Updated: Future Super Bowl Winners Enjoyed Early Success

The success of this year’s football team was not entirely unexpected.

Followers of this year's Division 3A Super Bowl champion varsity squad will well remember the terrific 2006 season, when the Holliston Pop Warner C Team won the New England Pop Warner champions. As a result, the team was invited to participate in the United States Pop Warner Championship in Orlando, Florida.

Coached by Paul Athy, that 2006 team employed eight current varsity players, including juniors Dan Barone and Brody Ciarcello - who were then in seventh grade - and sophomores Max Athy, Steve Hennessy, Nick Edwards, Alex Parnell, Tom Chipman and Bobby Kiley.

To raise money for the trip, a one-night telethon was conducted on November 28, 2006 on HCAT-TV. In a great show of community interest and involvement, over $40,000 was raised for the team.

Of particular interest that night, was the appearance of NESN’s Red Sox sideline reporter Tina Cervasio. Cervasio, along with HCAT’s own Jay “The Legend” Wyman, Theresa Lampkin, Jenny McGee, Andy Porter and Carl Damigella helped bring on a landslide of contributions. Cervasio had been invited to the event by Damigella, owner of the Mudville Base Ball Club, who along with his team, was featured by Cervasio on a Red Sox telecast earlier that year from Chicago.

Following the telethon, Cervasio visited the Mudville Clubhouse (aka ) where all in attendance celebrated the conclusion of a very successful night.

PARKS DEPARTMENT HIRING FOR THIS SUMMER

Is there a high school student in your home looking for summer employment? If so, opportunity may be knocking.

The is offering seasonal positions for counselors and lifeguards/swim instructors for their summer programs. Applications for a number of positions at various park locations throughout town are now being accepted. Applicants must be at least 16 years old.

Full information is available on the Parks Department website at http://www.townofholliston.us/park.htm.

FINALLY, HOLLISTON A WINTER WONDERLAND

A return of seasonal temperatures brought a return of seasonal activities, as traditional Holliston winter recreation sites hosted a number of users this weekend.

Your intrepid reporter, having been advised through his carefully cultivated circle of unpaid informants and flacks, of heightened activity in the Weston Pond and Lake Winthrop areas, pulled on his long johns, and bid the lovely Suzanne adieu, setting off in search of the next Patch exclusive.

Evidently, the much-expected explosion of winter carousing had dwindled by the time of his arrival. No doubt the morning revelers had long since retired to their homes in blissful anticipation of the Patriots-Jets encounter. However, a smattering of diehards could still be found, properly layered while relishing winters cool embrace.

If ony the Patriots had done the same.

HOLLISTON LIONS TO CELEBRATE 70TH ANNIVERSARY ON SATURDAY

The Holliston Lions Club was founded on Jan. 23, 1941. The club will be holding its 70^th anniversary celebration this coming Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Upper .

Lions Club President Peter Barbieri is delighted to report that Walter Rossini, a charter club member, may be attending the event. Rossini is presently a Privileged member of the club, in recognition of his long and extensive dedication to community service.

The Holliston Lions were formed under the sponsorship of the Medford Lions Club. Long time Holliston resident Charles Williams served as the club’s first president.

WHO AM I NO. 7

My surname once was Clary,

Now it seems so Greek to me.

Ask my daughter Mary,

And I’m sure that she’ll agree.

You’ll find my husband near the ice,

Son Mark on bass guitar.

The Pantry really is quite nice,

It’s known from near and far.

Who am I?

WHO AM I NO. 6 REVEALED

To me she’s like June Cleaver,

Maybe Mary Tyler Moore.

Personifying all that’s good,

The grown up girl next door.

Involved in almost everything,

Combining class with grace.

We know that Jack’s a lucky guy,

When e’er we see her face.

I am Katie Connors.

HEROES AMONG US

It was this past Monday. Lost in thought, while driving through Northeast Connecticut, the annoying "beep, beep, beep" from my cell phone startled me out of my temporary morning fog. A friend had texted me, and his message was brief and to the point. It was then that I learned a hero was gone.

“Dick Winters from Band of Brothers died,” the message read. Time and Parkinson’s disease had accomplished what the German army could not. Winters, 92, had died on Jan. 2 in a Pennsylvania assisted-living facility.

For those not familiar with Winters, he was the central figure in HBO’s Band of Brothers mini-series, based on a Stephen Ambrose book of the same name. Winters was the leader, literally and symbolically, of Easy Company, a paratroop company of the 101^st Airborne Division, which saw considerable action in the European theatre of World War II. On the night before I learned of his death, I had envisioned Winters standing at the tree line, contemplating an attack on the French village of Foy, in what is at least my third reading of the book.

I had been introduced to Band of Brothers and Ambrose’s other works more than a decade ago by my father, who was a WWII vet and knowledgeable student of the war. Shortly before his assignment, my father’s ship had participated in the capture of a German U-Boat, an enormous coup for the Navy.

In 2000, my father recalled a day on board: “Everyone was ordered to wear their dress uniforms for an award ceremony. We were then marched off to an assembly area replete with Admirals, Captains and other officers. They then proceeded to hand out the awards: two Navy Crosses, several Silver Stars and Legions of Merit. As each award was made it was noted that the reason for the award could not be disclosed ‘at this time.’ My reaction was, ‘It must be easy to be a hero.’”

The only thing “easy” about Dick Winters was the name of his company. By almost any definition, Major Richard ‘Dick’ Winters was a hero. But to me, he was more than that. He was a hero by “my” definition.

I’ll refrain from the easy and predicable exercise of pulling Webster’s Dictionary from the shelf to provide the generic definition of the word. To be a “hero” in my mind, one has to fit my definition, and no dog leading search parties, or child making a timely call to the authorities does. As noble and praiseworthy as those acts might be, I believe the heroic calling to be far more select. And as much as the awarding of participation trophies demeans the value of more significant awards, the arbitrary designation of the title “hero” to one for fulfilling reasonable expectations diminishes the impact for those truly deserving.

To me, a hero is a person - not a dog, nor a monkey - who knowingly and willingly places his or her life in danger in a manner that exceeds their responsiblity to accomplish the objective. Winters, through his leadership abilities, his personal actions and “follow me” credo, more than fits the bill. However, had it not been for Ambrose’s book, it is likely that his life, as well as his death, would have largely escaped public review. Winters, himself, insisted that he was not a hero but that he "served in a company of heroes.”

It’s estimated that there are 50-70 WWII vets currently living in Holliston. Simple math allows one to conclude that the youngest of them are in their early 80’s, and that their time among us is limited.

Their stories may not be documented, or their hardships known. But I am privileged to say that I have known and lived along men and women who placed their lives on the line, and represented our country during a period of unimagined crisis. They did so with shared purpose and beliefs, and ultimately triumphed in their mission.

Certainly there are heroes among them. And now, while they are still with us, is the time to acknowledge it.