Keeping you up to date on all things Hudson Catholic, past and present

What Success Looks Like

The 10^th Annual

Black & Gold Golf Classic

This year’s annual Black & Gold Golf Classic was the most successful event in Hudson Catholic history, no matter how you 'slice' it. We had the most golfers, the most sponsors, the most diners, and the most revenue, by far, in the history of this event.

That is in large part due to the crowds brought in by our honorees, Robert Peake ’86, Bruce Bock ’75, and Anna Schreiber, FAC, and Athletic Director Nick Mariniello, and Director of Events, Jill Cypher. Kudos for an outstanding day from lunch through golf, cocktail hour, dinner and apre-event go to the Essex County Country Club staff and our own Jill Cypher and Jenine D’Addetta, ably assisted throughout the long day by a dozen or so upper class Hawks.

We will be hard-pressed to top this performance next year, but we are already planning to do just that, and you will be hearing about the 11^th Annual Black & Gold Golf Classic earlier than this year, in the lead up to this signature fundraising event for our school.

Robert Peake '86

Anna Schreiber, FAC

OUR HONOREES

Bruce Bock '75

OUR SPONSORS

OUR VOLUNTEERS

Legacy Giving Made Easy

Make Hudson Catholic

a 10% Beneficiary

of your IRA

-- Gary Ferrari

Many alumni think we are a young school. We are not - no longer. Many alumni also think our focus should be on the here and now, as regards financial support for Hudson Catholic.

it is always true that a school like ours needs help today. However, thinking of Hudson Catholic in those terms alone could actually impact the ability of our school to 'advance' into the future. This is not our aim, nor that of any school.

Advancement is about sustaining ourselves in the short term, but building for the intermediate and longer terms at the same time.

Legacy Gift commitments made individually now, cost us nothing, but will ultimately sustain the school with an endowment and operating reserves in the years ahead.

And because nothing is guaranteed in life, NOW would be the time to make plans for a Legacy Gift to Hudson Catholic. And to tell us about it if you have done or do so.

One practical example would be to make a pledge commitment today, to leave in your Will or estate plan, a sum equivalent to 10% of your IRA up to $100,000, as the Chief Advancement Officer has done in providing a Leadership Gift.

Many of us intend to exhaust our lifetime savings during our retirement, but a legacy gift can be in place in the event there is a remainder. If we intend to leave a sizable legacy gift to our family, that could still be accomplished while making a great gift to Hudson Catholic.

Please contact the Chief Advancement Officer at gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org to share your intentions or discuss your plans.

President's Message

This past weekend, we celebrated our history here on campus. On Saturday night, the Class of ’73 held their 50-Year Class Reunion. It was wonderful to have graduates on campus again, some who hadn’t been back since the day they graduated, others who have been regularly involved with Hudson Catholic. The bond their class shares was on full display, but the thing that stood out to me most was how impressed they were with the two young ladies who volunteered to be here on their Saturday night to take them for a tour around the building. Once again, it was the students who proved THEY are Hudson Catholic, not the building. 

On Sunday, we held a memorial mass and reception that celebrated the life of Brother Patrick King FSC, who served for 34 years at Hudson Catholic and passed away this past May. To hear people, ages 30 to 70, talk about a man who made such a difference in their lives was a reminder of the importance of our Lasallian traditions and identity. More importantly, it reminded all of us that one person truly does have the power to change the course of lives through our actions. Br. Pat was a simple man who had an extraordinary impact on the young men and women with whom he interacted. He was a living example of servant leadership. This week I ask that each of us tries to find a little bit of Br. Pat in ourselves. 

November 11th

First-ever Florida Event

Hollander Hotel -- St. Petersburg -- 1230pm Poolside

All Graduation Years / Family Friendly /Food & Drinks Available

Contact 'Rocco' Filerino '80 at filerino@gmail.com or Darren Scarpa '80 at djs713@duck.com

Reunion Reminders

40 years: 1983               30 years: 1993 

20 years: 2003              10 years: 2013

Contact Jill Cypher at jcypher@hudsoncatholic.org

to express interest in having and helping with

a reunion for your class

Seniors Focused on Life after Hudson

at College Fair attended by 50 Schools

One Hawk’s Journey with Hydrogen



Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions, hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula H2. It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and highly combustible.

One Hawk Alumnus and his team are leading the way to a cleaner energy future through harnessing hydrogen. And the path forward was paved at Hudson Catholic.

Mark Kahrer ‘79, Senior Vice President at New Jersey Natural Gas, is leading a business development team that was responsible for the nation’s first 100% Green Hydrogen plant that blends all of its output into its delivery system, Today, NJNG customers in the Howell area are using green hydrogen to fuel their appliances.

When Mark began that project four years ago, he and his team visited manufacturers of electrolyzers, which serve as the core of the Green Hydrogen plant. It was during those visits that Mark saw a 1975-76 freshman year experiment performed in Mr. Neil Garguilo’s IPS class come to life!

