Spring Sports Underway
Now that the winter sport season is behind us, the spring teams are set to take the field. While baseball scrimmage games have begun, the first game of the season is April 5 where Darien plays Lehman Hall. The first track meet will feature St. Joe's at Darien on April 8
Darien boys lacrosse opens April 5 against always tough Fairfield Prep and the girls team opens against Rockville Center Southside on Long Island. Tennis matches begin on April 14 against Westhill and Girls golf tees off at the Tashua Knolls Golf Course on April 1.
Good luck, all!
Darien in the Upset!
The Blue Wave played the spoiler on Saturday, ending the Rams unbeaten season with a 4-1 upset for the CIAC Division I crown at Quinnipiac's M&T Arena. For New Canaan, the loss was yet another in a long string of disappoinments in state finals. Their only championship came 53 years ago in 1972 and the Rams have come up short in 10 straight trips to the finals.
For Darien, four different skaters scored goals on Saturday coupled with an outstanding job by Wave goalie Schafer Repsher who recorded 25 saves. Darien took the lead late in the first, scoring a short-handed goal with only 35 seconds left on the clock. The second period saw no one score with New Canaan firing off 16 shots to the Wave's 13. In the third period, Rephsher shut down a flurry of shots before Darien tacked on 2 to go up 3-0 with only 6 minutes remaining.
New Canaan managed a score with less the 5 minutes left and Darien scored an empty-netter to cap the win at 4-1.
This was the Wave's first championship since winning back-to-back finals in 2015 and 2016, and have a total a four titles in ten final appearances. Darien (18-5-1) is responsible for giving New Canaan their only loss and tie this season as they finish up at 23-1-1.
Wave State Champs!
Darien girls capped off their perfect season with an exciting win at the CHSGHA finals at Quinnpiac arena. It was Darien who jumped out to a 3-0 lead after a scoreless first period only to see the Rams come storming back with 2 goals, including one short-handed goal, a total of 5 goals in the second period. Darien’s defense held off a barrage of Ram shots in the third period, New Canaan outshooting the Wave 20-7 in the back half of the game. New Cannan pulled their goalie in the final minutes and Daien scored the unguarded goal with 20 seconds on the clock to win 4-2.
This is Darien’s sixth championship, second to New Canaan with 9. Darien has won ten straight games against the Rams, five of these by a margin of one goal. Darien finishes the season 22-0 and New Canaan 21-4.
Darien Girls FCIAC Champs
Darien girls hockey team succeeded in winning their third-straight FCIAC hockey title, defeating New Canaan 2-0 on March 1. This is Darien's ninth championship, going back to the 2003-4 season. It was a well-fought contest with Darien scoring the first goal of the game with less than a minute remaining in the second period. Darien added a second goal with 8 minutes on the clock in the third. For the game, the Wave (17-0) took 39 shots and had 26 saves while the Rams (18-2) had 26 shots and 37 saves.
As both teams prepare for the upcoming CHSGHA tournament, defending-champs New Canaan and No.1 seed Darien have first-round byes and see action on March 6.
The Darien boys (15–4–1) were upset by the Ridgefield Tigers in the boys FCIAC semi–final match on February 27. Though Darien took more shots on goal (37-10) the game remained tied at the end of regulation at 1-1. Ridgefield shot the winning goal with 4 minutes left in the first over-time period. In the other semi-final game, New Canaan (19 – 0 – 1) easily beat Greenwich 10-1.
55th Anniversary
Good Grades for Darien Schools
Darien Public Schools has recently received top grades from a school-ranking outfit named Niche. Niche assembles data compiled from reviews, other public information and data from the Dept of Education. The company ranked the Darien district as the fourth-best in the state (and behind New Canaan, at No. 1).
Darien's 4,700 kids in all grades have a student-teacher ratio of only 11 to 1. Rankings in specific categories give Darien an A+ in most, including Food served. Two areas which need improvement are Administration at B+ and the area of Diversity with a C-.
Some folks remembering Jordy Perry Kay (right) at her Memorial at the Weed Beach Hut.
Left - Josie and Lauren with Jordy's son Andrew
Eddy, Eric Joosten, Lauren Fair and Tom Tyler
Kathy Micha Frate, Paul Hendrickson, Jeff Frate
Friday, August 15
Richie Havens
Sweetwater
Tim Hardin
Ravi Shankar
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
Saturday, August 16
Quill
Country Joe McDonald
Keef Hartley Band
Santana
Incredible Strig Band
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Leslie West and Mountain
Creedence Clearwater
Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band
Sly & the Family Stone
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
Sunday-Monday August 17,18
Joe Cocker and the Grease Band
Country Joe & the Fish
Ten Years After
Johnny Winter
Blood Sweat and Tears
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Sha Na Na
Jimi Hendrix
Paul Hepp 1950-2024
Classmate Paul Frederick Hepp passed away on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
See full obiturary in the Memorials Sections.
