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Post by bbb on Jun 1, 2016 1:24:25 GMT -5
I really appreciated the dedication to John B Skehan, he was head of the Phys. Ed. Dept. when I was there in 73'-77' and of course he was the famous head swim coach. My respect for Mr. Skehan has always been huge. He demanded excellence and promoted self discipline by all in the PE department. I will never forget the grueling aquatics classes, from scuba to kayaking, to attaining your WSI certificate. If you passed his classes you earned it, and his respect which in the end we all really wanted. You knew as a student of John B that he did not play favorites, and he only accepted your best effort. Whenever I attend a Bona's reunion and sit down with Jimmy Baron it does not take long before we begin to reminisce about acquatics, neither of us was a Johnny Weismueller in the pool. Thanks Mr. Horton. Did you become a coach, too?
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Post by DemBonnies on Jun 1, 2016 4:47:40 GMT -5
I really appreciated the dedication to John B Skehan, he was head of the Phys. Ed. Dept. when I was there in 73'-77' and of course he was the famous head swim coach. My respect for Mr. Skehan has always been huge. He demanded excellence and promoted self discipline by all in the PE department. I will never forget the grueling aquatics classes, from scuba to kayaking, to attaining your WSI certificate. If you passed his classes you earned it, and his respect which in the end we all really wanted. You knew as a student of John B that he did not play favorites, and he only accepted your best effort. Whenever I attend a Bona's reunion and sit down with Jimmy Baron it does not take long before we begin to reminisce about acquatics, neither of us was a Johnny Weismueller in the pool. Thanks Mr. Horton. For those outside the PE department who tried to take a cake elective, Prof Handler and Skeehan were there to discourage it. My senior year I took individual and dual sports [tennis, golf, scuba diving and handball.raquetball] I was a decent tennis player so I made it through that and the handball section. Despite Coach Handler stepping on my golf balls to add drama to the bunker shots I got through there. But it was the scuba diving that caused some issues. Before you could strap on the tanks you had to prove to Skeehan you could swim four laps of the pool. I swim like a cinder block so I started to really flounder on my third lap and when I made the turn for the final lap I was down to practically doggie paddle. with a quarter of the pool to go he fished me out with a hook and uttered an insult I remember to this day some 39 years later. "Neophyte" he said. He did let me scuba dive and I did get an overall B+ in course but it was no easy task.
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Post by MM77 on Jun 1, 2016 11:29:43 GMT -5
bbb I coached part time college soccer in all divisions men and women over seventeen years and directed the girls Olympic Development Program for Connecticut for seven more years, and taught PE and health for 33 years full time at a high school. But I would have to say coaching soccer was my passion and still is. My dream was always to come back to Bona's and coach soccer but it was not in the cards. So now I operate my soccer camps and do clinics around New England and New York, Pocono's.
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Post by thesenator on Jun 2, 2016 13:08:34 GMT -5
bbb I coached part time college soccer in all divisions men and women over seventeen years and directed the girls Olympic Development Program for Connecticut for seven more years, and taught PE and health for 33 years full time at a high school. But I would have to say coaching soccer was my passion and still is. My dream was always to come back to Bona's and coach soccer but it was not in the cards. So now I operate my soccer camps and do clinics around New England and New York, Pocono's. a great opportunity to steer students/student-athletes to bonas, mm77...and i'm betting that's exactly what you're trying to do...
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Post by thesenator on Jun 2, 2016 13:21:51 GMT -5
i remember being a senior and skehan was the faculty advisor for intramurals...up to that time when you got to be a senior there was a draft and all seniors who lived off-campus and wanted to participate in intramurals got drafted by the different floors...well some of us thought this stinks...some guys had been playing together for 3 years and now they're gonna split us all up through a draft...so we asked for a meeting with skehan and we presented our case...to put it more exactly we presented our case according to robert's rule of orders...that was some meeting...but, by the time the ordeal was over, we had succeeded in doing away with the draft and "off-campus" had its own team...that was the only time i had any dealing with coach skehan and i came away from that meeting very impressed with the man...
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Post by MM77 on Jun 2, 2016 21:00:40 GMT -5
You bet I am recruiting for Bona's, admissions sent me a pack of fifty brochures last year and they are gone and placed in what I hope are the right hands. This summer when I doing my soccer sessions in various states I will be 'Johnny Apple Seeding' the camps and club teams. Wait till you see the new sign for the front of my log home, when it arrives I will take a picture and use it for my bandwagon label, Fort Bonaventure, obviously white letters and Brown background, letters with bright yellow trim. Should be a keeper!
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Post by bbb on Jun 4, 2016 1:49:57 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, MM, and keep up the good work!
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Post by thebonafan08 on Jun 16, 2016 11:19:07 GMT -5
It's coming.....
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Post by tastylicks on Jun 16, 2016 11:55:08 GMT -5
they should put the old one in the skellar. would look awesome as a decoration of sorts
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Post by Bonafan71 on Jun 16, 2016 12:32:50 GMT -5
they should put the old one in the skellar. would look awesome as a decoration of sorts I'd like to make a donation and hang it in my studio apartment.
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Post by mnbonnie on Jun 16, 2016 12:48:55 GMT -5
I am a little bit slow on the draw, I to would like to give a shout out for John Skehan, I was '70- 74.5', I started out in pe, I had George Colfer for gymnastics and John B for aquatics. The class must have had some upgrades after I took it, but I remember needing to get a passing grade, based on your time in the 500 free, I knocked 3 plus minutes off my time, nearly killed myself and what did coach say as I am exciting the pool, Laskaris, time xxxx, improvement 3 plus minutes, letter grade F. I remember sititng in a room for the final exam and Coach Skeehan said this is you major, if you're going to cheat here it's completely up to you. He put the responsibility on the student, I work in higher ed and that's the way the honor code is supposed to work. I don't get back to Bonas much, but I will tip my cap to that board in recognition of a man who was so very passionate about everything he did. There were times when I didn't like him much, but often it's not about being liked.
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Post by Bonafan71 on Jun 16, 2016 13:15:59 GMT -5
I am a little bit slow on the draw, I to would like to give a shout out for John Skehan, I was '70- 74.5', I started out in pe, I had George Colfer for gymnastics and John B for aquatics. The class must have had some upgrades after I took it, but I remember needing to get a passing grade, based on your time in the 500 free, I knocked 3 plus minutes off my time, nearly killed myself and what did coach say as I am exciting the pool, Laskaris, time xxxx, improvement 3 plus minutes, letter grade F. I remember sititng in a room for the final exam and Coach Skeehan said this is you major, if you're going to cheat here it's completely up to you. He put the responsibility on the student, I work in higher ed and that's the way the honor code is supposed to work. I don't get back to Bonas much, but I will tip my cap to that board in recognition of a man who was so very passionate about everything he did. There were times when I didn't like him much, but often it's not about being liked. Reading this, and then actually trying to understand what it meant, made my brain bleed.
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Post by Bonnies76 on Jun 16, 2016 13:37:50 GMT -5
they should put the old one in the skellar. would look awesome as a decoration of sorts per my on-campus source: They appear to be throwing it out (?)
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Post by firstdev on Jun 16, 2016 14:10:46 GMT -5
they should put the old one in the skellar. would look awesome as a decoration of sorts That is one terrific idea - lets go for it!
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Post by Bonas08 on Jun 16, 2016 18:18:55 GMT -5
Id imagine its going to be rebranded and sold, possibly to a highschool or something. Id imagine its too valuable to just keep around
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