in the McDonalds All American Game

on ESPN at 7pm

Friday, May 17th

Induction Event

at Hudson Catholic

Honoring the Greatest Student- Athletes

in Hudson Catholic History

4 New Honorees Have Been Selected

www.hudsoncatholic.org/WOH

Date Change TBD

Announcement at a Later Date

Signature small plates from

Alumni Chefs, Local Restaurants TBA

in the Hudson Catholic Auditorium

Proceeds to benefit HC academics & tuition assistance

Contact jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org for

Sponsorship Details

Reunion Reminders

1974 Planning Well Underway

Contact David Carbone '74 at

dcarbonephd@msn.com

1999 / 2014

(and any other classes)

Start planning now!

Contact Jill Cypher at jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

to express interest in having / helping with your class reunion

Class leaders, contact advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

to be put in touch with the '73 Reunion Committee

for their experience in hosting their event at the school

Meet Lamar McKnight,

New Hawk Head Football Coach

The first, and most important, building block in the process of revitalizing our Football Program has been laid. President/Principal Terry Matthews has announced the appointment of Lamar McKnight to the position of Head Football Coach.

Lamar is a local product, hailing from Jersey City, where he starred at Lincoln High School, quarterbacking the Lions while earning 2010 All-State honors and leading Lincoln to a return to the State Playoffs after a long drought. McKnight went on to play college football as quarterback at both Tennessee State and Adams State.

Coach McKnight comes to Hudson Catholic from Union City High School, where he served as a teaching assistant and an Assistant Football Coach for the varsity program, most recently helping the Soaring Eagles win the 2023 NJSIAA North 2 Group 5 championship and a #11 State ranking.

Since 2018, Lamar has owned and operated The Quarterback Academy, training quarterbacks on both the high school and collegiate levels.  Student-athletes who have trained at his Academy have played at Purdue, Penn St., North Carolina St., Rutgers, Northwestern, Maryland, Illinois, Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, and UConn.

President-Principal Terry Matthews had this to say about McKnight’s hiring: “I’m truly excited to have Lamar McKnight join our school family. His coaching credentials speak for themselves. However, I’m most impressed with the way he approaches being a role model and a leader of young men. He has an innate understanding of Hudson Catholic’s mission and we have a shared vision for the role of Football in particular, and high school athletics in general. He relates extremely well to our young people, has a strong focus on their academic performance and social responsibilities, and actively supports participation in multiple sports. The fact that he is an educator makes a huge difference and I’m pleased that he will also be a part of our teaching staff.”

In turn, McKnight stated: “I’m back home in Jersey City. I wanted to play for Hudson Catholic when I was in the 8th grade and this is a blessing. I look forward to bringing winning football back to Hudson Catholic and bridging the gap between the community and the school. We are going to build something that the community will be proud of, and something that is sustainable.”

We will endeavor to keep our Hawk community up to date on developments regarding Hudson Catholic’s return to Football!

Hawk Happenings

STEM Youth Conference

Thirteen STEM Club members attended the First STEM Youth Conference at Stevens Institute of Technology on February 3rd. Our school had the most participants at the conference, and we take pride in our STEM Club members who displayed their exemplary behavior and participation. Thanks to Faculty Maria Maderal and John Cahill who accompanied our Hawks.

The Hawk 1,000-Point Club

Gets its Newest Members

Pettiford, Massung names etched into

Hudson Catholic Basketball Immortality

In a season, still ongoing, that has given us so many incredible highlights, including his recognition as a McDonald’s All American and signing a national letter of intent to attend Auburn University on full scholarship, Tahaad Pettiford recently scored his 1,000^th point, aptly on a three-pointer in the first quarter of a 74-66 victory for the Hawks at Memorial on February 6th. This milestone would have come a year sooner, had he not been sidelined for his junior year with an injury. Tahaad finished his memorable trip into Hawk Basketball immortality with a prolific 43 point scoring performance, just six points shy of Darlington Okerulu '02's Hawk single game scoring record. Not bad for 32 minutes' work!

Senior Alex Massung joined his backcourt mate in the club just a week later, against St. Peter's Prep. Alex is the 18th Hawk overall (15th Boy) to reach that rarified air at Hudson Catholic, and is certainly the first Hawk ever to do so in the Hudson County Title Game!

