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We Were Lucky to Have the City Rec
Back in the late 50s and early 60s we aspiring athletes were lucky to have the Plattsburgh City Recreation Department. No matter what the season there were plenty of opportunities for us to show off our talents if we played sports. The director of the recreation department was Mr. Pete Blumette. His able assistant, as I recall, was Mr. Sal Righi.
Our dads told us that Pete Blumette had been a professional baseball pitcher and that he was a really nice guy. Whenever he visited our playground he would gather all of us kids together and talk with us. I remember he spoke in a soft kind voice and he treated us really nice.
Indeed, Pete "Lefty" Blumette pitched in the Eastern League and the International League, one step below the major leagues, prior to World War II. In the late 1940's he pitched in the minor leagues for teams in Canada. Listed as 6'2" and 220 pounds, the southpaw Blumette had some great seasons in the minor leagues and played alongside and against many future major leaguers.
And, Sal Righi, was a school teacher by trade, who would leave school at the end of the day, take off his tie and put on his blue jeans, and work just about full-time for the City Recreation Department. Sal can tell you many stories about his days working for the city, and he saw many changes during his working days.
For a time, during the summer each neighborhood playground had a baseball team. I played at the Our Lady of Victory Academy playground on South Catherine Street and our coach was Nubby O'Connell. I remember my friend Mike Aley was on the team, but I can't really recall much else about it. We would go to another neighborhood and play their playground team.
In the winter, we had the basketball programs. A bunch of us neighborhood guys played at Monty Street School. The Seymour brothers, Bob and Dwayne, better known as Fud, were the basketball coaches. They had been athletes at OLVA, so that meant they were heroes to me as I grew up.
The younger boys would play from maybe 7pm till 8pm and then the older guys would arrive for their hour of basketball. We were called the juniors and the older guys were the seniors.
This is when I was about nine, ten, eleven years old, and, at the end of the basketball season, we would play the boys from the other part of town, who played at Bailey Avenue School. We would play a best four out of seven series for the "city championship."
Recently I found a few clippings from those days. During those winters the Monty Street juniors team consisted of Ronnie McGee, Bruce Stevens, Ray Gagnon, Gary Leavine, Greg Primard, Gary LaPier, Jimmy Wells, John Burdo, David Burdo, Bobby Gertsch, Phil Dubuque, Rod Dame, Randy Dame, Jack Brown, Dorn Fenner and others. The Bailey juniors stars were Steve Kaufmann, Gary LaRocque, Pete Hayden and Karl Tobrocke.
In another winter, when I was one of the older juniors, I had a big game in the intercity rivalry. Monty defeated Bailey 54-44 and I scored 17 points. Jim Wells, another lefty, added 11, Phil Dubuque had 8 and Bobby Gertsch 7. Also on the team that winter was youngster Joe Staves, who was probably eight years old.
Bailey Avenue that night was led by Jeff Gibeau, who was unstoppable, and tallied 28. Mike O'Connell scored 8 and the Forkey brothers, Jerry and Terry, combined for eight.
The City Recreation Department also had an arts and crafts program, run by Mrs. Repas. A lot of girls went to that program during the summer days and came home with pot holders and popsicle stick creations. I know some boys who went to that program to flirt with the girls and to try to get Mrs. Repas mad.
And, of course, we always had the place in the winter that to most of us was even better than Whiteface Mountain or Mount Van Hoevenberg, Fox Hill for sliding! The City Recreation Department kept us busy year round.
We sure were spoiled growing up in Plattsburgh. Maybe that's why so many of us have stuck around all these years.
Comments
Hi Foxy,
The City Recreation Department was fabulous and is a fine childhood memory of mine. Glad Sue Connors' name was mentioned as she did an amazing job volunteering her time. She provided us with the opportunity to enjoy city softball for many years! Many fond memories of the entire Rec. program.
Posted by: Beth Francis | April 26, 2008 8:16 PM
Fox Dog!...you hit the nail on the head! We've been so forunate to have dedicated people in the City Rec Dept over the years... Pete Blumette was one heck of a fella.
Hey I hear we've brought back the cagey veteran Byron Bissonette out of retirement to give us a hand with the summer activities!
Welcome back!
As you mentioned, we also had a great group of guys like Sal and many others who worked behind the scenes working tireless hours on our fields.... Tony C and the boys have alway done the job!
Lastly let's remember folks that spent countless hours as volunteer coaches, guys like lefty wilson, al billups, hector duquette, Gerald Burdo, and john hart for the guys and sue connors and perry buck for the gals... they certainly have led the way in making our City Rec programs a great asset to the city and have left nothing but great memories for alot of us!
(Foxy's note: Especially happy that you mentioned Sue Connors, The Carver. She gave many a girl encouragement and taught a lot of softball through her years as a coach. Many girls that she coached as just 8-year-olds went on to play high school and even college softball. Sue Connors was great!)
Posted by: The Carver | April 10, 2008 8:03 AM
Hi Foxy:
Pete was a great guy. In the summer of 1957, I worked for him at one of the playgrounds located up near the Diamond National plant (now, I believe, it is owned by Georgia Pacific). He was a very good drop by supervisor and knew even individual families and their children. Also, four years later Pete Guibord, Ron Wood and a number of the rest of us put on an all comers track meet and Pete and his staff were there to help get the track ready and to do lots of other extra things to make it a successful experience. He helped to make Plattsburgh a great place to grow up.
Best regards, Rick Tuttle PHS 1957
Posted by: Rick Tuttle | April 10, 2008 2:28 AM
I'm not sure if I will succeed in getting this posted as several attempts in response to other topics have failed...but I did want to acknowledge the influence of city rec coaches like Sue Carpenter...and I can't tell you how many popsicle stick projects I created under the watchful eye of Mrs. Repas on South Platt. I'm not sure which one of them intimidated me more, but I certainly appreciate the effort they put into to teaching new skills or helping discover some hidden artistic talent. Those structured activities certianly helped pass the time...especially if you had been banned from the Bailey/Boynton Ave quarries for yet another "rafting incident"!!
Posted by: Kerry Flynn | April 8, 2008 10:43 PM
Absolutely right about City Rec. dept. in the 50s and 60s! I remember those guys going on to play HS basketball, a number of them are old friends from PHS '67. Skating rinks maintained in the winter and being hired for first summer job by Pete Blumette when I was 14, needed "working papers" to get the job teaching swimming to kids at the City Beach. Best part was that it wasn't so organized and competitive, just kids being kids and having a great time. Kids miss that experience today, sad, somehow.
Caroline Booth Stafford
Rapid City, SD
Posted by: Caroline Booth Stafford | April 7, 2008 10:00 PM