hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected to update personal contact informati

hudsoncatholic.org/btl for past issues of this digital magazine

The Man From La Salle

Recently, the Chief Advancement Officer made a reference to an alum as the ‘Man From LaSalle’ in response to the kind giving of themselves for the benefit of others. In the truest sense, each and every supporter of Hudson Catholic is a ‘Man From LaSalle’. We'd like this rather catchy moniker to stick to more Hawks and Friends, so we'll initiate a feature to identify those among our ranks who fit that bill especially well.

Being ‘A Man or Woman from LaSalle’ constitutes behavior emblematic of the Lasallian value of service to others, a broad umbrella that may encompass volunteer work of all kinds, civic duty of military service, policing and firefighting, teaching, caring for the sick and injured, and many others. The point is that there is hardly a walk of life in which each one of us is not called to service at some time, or perhaps most of the time. Examples abound. Look inward and you’ll discover this about yourself if you have not recently reflected on what this means. How many times have you made someone’s day with a good deed?

As his feast day is approaching on April 7^th, coinciding with Good Friday this year, we’ll start by featuring the original ‘Man from La Salle, good old St. John Baptist, himself, he to whom we ask for prayers on our behalf.

Beginning in the late 1600s, John Baptist De La Salle, founder of The Brothers of the Christian Schools, transformed education in France by forming a community of educators with whom he developed a spirituality of teaching and learning to give a human and Christian education to young people, especially the poor. TRANSFORMING LIVES SINCE 1680!

Madness!

Hawk Alumni are well-represented in this year's NCAA Basketball Tournaments, a/k/a 'March Madness'. And as of this writing, after the first hectic weekend of the tournaments, 2 of 4 Hawks' teams remain alive in tourney action.

In a testament to Coach Nick Mariniello, he and we have been able to watch Alabama, Arizona State, and Fairleigh Dickinson, whose rosters, respectively, contain Jahvon Quinerly '18, Luther Muhammad '18, and Daniel Rodriguez '19. JQ is a starting guard on the #1 rated team in the tournament; Luther is playing for Jersey City's own Bobby Hurley, Jr., and Daniel's team had their 'Peacock Moment' as a #16 seed, stunning #1 seed, Purdue! Editor's note: All three played together on that 'monster team' of '17 that defeated St. Anthony for the North Jersey State Title.

On the Women's side of the brackets, Hudson is also represented in the tournament by Zanai Jones '21 of the Villanova Wildcats!

Results to date: both Arizona State and Fairleigh Dickinson had to win play-in games, defeating Nevada and Texas Southern, respectively. In the first round, Arizona St. bowed out of the tourney, losing a heartbreaker to TCU. Alabama coasted to victories in the first round over Texas A&M - CC and in the second round over Maryland (JQ with a huge game in this one, with a team-leading 22 points). And the Cinderella of the Tournament, FDU, had their dreams die hard in the second round, going out, 78-70 vs. Florida Atlantic. Villanova Women defeated Cleveland St., 76-59 in the opening round of their tournament. In the second round, the Wildcats triumphed over Florida Gulf Coast University, 76-57, and move on to the Sweet 16 to face Miami University on Friday. Good luck the rest of the way, to Jahvon and Zanai!

A Message From the President

Last week I was privileged to be honored as the Irish Educator of the Year by the Jersey City St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. I think that instead of Irish Educator of the Year, I am really Luckiest Guy of the Year. The beauty of Jersey City was on display all weekend, but especially on Sunday while walking through the city in the parade and seeing so many familiar faces who all came back. You never realize how many people you meet or how many lives you touch over a 38-year educator career until events like this. You also don’t realize how embedded Hudson Catholic is in the culture and daily life of this great city.  The number of alumni who were either part of the parade or lining the streets was astounding! Deputy Police Chief Pat Sullivan ’92 stood with the many Hudson Catholic members of Jersey City’s Finest, while Fire Battalion Chief Stephan Drennan ’77 led an equally large contingent of Jersey City’s Bravest.  Jack Dunne ’83, our own military hero, and Eric Bulwith ’97 physically marched with over sixty current students representing their Hawk Pride.  As I looked at the lines of First Responders in the parade, I was never more aware that the Lasallian ideal of Service to Others lives on in those brave men and women!  I was also acutely aware that when Jersey City needs to put men and women in charge, they always seem to grab the graduates from 790 Bergen Avenue!  Hawks always fly high!  Countless, “Mr. Matthews, remember me?” and prideful “I went to Hudson!” voices called out from both the parade contingency and the crowd.  I honestly felt like I was walking through a miles long Hudson Catholic reunion!  It was truly amazing, as well as humbling, to see the spirit of Hudson Catholic alive and well in the faces of our community, and I was once again reminded of how truly blessed I am to be a part of this wonderful school.  

