By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.
Special to the Farmington Valley Post
CANTON, October 18, 2002 - The young singers from the Canton High School Chamber choir stood on the bleachers set up in one end of the CHS gymnasium and performed. Dressed in black and white, the singers' music was a bit muffled, softened by the background conversations going on. No one meant to be rude. But they couldn't help it.
Nearly 70 years of Canton High graduates came together on a cool Friday evening for the first annual Canton High Wall of Fame banquet as part of the CHS Alumni Weekend. And friends and neighbors couldn't pass up the opportunity to reconnect with the friends of their youth and share stories of their lives.
About 350 graduates attended the banquet where seven CHS graduates were inducted in the Wall of Fame, chosen for their character, leadership and for giving back to their community in a positive way.
"I'm very honored to be chosen to receive this honor considering there are just as many that were not chosen that are more than qualified," said Donald Viering, Class of 1937.
Viering, former First Selectman Ray Bergeron (Class of '41), the late Dr. Edward Diters ('41), real estate developer and businessman Henry Bahre ('47), current CHS field hockey coach Nancy Grace ('76), engineer Philip Pinton ('80) and Peace Corps volunteer Kathleen Rooney ('89) were the first seven to be inducted into the Wall of Fame.
It was all part of Alumni Weekend, a two-day effort spearheaded by CHS assistant principal Jordan Grossman.
There was an parade Friday evening that featured alumni and current students. On Saturday, there was an alumni soccer game and alumni field hockey game. That was followed by a contest between the Canton field hockey team against arch-rival Granby and a doubleheader under the lights at Bowdoin Field as the girls and boys soccer teams hosted East Granby. The CHS boys soccer team throttled East Granby, 8-1 while the girls won, 1-0. The field hockey team earned a satisfying 2-0 win over Granby.
But the real joy of the weekend wasn't wins, losses or award ceremonies.
It was chatting with old friends, stretching out and using muscles that haven't been used in a few years and catching up with the lives of friends that helped shape the futures of graduates.
"I depend on relationships for my success. That is what it is all about," Pinton said. "It is relationships that you make that make you who you are. I learned that at Canton High."
Learning to make productive relationships helped Pinton as a lead engineer for Northrup Grummon in helping to develop an electronic attack pod, a piece of military equipment that helped protect American F-16 fighter jets in the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Viering was a three-sport athlete, in part, because he helped form the high school's first varsity football team in 1934. But he was honored for his civic achievements that included helping to form Canton's first Zoning Commission in 1957 and serving on it for 20 years, 17 as its chairman.
Bahre was another three-sport star at CHS but was honored for his work as a businessman and citizen. He developed the Canton Village shopping center, other business parks and housing developments. Many town residents got a helping hand from Bahre to make an initial payment on houses to them. He and his sons used the equipment from Bahre's Canton Village Construction to build the soccer fields on Powder Mill Road in the mid-1980s.
"We asked the town for grass seed and they didn't even have money for that," he said with a laugh. "We did it for the town and the kids."
Seven high school and junior high students introduced the inductees at the Wall of Fame banquet, held in the CHS gymnasium.
"We did this so the students can make connections with alumni," Grossman said. "These are their role models and who we want them to grow up and be."
Bergeron was First Selectman in town for 12 years (1971-83) and served on the Board of Selectmen for 22 years. Grace has been the varsity field hockey coach for 17 years and has led Canton to eight state championships. Rooney was honored for her three-year stint in the Peace Corps in Paraguay.
Diters, was a general practitioner in town for nearly 40 years, was honored posthumously. His grandson, Sam, spoke about his grandfather while Diters' son, Mark, accepted on his father's behalf. Mark, a 1973 CHS graduate, wore his father's trademark bow tie and even slipped into one of his Dad's old suits.
"This is what education is about," Grossman said. "People giving back to Canton, to Connecticut, to the nation."
Plenty of graduates filled the gym to honor the newest members of the Wall of Fame and celebrate their memories of Canton High.
Several members from the Class of 1940 attended. Avon's Robert Hart came with his wife, Ruth. For the Class of 1940, it served as a second class reunion.
Jan Trumbull and Marty Byrne not only helped round up 10 members from the Class of 1957 but they printed up special Canton '57 shirts and hats that they proudly wore at the banquet.
