Talk of old rivalries, memories of famous touchdowns and respect for old coaches were tossed around at a Derby High School football reunion at the River Restaurant June 15.
Coaches, players and their families from 1960 through 1979 were brought back to their roots.
The reunion idea came from former Derby High School football players Rick Lucarelli and Tommy Baklik who own the restaurant and decided they needed ways to bring in customers during these tough economic times.
Both owners said the restaurant is a great meeting spot to bring back old memories.
“There are a lot of memories in Derby,” said Baklik, 62, now living in Seymour.
“Football is a great way to bring everyone back together. It’s a great sport in the Valley. There are a lot of traditions and great rivalries,” Baklik said.
In addition to the owners, other Derby football legends attending the reunion included Ron Carbone, head coach and a Derby football prodigy; Bill McAllister, former head coach of Derby for six years; and Frank Zuba, John DeFrancisco and John Skubel, all former assistant coaches.
Zuba and DeFrancisco spoke about the best football team in the Valley that they could remember.
“The 1969 Derby team,” they said, in unison.
Both reminisced about how the team had six Division I scholarship players, a balance of good offense and defense and their defeat over a strong Seymour team.
“Seymour had a great team. They were wonderful,” said Zuba. “They had the quarterback Mark Allen and Dennis Rozum as the receiver. And Dan Heffernan as the coach.”
Zuba continued to tell how Derby was on their home field and down 18 – 0 against Seymour during a 1969 game.
Derby came back with 21 straight points to win the game.
Many of the people there said Carbone’s presence was important to them. For people like McAllister and Skubel, Carbone was a mentor to them.
“Carbone put Derby football on the map,” Skubel said.
This event is one of many that Lucarelli and Baklik plan to hold at the River Restaurant.
“In these economic times, a business needs to make arrangements to bring in events, whatever will attract the customers,” Baklik said.
People paid $20 at the door, which included an entrée, dessert, wine on the table and coffee.
He also plans on involving all of the Valley towns with the sport reunions. In the future, he would like to feature different sports such as baseball and basketball.
An e‑mail mailing list has been put together by the co-owners so people can keep in touch and find out when the next event is being held at River Restaurant.
If you would like your name to be added to the list, please call at (203) 732‑2630.