A third Hawk also celebrated his 1,000th career point this season, although not all were scored as a Hawk. Junior Keith McKnight, a transfer in from Teaneck High School this year, netted his 1,000th career point in the Senior Night game versus Union City. The Hawks expect to lean on him heavily to help replace the loss of our two highly-talent seniors to graduation.

Congrats to our truly outstanding upperclassmen this year!

We're gonna need a bigger banner!

Our All American, Honored

Tahaad Pettiford '24 officially became a McDonald's All American with the delivery of his game jersey for the April 2nd National McDonald's All American Game. Tahaad, right, celebrated with his teammates, and in this photo, with fellow 1,000-Point Club member and UPenn-bound Alex Massung '24 and Dean of Students and Faculty member Mr. Anthony Romano (Religion), who is also the Moderator of Peer Ministry, for which Tahaad and Alex are Peer Ministers. They obviously play a good all around game.

Our Tuition Raffle raised $75,000!

Alumni Spotlight

Leadership, Service, Achievements

(and occasional whimsy)

Future MD in MD. Natalia Goss ’22 is a pre-med student at Loyola University of Maryland. Natalia was a four-year member of the Hawk Girls Basketball Team in her time at Hudson.



Social Media Maven. Kaylin Warren ’16 is an Influencer Marketing Strategist for Likeable Media in Jersey City.



Biz Pro. Robert Khouzam ’12 is a Manager in the Advisory business at PwC Consulting in New York City.



Promo man. Ed Socienski ’06 is the proprietor of EZ Advertising in Lyndhurst, NJ.

Streamliner. Virgil Ferreira ’98 is Chief Operating Officer for Winmore, an AI Solutions firm for the logistics industry.



All in at Montgomery & The Boulevard. Mark Medina ’95 is with the Dean’s Office at St. Peter’s University, 18 years into his tenure there. And he has earned his Masters in Education from -- you guessed it -- SPU!



Everything’s Coming Up Roses. Terence Brennan ’93 of the Brothers Brennan - Jim Brennan ’85 and Tim Brennan ’89 -- proprietor of Brennan’s Florist Shop at 222 Newark Avenue in Downtown JC, recently entered into a business transaction to acquire long-time Jersey City Heights florist, Joseph’s Florist on Kennedy Boulevard and Grace Street, where Terry got his start in the business! Good luck to two great Jersey City families - the Brennans and the Polifrones.

Running Things. Robert Skea ’81 of the Brothers Skea - Michael Skea ’74 and Martin Skea ’82 - is Chief Executive Officer of Pole Star Global, a leader in maritime intelligence that empowers decision-making and protects vessels, people, reputation and investments across the supply chain. Prior roles include CEO of Discovery Data, and Head of North America at Dun & Bradstreet. In all his spare time, he serves as a member of the Rutgers University Advisory Board, and on the Board of the All Stars Project in Newark, NJ.

Legacy Hawks

Ava Marie Walsh '15 is the daughter of James Walsh '83

To our younger classes,

you can help Hudson Catholic

with 'likes' and 'shares' of our posts to your networks

If you have a newsworthy item or something from the present or past to share with the Hawk community, drop a note to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Focus on 2009

(The Class That Almost Wasn't)

Valedictorian: Rutul Shah

Yearbook Dedication: Hudson Catholic Alumni 

Brother Henry Laffey Award Winner: Michael Marmora

Prominent Athletes: Jason Hendricks, Julian McCall, Melvin Davis, Angel Hernandez, Gerard Horan, Jonathan Cobos

Best Athletic Team: football, baseball, and wrestling

In one of the greatest Football seasons in school history, the Hawk gridders surprised all with our first appearance in the State Championship Game, a heartbreaking 7-0 loss to Holy Cross at Rutgers Stadium (with a TD called back on a very controversial call). That game was well-attended by alumni, who were thrilled to have made this season and team achievement possible by resolving the school's financial emergency that arose in the spring of 2008.

Per Michael MaRmora: "The four years I spent at Hudson are some of my fondest memories. I can't believe it's going to be 15 years!"

TIME FOR A REUNION!

We are looking to 'Stay Connected' with '09 Hawks Curtis Alexander,

Jonathan Cobos, Juston Coe, Labron Collins, Melvin Davis III, Anthony Frisco, Angel Hernandez, Michael Kelly, Julian McCall, Binal Patel, Alfred Silver, Jorge Suarez, Ricky Truppner, and James Weaver. Send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected or send their email addresses to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Hawk Get Togethers

That's Nick Marinelli '90, John Carroll '90, and Eduardo Pena '90 during a day of pulling planes, if you can believe it, for John's favorite charity!

