Happening this afternoon...................
Special emcee and guests at event on Saturday, Oct. 26; Legendary BU Ice Hockey Coach Jack Parker to speak at ceremony
Five Somerville veterans who founded Somerville Youth Hockey and
exemplify service to country and community will be honored when the new
ice rink at 570 Somerville Ave., next to the Veterans Memorial Rink, is
officially dedicated as the Founders Rink at a special event on
Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m.
The
rink’s new sign will be unveiled at the event and the founders’
families will be presented with copies of the plaque that honors the
five men who, after serving our nation in the Armed Forces, came home
and created an integral piece of Somerville’s community: George Hughes
(Army), John Doncaster (Army), Raymond Deeran (Navy), James Papaluca
(Marine) and Joseph Guidi (Navy). A special guest who will be well-known
to hockey fans will serve as the emcee for the event, and legendary
Boston University ice hockey coach—and Somerville native—Jack Parker
will also speak during the ceremony.
“These
five men are role models for every person in Somerville,” Mayor Joseph
A. Curtatone said. “Everything we do in Somerville is based on the core
value of building community and making our city an exceptional place to
live, work, play and raise a family. Somerville Youth Hockey and its
mission is directly tied into these values, and for that we must thank
these five men who epitomize Somerville’s core values and service, to
both their country and their community. We are humbled that we can call
George Hughes, John Doncaster, Ray Deeran, Jim Papaluca and Joe Guidi as
ours, as Somerville’s, and I look forward to this Saturday’s dedication
that will permanently recognize their immeasurable contribution to our
community.”
“From
their time serving in the Armed Forces to their time running Somerville
Youth Hockey, these five men have created a lasting legacy of teamwork
and made an enduring positive impact on the city of Somerville,” said
Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston. “Their hard work and commitment is the
catalyst that led to a boom in kids becoming interested in hockey and,
ultimately, the construction of this new rink. It’s only right that
Founders Rink is dedicated in their names.”
In
October 1964, Deeran and Hughes placed an advertisement in the Record
American inviting anyone interested in forming a youth hockey program in
Somerville to attend a meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars James A.
Logan Post. Five men showed up at the meeting and by the end of the
night, Somerville Youth Hockey had a board in place: Deeran as
president, Guidi as vice president, Doncaster as secretary, Hughes as
treasurer and Papaluca as players’ agent.
That
fall, 30 kids signed up, forming four teams. One year later, enough
kids had signed up that the program had already grown to four Peewee
teams (under 13 years old) and four Bantam teams (under 15 years old),
along with all-stars from each age group forming the association’s first
traveling teams.
The
soon-to-be-named Founders Rink opened in September 2012 next to the
Veterans Memorial Rink. The City of Somerville assumed maintenance and
daily operations of Veterans Memorial Rink from the Massachusetts
Department of Conservation and Recreation in 2010.
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