The George "Blanda" Janda Story

By Tony Procaccini
Reunion Committee President
Andrew Warde High School
Class of 1976

While at a wedding in Darien on Sunday, September 10, I struck up a conversation with a policeman guarding the area, and soon found out he is George Janda of Fairfield.

I remembered the name instantly from Fairfield sports at the time of our high school days. He was the center for the Ludlowe basketball team, and graduated high school in 1975. Unknown to me, however, he played three sports there (baseball, basketball and football) and knows many Warde 1976 people, especially from the sports context.

First I brought up football names to him: Steve Cameron, Scott Patterson, Glen Brown, Greg Aiello, Mike McKernan, et al, and he remembers most of them. When we got to baseball, I mentioned the Ludlowe players I knew. They were Don Barberio, Bobby Dulka, Brian Lee and a few others. He played with them, and he remembers many of our ballplayers, such as Joe McCormack, Tim Kelly, Bob Henry and others.

The Senior Babe Ruth Baseball League (age 16-18) in Fairfield combined players from both public schools plus Fairfield Prep and Notre Dame, so rivals were teammates in many cases. Thus, George and I were rivals there, too. When I mentioned Bob Henry's name, he said, "Who didn't know Bob? He was one of the best of our time!"

OK, I'm now getting to the best part. I talked to him about the great Warde-Ludlowe game of May 12, 1976, our senior year. George had graduated the year before, but of course he knew many if not all of those on the field that day for the Flying Tigers. I won't recount the details; you can read about the game on the "Great Memories" page of the Warde 1976 class Website. (We won, and in dramatic fashion, too.)

So, although we were rivals on the ballfield, gridiron, and hardwood floors back then (and on the track and other places, too), it's nice to see we can reminisce as friends now. George wants to reconnect with some Warde people (he asked about Dave and Tom Favale, specifically), and I'm sure he and I will stay in touch going forward.

If readers are in contact with Roger Ludlowe High School 1976 people, please have them call me at 718.545.3089. We may join with them in a sign of unity during ceremonies at the Thanksgiving Day football game in November.

On a personal note, I would like to catch up with two RLHS ballplayers, Brian Lee (pitcher and third base) and Don Barberio (first base). They were both great guys and excellent players. I always hit well against Brian, but only him. My final batting average senior year was....no, I won't tell you, it's too embarrassing. Look it up in the record books!

Tony Procaccini
AWHS 30-Year Reunion Committee President