Bob Fithian was head football coach at Sun Valley High from 1968 to 1985.
During most of those years, his coaching staff included Dr. Joe Giampalmi, Dr. Tom Kent, Mike Lashendock, Bill Benedict, and Ron Withelder.
A number of players from the Fithian era have been planning an event at which they would honor their coaches and thank them for all they did over their years as teachers and coaches at Sun Valley.
“Honor The Coaches” will take place Saturday, July 27, at Sun Valley High and the Slowdown Grillpub in Aston. Dr. Rick Dunlap, one of the organizers of the event, has indicated that Fithian, Giampalmi, Kent, Lashendock, and Withelder will be in attendance, as well as members of the late Mr. Benedict’s family.
From 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., tours of the Sun Valley campus and the new football stadium will be available. From 1-2 p.m. in the school cafeteria, a meet-and-greet session with the coaches and former players will take place.
The formal program begins at 2 p.m., and will include recognition of the undefeated 1973 Sun Valley team, remarks by retired Daily Times sports writer Harry Chaykun, and special presentations to each of the coaches will be part of the program.
From 3-5 p.m., a reunion and social will be held at the Slowdown Grillpub on Pennell Road.
Jeff Owsley, Tony Calise, Steve Osborne, John Alvanitakis, and Chuck McGarvey are among the other members of the committee.
“Everyone has so many stories they can tell and memories about the things that happened when they played for those coaches,” Dunlap said. “Whether it was Bob Fithian’s talks before games, Joe Giampalmi getting so fired up before we left the locker room to go on the field, or Mike Lashendock always coming up with ‘a play I know will work,’ there were so many things that happened that people will be talking about all day.”
Alvanitakis has coached in the Garnet Valley and West Chester school districts.
“I remember how every week the coaches always seemed to work us harder,” he said.
All of the committee members fondly recalled their days at Camp Green Lane in the Poconos.
“We had three-a-day practices, and it always seemed like it was 100 degrees up there,” Dunlap said.
No fee will be charged to attend the event, and appetizers and hor d’oeuvres will be served at the Slowdown, where liquid refreshments will be on sale.
The committee is asking for donations to the Bob Stone Memorial Scholarship Fund for Sun Valley students. Lt. Col. Stone, who died in 2001, was an All-Delco football player at Sun Valley and a West Point graduate. He served with counterterrorism units in South America, and his last active duty included working for the Chief of Staff of the Army at the Pentagon.
Reservations for “Honor The Coaches” must be made by June 15. For additional information, visit www.honorthecoaches.com or call 484-716-7278.
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The 20th Michael Menichini Scholarship Fund Golf Classic will be held Friday, June 7, at Paxon Hollow Country Club.
The event honors the memory of Menichini, a member of the last graduating class at St. James High (1993). He was an assistant basketball coach at Penn State-Brandywine. Money raised helps students with tuition payments at local Catholic high schools as well as PSU-Brandywine.
The 2018 scholarship winners included Dylan Mhloy and Sydni Scott of Cardinal O’Hara High; John Camden, Harlem Jennings, and Bridget Hislop from Archbishop Carroll High; and Terrence Brown and Barbara Johnson of Penn State-Brandywine.
Anyone interested in playing in the outing, sponsoring a hole, or attending the post-golf luncheon can contact Jim Tucker at 484-832-1563 for additional information.
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The Sports Legends of Delaware County (SLDC) Museum, which is located in the Radnor Township Building on Iven Road, will host a Cavalcade of Stars at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept 21.
Among the local athletic figures scheduled to appear are Renee Hykel Cuddy, an Olympic rower from Havertown; former Flyers defenseman Jimmy Watson; ex-Phillies infielder Mickey Morandini; former Daily Times sportswriter Rich Westcott, author of more than two dozen books on sports; Eddie Swain, former Mr. Biddy Basketball who became an All-Delco basketball player at Chester High and an all-conference performer at Cheyney University; and former pro golfer Ed Dougherty.
Others on the guest list include lacrosse Hall of Famer Karen Borbee; former major-league pitcher Pete Filson; ex-pro soccer goalie Bob Rigby; Rev. John Cartwright, who played quarterback at the United States Naval Academy; ex-pro football linebacker Carl Gersbach; former pro boxer Augie Pantellas; and Ernie Beck, a member of the 1956 NBA champion Philadelphia Warriors team who spent decades as a hoops coach in the Philadelphia Public League.
Phillies public address announcer Dan Baker will serve as master of ceremonies.
For additional information, contact Jim Vankoski at 610-909-4919 or visit www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com.
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Leon Howard, a graduate of Penn Wood High, was among the individuals inducted into the Lincoln University Athletics Hall of Fame recently.
Howard, a member of Lincoln’s Class of 1994, was a six-time All-America selection in track and field and also played basketball for the Lions. He earned his track honors in the triple jump – twice indoors and all four years of outdoor competition.
In basketball, he scored 934 career points and helped Lincoln to a pair of ECAC South Region championships.
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Don Voltz, a member of Interboro High School’s Class of 1969, retired recently after more than 45 years in radio broadcasting.
Voltz, a graduate of Ohio University, worked in Athens, Ohio, covering Ohio U’s Bobcats before moving to Elkhart, Indiana, where he broadcast University of Notre Dame basketball games.
For 33 years, he was a fixture at WDEL Radio in Wilmington. He broadcast University of Delaware games for 10 years, then concentrated on high school football and basketball.
“He has been the go-to source on Delaware sports for decades and that kind of talent is impossible to replace,” said Peter MacArthur, who worked with Voltz for more than 20 years as the news anchor on WDEL’s Delaware Morning News. “He’s a great broadcaster and a better man. He leaves us on his own terms and that’s as it should be. He’ll be missed.”