The Irish Educator of the Year in Jersey City was accompanied on his march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade by 60 students, 5 staff, a coach, a few parents and a few alumni, seen at the Parade stepping off point at Dickinson High.

Many Reasons

As many reasons as there were to like Hudson Catholic, there are just as many reasons to support Hudson Catholic. Here are 25 such reasons.

Then you have a reason to show your gratitude with a gift to Hudson Catholic that will benefit those who are sitting in the chair, working in the lab, creating in the art room, applying to the college, participating in the club, appearing on the stage, or playing in the game -- that YOU did.

It’s easy. At hudsoncatholic.org/1964. In any amount -- one time or recurring monthly. Remember, a Hawk is a creature that nurtures its young. Be The Hawk.

Hawk Trivia Update, or Korrections Korner: It looks like we have got the Ivy League covered! Korey McCants ‘07 graduated Dartmouth, according to his classmate Dan Niekrasz, and Chris Flores ‘05, who both pounced on that flub immediately. That leaves NO Ivy League school not attended by a Hawk. Double negative, anyone?

Event-ful Schedule for Hawks of All Feathers

March 30th

Tickets, testimonial ads, sponsorships at our event page

https://hudsoncatholic.org/galahf

April 3rd

at Pru Center in Newark

April 7th

April 7^th is also Good Friday. School is closed.

We may or may not be up to date on the tally at midnight that night.

We'll do our best to report out at least on a preliminary tally by Monday

And a final tally not long afterwards.

With your generosity, let's make it so that the outcome is never in doubt

and that we can be assured, early in the day, of receiving our match!

April 15th

April 15th

Public Service Announcement

Many Hawks were also graduates of St. Aedan's. An All Years Reunion is planned at the Astor Bar, a/k/a 'The Shrine of St. Astor', from 4pm to 8pm. $36 and Cash Bar. Call 201-332-5970 x140 to reserve your spot and arrange payment.

April 28th

Tickets, testimonial ads, sponsorships at our event page https://hudsoncatholic.org/campion

May 18th - 21st

Nice Round Numbers Mean

It Could Be A Reunion Year

Reach out to the Office of Advancement to express interest and get started.

Your contact is Ms. Jill Cypher, Director of Events, jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

Hudson Catholic says:

"We hope you all celebrated Pi Day (3/14, of course) with a slice of education."

Attribution where due: Devised in 1706 by British mathematician William Jones

Faculty Focus

Science Faculty member Maria Maderal submitted a research paper to the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) panel of judges and presented her research, "Bridging the Gap Between the School and the Community Through STEM," at the 2023 National Conference on Science Education at the Georgia World Congress Center held in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 24^th.

We Are Updating Our Records

They say that knowledge of the world is expanding at a phenomenal rate. That statement applies to the Hawk world.

We have been conducting an update of our alumni records, so do not be surprised to receive an email inquiring whether you are related to other Hawks with the same surname, or a request for a sibling's email address. This is how we expand our knowledge of Hawk Nation.

Not only do we receive the updates we are looking for but, in the process, we also learn things about our Hawks, of which we had been unaware -- some of it quite interesting, and some of it which we get to share among the Hawk community. This is what we mean by Staying Connected.

The following three articles are just the latest examples of what we learn as time goes on.

And don't forget to turn in your brothers (and sisters) whenever you can! See the below related headline.

The Ever-Expanding Library of Hawks

Archpriest Alexander ‘Fred’ Webster ‘69, PhD, Chaplain (Colonel), U. S. Army, Retired, Dean & Professor of Moral Theology Emeritus, Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville, NY is our latest Hawk author to be discovered, but has been published since 1986 with The Romanian Legionary Movement: An Orthodox Christian Assessment of Anti-Semitism. 'Fred', as he was known in his formative days as a Hawk, has authored seven works in total, with his latest being Let No One Fear Death: Orthodox Christian Leaders Respond to the COVID-19 Challenge in 2022. All of Fred's books can now be found listed in our Library of Hawks at hudsoncatholic.org/library-of-hawks.

