ICE RINK DEDICATION CEREMONY TO HONOR THE 5 VETERANS WHO FOUNDED SOMERVILLE YOUTH HOCKEY

SOMERVILLE

– Five Somerville veterans who founded Somerville Youth Hockey and exemplify

service to country and community will be honored when the new ice rink at 570

Somerville Ave., next to the Veterans Memorial Rink, is officially dedicated as

the Founders Rink at a special event on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m.

The

rink’s new sign will be unveiled at the event and the founders’ families will

be presented with copies of the plaque that honors the five men who, after

serving our nation in the Armed Forces, came home and created an integral piece

of Somerville’s community: George Hughes (Army), John Doncaster (Army), Raymond

Deeran (Navy), James Papaluca (Marine) and Joseph Guidi (Navy). A special guest

who will be well-known to hockey fans will serve as the emcee for the event,

and legendary Boston University ice hockey coach—and Somerville native—Jack Parker

will also speak during the ceremony.

“These

five men are role models for every person in Somerville,” Mayor Joseph A.

Curtatone said. “Everything we do in Somerville is based on the core value of

building community and making our city an exceptional place to live, work, play

and raise a family. Somerville Youth Hockey and its mission is directly tied

into these values, and for that we must thank these five men who epitomize

Somerville’s core values and service, to both their country and their

community. We are humbled that we can call George Hughes, John Doncaster, Ray

Deeran, Jim Papaluca and Joe Guidi as ours, as Somerville’s, and I look forward

to this Saturday’s dedication that will permanently recognize their

immeasurable contribution to our community.”

“From

their time serving in the Armed Forces to their time running Somerville Youth Hockey,

these five men have created a lasting legacy of teamwork and made an enduring

positive impact on the city of Somerville,” said Ward 2 Alderman Maryann

Heuston. “Their hard work and commitment is the catalyst that led to a boom in

kids becoming interested in hockey and, ultimately, the construction of this

new rink. It’s only right that Founders Rink is dedicated in their names.”

In

October 1964, Deeran and Hughes placed an advertisement in the Record American

inviting anyone interested in forming a youth hockey program in Somerville to

attend a meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars James A. Logan Post. Five men

showed up at the meeting and by the end of the night, Somerville Youth Hockey

had a board in place: Deeran as president, Guidi as vice president, Doncaster

as secretary, Hughes as treasurer and Papaluca as players’ agent.

That

fall, 30 kids signed up, forming four teams. One year later, enough kids had

signed up that the program had already grown to four Peewee teams (under 13

years old) and four Bantam teams (under 15 years old), along with all-stars

from each age group forming the association’s first traveling teams.

The

soon-to-be-named Founders Rink opened in September 2012 next to the Veterans

Memorial Rink. The City of Somerville assumed maintenance and daily operations

of Veterans Memorial Rink from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and

Recreation in 2010.

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Contact: Denise Taylor 617-625-6600, ext. 2103,

dtaylor@somervillema.gov