An October To Remember Part IA

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.

All alone am I ever since your goodbye
All alone with just a beat of my heart
People all around but I don't hear a sound
Just the lonely beating of my heart~~~Brenda Lee - All Alone Am I

Bishop Fallon High School
Hall of Fame Dinner~~~
Enjoy the summary!!!

28 October 2011
Bishop Fallon High School HALL of FAME Dinner
is celebrated at Salvatore's Italian Gardens.

When Frank Longo, one of the inductees of this year's Bishop Fallon High School's HALL of FAME Dinner held Friday 28 October 2011, at Salvatore's Italian Gardens, was at the podium making his remarks, at one point he became reflective. He was revealing to those in attendance a conversation he was having with his wife as they were getting themselves ready for the evening's festivities. He found himself pondering aloud; "Honey, did you ever wonder how, in your wildest dreams, that I would have accomplished something like this!?!?!?" To which Frank's wife deadpans; :Longo, you are NOT IN my wildest dreams!!"

Needless to say, everybody had a good laugh~~~and an accompanying applause, to that one.

The other inductees included Ralph Cammarata(posthumously) 1945, Clement Eckert 1952, Charles Tedesco 1959, Father James Fee 62, and Tony Diina 1965. The two inductees, in particular, that I was focused on because they had relevance to me was: Joseph Grifasi 1962, and Paul J LoVello 1967.

Paul LoVello was the anchor of the 1967 Varsity Baseball team. It was important for me to converse with him singularly about some of other players that were part of that varsity squad. They were part of my graduating class of 1969. Included on that roster was 2010 Hall of Fame inductee JImmy Scime, as well as Gary Porter and Kevin Nellany. He was very appreciative of the connection that I reminisced about.

Joseph Grifasi was the 'interesting' selection, this year. Which is probably why they saved him as the last appearance to the podium. He must have been a "card" in grade school at Annunciation, as well as Bishop Fallon, because he was a 'cut-up' on the dais. He had us laughing, with every one of his sentimental one-liners. It was very important for me to introduce myself to Joseph because of the two-pronged connection of Bishop Fallon High School & Annunciation Grade School. In one of his 'imparts', he starts talking about Father O'Leary~~~and 120 Congress Street. My mind is now like an M-80 whose fuse is lit: I'm thinking: it has to be?!?!?

When the festivities are finally concluded, I made my way over to Joseph & some of his other family members. Sure enough!! Joseph Grifasi, and his sister Carol, who was in attendance, are the older siblings to Susan Grifasi, whom I graduated with in 1965, at Annunciation Grade School!! The great-niece of Susan then took some pictures of Carol, myself, and Joseph. We continued the conversation as we reconnected in the lounge area, mentioning a number of Susan's other classmates. He recalled many of the names that I mentioned because he added that they would often be at the Grifasi House , after school. While in the lounge, where there were NO televisions, I was grateful to have gotten a phone call from my son Philip. God bless him; he checks in with me every now and again. We have a number of things in common including the love of baseball. He called to let me know that there was INSANITY in St. Louis, MO!!! The Cardinals are this year's Cinderella sports-story, winning the World Series against the favored Texas Rangers. This truly was a Golden Friday!!

--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise