Capacity Crowd Watched Warde Beat Notre Dame in Holiday Festival 40 Years Ago Today

Phil Ness and the Andrew Warde High School boys' basketball team stifled a Notre Dame comeback bid in the closing minutes and held on for a 72-65 victory in the opening round of the Fairfield Festival basketball tournament before a capacity crowd of 3,100 fans at Fairfield University's Alumni Hall, Thursday, December 27, 1973.

Trailing 52-44 entering the final eight minutes, the Lancers went to work. Dave Lehn, a six-foot-two senior forward, scored 17 of his 30 points in the final chapter on an assortment of long-range bombs as Notre Dame managed to grab a short-lived 59-58 lead at the 4:21 mark. Lehn's three-point play at that point put the Lancers ahead.

The lead see-sawed back and forth until Bob Neilson tallied a pair of free throws with 1:37 remaining to give the Crimson Eagles a 66-65 advantage they never relinquished. Ness blocked three shots during the final minute of play and made a pair of steals to ice the verdict. The six-foot-seven center finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, and 10 steals.

Ness was aided by Ron DelBianco, who chipped in with 18 points, and Bob Cleveland with 11 markers. Lehn received support from sophomore Tommy Burbank, who scored 12, and Kelly Lombard with 10. Warde managed quarter leads of 19-16, 42-27, and 52-44 before the frantic final minutes of play.

John Lademan's steal of an errant pass with seven seconds remaining lifted Fairfield Prep to a narrow 64-60 victory over a scrappy Ludlowe outfit in the nightcap.

Paul

Seventh Annual Community Christmas Carol Sing-Along a Success

Despite inclement weather, all had a good time at the seventh annual Community Christmas Carol Sing-Along this past Sunday at St. Margaret's Chapel in Bridgeport. Andrew Warde High School Class of 1976 graduate Tony Procaccini served as Music Director for the day, and the chorus was accompanied by The Mike Pontecorvo Brass Quartet.

Admission to the event, which is sponsored by the Bridgeport Area Cultural Italian Organization (BACIO), was a non-perishable food item for Operation Hope, a homeless shelter in Fairfield. According to Carla Miklos, the executive director of Operation Hope, the food drive from Sunday's event provided three bins of food, containing 10 bags of groceries.

"Many thanks to all," Miklos said. "Those in need will appreciate the generosity of those who donated."

In addition, Santa Claus made an appearance for the children, and the chorus was, without a doubt, the best ever, according to Procaccini. Fairfield Warde High School Choral Director Lauren Harmata and five of her top singers were in the chorus. Many local churches supplied a large number of singers as well.

Former Bridgeport Mayor Len Paoletta, who has served the community for 28 years, is the founder and president of BACIO, which was created in 2003.

Paul

Warde Cagers Improved to 5-1 in FCIAC by Defeating Danbury 49 Years Ago Today

Andrew Warde High School's high-scoring duo of Rusty Helgren and Bruce Bernhard powered the Crimson Eagles to a relatively easy 80-56 victory over Danbury in FCIAC basketball action 49 years ago today, Tuesday, December 22, 1964. It was Warde's fifth victory in six league contests.

Helgren tallied 21 points and Bernhard added 20 to lead head coach Don Feeley's charges. Feeley, you may remember, would later coach at the collegiate level at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.

The winners jumped out to a 21-8 cushion after the first quarter and held a commanding 32-20 lead at the halftime intermission. The Crimson Eagles featured a balanced attack with eight players reaching the scoring column.

Danbury's attempt to put on a press in the third and fourth quarters failed as Helgren moved inside and clicked for 13 points during the stretch. Bernhard chipped in with nine more as the Eagles coasted to the victory in Danbury on December 22, 1964.

Paul

Warde's Ron DelBianco Eclipsed 1,000 Point Mark 40 Years Ago Today

Senior Ron DelBianco scored seven points in the last three minutes to eclipse the 1,000 point career mark, and teammate Phil Ness converted two three-point plays during that same span to lead the Andrew Warde High School varsity basketball team to a 77-64 FCIAC victory over Stamford at the winners' court 40 years ago today, Friday evening, December 21, 1973.

