Gerry McGraw '72
Gifts $62,000
to the Hudson Catholic Scholarship Program and Annual Fund
Scholarship Honors the late John Higgins ’77
Prior to receiving honors and being bestowed with the John P. Higgins ’77 Memorial Award at the 8th Annual Black & Gold Golf Classic in September, Gerry McGraw ’72, a Senior Officer and Director on the Board of Fidelity Investments, did his homework on John, and then rounded out his impressions with a conversation with John’s sister, Eileen Higgins-Gerrity, who administers to her family’s scholarship fund in John’s memory.
Out of that experience, Gerry was moved to create another scholarship in memory of John, which has been named The McGraw Award in Memory of John Higgins. In November, Gerry gifted $12,000 to start it up, then followed that up at year-end with added funding of $25,000. At the same time, Gerry gifted $25,000 to the General Fund of Hudson Catholic "to be used as needed."
Gerry lives on the Jersey Shore and proudly tells us that his grandson Matthew was recently accepted at Christian Brothers Academy. Of course, we are immediately putting Brother Tim Ahern on the lookout, to ensure that young Matthew receives all of the requisite challenges of high school and the Christian Brothers, and then some!
Thank you, Gerry McGraw, for fidelity to your alma mater, and tribute to your Hawk brother!
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To establish and fund a new scholarship award under
the Hudson Catholic Scholarship Program,
contact Chief Advancement Officer Gary Ferrari ’73 gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org or 201-888-6276.
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Results to Date
The Hudson Catholic donor community gave a great account of itself in December, moving the needle on our $250,000 Goal from 13% to 33%! This is on just 143 donors to the annual fund, against our '790 for 1964' target. With six months to go in the fiscal year, 647 more donors would assure us of a truly great result!
Be 1 of 790!
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Give to the Annual Fund at www.hudsoncatholic.org/1964 |
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President’s Reception
set for Brick
On February 10th, President Terry Matthews and Chief Advancement Officer Gary Ferrari will be hosting a President’s Reception in Brick, NJ.
This is the first such event in an ongoing series of Regional Receptions designed to bring Hudson Catholic to areas where alumni are heavily clustered. We have 75 alumni residing in Brick alone.
The intention is to provide a forum for alumni to meet the President, hear about the school, its present day condition, and plans for the future -- both on and over the horizon. We realize that this type of interaction is vital for augmenting our communications to alumni who support Hudson Catholic as well as to those who may be deciding on how they would like to support the school.
Alumni interested in hosting a President’s Reception in their area should contact the CAO, Gary Ferrari at gferrari@hudsoncatholic.org / 201-888-6276.
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ALP Recipients Scholarship Launched
The history of the Alumni Leadership Program is long and impressive. Established by the Alumni Association in 1996 to formalize the scholarship granting activity of the Association and its members, it has since awarded $540,000+ in 520 awards to 208 students/now alumni over those 26 years.
The ALP program was formed, partly, to model ‘giving’ behavior for students to see, feel, and emulate when they completed their studies, advanced their careers, and had disposable income from which to “give back”.
This scholarship will bring that intention full circle, connecting today’s graduates who received ALP awards to today’s students who, like them, needed the support of alumni and received it, giving them a boost to complete Hudson Catholic and move beyond.
This is an appeal to each of those 208 ALP recipients to make a gift to the ALP Recipients Scholarship Fund under the Hudson Catholic Scholarship Program, from which new awards can be given to deserving students in need.
This award will start small. The number and timing of award(s) will be subject to the amount and timing of donations. The objective is to award a minimum of $2,000 annually to two students.
Therefore, it is important only that former ALP Award recipients participate regardless of amount. All such gifts will be accumulated with those of other recipients, placing the goal of amassing $2,000 easily within reach.
Be The Hawk! Step up and do for others what was done for you! Pay it forward. Live a life of LaSallian values by being of service to others!
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Make your gift at hudsoncatholic.org/hcsp
by selecting the ALP Recipients Award from the menu
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To Watch Hawk Basketball Games: |
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The link to the HCTV YouTube channel:
Schedules available at https://www.hcial.org/public/genie/398/school/5/
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South Carolina Connections |
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Rich Buchicchio ’83 read our story about Grant Pilars and The Citadel, and reached out to say that he is living in Summerville, SC and interested in forming a social group among alumni living in South Carolina.
Interested Hawks should reach out to advancement@hudsoncatholic.org for us to put you in touch with Rich, and perhaps we could arrange a President’s Reception in your state in the coming months. With a little luck, Grant will have an entire support network in state!
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Hawk Frosh Basketball
Ruled the County
in our school's first year
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Our 1964-65 Freshmen Basketball Team, coached by Brothers Bernard Gresh and Lloyd Hepburn, earned the title of County Basketball Champs when freshmen were all we could put out on the floor. There were simply no upperclassmen, therefore no competing at the varsity level for our early Hawks. This was quite a feat for a start-up school.
This became the very first athletic team championship of any kind in the young school’s first year (before our home gym had been built), and arguably one of the greatest athletic team achievements in the now long history of Hudson Catholic.