Classmate Susan Danvers and Hubby Bob in Olympia, Washington.
Love to Hear From You!
Please, leave your remarks in the 'Comment' Section
Classmate Gary Swartz (far right) and wife Sally send greetings from Oman. The couple have their daughter's family staying there for the US State Department. The UN considers Oman the most improved country in terms of development in the last 40 years and is the oldest independent Arab state.
Do A 55th Reunion?
Lots of classmates are talking about holding a 55th reunion of the DHS Class of 1969. Probably something on the lighter-side, a casual Friday get-together and then a restaurant dinner Saturday night.
If this sounds good, you can contact classmate Jeff Myers, someone brave enough to put his name out-there.
Jeff can be reached at myerspercussion@gmail.com . Could be fun!
A new restaurant has opened in downtown Darien. Called Green & Tonic, it is located in the town's Corbin District, a development still in the works, including stores, restaurants and luxury apartments. The restaurant is a juice bar, coffee shop and plant-based restaurant that also serves smoothie bowls, salads and kelp noodle dishes.
On 7 acres within the heart of Darien, Baywater Properties is re-imagining downtown Darien — at The Corbin District — resetting the landscape of shopping, dining, lifestyle and entertainment. Baywater began this exciting transformation in 2019 with extreme attention to detail and a sharp focus on creating one of the most enjoyable and walkable downtown environments in the region
We know things are rough right now. So who better than some cheerleaders to keep up our spirits to finish the fight!
Front row left to right:
Anahid Kavookjian, Josie Mullen, Joni Dobson
Back row left to right:
Sue Geiger, Sharon Denunzio, Cinny Cobb, Sue Perschino, Peggy McNeil, Sue Venarde
Sandy Young, Carol Ann Augustus
| Pete White | Dave Terry |
| Claudia Smith Davenport | Kathy DelleFontane Goossen |
| Dennis Gavin | Pete Johnson |
| Rick Poccia | Janet Martin Fisher |
| Mark Beckwith | Anita Conway |
| Bruce Frail | Paul Dominis |
| Patty Mazza Sturges | Sue Dickman Klein |
| Sally Armus | Christy Rodgers |
| Mardi Porter | Ed Tyler |
| Bill Guptill | Mark Blackman |
| Georgiana Smith Bloom | Kate Mason Gredinger |
| Pete Franklin | Gary Gibbs |
| Tom Lane | Billy Harper |
| Anahid Kavoojian Vrana | Dave Lynch |
| Lauren Fair | Jimmy Valente |
| Tim Potts | Casey Nickerson |
| Suzanne Nikola Baldino | John van den Heuvel |
| Jim Morrison | Chris Bischof |
| Josie Mullen | Paul Buckley |
| Johnny Maul | Skip Kennedy |
| Bev Bonfoey | Barb Thorne |
| Marni Kent Hansell | Bob Mercer |
| Bob Ierardi | Eric Joosten |
| Dennis Sullivan | Tom Milek |
| Gary Swartz | Dave Miller |
| Steve Verses | Jay Baker |
| Cliff Powell | Ann Back Price |
| Steve and Patti Craig | Anne Marie McGarry |
| Vandy Van Wagener | Bill Schade |
| George Farrington | Todd and Martha Robbins |
| Rick Weber | Jane Seyferth |
| Sue Venarde Mahoney | Mark Tinker |
| Joan Dobson Glazebrook | Paul Hendrickson |
| Sandy McGill | Ted Vanech |
| Jim Tully | Stu Traver |
| Dick Costello | Mike Lopriore |
| Charlie Smith | Chris Eng Leventhal |
| Jane Genster | John Wuerthner |
| Carol Ann Augustus Summers | Anne Irvine |
| Ken Broska | Paul Hepp |
| Dave Jefferson | Sue Geiger |
| Allison Poccia | Joanne Schoepf Reisser |
| Benny Bruno | Kyle Hepp |
| Kathy Strachan | Pam Burkhardt Mele |
| Peter Scholtz |
Great shot of classmates Kenny Peliksza, Mike 'Lope' Lopriore, Dick Costello, and Ben Bruno in Jacksonville. Nobody mentioned any golf scores but all were sad to see former Jax resident Paul Hepp leave for Texas.
Choir
Steve and Patti Craig squishing apples from their apple trees. One year they report harvesting over 20 bushels of apples. (Note: 1 bushel = 48 pounds). The Craigbo Cider Co. made 16 gallons of unadulterated apple cider, while also donating apples to a local farmer and food pantry.
Terry Cummings, Tim Maul, Cliff Powell
Shot of trip out west during summer of '69 when we hitchhiked to California. Mark Tinker's dad bought us the car to roam around California and back to CT. Thought I lost this. Great memories from that trip. Those were the days! -George Wehmann