The oldest graduate in attendance was George Becker from the Class of 1926. He received a standing ovation after he arrived. He was late because the members of the organizing committee sent to bring Becker to the dinner couldn't find his Farmington home.
Walter Langer, Class of 1930, attended the banquet with his daughter. He graduated from the old Collinsville High, which stood near the Congregational Church until 1934 when the new high school was opened on Dyer Avenue.
OF NOTE: Bahre had a few interesting facts in his remarks. The town education budget in 1935 was $36,000 to educate 558 students. In 2002, it was $15.5 million for over 1,500 students. ... Grossman also took the opportunity to announce the formation of the Canton High Alumni Association. Graduates interested in the Alumni Association or helping next year's Wall of Fame banquet should call Grossman at the school (860-693-7707) or by e-mail at jgrossman@cantonschools.org.
Canton High
Wall of Fame
Class of 2002
Henry Bahre, Class of 1947
A three-sport athlete, Bahre played basketball well enough to earn a scholarship to Suffield Academy, where he played on a New England championship team in 1948. He went on to the University of Connecticut, where he participated in the football program. Upon his return to Canton, he sold real estate for over 40 years and founded Henry Bahre Real Estate and Canton Village Construction. He was a charter member of the Canton Chamber of Commerce and developed numerous parcels including the Canton Village shopping center and 20-acre River Road Business Park. His firm also cleared the land and built the youth soccer fields on Power Mill Road in the 1980s.
Raymond Bergeron, Class of 1941
Bergeron earned 12 varsity letters at Canton High in football, basketball and baseball. After graduation from Canton, he served in World War II in Japan and the South Pacific. He served as First Selectman for 12 years (1971-83) and served on the Board of Selectmen for 22 years. He was on the building committee for Canton High, which was completed in 1970 and the building committee for additions to Canton Intermediate School and Canton Elementary School. As First Selectman, he helped in the development of the Mills Pond Recreation area and the town landfill, now the transfer station.
Dr. Edward Diters, Class of 1941
After graduation from Canton High, Diters was in the Army during World War II. The education he obtained at Canton helped him in the Army to move out of a tank destroyer group, that eventually went to Europe and from which no one returned. He remained in the U.S. getting a medical education. He served in the Korean War in the Air Force as a flight surgeon. A graduate of the University of Tennessee medical school, he returned to Canton in the early 1950s and was a family physician for 40 years. He was the school doctor and volunteer fire department doctor. He died in 1996.
Nancy Grace, Class of 1976
Grace played field hockey and softball at Canton High before attending Springfield College. She returned to Canton in 1982 as a junior high science teacher. She became coach of the CHS field hockey program in 1985 and has led the team to 11 league titles and eight state championships in 17 years. She also coached the CHS softball program for 10 years, leading Canton to 7 league titles and a state title in 1991. She was named one of Connecticut's Top Coaches of the 20th Century by the Hartford Courant in 1999.
Philip Pinton, Class of 1980
Pinton graduated from Clarkson with a degree in electrical engineering. Working with Northrup Grumman, he was the lead engineer in designing the electronic attack pod, a piece of military equipment that protects U.S. F-16 fighter jets and some A-10 planes and was used during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He designed a multi-media presentation on engineering for some elementary schools near his Maryland home, where he is a youth soccer coach, a member of the PTA and a Cub Scout leader. Pinton and his wife have two young children.
Kathleen Rooney, Class of 1989
After graduation, Rooney earned a degree from Boston College. Then, she spent three years in the Peace Corps in Paraguay. Her biggest accomplishment in the Corps was helping complete a running water project for a village of 800 people.
Donald Viering, Class of 1937
As a freshman at Collinsville High, he helped in the formation of the school's first varsity football team. He played football for three years at CHS helping him to earn a scholarship to Trinity College. He also played basketball and baseball at CHS. He helped form the first Zoning Commission in town in 1957, serving on the board for 20 years, 17 at the chairman. He also coached Little League baseball for 10 years and was a charter member of the Canton Chamber of Commerce, instrumental in helping bring cable television to town. He was a trumpet player with the Farmington Valley band for nearly 50 years and is still a current member of the Canton Energy Fuel Commission.
