Updated: Pop Warner Gets Under Way

I bumped into Kevin McAteer the other night. With a smile on his face, he told me a story.

“I ran into Greg Williams, my next door neighbor, and he told me he was taking his son Joey, who is around seven, down to ,” he said. “Joey is in his second year of the Pop Warner program, and Greg is going into his second year coaching. He said that today was equipment pick-up and that practices start Monday night.”

McAteer has reason to smile. He, along with Ray Hart, Kevin Fitzgerald, Jack Martinelli and Joe Baskowski started Holliston Pop Warner, and the benefits of their efforts are still being realized.

“I like to say I gave Todd Kiley his first coaching job,” says McAteer, “and it’s great to see him thrive at the high school level. He and his brother Steve came down during our first-year sign-ups, and said they had heard about the program and wanted to coach the kids.

"We said 'we can give you a team to coach, but you’re going to coach the 7-8 year olds.' They said 'sure,' that they’d love to and did it for two to three years, and all the kids, my son included, loved to play for
him. He eventually moved on to the high school and ended up coaching these kids at that level.”

McAteer also remembers something that had been overlooked. “As typical guys we only thought about football, and then Mary-Caryl Ferdenzi arrived and said ‘what about cheerleaders?' We five guys
sitting around said ‘cheerleaders? We’re talking about football here.’

And she said you can’t have football without cheerleaders. By the time we got out of there, there were more cheerleaders than boys in the program.”

MOMENTUM ROCKS STONE'S PUBLIC HOUSE IN ASHLAND

Hey Ma! We’ve got a paying gig!

Those might have been the excited exclamations of four young Holliston musicians this week, as Momentum, MetroWest’s premiere teen jam band took the floor on Saturday night at Stone’s Public House in Ashland.

Before a large and enthusiastic following of family and friends, Momentum powered through an eclectic musical blend ranging from the funky "Mercy Mercy Mercy" (originally played by the Cannonball Adderly Quintet) to their inspired original, "Blues Jam."

Momentum recently played at as part of the .

Momentum is Marc Apesos on bass, Sam Baler on guitar, Steve Snow on drums and Adam Rochelle on keyboard.

THIS WEEK AT THE LIBRARY

Quick! It’s time to get your day in gear.

The is holding "Tales & Tunes for Tots" from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The subject will be songs and stories for infants and children up to three-and-a-half years old.

Those desiring the lyrics to “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” are asked to contact me though Patch.