Piper -Arriving Soon!

Piper is our new puppy who will be coming home during the April vacation week. Piper was born February 17th and she is a Maltipoo. Her father is a Poodle and mother is a Maltese. She has two brothers one similar to her in color and the other is white fur.We are wondering how Zoey will take to having a new friend in the house.

Camping with Butch and Don - A Miracle Happens!

Many years ago my roommates Butch and Don and myself decided to go camping. Don was in charge and we would be going to Maine a little south of Portland. We had to rent a tent because we had never been camping. Off we go with me driving my Road Runner with Butch and Don was  riding up on his motorcycle. Don's motorcycle started to act up as we got closer to Portland. The camp site that Don had reserved turned out to be families only so we had to look for another site. We found a camp site and we drove in and started to unpack our gear. We had never set up a tent so we struggled in our attempt. Don even went down to the owner's shack to ask a question about the set up. The person there indicated our tent was super easy to set up. We continued to fail until a young boy came by and suggested that we first stake down the corners of the tent before trying to raise it up. Little did we know! Don decided to take my car with the motorcycle in the trunk back to Fitchburg. Butch went with him leaving me with the tent and a box of crackers. That night it got cold and it started to rain. That was when I found out that the rented tent was no longer water proof. There I sat as water dripped onto me and thinking this is the worst possible situation for Butch and Don were not coming back until the next day. I didn't even have a flash light. Around 9 o'clock I heard a voice calling my name. To this day I don't know how the following happened. My brother Bob started up to Maine and somehow found our camp site in the pouring rain. Was it luck or did Don see him and tell him where I was? I guess I should ask some day. Well, I went with my brother and we headed for my sister's home in Falmouth, Maine. My sister and family were on vacation so when Don and Butch got back we all stayed at her house for the week.

Favorite Picture of Linda and myself

Dancing at Kelley and Paul's Wedding

Hating a Birthday

My father worked hard his entire life. He basically worked 7 days a week with 6 days at Fitchburg Plumbing and then Sunday cleaning the Goody. Quite often if the family was vacationing in the White Mountains at Stetson Lake my father would stop up on Friday night and then leave early Saturday morning. Well, he did take a day off for sure each year -his birthday October 24th. I learned to hate this day because it meant that my brother Bobby and myself were going to help my father with a project around the house. Reflecting back I now realize that his birthday's were special because he took the time to show us how to do things and build things.

First Job as an Administrator

I was in my 17th year of teaching at that time and I was a sixth grade teacher at Johnny Appleseed School in Leominster, MA. A job opening for a teaching asst principal was posted for Priest Street/Northwest Elementary Schools. This posting was opened around October 1987. Bob Salvatelli, my principal at Johnny Appleseed encouraged me to apply. I was hesitant at first for I did not have a certification for the position. Bob continued to push me to make a decision to interview. I finally agreed to apply for the position. I was invited to an interview that took place in the basement of Priest Street School. The interview committee consisted of Donald Bracani, principal and about 5 others who were teachers and parents. Donald sat at my right with his arms crossed and did not give any facial suggestions that I was doing OK or not. The other committee members were smiling and leaning forward which I took as a good sign. Well, I was offered the position and I was to start October 17th. I met with Lou Amadio, Superintendent  of Schools, who offered me a salary of $33,000 dollars. I was making $30,000 a year as a teacher and I was to receive a grant for $2,000 that year as well as another $1,000 as vice president of the teacher's union. So, I was accepting a job that required more time at the same pay that I would have received as a teacher. I had a young family (3 kids) and a wife who was staying at home to raise the children. The major problem was my teaching salary was paid over the school year and the administrator's salary was over the full year. We were living pay check to pay check and the first paycheck was about $150 less than my teacher's biweekly check. There went the food for us to eat!
At the beginning of November the superintendent decided to move Donald Bracani to a director of adult education. This move was obviously done to remove Don from the principalship. I became the Acting Principal of Northwest/Priest Street schools for the remainder of the school year. I was responsible for 2 building of about 900 students. The superintendent offered me a pay raise of $35.00 more each week. Because of my workload I had to give up my Saturday job that was paying $50.00 per week. More groceries off the table. It took me two years to receive my certification because I needed a course about school finance and Fitchburg State just completed the course and it was in a two year cycle. At the end of the school year I sat down with the superintendent to discuss the year. I explained my financial situation during the year and he agreed that I could work two more weeks during the summer at extra pay. The strangest thing that occurred was I was granted tenure after the second year and I still didn't have my certification as an administrator.