Bob Ryan, a member of that team, recalls that they played on a tile floor at St. Patrick’s Grammar School, a tough floor to run on, but a fun gym at which to play home games and practice. The late Howie Dunn was leading scorer. The Hawks apparently had a deep bench, as Brian Nodine, Jim Tyrell, Bill Deskus, Bill Grywalski, Mike Garner, Dennis Canavan, and Ryan each started various games that year. The highlight of Ryan’s season was hitting a half court shot at St. Michael’s gym, which, back in the day, counted for the same two points as a lay-up.
Hard to believe that that title team did not wear the Black and Gold that year. Only the very few will remember that our uniform (and school) colors in that first year were blue and white, accompanied by what else? Converse sneakers. The colors changed to black and gold in the second year, as a result of the introduction of the school emblem, the Sign of Faith.
More Ryan recall: “We were quite excited accomplishing that in our first year.” As for addressing Brothers Sean and Lloyd in the team huddles, “I don’t ever recall calling them ‘Coach’. Always Brother.”
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Pictured in their glory days, from back to front rows, L. to R.,are:
Michael Varley (RIP), Michael Garner, Frank Koeffler, Dennis Canavan
Brian Nodine, Bill Grywalski, Bob Ryan, Carlton Cooper III
John Coffey (RIP), Howie Dunn (RIP), Vic Urbanovitch
Mike Sweeney, Dave Pinto (RIP), Tom Davidson, Bill Deskus, Bill Kelly
Christian Brother Coaches: Bernard Gresh, Lloyd Hepburn
Note: Identifications made by Roddy McCarthy, himself a member of the class of ’68 who transferred into HC for his sophomore year and joined the basketball program after attending St. Michael ‘s Union City in ’64-’65.
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Storied Career Ahead. Arlette Huesca ’19, is a Boston College student and Incoming Google BOLD Intern pursuing a degree and career in marketing and advertising. She is already a non-profit founder and education initiative creator, and has a passion for storytelling because: “Nothing sticks in your head better than a story. Stories can express the most complicated ideas in the most digestible ways.”
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In Jeopardy. Jim O’Donnell ’69. Legendary English teacher for 25 years at The Home of the Hawks, and a rock ‘n’ roll industry biographer. Interviewed for our recent article about the 1983 Rutgers Bowl, Jim delivered this great quote: “I was not surprised to be asked to do the Rutgers Bowl. Trivia seems to find me. I guess I'm just seen as trivial. I was even a question on Jeopardy!”
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Jim O'Donnell '69
at the 2016 Grammys
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The airdate of that Jeopardy show was June 22, 1998. Jim recalls: “those few seconds on that show sure sold a lot of that book about the Beatles! My publisher, Penguin, was quite pleased.” |
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Jersey Boy. Bob Ryan ’68, all the way from Oceanside, CA, stands with a Hudson Catholic basketball 'uni' that was presented to him in the early 90s by Brother Principal Tom Gerrow when Ryan coached at the Hawks Nest, his resume bringing three years experience as Assistant Coach at St. Peter’s College. As a symbol of his Hawk Pride, this jersey hung on the wall of Bob’s popular downtown Jersey City establishment for years - the Hamilton Park Ale House -- for all visitors to see.
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Lights, Camera, and Action. P.J. Leonard ‘80 has a wide film career as Writer, Actor, Director, and Producer.
Following his start as an associate producer with the Off-Broadway production ‘Dreamstuff’ in 2005, he founded Other Side of the River Productions to produce his own feature films based on the stories from his life growing up in the working class of Hudson County. All these years later, PJ has 14 credits as Producer, 6 as Actor, 3 as Writer, and 1 as Director (‘Mississippi Minute’). ‘Van Vorst Park’ (sound familiar?) was among his earliest professional works, for acting and producing.
‘The Immaculate Misconception’ was the first project brought to life by his company, followed by the acclaimed short film, ‘The Hit’ and feature film, ‘The Fallen Faithful’, which won several awards at film festivals in North America. PJ has worked with Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl, Annie Potts, Melanie Lynskey, and Richard Kind.
PJ has also been influential in building the film program at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi, in which, working alongside seasoned producers, actors, and other production professionals, the students experience the hands-on direct and practical way of learning. PJ's directorial debut, ‘Mississippi Minute’, is the ICC film students’ first production, having developed the story, written the script, and conducted the pre-production work before joining in the production. PJ's plan is to involve current ICC film students in ‘Mississippi Scholar’ as production assistants. ICC alumni are already penciled in the crew list.
Wherever PJ’s work may take him, he still regards Bayonne and Jersey City as home. Perhaps we can bring him back home for a Hudson Catholic production?
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Korrections Korner
Self-korrected, last issue we reported that the 1972-73 State Title Basketball Game played at Brookdale CC; in fact, the site was Princeton University’s Jadwin Gymnasium. I knew better, I was there. - GF
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"When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” - Maxwell Scott
A newspaper man in the Wild West, Scott held that legends sold more papers because legends are humanistic folklore that people eventually believe as true.
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The Office of Advancement ~ Gary, Jill & Jenine
201-332-5970 x118
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Special thanks to our sponsors: |
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