The Ridgewood Maroon Vol. 4… No. 18
Sunday, February 25, 2024
“Bringing us all to a place we don't want to lose."
Observer: Sports Fandom
Macky’s New York: McSorley’s Petting Zoo
William Peay: Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame: Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
Project Arrow: Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
Mark Porro: A Cup Of Tea On The Commode
M + A NYC: Mighty Are We As One
Our Classmates: 50th Reunion RHS 1974
James Stroker: Hope Coach
Jim Schoneman: Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd: Around The Village
Kathy & Ross Petras: You’re Saying It Wrong
Ridgewood Library Bolger Heritage Center: Archives Online
Observer
Sports Fandom
Why do we bother?
I have gone from a tried and true New York Professional Sports fan to one who favors watching the lesser hyped games, mostly those competions involving amateurs.
This is no doubt a return to my youthful viewing habits, when the fields around my house in Ridgewood were constantly filled with amateurs, albeit mostly boys. I did have the honor of playing on the Willard sandlots with future RHS Athletic Hall of Famer, Amy Lyons.
When I say “sandlots” I mean it. The fields at Willard were badly maintained and used to flood terribly. The outfield after a storm was referred to as “The Creek Mud.” One guy misplayed a ball in this outfield and slipped in the mire. Even before he had gotten up, his nickname became Creekmud, or simply Mud.
The field at Willard today has no such problem. They reoriented the baseball diamond, planted sod, and created strict rules to keep the field from being overused. It is a beautiful place and gives even the most jaded of fans a chance to view a game as something timeless & innocent.
As former MLB Commissioner once remarked about the game of Baseball, “You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive.”
We watch amateur athletics to feel ever so briefly as we felt in our youth. We might have to squint our eyes but the sensations do come rushing back and please us no end.
Macky’s New York
Matthew Cortellesi Photography
McSorley’s Petting Zoo
February 19, 2024 - East Village
The brothers Cortellesi have frequented that window many times - we reached shard stories of being thrown out - it's almost a time of passage and so...when the check came...we all looked at each other and ran.. .to the bathroom...with bellies full of grog...the subway ride to see dad for dinner was not gonna be pleasant.
Shot in 7th street just east of 3rd ave looking north at Table 1 in the window (our favorite).
Time 445pm
With my favorite brother Paul Cortellesi and my other favorite brother Chucky who is not on Facebook
William Peay
Tales From The Wood…
The Sounding Board and Cartronics on Franklin
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
2024 RHS Atheltic Hall Of Fame Inductees Banquet:
October 26, 2024
At The Brick House, Wyckoff, NJ
Social hour will again be 6:00-7:00 PM with a sit-down dinner and induction ceremonies scheduled for 7:00 - 10:00 PM.
The class of 2024 are:
Lynne Collazo Class of 1989 CC & Track
Tyler Rhoten Class of 2002 Basketball
Kelci Smesko Class of 2012. Lacrosse
Brett Sowers Class of 1994 Lacrosse
Patricia (Putnoky) Piotrowski Class of 1996
Gymnastics as Athlete and Head Coach.
Chuck Johnson Class of 1970. Head Football Coach.
Ticketing for Reservations will be available soon through our on-line reservation portal.
Visit the RHS Athletic Hall of Fame
Digital Printing for the RHS Hall of Fame provided by Tim Boucher, RHS 1988
Project Arrow
Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
A collaborative effort by Ridgewood High School and the Ridgewood Public Library. The Arrow Yearbooks from 1898 through the 1940s are now online.
Digital archiving by Michael Culver, RHS 2002, and his firm 1Row.com
Mark Porro
A Cup Of Tea On The Commode
The State of Our Union...
M + A NYC
Mighty Are We As One
M + A is a Lifestyle brand known for handcrafted, ethically made, modern home decor and wearable accessories. Artisanal | Small Batch | Designed in NY
Shop home décor and wearable accessories at www.mplusanyc.com
Our Classmates
RHS Class Of 1974 Reunion
RHS Class of 1974 save the date! We are organizing our 50th Reunion (OMG!) for the weekend of September 20 to 22, 2024.
If you want to attend, please email us at RHS1974Reunion50@gmail.com so we can send you an invitation through RSVPify. No need to commit at this time.
James Stroker
Hope Coach
It just continues to be the most untapped powerful teaching tool there is for middle school students.
The focus and attention given to these three mentors, all of who went to the same school they did felt the same fears and self doubt they did and worked their way through it to become these dynamic young Authentically imperfect people.
When they say it’s important to be kind
When they say we all go through difficult times
When they say we need to find one person that we can talk to or learn how to breathe or start even at this early age to meditateit means a whole lot more than the same words from an adult that might not understand the world. These kids are living in.
Bravo to Mario, Peyton, Matt, and David, for stepping in the arena today and helping change, maybe one person’s life.
Jim Schoneman
Rock Hound
This picture was taken through the glass on the 10th floor of new tower addition to the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, WI. It's looking out over Sturgeon Bay and a fleet of tugs. The ship tied up on the other side of the bridge is a USCG buoy tender, with the buoys all set to be loaded.
The tower addition just opened last spring and it's really good. 8 floors of unique displays and explanations of everything from fishing, shipping and shipwrecks to the first Native American settlers on the peninsula. Each floor is only a couple hundred square feet big, but they're packed with really well done displays and we learned a lot of cool stuff. One thing I didn't know is that the Door Peninsula is home to some of the world's oldest trees. Some of the cedar trees that took root on the side of the limestone cliffs (Niagara Escarpment) are over 1,000 years old! The museum and new addition is worth price of admission. We spent two hours there without realizing it.
Siobhan Crann Winograd
Around The Village
Seamus snoozing with full snore effect
Kathy & Ross Petras
You’re Saying It Wrong
Ross & Kathy’s podcast: You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong—and what we sometimes get right—when it comes to this English language.
Ridgewood Library Bolger Heritage Center
Archives Online
The Bolger Heritage Center archive has digitized many images from its collection, and they're all searchable on our Heritage CATalog:
https://ridgewood.pastperfectonline.com/