You may make that gift by credit card or Zelle bank to bank payment by going to hudsoncatholic.org/1964.

to the Ranks of Alumni

On Saturday, June 4^th, 116 graduates in the Class of 2022 entered the ranks of the Alumni, with the conferral of diplomas made in front of family and friends at St. Aedan’s Church – “the Cathedral of Jersey City.”

Highlights included Valedictorian honors for Juan Teira, who has been bestowed a four-year full academic scholarship to Rutgers University, and the awarding of the school’s highest honor, the Signum Fidei Award, to Mr. Lou Tatti, our Medical Arts Program Director who has been a non-salaried advisor in service to Hudson Catholic and our students for seven years. Under Lou’s leadership, we created the three-year-tract Medical Arts Program two years ago and it has just completed year two of operations.

The Hawks Nest certainly never sleeps! Saturday, June 4^th, saw the graduation of the 55^th class in school history. The Commencement Ceremony returned to St. Aedan’s Church after COVID had forced it onto the football field in Lincoln Park for the past 2 years. 116 graduates proudly walked down the aisle to receive their diplomas after Valedictorian Juan Teira gave a rousing speech to his classmates that focused on the need for graduates to give back and, invoking the legacy of Science teacher Mrs. Debra Lucas-McGady, who passed away earlier this year, to “Be a Debbie” in all they do moving forward. The Class of 2022 was accepted to some incredible colleges and universities: Cornell University, Rutgers University, Fordham University, Penn State, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Loyola University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Syracuse and Morgan State to name a few.

In the same locale as last year’s event launch, we will be in Belmar at The Friendly Sons of The Shillelagh, on 16^th Avenue, hosted by the lovely and talented Bobby ‘Rosco’ Quirk '73, on Saturday, August 27^th, from 3-6pm.

We will accept payment of $85 per person (for hot / cold buffet and open bar) in advance only, not at the door. Reserve and pay online at hudsoncatholic.org/hats before we sell out.

On the occasion of the 25^th anniversary of their commencement, we wonder what 1997 may have in store for our school this year?

Each year we have 10 classes that celebrate round number anniversaries. They are all milestones, but the tenth is always the first one that feels significant, and of course, the 25^th and 50^th are beautiful milestones. As such, these classes are always encouraged to think about how best they can honor their school and their class in a tangible, meaningful way.

2012, 1997, and 1972, in particular, if you are in need of ideas and assistance in making something happen that would mark the occasion and commemorate your signum fidei to your alma mater, contact the Chief Advancement Officer at advancement@hudsoncatholic.org.

Building The Legacy makes for ideal Summer Reading

Take us with you to the beach or mountains. Catch up on back issues at hudsoncatholic.org/BTL

All of us call it ‘the Caf’. Many of us know it to be named ‘Castle Hall’. None of us really call it that. But there is a plaque that says so. It hangs on a column in the Cafeteria, and has since 1977, down the left side from the top of the stairway, less than half way to the kitchen doors. Every school day, kids convene, engage, eat, and carry-on under the watchful gaze of Mr. Edward Castle.

Brother Patrick King remembers Ed Castle “as a worker bee - more than that - a king bee. The Men’s Club had a 'bazaar' in the early years as a fundraiser.”

Mr. Castle, as you would expect, sent two sons to Hudson Catholic - Edward Jr ’70 and Stephen ’75 - and gave his daughter to Hudson Catholic in a way. Colleen married Jim Sweeney ’73!

Hudson Catholic congratulates Melisa Chavez on being named Outstanding Educator of the Year at Hudson Catholic. This award, in its inaugural year, recognizes a member of the faculty, staff or administration, as determined by the administration to have gone above and beyond during the school year.

Historical Perspective. Aldo Salerno ’73 joined the U.S. Coast Guard soon after graduation, staying 10 years, sailing on two Cutters, the Hamilton out of Boston and the Reliant out of Yorktown, then serving two years at the Kodiak Air Station in Alaska. Upon returning to civilian life, he completed his undergraduate work between St. Peter’s and Rutgers-Newark, earning a BA in History. That’s where things got interesting. His love of history, starting at Hudson Catholic, with Mr. Jake O’Halleran, along with scholarship and fellowship, kept him at Rutgers for his M.A., and took him to UConn for his PhD in American Ethnic History -- nearly 10 years’ schooling in total. 

Along the way, Aldo taught at the high school and college level for six years, and became a ‘Hawk Author’, co-authoring From the Old Country - An Oral History of European Migration to America.

Having been trained as an ethnic historian, this provided him with the most gratifying professional work of his career, where he applied history in research and writing. Because two-thirds of all petitioning Indian groups do not gain federal recognition status, Aldo’s greatest source of professional pride was helping two of the oldest Indian groups in the country to be ‘recognized’ -- the Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia (and Pocahontas fame) that met the VA settlers in 1607, and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, that met up with The Pilgrims in 1620. Hard to believe it took centuries for the fedgov to recognize the tribe that celebrated at the first thanksgiving and provided the impetus for our national holiday celebrating that occasion, but our man Aldo was instrumental in that important distinction for the Wampanoag Tribe!  

A Man for All Seasons. Wayne Witkowski ’71 is a life long sportswriter, from The Commentator Sports Editor to the pages of the Jersey Journal, on to editing and sports writing for the Daily Record in Morristown, Newark Star-Ledger, and Asbury Park Press. Up to date, Wayne is sports writing in Pike County, PA for a weekly, covering all sports for Delaware Valley HS and their graduates' careers through college. Wayne received 13 journalism awards in 15 years, for boxing stories and, as a result, was inducted into the NJ Boxing Hall of Fame in November, 1995. From Wayne: "I always saw my future in my use of the written word."

Broadway Bound. Brian Mendoza '12 is appearing in an Off Broadway production, Jean Jackets and Red Pandas, an absurd dark comedy, presently running at the Trinity Theatre on W. 57th St. in NYC.

Airport Delta. Curt Zegler '89, Vice President, Construction Executive for Turner Construction, is changing the skyline at LaGuardia Airport, partnering with Delta Airlines to construct and open Terminal C, which, long overdue, dramatically changes the customer experience at that airport.

Mun in the Sun. Another former Alumni Leadership Program award recipient Nelson Pereira ‘00 is a leading financial planner at Fidelity Investments in the U.S. Southeast Region and recently became Managing Director of Wealth Management, based in Naples, FL.

Rich Ranalli '74 and son Rich Ranalli '04 are the latest nested

Hawk Legacy to be revealed

So, please send along to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org the names of Hudson Hawks and the Halls of Fame they belong to, and we’ll compile them for as complete a depiction of ‘The Fame Among Us’ as we can muster.

If you are in touch with any of the following essential Hawks, please feel free to provide an email address for them to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org or let them know we would like to hear from them at hudsoncatholic.org/stay-connected.

As of now, they are all missing out on each great issue of Building the Legacy. Now, you don’t want that to continue, do you?

In our last issue, we misidentified two of our esteemed grads in the photo of the Dual Enrollment Program's degree recipients. Fiona Galvin and Jaylene Santiago were inadvertently identified as each other. We regret the error.