Certainly, it may be said that if the youth of our generation had a single social community center, that would have been the YMCA on North Main Street. I go back to the days when "boys' swim" was done "au natural" to phrase it delicately; I was never quite courageous enough to question if policy was identical for the girls.
Those employed there did such a wonderful job with us kids. To be sure, they served as good examples for all of us, but especially to kids like myself with no fathers at home. I still have strong pleasant memories of them now, 60 years down the road. There was Tommy Clinton, John Tennant and Dave Farnell working the desk to "buzz" us through the door to the locker room, where genial old Bill Thurber would safely lock away our "valuables" until we were leaving. There was Bill Bungard, Gene Clark, Bill Hewitt, Romeo Bergeron, Joe Cardinute, Harold Hayes and Bob Lepper. I'm not sure if Bob was actually a paid employee or not, but if not he certainly should have been. It seemed he was always at the Y and always agreeable to teaching us the finest techniques of wrestling. The wrestling team of Bob, Ted Whitehouse, the Paradis boys (Ed, Dave, Bill and later Alan) Paul Ouellet, Chico Gonzaleves and Dick Wallace captured more than their share of New England wrestling championships, believe me.
As readers may be aware, I try to reprise stories from the past which feature many names from those days long ago. Here's one from the sports pages of the Attleboro Sun in November 1958.
YMCA athletic contest standings announced
The annual YMCA athletic contest for boys ages nine through 14 has completed it's sixth week. The contest consists of running, jumping and indoor agility tests. There are 10 weeks of contests, and at the end of this time all boys who score a total of 500 points or more will be eligible for an award. Boys placing first and second in each age classification will receive a large trophy. Ribbons for first second third and fourth place will be given for each contest in each age class, and the boys who show the most proficiency will get first chance to participate on the YMCA team for the annual Christmas Roundup with other YMCAs in the area, and for the district track championship held in the spring.
Current standings in three different age classes are as follows:
Indians, 9-10: Mike Walsh 452, Ralph Arguin 600, Mark Quillen 510, Greg Carpenter 469, Peter Westcott 279, Dale Broadbent 484, Orville Richardson 486, David Quimby 273, Dan Kulaga 412, Robert Perry 142, Mike O'Donnell 342, Tom Joseph 299, Dave McCarthy 372, Rod Rovzar 384, William Lewis 287, Ward Nolan 123, Bruce Sargeant 538, Gary Wheelock 272, Doug, Conlan 519, Richard Morse 396, Dave Stevens 295, Craig Paton 435, Robert Easton 470, Bradford Bruce 128, Wayne Rushlow 428, Peter Moore 382, Steve Derosiers 430, Lester Salisbury 147, Steve Mahan 315, George Ryan 383, Charles Lander 466, Peter Sauer 316, Ron Steele 407, Peter Silvia 391. Paul Medeiros 474, Joe Fitton 399, Brad Peach 267, Jim Hennessy 234, Alfred Aptt 169, Steve Walsh 337, Mike Gayton 218, Robert Layton 148, Jeremy Bond 343, John Henderson 224, Scott Menard 263, Jeff Pitts 155, Frank Marcoccio 100, Paul Fortin 185, Steve Mendes 104, Gene Romero 80, Howard Gardener 90, Arnold Savolainen 178, Mike McCarthy 100, Newie Bottomley 74, Francis Burns 115, Mike Smith 70, Tom Murphy 204, Matt Anderson 79, Michael Bristow 80, Jeff Franklin 70.
Gra-Y, 11-12: Dean Poole 238, David Merris 283, Paul Reiss 115, Ronald Wheelock 201, Robert Johnson 499, Russell Frederikson 320, James Lewis 402, Richard Wallace 382, John Shockro 138, Steve Brockway 397, Joseph Hardt 300, Robert Kingman 297 George Blaser 239 William Goldthwaite 518, Mark Goulet 179, Russ Morin 222, Frank Nickerson 174, Freddie Lundgren 313, Dan Harrington 432, Jeff Tremblay 403, Fred Moxham 423, Hugh Merris 542, John Tennant 227, Bruce Peterson 263, Mike Dubuc 214, Robert Shapiro 288, Richard Rooks 288, Jeff Freeman 194, Chester Howard 95, Richard Ryder 473, Frank Perry 361, Tommy McKenna 352, Laban O'Brien 518, Harold Brockway 52, Brad Lawrence 255, Dave Witherell 40, Paul Ebert 92, Tom Ashley 142, William Lawrence 281, Alan Davis 265, David Cameron 91, Carl Beatty 220, Robert Godin 448, Armand Rea 479, Steve Coren 165, Leonard Baxendale 182, Don Holander 111, Dave Holander 239, Dave Wagle 84, Bob St. Pierre 86, Steve O'Keefe 82, Bob Beauregard 98, Joel Cornell 92 Bill Vanderckhoven 84, Jerry Balser 94, Emery Pineo 168, Richard Carlson 153, Steve Hennessy 56, Dave Marquez 116, Paul Boyce 81 Charles Bristow, 80.
I hope that list summoned up a host of memories for those of you out there.
Deepest condolences to my good friends Will and Carol Fontaine on the loss of their son, Jeffrey.
Sympathy to Barbara Carufel, Calvin Titus, my very good friend Derek Titus and Tanya Tucker on the passing of my lifelong friend, Barbara Titus, who mothered the children of my greatly missed friend, the late, great Rockin' Earl Everton.
Condolences are also in order to classmates Dick Rooks and Elaine (Brasier) Rooks and old friend Steve Brasier with the death of Keith Rooks. May these three souls, all who passed well before the allotted biblical lifespan, rest in peace.
It will surely be a joy to get outside in the nice weather we've been promised for this week. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy it in the aftermath of all those weeks of enforced cabin fever. While you're out enjoying the sun, try to be friendly and charitable to all you meet and it will spread throughout the community, and what's better than smiles and sunshine, unless it's - peace.
