In high school Gymnastics, Team Trumbull has claimed their second straight FCIAC championship. The meet was held at the Gymnastics and Cheerleading Academy in Fairfield and participants were judged on the vault, bar, beam, floor, and all-around. Of the five schools invited to compete, Darien finished fourth.
In the regular season, the Wave record was 8-3. The Darien squad had two members receiving FCIAC First Team honors.
In the upcoming CIAC tournament, Team Darien is ranked 15 as they prepared for competition on February 22. The top-ranked school and defending State champ is Trumbull. Darien was a State runner-up back in 2017.
Rival Week in Hockey
Darien boys faced-off against New Canaan, No. 1 vs. No. 2, in a highly anticipated rematch on Monday. The Rams were undefeated and Darien, on a 7 game winning streak, was looking to avenge their only league loss back in early January.
Tensions were running high at the Ice House in Darien. But at the 10 minute mark of the first period the mood suddenly turned somber, when a Darien skater hit the boards and fell unconcious on the ice. EMTs tended to the player who was taken to the hospital. (He avoided serious injury).
When play resumed a half-hour later, New Canaan and Darien traded single goals and finished in a 1-1 OT tie.
Of their last 11 regular season games, fully six have gone into OT and 3 have ended in ties. Darien leads those games 5-3-3 but New Canaan dominates post-season at 4-0.
For the ladies, Darien and New Canaan faced-off in a probable preview of post-season action on Friday, Feb. 7. The Rams (16-2) scored first, deep in the second period, to go up 1-0. The Wave, with seven-straight wins over New Canaan going into the game, remained poised, scoring two in the last eight minutes of the match to win 2-1. Darien took 41 shots to the Rams 25.
Darien hasn't lost to New Canaan since the 2021-22 triple-overtime loss in the CHSGHA finals at 4-3. Three more regular season games remain to be played.
Darien is now 14-0.
Indoor Track
The FCIAC Indoor Track Championships were finally completed. Given the snowy weather this past week-end, some events took place Saturday at SCSU and others were held on Monday at Staples HS. Danbury won the boys competition with 97 points and New Canaan finished first for the girls with 71.
For Darien, the boys tied for ninth-place with Bridgeport Central. Darien only managed 2 top-five finishes: a 4:29.50 in the 600m and 1:37.79 in the 4X200 relay.
Darien girls finished 12th out of 16 teams, with 15 points. Darien was 3rd in the 300m at 44:07 and 2nd in the 4X400 relay at 4:18.36. Darien also finished 6,7,and 8 in the 600m.
DHS Teacher Richard Harper
Richard C. Harper, long-time teacher at DHS, recently passed at 94. Dr. Harper came to DHS in 1956 after a two year stint in the Army, and remained for 18 years. He taught history and served as head of the Social Studies Department for seven years.
Dr. Harper graduated Oberlin College with a History major, earned an MA at Yale and a Ed.D from Teacher's College at Columbia. After teaching at Darien, Dr. Harper became a Language and Social Study Coordinator for Stamford Public Schools in 1974. Beginning in 1990 he taught for the next 20 years at the University of Bridgeport School of Education. Upon his retirement from Bridgeport, Dick and his wife Wende established the Richard Conant Harper Scholarship to assist single moms in their quest to become certified public school teachers.
Basketball
The hard-luck Wave basketball team have lost 10 straight to post a 1-10 Conference record, tied for 15th and last with Norwalk. Only the top 8 teams are invited into the tournament. Overall the team is 5-11.
The Darien girls team are also 1-10 in the conference in 14th place and 5-11 overall. There are 5 more games remaining.
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-.
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.
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
