***UPDATE***
Fellow supporters,
Since our initial outreach of support for Coach DeMito in 2015, our cause of commemorating his legacy has finally come to fruition.
As many of your are aware, the construction of the new baseball facility at PW has been completed and is ready for Colonial Baseball action this season.
Our intitial request in 2015 to have the facility named in honor of Henry J. DeMito was denied by the CSD, stating the district will not start a trend of naming any facility within the district. After 3 years of conversations and different project ideas, we finally have been given district approval to appropriately honor a man that meant more to us then just a coach. A permanent style plaque, relevant in size to Henry's character, will indelibly be displayed inside the "home" Colonial dugout.
The dugout is where Henry's legacy was made and where he was most influential. A story of Coach repeated itself where "all" of his teams (regardless of year) would simply sit on the bench throughout an entire random practice, and discuss "Life". What it meant to be a good upstanding person. What it takes to develop strong moral character. He maximize everyone's individual potential, and overall, prepared his students for life beyond high school. Winning a baseball game was a distant second to developing good people. It was times like these that meant the most, and is the sole reason why so many people believe Henry J. DeMito should be commemorated in such a manner.
A plaque on the P-W "home" dugout will be an amicable way among all involved, to not only commemorate Henry's legacy and the history of the PWHS Baseball Program, but as well, allow for future players and coaches the ability and motivation to continue the excellence of the program well beyond graduation.
Included in this approval however, is our responsibility to raise the funds for it's production. The final cost of such a plaque is set at $1650. PLEASE click on the GoFundMe link below to contribute and help us reach our goal...
The day of the of the unveiling has yet to be determined, but we are anticipating some time in mid May. Everyone is cordially invited!! So please keep an eye out for an effective date.
Finally, the CSD has impressive plans put into motion to create a PWHS Athletics Hall of Fame, of which we are told, Henry J. DeMito will be deservingly included into it's first inducted class.
A tremendous "thank you" goes out to each and every one of you, for your continued support and love!! As usual, feel free to contact me directlt if you have any questions.
See you at the ball field!!!
Respectfuly Yours,
Rob Reed
Fellow supporters,
May I apologized for the lapse in time since my last email. Here is the latest with our efforts to recognized Henry with the memorial naming of the baseball field.
As of last week, Colonial School District has still yet to finalize an agreement with Chestnut Hill College that would bring construction to Victory Fields as well as a new baseball facility to the current Junior Varsity Field location.
There have been recent discussions with CSD about naming the field after Henry. However, due to the sensitivity of an un-finalized agreement, a decision has yet to be made.
Moving forward, CSD does recognize our desire to have the field memorialize Henry's name and will release a public statement when the agreement is complete, at which time a naming decision will be made.
Until then, we will continue to gain support and inform people why both Henry DeMito and Colonial School District deserve this honor.
Respectfully Yours,
Rob Reed
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