Paul Albus Remembered

From our friends in the RHS Class of 1973.


http://rhsclassof1973.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=5

Paul Albus was one of those guys liked by everybody. To those he was friends with he was a good friend and a lot of fun to be around. He also was a very good offensive football player for Ridgewood - both as a receiver and a running back. I thought I'd share some of his stats.

For the 1972 Season (Senior year Championship Season):

Paul Led the team with 441 yards rushing averaging 4.9 yards a carry and scored 24 points rushing.

Paul had 7 receptions for 85 yards and 6 points.

He led the varsity team with 5 touchdowns for a total of 30 points.

He made All-League Honrable Mention.

He also made All-Suburban 2nd Team.

In his last career game, it was a big one. Ridgewood would clinch the NNJIL title on Thanksgiving Day against Fair Lawn. Paul rushed for 108 yards in that game and scored Ridgewood's only touchdown. A safety would seal the deal for Ridgewood in a hard fought, cold game with a score of 9-7.

#22 was fun to watch!

There Are Places I Remember

From Rick Flannery's blog:

http://rhsclassof1973.blogspot.com/2013/08/lyons-stationery-store.html

Lyons Stationery Store

Lyons - most of us remember this place. It was located on the corner of Ridgewood Avenue and S. Pleasant Avenue across from Somerville Elementary School. When I was little, Lyons would be the place I would buy candy and baseball cards on the way home from church on Sunday. It was a soda jerk / newspaper / candy store. There were always bikes parked outside.

Around the corner from Lyons was the infamous Dale's Market - Dale's had the old-fashioned push-screen door with the metal soda ad sign. It was a deli and semi grocery store - the way I remember Dale's is it looked like it was frozen in time - 1940's time - old wooden floors and dusty shelves. Still it was a familiar place.

By the time I got to RHS Lyons became one of the places I bought cigarettes - how we grow!

The new color photo below was taken by my daughter a couple of years ago. The classic b&w one of Lyons back in the day belongs to Dave Roberts and he graciously gave me permission to use it here - thanks Dave!




There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more
In my life I love you more

RHS Distinguished Alumni Wall

I nominated our classmate Stephanie Jones and received the following reply from the Principal:

Thank you for the nomination.  The alumni walls only go through the process every two years.  I will keep this email on file and put the nomination forward when they meet again next year.  We will inform you of the process at that time.

Thank you.

Thomas A. Gorman, Ed.D.

Principal

Ridgewood High School

627 Ridgewood Avenue

Ridgewood, NJ 07450

201-670-2800 x20501

http://ridgewood.rhs.schoolfusion.us/

A Tradition of Excellence 

It was nice that he responded so quickly. Please watch this space for news about our progress.

Our Cars

I've been meaning to write a post about the cars which have been in our lives. Tim Daly wrote a nice one today on FaceBook.

If you can see the photo you can see that my odometer went to 123456 this past week, on our 2001 Chevy Malibu. Not that the number 123,456 is anything special but it took 12 years, 5 months(4513 days/27.36 miles per day, on average), to get there. My girls grew up in that car. They went from 9 to 22 and 4.5 to 17. I recall being in the yard doing some work and they would pull in from being out shopping or swimming or piano lessons and their heads were barely above the window line. I could see their little hands waving clearly, though. We have had the car for more than half of the years we have been married (22). It has been the source for getting from A to B, and back, thousands of times. Whether that is home to school, home to grocery shopping, home to the dentist or doctor, home to sporting activities; it has been a part of our lives through all of those things. Outside of my immediate family all my nieces and nephews (13 of them) have grown as well. The next generation has started in our family as my oldest niece has 2 girls and my oldest nephew’s son was born in August. I don’t know if I can say that I love that car but I do love the time it represents. On the other hand, we returned from Tokyo in August 2001 and were only home for a short 2 weeks before tragedy struck. I got in that car to go somewhere that had a TV. We had been staying in a hotel and were only in the house for 1-2 days when it happened. That car waited in many a “drop off” and “pick up” line. It got us to Florida and back at least 3 times. It got us/me to Norman, OK and back at least half a dozen times. I could go on with things that don’t mean anything to anyone but me/us. I think all of us remember, or still own a car, fondly. Not necessarily for the vehicle itself but for things that happened in our lives for as long as it’s wheels rolled underneath us.

Stephanie Jones

Here is Stephanie Jones RHS1977 being sworn in as  Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Transportation.



I am asking that our very own Laura Fleming find out how the RHS Distinguished Alumni wall located near the main entrance inside RHS decides upon new members. Also, what we as a group can do to further Stephanie's nomination along. If you have seen the wall then you know that it is reserved for alumni who have made a name for themselves in the public arena. It is a nice addition to the many accolades that already exist for athletes, and in my opinion, very much overdue.

Winter by Bill Nielson

The cold sometimes makes writers of us all. These fragments first appeared on Facebook:

"I'm gonna take a ride down the road to yesterday...Back into a time when life was free...Gonna turn the clock back for a little while ...Just to see the way things used to be ....Gonna turn the corners of my youthful days of old...Before the real world got a hold of me...back when everything was in black and white...Back before we had a color TV...Sipping a coke at Lyons on a spinning stool...ABC Radio playing all the hits ...Heading off to Kenilworth to play some ball ...Bring a bat a ball and all your mitts...When you're thru hop on your bike and take a ride ..A quick short journey down to Graydon pool..Do a cannonball off of the high dive board ...Its summertime and we were outta school...I always will remember the 4th of July..The fireworks and Ridgewood's great parade..We never really knew it back then at the time ...But people we really had it made...And soon the heat of summer turned into the fall leaves turning colors all around the town ...we would all look forward to Halloween ...and all the candy we could all chow down.



Winter came the cold air and the empty trees ...Wait to hear the fire whistle blow ...Oh yeah you could stay home in your bed ....School was closed on the account of snow ....Soon spring was upon us all the snow was gone ...It always showed up sometimes it was late ...But blink your eyes you missed it and there you were ...On the High School Field ready to graduate....Oh Ridgewood I was lucky to have you then..You'll always have a warm place in my heart...And though I don't know where my life will end...I know that it was you that gave it its start."


Bill Nielson, RHS Class of 1974

Paul Ferraro Update

According to the Bangor Daily News in Maine, our classmate dubbed "Coach" is on the move:

Defensive coordinator leaves UMaine football for University of Central Florida

By Larry Mahoney, BDN Staff

Posted Dec. 31, 2013, at 7:04 p.m.

Paul Ferraro, the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the University of Maine’s football team the past two seasons, has left to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Central Florida.

Ferraro played an important role in helping the 10-3 Black Bears capture their first outright Colonial Athletic Association championship.

UCF is the nation’s 15th-ranked team in the Football Bowl Subdivision and will play No. 6 Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night in Glendale, Ariz.

Ferraro will replace Jim Fleming, who recently was named the head football coach at the University of Rhode Island, one of Maine’s Colonial Athletic Association opponents.

Ferraro is joining the Golden Knights for the bowl game but won’t be coaching.

Under Ferraro’s guidance, the Black Bear defense ranked among the top three in six categories in the 11-team CAA.

The Black Bears led the league in pass defense, allowing just 176.9 yards per game overall, pass defense efficiency (105.3) and fourth-down conversions allowed (28.6 percent); tied for second in turnover margin (plus-four) and were third in scoring defense (22.1 points per game) and total defense (342.2 yards per game).

In 2012, Maine led the league in scoring defense (19.5 ppg) and pass defense efficiency (107.6) and were second in pass defense (179.5 ypg).

We wish him well in sunny Florida.