Blast From The Past

A Hawk's Best Friend

Brother Tim Ahern, or The Hawk Mascot? To dispel an urban legend, we felt it necessary to provide photographic evidence that they are not alter egos! Brother Tim we know to be teaching history at Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NJ, whereas The Hawk remains on the Hudson Catholic campus. And to dispel a rumor, The Prez assures us that 'The Hawk' is not missing!

Korrections Korner

We did uncover a third Hawk Emmy Winner, in fact, our very first - Charles Marsella ’70 -- and had planned to sequence them in consecutive issues but, inadvertently, and with sincere regret to both Charlie and Tom Western ’74, published Charlie’s photo with Tom’s story. Here is the real Tom Western, taken at Career Day 2014 holding his Emmy, with then-President Richard Garibell, and then-students, L. to R., Legacy Hawk Erin Kahle ’14 (father, former Vice Principal David Kahle ’74), Legacy Hawk Timothy Kahle ’17 (mother, Gail Kahle, former President, Mothers Guild), William Christopher ’15, Melanie Perotta ’15, Brandon Arias ’15, and Tyler Brown ‘15.

And here is Charlie Marsella’s story. He began working for HBO in 1978 in Network Operations, then moved over to Studio Productions, on shows like ‘Firing Line’ and ‘Inside Baseball’. Then, in Editing, he worked on shows such as ‘Inside the NFL’, ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’, Mike Tyson boxing matches, and documentaries such as ‘When it Was a Game’, and ‘Paradise Lost'. Charlie, like Tom after him, worked on the Olympic Games, in 1998, in Nagano, Japan.

Charlie has won an Emmy Award TWICE! The first for him, and for Hawks, was in 2002 for his work on ‘Do You Believe in Miracles? -- The Story of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team’. Just two years later, he won again, for a boxing series called ‘Legendary Nights, The Story of HBO's Biggest Fight Broadcasts'.

Charlie left HBO in 2008, and is now retired.

Turn Your Brothers and Sisters In!

(We Need Their Email Addresses)

We lose touch with some of our graduates who move around, go off to college, start careers, get married, etc. Help us find them again and make it harder for us to lose touch. Many on this list have siblings who are Hawk alumni, so turn them in at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org or send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected to update their contact info.

FYI

Note:

If any link in this issue is not clickable,

please copy and paste the 'link' into your browser's address window

advancement@hudsoncatholic.org to:

Advertise your business card here for $25 per issue

Plan a visit back to the Hawks Nest

Obtain or donate a yearbook through The Yearbook Exchange

Convey an obituary notice

Purchase Hawk gear online at:

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/newjersey/jerseycity/hudson-catholic-high-school

For Hawk Chatter on Social Media:

Facebook: Hudson Catholic Regional High School Friends, a private group with 1,400 members and climbing.

Linkedin: Hudson Catholic Regional High School page, with nearly 500 followers at https://www.linkedin.com/school/27080137/admin/feed/posts/

For Viewing

Digital Hawk Yearbooks

https://www.hawkalumni.org/hawk-alumni-scanned-yearbooks/

Hudson Catholic Events and Athletic Contests

https://www.youtube.com/@hcyoutube8233

If you receive our email at your workplace, we may not be getting through to you if our email is being intercepted by your spam filter. Only you can correct that by placing us on your safe list, which would allow communications from our Constant Contact email platform to reach you.

“There is always money in the transaction, but the wealth is in the relationship.”

-- The Late Sgt. Joseph Luistro '86

Requiescant in Pace

Vita Mutatur Non Tollitur

(Life is changed, not ended)

____________________________________________

Robert Glospie ‘69

James DeMarco Sr., father of James DeMarco Jr. '93

Margaret Magaldi,

mother of Thomas Magaldi '72

Thomas Murtha, brother of William Murtha '71

James Walsh,

father of James Walsh ’83 & Joseph Walsh ’87;

grandfather of Ava Marie Walsh ‘15

____________________________________________

Will be remembered in our annual

Alumni Mass of Remembrance

on November 3rd, 2024

Help Our Hawks Fly!

Your Support is Their Strength

The Office of Advancement ~ Gary, Jill & Jenine

201-332-5970 x118

Advancement@hudsoncatholic.org ~ OR ~ gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org