DelBianco, who needed 14 points heading into the game to crack the prestigious plateau, suffered through some jittery moments in pursuit of the mark, but finished with 20 points, giving him 1,006 for his career. His two clutch free throws with 3:15 left in the game gave the winners a ten-point lead, 62-52, and also vaulted him into the Warde record book.

Stamford, which fell to 1-2, had narrowed a 20-point second half deficit to eight points on a free throw by Forrest Andrews at the 3:30 mark. DelBianco subsequently canned his foul shots, and then came back moments later to complete a three-point play, stretching the lead to 11 at 65-54. Ness, who finished with a team-high 23 points and 25 rebounds, sandwiched his six points around a Stamford bucket to put the Crimson Eagles safely in front, 71-58, with two minutes left.

Warde had to contest with Stamford's Ernie Cobb all night as the Black Knights' rubber-armed guard fired in 37 points. He converted 17 of 42 shots. Cobb's 10 points enabled the visitors to hold a 17-15 first quarter lead, but he cooled down in the second stanza when Warde outscored the guests, 16-1, in the last three-and-a-half-minutes for a 38-29 lead at the intermission.

Reserve guard Bob Sherman keyed Warde's second period surge by scoring ten points in the last four minutes of the quarter. The junior also helped solve Stamford's full-court zone press, which riddled the winners in the early stages of the contest. He finished with 16 points and also turned in a fine defensive effort, helping to harrass Cobb on his jump shots from long range.

Both teams were cold in the third period, but Warde managed to add three points to its nine point halftime advantage for a 53-41 lead entering the final stanza. Cobb tallied 10 of his team's 12 points in the period.

Brad Gold helped out Ness with 11 caroms. The winners outshot the Black Knights, 48 percent to 35 percent.

Warde captured the jayvee contest, 54-53, behind Tom Curry's 15 point performance.

Paul

Class of 1976 Warde Grad to Lead Christmas Sing-Along in Bridgeport this Sunday

Tony Procaccini, AWHS 1976 classmate and Music Director of Saint Emery Church, Fairfield, has announced that the annual Community Christmas Carol Sing-Along, originally scheduled for Sunday, December 15, will take place this Sunday, December 22, at 3:00 p.m. on the Great Lawn of Saint Margaret Shrine in Bridgeport.

The event has added an extra dimension which, he says, may lend a helping hand to those in need in southwestern Connecticut. Procaccini and Len Paoletta, former Bridgeport mayor and founder of B.A.C.I.O., Inc., the non-profit sponsor of the annual event, met with Donna Schmidt, Volunteer Program Manager of Fairfield-based Operation Hope, earlier this year.

The well-known community service organization has agreed to set up a collection booth at the entrance to the sing-along. Procaccini, pictured below at the far right, along with Operation Hope Executive Director Carla Miklos, Schmidt, and Paoletta (left-to-right), are shown holding items of non-perishable donations, the suggested "admission price" for the sing-along.

For the first time ever, the sing-along will feature the participation of some singers from Fairfield Warde High School. This is the very same school that was known as Andrew Warde High School back in 1976, the year Procaccini finished his high school studies.

"I think this year's sing-along will be extra special knowing that I'm conducting singers from the very same high school I attended," Procaccini notes. The school's choral director, Lauren Harmata, assisted in procuring the participation of the young choristers.

An optimistic Procaccini states, "I think this may be the first great sing-along since our inception in 2007, given the increased participation from many groups, and the new aspect of helping the hungry and homeless in the seasons of Advent and Christmas." He also emphasizes that all are welcome to the event, not just those who are Christian.

According to Procaccini, "We are expanding the scope of our musical event in a way that is unique, in accordance with American and Christian values, and likely to help the sing-along become a very popular regional event."

Andrew Warde High School Product Writes Legal Thriller

R. C. O'Leary, a product of Andrew Warde High School in Fairfield, has written a compelling novel with a fast-paced plot that will keep the pages turning. That's part of the review he received from amazon.com.

"I just finished my first novel, Hallways in the Night, and I think you might like it," he told me. "I actually named the main character, Dave Mackno, in honor of Glenn Mackno because he was such a positive influence on my life," he added. Mackno, a former coach at Warde, is the current athletic director at the school.