Archpriest Alexander Webster '69

Jack Curry

 '82

Hot off the press -- in fact, it may still be on the press -- is the latest in New York Yankees tomes by HC Hall of Famer Jack Curry '82. No stranger to anyone, Jack has penned an account of the 1998 Yankees, a team that dominated the regular season, swept through the playoffs, and is regarded as one of the greatest of all the great Yankees teams in history.

Building The Legacy, Indeed!

As a result of mining the database, we recently uncovered several Hawk Legacies - fathers and sons, whom we have not been able to share before. So, in our ongoing series on Legacies, we tell you of six more.

The Del Giudice Legacy is Louis ’74 and Vincent ’07, pictured here.

The Flora Legacy is John ’69 and John 97. The Keller Legacy is Jerry ’73 and Kevin ’04. The Sumowski Legacy is Gary '72 and Tom '96 & James '98! The O'Connell Legacy is Kevin '77 and Daniel '99. And the Sorrentino Legacy is Nick '80 and Nick '15. We will produce Legacy photos just as soon as we can get our hands on them.

High- (and Far-) Flying Hawks

Not surprisingly, life has taken many of our graduates to far-flung places around the globe. We have Hawks in the non-contiguous states -- one in the 49^th, Alaska, three in Hawaii 5-0, and Hawks on other continents - one in Africa, five in Europe, and two in Asia, with one Hawk straddling Europe and Asia.

Dennis Dussman ’72 is a dentist in Fairbanks, AK, clocking in at 4,245 miles from McGinley Square. Lou DiLiberto ’73 in Kehie, Maui outdistances Dussman, at 4,932 miles away, and his fellow Aloha staters, JJ Niebuhr ’88 and Steve Switaj ’74, in Kailua, just outside of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, edge him out at 4,964.

Hard to believe that those Hawks still living in the United States are further away from The Home of The Hawks than a few of the Black & Gold living in Europe.

Mark Bulwicz ’73 is in Dublin, Ireland, at a distance of 3,190 miles; Angelo Impocco ‘93 ‘is in Madrid, Spain at 3,642; Joe Schumann ’04 is in Stuttgart, Germany, at 3,956; and in Italy, we have the Rev. Msgr. Keith Pecklers ’76 in Rome, at 4,294, and Arsenio Pandolfo ‘80 in Salerno, at 4,438.

Joe Malloy ’73, in Turkey, has the distinction of straddling both the European and Asian continents. While Turkey is predominantly on the Asian continent, Joe himself rests his head on European land in Istanbul, 5,028 miles form ‘home’.

Our lone Hawk on the African continent is Anthony DeRobertis ’86, who, last we knew, is in television production in Cape Town, South Africa, 7,803 miles away.

Our Asian-domiciled Hawks are Raymond Ermita '96 in Paranaque City, Philippines, 8,614 miles away. But taking the distance award for the Hawk living furthest from 790 Bergen Avenue, in Bangkok, Thailand, 8,666 miles away, is Pornchalit Ploykrachang '86!

The above is based on a combination of what we know for sure, and what is contained in our alumni records. So, tell us who we missed or where we may have gone wrong. And as we have not heard from Anthony in Cape Town in quite some time, we are anxious to know if anyone else is in touch with him. Tell us at gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org.

More importantly, should you be planning a trip to one of these destinations, let us know and we’ll try to put you in touch with your fellow Host Hawk.

In addition, tell us of your travels, past and future. What are the best or most exotic places you’ve been? And send us a photo of you in that destination so we can share it with our Hawk readers. Extra credit if you are caught wearing a Nice Shirt! Send to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Alumni Spotlight

To the oft-asked question, "How do I get in Alumni Spotlight?", the direct, Jersey City response is: 'you send me your stuff'. To: gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org

Alexandra Ruiz '14

Steve Dnistrian '82, who is running for NJ State Senate in Monmouth district 11, recently stopped by Monmouth University to see lifelong friend and classmate Ken Brophy, who along with co-worker Anthony Mincieli, man the university's Facilities Management efforts. Steve says Ken came up with a campaign tagline for him, to be rolled out soon.

Steve's brother, Joe Dnistrian '84, flanks The Irishman, along with Kevin Boyle '83, representing a good showing by alumni at The Parade.

I’ll Take Manhattan. Kevin Gorman ’79 and his wife Maureen, seen at the Platte River in Kearney, NE, first moved west, to Ames, IA in 1984, where Maureen, attended graduate school at Iowa State. After seven years, it was on to Bloomington, IN for three years, then Madison, WI for six, before settling in Manhattan, KS for the last 22 years. Maureen performs research on insect immunity at Kansas State University., while Kevin is an accountant, which he attributes to enabling him to work wherever they have moved.