Mark recalls: “Mr. Garguilo inserted two test tubes upside down in water and took wires from a battery and inserted the wire from the positive (anode) side into one test tube to produce oxygen and the negative (cathode) into the other tube to produce hydrogen. When we were visiting the manufacturers, it was remarkable. Here I was exploring opportunities for NJNG and our customers to move into a cleaner energy future, when I quickly realized I was seeing the very basic principles of the technology that I had learned more than 40 years earlier in my Introduction to Physical Science class!”

“When I speak about what we are doing at our Howell Facility, I say it’s no different than my IPS Class experiment and, sadly, I often get a blank stare! This realization continues to reinforce the quality of the education that my brothers and I received at Hudson Catholic!” 

“Throughout my career, I have leveraged the lessons of my great teachers at Hudson. Whether it was Mr Garguilo in IPS, or Brother Antonio in Chemistry, whose principles I apply when we talk about Green Hydrogen and Renewable Natural Gas. When assessing project and market risks, which are founded in Statistics, it takes me back to Ms. Beatrice Wysocki’s class. And I cannot thank my English teachers enough -- Messrs. Campion, Bonner, Butovich, Hamilton and O’Donnell, who helped me create clear, persuasive arguments to communicate properly. And Ms. Adrienne Wozniak in Accounting and Mr. Ed Cantrella in Economics, who created a passion in me to study business. Each and every teacher at Hudson Catholic really prepared us for college and life!"

Editor’s Note: While attending the Black & Gold Golf Outing recently, Mark and his colleague, Christopher Chen, very kindly invited our John Higgins Award honoree, Ms. Anna Schreiber, to bring her science students on a field trip to Howell, NJ for a first hand look and tour of the nation’s first Green Hydrogen Plant. Our Hawks plan to take up that invitation soon.

Alumni Spotlight

Achievements, Leadership, Service

Yankee Doodle Dandy. Brianna Mac Kay ’19 is an Editor/Publications Assistant for Yankees Magazine with the New York Yankees organization. Brianna writes long-form features and short pieces covering the organization for each monthly edition.

You contemporary Hawks will recall Brianna as the Sports Editor for The Commentator during her and your days as a Hawk. She went on to hold a similar role for three years at Rowan University.

It looks like Brianna is poised to follow in the footsteps of another Hawk alum who is with the Yankees in a communications role of some type, and whose name escapes us at the moment. We’ll report back on that when we track him down.

'Uber', All Along. Adnan Zaib '15 was a captain of both the Mock Trial Club and Varsity Cross Country & Track during his days as a Hawk. He went on to attend Harvard University, where he earned a degree in Computer Science, while captaining the Harvard Boxing Club, and was an Associate in the Harvard College Consulting Group. Since 2018, Adnan has been with Uber in the San Francisco Bay Area, presently working as a Software Engineer.

New Home, Same Mission. Manny Hernandez ’05, after teaching in the Union City school system for 11 years, has moved over to teach in the Millburn School District since 2022. Manny teaches middle school Health and Physical Education and coaches the wrestling coach at Millburn High School. He is pursuing a Masters Degree at Montclair State University in Sustainability Science. Manny offers this testament to Hudosn Catholic: "They were the best four years of my life and to this day I thank my parents for sending me there. Hudson Catholic taught me valuable life lessons, both inside and outside the classroom. My best friends are still from Hudson Catholic, and I routinely keep in touch with five or six fellow Hawks. I cherish those friendships dearly."

Home of The Hawks

(Almost Heaven, West Virginia!)

Hawk Legacy

Louis ’74 and Vince ’07 Del Giudice. Vin has three children, lives in Houston, TX, and works as a Vice President of Sales for Altus Group. His mom and dad live in Hackensack. Lou is a Sr. Sales Representative at Stan’s Sports Center in Hoboken.

Korrections Korner

Per Bill McGrath ’79, we failed to clear a low hurdle by placing Miguel Alvarez in the Class of '78. He was, and is, of course, '79. 

We ran only the front of the Austin Michael Motorsports business card in the last issue, and omitted the contact information for the business owned by Mike Silva ’04. See the advertisers section at the bottom of our newsletter for the reverse side of the card, containing all the information you need to get in touch with Mike. P.S. That didn't stop Mike Lubanski '91 from reaching out to do business!

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.

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FYI

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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 1,300 members and climbing.

Linkedin: Hudson Catholic Regional High School page, with 400+ followers at https://www.linkedin.com/school/27080137/admin/feed/posts/

“We worship a God of provision. We stand under an open heaven. God will not forsake those who run after his will. We are so blessed.”

-- Anonymous

Requiescant in Pace

Vita Mutatur Non Tollitur

(Life is changed, not ended)

Daniel Larkins '76

Patrick Dillon '84

______________________________________________

He will be remembered in our annual

Alumni Mass of Remembrance

on November 5th

Michael Skea '74

Your Trusted Real Estate Advisor at the Jersey Shore 

Michael Silva '04

Ajay Hathiwala '09