The Beehive – 1/21/11

Remembering Mr. Mecca

News of the passing of Mr. John Mecca on January 6^th traveled quickly throughout a shocked and saddened Stanner community. Students were informed the following morning along with a prayer from Principal Br. Thomas Schady, which emphasized God’s love for Mr. Mecca and the continuation of his spirit. In tribute and respect of that continuation, students took to Facebook and other social networking websites and posted their thoughts and prayers to Mr. Mecca. Within hours, hundreds of students changed their Facebook profile photos to include them with Mr. Mecca. A Facebook dedication page was created called “Rest in Peace Mr. Mecca, you will never be forgotten 1/6/11” and over 900 people have taken part part in celebrating Mr. Mecca’s life. Students and alumni added their photos of Mr. Mecca and thanked him for being a wonderful teacher and an amazing man. Zachary Gitto ’08 said, “When I get older, I wanna be just like Mr. Mecca.” Natalie Olszwewski ’10 posted, “Mr. Mecca always welcomed us in his room with open arms, a great song, and a heartfelt story to tell. Never forgotten ♥.” Molloy is planning a tribute to Mr. Mecca during the Lenten Season.

Mr. Mecca’s son and daughter visited the Stanner Alumni Center and spoke about their father very candidly. His son Jay said, “My father loved this school more than any other place he taught. He loved teaching at Molloy and he cared so much about these students.” He shared an anecdote about his father supporting his heroes Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton. Mr. Mecca felt Lincoln was such a historic figure and a great man that he would go as far to tell students, “If you talk badly about Abraham Lincoln, you’ll fail.” A lighthearted approach for sure, but a serious comment all the same. Mr. Mecca’s passion for music in the classroom helped give him a softer, approachable demeanor. He would talk to students about music and try to influence them to dig deeper than MTV. Mr. Mecca’s love for Frank Sinatra’s music was put on display several times at Molloy talent shows, which he spent a lot of time organizing. His performance of “Summer Wind” at one particular talent show was considered spot on and is said to have caused many jaws to drop. Pictured left: Mr. Mecca and Christine Fiore ’07.

While I did not have a class with Mr. Mecca as a student at Molloy, I got the opportunity to speak to him at length at an event this past December. I introduced myself and he immediately began talking about music and his tradition of playing his radio before every class. I related to his appreciation for the classics an. Of course just several weeks after our conversation Mr. Mecca passed away, but I am so glad to have been given the opportunity to speak to him about what he loved and experience firsthand what drew so many people to him. Let us remember Mr. Mecca the man and the educator, and take his lessons with us always.

Around the School

16th Annual Stanner Games

On January 15^th, 2011 athletes from Molloy and 145 other schools from the as many as 4 states participated in the 16^th Annual Stanner Games, a major invitational indoor track meet at The Armory in Manhattan featuring athletes competing in indoor track and field events. Highlights for Molloy included Molloy junior Kathleen Woods ’12 finishing at 5:25:29 in the 1600M to earn the Molloy Varsity record, Brandon Warders winning the freshman high hurdles at 9.94, Pat Cooney achieving the 3^rd fastest 600M time in Molloy history at 1:23.27, and Niamani Morrison earning Molloy’s freshman record in the 55M at 7:53.00. In addition, Jordan Yamoah of Arlington High School broke the New York State record in the pole vault at 17’ 1.00. The event is run by meet director Joe Dombrowski, with track coaches A.J. Power ’84 and Jeff Gallagher ‘88 among the numerous staff and alumni volunteers spanning from the class of 1963 to the class of 2010. Even current and future Stanners up to the class of 2016 lend their time to Stanner Games because of the passion they hold for this event and for track. Stanner games is a nationally recognized event. Arthur Dohler ’82 may have traveled the furthest to volunteer, having flown from Boca Raton, Florida. Artie was cross country captain in his day and remains dedicated to the sport like so many other Stanners. According to Joe Dombrowski, “A kid in Washington will be sitting on his computer looking up results of the Stanner games because the event is held in such high regard. It takes up to 4 months to prepare for the meet, but track guys have a special dedication and because the event runs as a well oiled machine, it is able to be held to such a high standard. We run the best high school meet at the armory all season. This year we ran the perfect meet.”

