Wave Trounce Ludlow 48-15
Darien faced off against Fairfield Ludlowe on a crisp fall afternoon on Saturday, Oct 26. Temperatures at the 1:00 pm kick-off in Fairfield were a breezy 57 degrees with a big crowd in attendance. Both teams sat at 4-1, Darien coming off a tough win against a previously undefeated St. Joseph, 14-0.
Darien struck quickly, connecting two long TD passes to wide-open receivers to go up 14-0 in the 1st quarter. Early in the 2nd quarter, Wave QB Ben Rolapp hit Tom Herget for an easy 7, and then an interception by Captain Ben Curtis, Darien jumped out to a 28-0 lead. Ludlowe managed to score as the first-half wound down for a 28-7 halftime score.
Darien put together 3 more scoring drives in the second half and Ludlowe was only able to score once more. The Wave won going away 48-15.
Darien faces a scrappy Wilton team next Friday at 7:00.
CIAC Cross Country Championship
There was no question Newtown's Soheib Dissa was the favorite to win the Class L Boys event, held a Wickham Park on Saturday, Oct 26. The senior defended his state title, finishing at 15:43. Xavier took home the team title for a sixth straight season with 42 points, beating out New Canaan (85). Darien finished in 12th place (302). Junior Andrew Sharron of Darien had the team's best time of 16:49.
For the girls, Brooke Strauss from Glastonbury won the 5K Class LL title, finishing at 18:13 in Wickham Park. As a sophmore, Brooke won the State Open championship in 2022. Greenwich captured their second straight Class LL title with 82 points. Darien finished in 12th place (219). Eve Calio had Darien's best time at 21:35.
For the New Canaan Rams, they won the girls Class L contest for a second time. The team finished with 93 points, beating runner-up New Milford at 120.
Fall Sports Post-season Update
In FCIAC Boys Soccer, No. 7 Stamford plays No. 1 Greenwich on Tuesday, Oct 29 at New Canaan HS at 6:00 pm. Darien (12-4-3) lost in the quarter-finals to Danbury, 6-0.
In Field Hockey, No. 2 Darien (17-1) faces No. 1 Staples (17-1) at Wilton HS in the FCIAC finals on Tuesday, October 29.
In Girls Volleyball, No. 2 Darien (19-1) faces off against No. 3 Trumbull (16-5) on Tuesday at the Stamford HS.
FCIAC Cross-Country Championship
Results are in for the FCIAC Cross Country Championships, held in New Canaan at Waveny Park. For the boy's race, sixteen of the 17 league schools competed (missing was Trinity Catholic). The team with the lowest overall score were the Ridgefield Tigers at 26. Magnus Manley from Ridgefield was the overall boys winner at 15:42 for the 5000m race. Ridgefield also finished 3rd, 5th, 8th and ninth.
Darien finished ninth with a score of 266. Darien's best runner was Andrew Sharron, finishing 11th with a time of 16:15. New Canaan was 5th at 111.
In the girls race, 13 schools competed. The winning school was Greenwich at 74. Darien was seventh with a score of 172. Fairfield Warde was the first to cross the line at 18:27 for 5000m. Darien's best was Eve Calio at 20:13 for 20th place. The New Canaan girls finished in third place at 114.
Boys Golf Tournament
The FCIAC Boys Golf Championship was held on Thursday, Oct 17 at the Tashua Knolls par 72 course. In an extremely close finish, Trumbull had the low score at 315 for their top four golfers, followed by Greenwich at 316 and Warde and Darien at 317. New Canaan was close at 319. Wilton finished in eighth and last place, but Wilton and Warde had the low medalist, both shooting a par 72. Warde had the high score of the day, a 23-overpar 95.
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
55th Anniversary
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
Last Year's Champs
In last year's athletic competition, 62 different CT high schools won a total of 122 State Championships awarded by the CIAC. At the top of the list is Greenwich with a total of 8 championships. New Canaan HS had a great year, winning 7 titles (Football, Girls Cross Country, Girls Lacrosse, Boys Swimming, Girls Golf, Boys and Girls Tennis).
Darien, along with 15 other Connecticut high schools, won two State titles. For Darien, The Wave won in Girls Swimming (L) and Girls Volleyball (LL).
School to Kids: No Cellphones!
Darien Public Schools is telling middle and elementary students that all personal electronic devices- including cell phones, smartwatches, private laptops, headsets and the like can not be used during school. The new "bell to bell" policy requires that students stow their devices in their locker until the school day ends.
The district is also looking into a policy for high school students, with further discussion expected in the fall. Under the district’s current policy, high school students are required to bring their own charged personal device for use in class.
Stamford also bans devices for the younger students while Greenwich now bans cellphones in their high school.
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