Institute for International Sport honors Bristol’s best
By Bob Montgomery
First of
all, I have to thank Jack Hines, vice president at First Bristol Federal Credit
Union, and his employers for making it possible for me to attend Saturday
night’s $250-a-plate Ambassadors of Peace dinner held at the Mohegan Sun, an
event organized by Dan Doyle and the Institute for International Sport, which is
based out of the University of Rhode Island.
One of the reasons I wanted to go was because the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame
with which I’m involved and Jack had been a long-time executive director of, was
among those to be honored as an ambassador of peace. Dave Mills, our president,
was to represent us and receive the award.
It was a night of stars, so to speak, as Channel 30’s Keisha Grant was emcee and
among the recipients were UConn’s Dee Rowe, Rhode Island Attorney General
Patrick Lynch, retired WTIC sports host Arnold Dean and members of Congressman
John Larson’s Youth Cabinet.
As far as the BSHOF, these are some of the words used to describe the
organization prior to Dave being presented the ambassador award:
“Bristol
has long enjoyed a rich history in sports. The founding fathers ensured that
sports would always be a part of Bristol’s way of life by donating land for
parks and foundations to support them.” and it went on.
Also, “In 1997, the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame was founded to honor this
tradition and a vision was created: To permanently honor, document and preserve
distinctive contributions and achievements to the sports history of Bristol.”
I sat with Hines, Mills, Paul Castolene and Jim Bates, who all have been
involved in the BSHOF, and we were joined by Jim’s son, Michael, and Bristol’s
superintendent of schools, Philip Striefer, as we celebrated the evening
together.
“To be a part of this evening to reminisce the many, many programs that Dave
Mills and the board have given the community has been very satisfying,” Hines
told me. “It showed those in attendance why the Bristol Sports Hall of Fame was
so deserving to be here tonight. It’s an honor to be linked in such a small way
with the organization.”
Myself, I’ve always bragged about the Hall of Fame being more diversified than
any other in the state, covering more areas and doing more for others. This is
the first Hall of Fame in this state or any other that has received the coveted
ambassador label. Log on to bshof,org and see what the Bristol Sports Hall of
Fame does. You’ll be amazed!
I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived for the dinner and found that two
Bristol individuals were also to be feted as ambassadors of peace: Bob Fiondella,
a retired CEO of the Phoenix, and Rick O’Brien, the regional president for
Webster Bank.
Bob Fiondella, a 1960 St. Anthony’s graduate, went on to Providence College then
to the UConn School of Law. He took advantage of his esteemed position at the
insurance company to reach out with goodwill. His guidance has brought many
scholarships for youth and he was a major player in the Eastern Regional Little
League being built in Bristol. He also had a large hand in bringing UConn
women’s basketball to CPTV and has made considerable contributions to benefit
youth in sports and the arts.
Rick O’Brien, a Bristol Eastern graduate of the mid-1960s, went on to play
basketball at Assumption College. He went from there to receive his MBA in
finance at UConn.
His roles in the communities he’s touched have been numerous: among them,
chairing the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce. the Central Connecticut
Revolving Loan Fund and being a board member of the Waterbury Development
Corporation and Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.
He serves on the finance committee of the United Way of West-Central Connecticut
and is a corporator of the Bristol Hospital and New Britain/Berlin YMCA. He has
also served for many years as a volunteer coach for youth sports and as a
basketball coach at both the junior high and high school levels.
It was an evening I will long remember. Congratulations to Bristol’s finest!