According to A.J. Power, “Stanner Games is my favorite Molloy event. Our officials came from as far south as Florida and north as Rhode Island to give back to the school and track program they love so much. The incredible work of Meet Head Joe Dombrowski can’t be overstated. Without Joe’s countless hours and dedication, Stanner Games simply would not exist.” On the volunteers, A.J. commented, “The coaches tell me our volunteer officials (pictured right) treat all the athletes and coaches with kindness and respect while showing a real desire to officiate the meet at the highest professional level.” Needless to say, Stanner Games is especially important Molloy’s athletes and alumni and their commitment to Molloy and to track helps Stanner Games represent “AM” with pride nation-wide. For full 2011 Stanner Games results, click here. Photo credits to Melissa Gabriel ’12.

Diego Rodriguez ’83 has been in the news quite a bit lately. In December, he was profiled in the Queens Chronicle by editor Michael Cusenza in a story that painted Diego as a local product of Briarwood and Archbishop Molloy High school. Mention was made of Diego’s time playing centerfield under Coach Jack Curran where he learned many of his early lessons in leadership. That former centerfielder has made quite an impact in government as he has risen through the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This past summer he was appointed special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the New York field office – certainly a very prominent position. Diego has been a special agent with the FBI’s New York division since 1990. He served as a member of the SWAT team and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. Following his initial time in New York, Diego’s work became based out of San Juan and Miami, but he eventually found his way back to New York in 2006. On January 20, 2011 Diego made was part of a huge story that made national headlines. He and other FBI agents arrested as many as 100 organized crime members in the New York City area and nearby states including New Jersey and Rhode Island. The operation has been described as one of the FBI’s biggest against organized crime members in its history.  Diego acted as a spokesman for the FBI in speaking with various members of the media, detailing certain aspects of the bust. For more on this story visit CNN. Congratulations to Diego on a job well done, and thank you for keeping us safe.

John Geis ’60 called the Stanner Alumni Center and talked about his time as editor of the Stanner newspaper during the late 1950s and early 1960s at Molloy. Of particular interest to him was obtaining a copy of an article he authored featuring an interview with his excellency Fulton J. Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York. John had held onto the story for a number of years, but it was recently misplaced. The story took on new life recently after the announcement that Fulton J. Sheen would be considered for canonization by the Catholic Church — certainly big news for John. After all, he may have interviewed a Saint. The story John wrote is featured to the right, which also includes a photo of John with the Archbishop. Click the picture to enlarge.

Anthony DeCesare ’85 sent us a note describing his best Christmas present of 2010, a Molloy fleece sweat shirt from his wife. Anthony said, “At 40+ years old it was the best gift of the season. My career has taken me to ‘the land of the LIMITED, Abercrombie & Fitch and Bath and Body Works – Columbus, Ohio’. Yes, they are all headquartered here. As I surveyed my prized Christmas gift, I thought of our old Molloy baseball jerseys, which were modeled by Jack Curran.

Joseph A. Papavero ’04 was recently married on October 16, 2010 to his wife, Vanessa. The happy couple have purchased a home in Glendale, Queens while Joseph is continuing his family’s business at Papavero Funeral Home on Grand Avenue in Maspeth, Queens.

The Stanner Alumni Center is saddened to report the recent passing of Michael Kelly, father of Molloy teacher Brian Kelly, class of 1994. Brian’s father passed away last week. Please keep Brian’s father in your prayers.

We are also said to share the passing of Paul Grado, father of Molloy teacher Mrs. Kathleen Dipasquale. Kathleen’s father passed away last week. Please keep Katleen’s father and her family in your prayers.

The Stanner Alumni Center has learned that Susan Smith, mother of Paul Mazzarelli ’90, Susan Mazzarelli ’93 alum of St. Francis Prep, and aunt to Eric ’87, Bradley ’90, and Craig ’93 passed away on January 14^th. Susan was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend to many and will be deeply missed.