Annual Thanksgiving Meeting With Burlington
Football Rivalry as Strong as Ever
Our Thanksgiving luncheon with both Rotary Clubs of Burlington and Lexington meeting in Burlington at the Hilton Garden Inn, was enjoyed by all on a cold, sunny fall day.
A beautiful and delicious (?) luncheon consisting of meat (not sure what kind), salad, veggies, and cheesecake for dessert was presented by the Rotary Club of Burlington.
Rotary Club of Burlington President John Tuccinardi brought the meeting to order and welcomed everyone attending. After both clubs sang God Bless
America, the invocation then given and followed by the Burlington members reciting the Rotary Four-Way Test, the meeting got underway.
President John Tuccinardi introduced Rita Orchanian, President of the Burlington Interact Club and Lexington President Elect Michelle Galbiati.
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Lexington President Elect Michelle Galbiati thanked Rotary members for their attendance at today's meeting and then Dr. Mary Czajkowski, Lexington Superintendent of Schools who then introduced Andrew Stephens, Lexington High School Principal.
President John Tuccinardi introduced, Dr. Eric Conti, Burlington Superintendent of Schools and Burlington High School Principal, Mark Sullivan.
In regard to the upcoming Thanksgiving Day football game and holiday, Dr. Mary Czajkowski, Lexington Superintendent of Schools, and Burlington Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Eric Conte, spoke words of wisdom and wished good luck to their respective teams. Various school officials of both Lexington and Burlington High administrations, athletic directors, coaches and those associated with high school football of each town made speeches and introduced their players and anyone associated with the teams, including, of course, the cheerleaders of both towns and the Burlington High Band leader.
Much awaited for, were the speeches by George Peterson, Lexington Coach, and Dan MacKay, Burlington Coach, and it appears that although it is a big rivalry, the speeches also included friendship and respect amongst the coaches and players of both teams and their respective towns.
Our speaker for the day, Sean Stellato, was introduced by President John Tuccinardi.
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Sean Stellato is the President of Stellato Enhanced Sports a proffesion sports agency. He currently represents 18 NFL players, he is a published author and takes his book, "No Backing Down" on tour to reveal its values and virtues across the country, delivering the message to high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. He has a passion to help children make connections between sports and education from a cultural perspective of fortitude, effort, resiliency and team work. Sean draws parallels between coaches and teachers, between athletic fields and school classrooms and competition and effective effort. During his presentation, Sean spoke of his personal life and adversities he lived through to finally achieve his dream as a quarter back who eventually won a Super Bowl for Salem High School in Salem, MA.
Sean's book, "No Backing Down" was published by Mascot Books, Herndon, VA in 2014 and was named its book of the year and re-released this past August. Doug Flutie wrote the book's forward while Bill Belichick, Chip Kelly, Evander Holyfield and many others have endorsed it. Sean is quoted as saying, "This book and my motivational presentation has the power to inspire all students, regardless of their background or interest in sports. It has all of the elements that educators hope to instill in their future leaders - hope, overcoming obstacles, hard work, leadership, team unity, and most importantly, doing the right thing." Famed producer and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo ("Hoosiers" and "Rudy") has been retained to write the screenplay for "No Backing Down" and completes the script later this month. We viewed a teaser of the movie which is in production.
The winner of the raffle, sponsored by both clubs, was our very own PP Bob Sacco. Bob didn't win the money but was presented with a copy of Sean's book.
Our next meeting will Monday, November 27th at Lexington Golf Club.
President John Tuccinardi rang the bell and our meeting was adjourned at 1:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
PP Domenic S.