"During the fall of my sophomore year (at Warde), I made the JV basketball team, where I had the good fortune of being coached by Glenn," O'Leary said. "At the time, 'Mack' was a physical education teacher who was coaching the JV team. From the first time I met him, he was someone to whom I always gravitated because he had such a positive and encouraging spirit.

"He was the ultimate coach in terms of the way he cared about each person as a human being," he added. "Mack had such a profound and positive effect on my life that I named the lead character in my book, Hallways in the Night, after him. Looking back, it's not surprising that Glenn was named Connecticut's Middle School Principal of the year for 2012-13 because he embodies all the best traits of an educator."

The novel is a legal thriller that features a mix of colorful characters, backroom dealing, and well-written action. The story starts off strong and never lets up, from the initial confrontation through a courtroom showdown in which the stakes are much too high for anybody to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

O'Leary, pictured at the left, looks back fondly at his days at Warde. "I have a lot of great memories playing in the Warde basketball program, but for me the favorite ones were just the daily chance to play basketball, be a part of a team, and an opportunity to try and get the most out of my abilities," he admitted. "My career at Warde was mainly JV, but I did have one personal highlight my junior year. We were playing St. Bernard's in the state quarterfinals and the coaches had gone with a 5 man rotation, no subs for the entire game.

"We were up by 14 points with three minutes to go," he recalled. "It looked like we had put the game away, but St. Bernard's had a ton of heart and put together a tremendous comeback rally. With less than a minute to go, one of our guys, I think if may have been Billy Saccone, fouled out and I was put into the game for the first time with St. Bernard's about to tie up the score. Before going into the game, Glenn Mackno pulled me aside and offered me the following inspired coaching advice: 'Don't do anything stupid.'

"Fortunately, with two seconds left on the clock, I was able block one of the St. Bernard player's shots against the glass and we held on for the win. I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time with that block and it was one of those moments in sports that had a positive carryover effect on my life."

The following year the sports teams merged with Ludlowe in advance of the consolidation. "Ludlowe had a great group of guys and that made it a fun year of basketball," O'Leary admitted. "After Warde, I went to Cheshire Academy to try and get more focused on academics. From Cheshire I went to LaSalle University for a year, before transferring to Penn where I ran into several other Warde graduates. I eventually went on to law school at Duke University. I miss Fairfield, but Florida has been good to me."

O'Leary said there are several parts of his novel inspired by his time in Fairfield. "One, in particular, is in the beginning when a kid is trying to out-run some cops on his motorcycle," he mentioned. "A similar incident actually happened in Fairfield when I was about 10 years old. It was the Summer time, and I have a vivid memory of the kid speeding down my street while being chased by those big light blue SUVs that the Fairfield police used for a while in the late 70s and early 80s. That image always stuck with me and I think it translated well into my story."

O'Leary cherishes his childhood in Fairfield. "The 1970s and 80s were a wonderful time to grow up in Fairfield. There was a strong sense of community and it felt like a town full of possibilities," he said. "It had beaches, a great university that was home to the Stags basketball team, a nice selection of restaurants --- living in Florida I truly miss Luigi's and Beverly pizza --- and great schools.

"I grew up within walking distance of Holland Hill and remember it being a school with great teachers, an awesome playground --- an almost idyllic elementary school," he continued. "I remember each of my teachers, the principal Miss Nemec, and a wonderful gym teacher, Ms. Davis, who put together a fun after school basketball league for fifth and sixth graders. Holland Hill was primarily a 'Warde' school, so many of the kids I went to HH ended up going to Warde."

The print book is currently available on Amazon and Kobo. According to the review, "When a veteran cop tries to arrest baseball's home run king, one of them ends up on trial and the other one ends up dead. A routine stakeout is almost over when Dave Mackno decides to pursue a speeding Porsche. It’s a decision that will have deadly consequences."

Hallways in the Night has all the elements necessary to make it a satisfying and enjoyable read. Once begun, it’s hard to put down. Click here to win a free autographed copy of the novel through January 8.

Paul