Kevin recalled a ‘BTL’ feature a few months back, about Andy Darpino, Bob Kelly, Willie Mays and the Schaefer Beer commercial filmed at Roosevelt Stadium the summer of 1978. St. Mary’s Coach Eddie Ford asked Kevin to come down to the filming. While Willie Mays was hitting some batting practice, Kevin and a bunch of other kids were in left field chasing down the fly balls and line drives that Willie was hitting. He held on to one of those balls. Later in the day, when Willie was taking a break, Kevin got up the nerve to ask him for his autograph. The Hall of Famer signed it "Willie Mays, NY Mets" - just like the one he signed for Mr. Darpino.

Further connections to our national pastime: Kevin’s grandfather, Joseph Shannon, and his twin brother Maurice ‘Red’, played professional baseball, including major league, from 1915 to about 1930, and was the Superintendent of Roosevelt Stadium from the time it opened in 1937 until 1950. 

A Man From Lasalle. Speaking of Mr. Andy Darpino, Faculty alum, he recently announced his retirement after 27 years with Grainger. Gracious Andy, after crediting his wife, Anne, for all of her support over the many years, offered to be of service to others by adding: "If anyone is interested in tapping into my experience navigating Public Sector Procurement, please contact me." Those interested in taking Andy up on his offer can send a note to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org and we'll put him in touch with you.

Sandwiched Among 1,000 Point Scorers

‘Six-Degrees-From-Kevin-Bacon’? Mark DeCorso ’74 played with three Hudson 1,000 point scorers - all on the ’73 North Jersey Champion Hawk Team with Jim McDonough, Jim Spanarkel and Mike O’Koren. The latter two starred for the Hawks in Mark’s senior season, so there would not have been enough basketballs to go around for Mark to approach that immortalizing scoring level. But, for at least one night that we know of, Mark played an instrumental role in leading the Hawks to victory, over arch-rival Marist. The accompanying box score from the Jersey Journal archives is proof positive of one brief shining moment!

Mark, along with, and probably more because of, his wife Sheri Lauyer, a 1987 St. Peter’s College and 1999 Hudson County Sports Hall of Famer (basketball), produced a 1,000 point scorer of their own - son Michael, who led Colts Neck to that school’s first Shore Conference A Central Division title in 2003. We think that puts our Hawk third on the family scoring list!

Blast From The Past

We'll let these photos speak for themselves.

But will take comments at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Public Service Announcement

Sometimes (well almost every issue, and this one, if you've gotten this far), 'BTL' is so chock full of content that, depending on your web browser, content can be truncated in your email, followed by a message saying “[Message Clipped]” and a link to “View entire message.”

Clicking that link will bring up the issue in its entirety. Because the link is not prominent, you may think that BTL has ended right in the middle of an Alumni Spotlight, or see a photo without accompanying text. That is not an error, but should be a reminder to look for the link that will pull in the remainder of our digital magazine.

Alexandra Ruiz '14, Outreach Coordinator for the Data Science Institute at St. Peter's University, is seeking a highly qualified and experienced individual to join their team as a full-time professor in the Data Science Institute. If interested, send a note to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org and we'll put you in touch with Alexandra.

Turn Your Brother 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 brothers who are Hawk alumni, so turn your brother in at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org or send them to hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected to update their contact info.

FYI

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

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 1,300 members and climbing.

Linkedin: Hudson Catholic Regional High School page

“You may be facing a giant in life right now.

Don't compare your strength to it. Compare God's strength to it.

For He is the one who goes before you and leads you by the hand.

Hold on. However long or hard the road, just hold on,

He will deliver you."

-- Anonymous

“The bottom line is that every single one of our students is a Peacock at heart and can do what those kids did on the floor in their own spheres. That’s worth celebrating.”

-- Dr. Eugene Cornacchia, President of St. Peter's University, in response to a question about last year's basketball team that surprised the college basketball world.

Requiescant in Pace

Vita Mutatur Non Tollitur

(Life is changed, not ended)



James McCabe '78 (6/26/19)

Martin Saccente ’73 (12/25/20)

Mike DeRogatis ’85 (12/24/20)

Robert Sekowski, brother of Edward '69

We are grateful for our Mikes!

Michael Skea '74

Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor at the Jersey Shore