2009 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Held
November 6, 2009 -
The Greater Rochester Chapter of USLacrosse held their 2009 Hall of Fame dinner tonight at the Burgundy Basin Inn in Pittsford.
Rich Curtis was introduced by long-time Brighton AD, Rich Kaplan Tom Hannan started the introduction of Arthur Johnson, whose daughter, Sue Hannan finished the introduction. Paul Wilson introduced Section Five Lacrosse Chairman, Mike Simon. Pat Cougevan spoke about long time friend, Regy Thorpe who, along with his family was home with the flu and Tony Levin introduced Gene Peluso, who regaled the crowd with his well known wit and one-liners.
Mark Rice welcomed he fifteenth class of the Rochester Lacrosse Hall of Fame as Emcee before a group of "who's who" of local lacrosse. John Maloney and Al McLiverty reminded the people in attendance of the recent assault of football and lacrosse official, Pete McCabe and asked for help in a 50-50 raffle, which raised over four hundred dollars for Pete's family.
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Rich Curtis
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Long-time Athletic Director, Rich Kaplan began the induction ceremony with his introduction of long-time friend and employee, Rich Curtis, who has led the Brighton high school girls program for fourteen years. Rich peppered his acceptance speech with thanks to may people including his own family members, players, parents and fellow coaches.
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Arthur Johnson
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The family of Arthur Johnson traveled from Ohio for the ceremony. Son-in-law, Tom Hannan started with a listing of accomplishments for the Hobart goalie (class of 1935). Sue Hannan then spoke of recollections and stories about her father which included observations about a 11 day trans-atlantic trip by the USA team and how the team practiced on the ship's deck during the crossing. The hundred and twenty people in attendance laughed when Sue stated that her father claimed that only seven balls when overboard.
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Mike Simon
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Mike Simon was introduced by Section Five Assistant Lacrosse Chair and SportsFive owner, Paul Wilson who listed Mikes many contributions to the running of programs for lacrosse players and his dedication to Section V lacrosse.
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Regy Thorpe
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Regy missed the ceremony, home with his family and all with the flu. Syracuse graduate and pro player, Pat Cougevan both introduced his long-time friend and accepted the award on Regy's behalf.
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Gene J. Peluso
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Finishing the ceremony was Tony Levin, long-time lacrosse coach at both the High School and College levels, who introduced former RIT Head Coach Gene J. Peluso. Tony told the crowd how he first hired Gene as an Assistant Coach at McQuaid Jesuit and later signed on as an Assistant for Gene at RIT. Gene then took the microphone and in his well-known style entertained the audience with many quips and one-liners about colleagues and family which drew many laughs.
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