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Dwight

Will you please re-post my letter regarding the Blizzard of 78? I
sent it to you while in a rush out the door this morning and didn't have
time to review it before it was sent. This year is the 25th since I
graduated from North and it has certainly been a year of reflection! As
you know, in March 2001 I was stabbed 6 times and through the Grace of
God I survived! Recently, I have thought of the many events in my life
to help me survive such a terrible event and the oppurtunity I was
given by you, Mr. Feid, and Mr. Herber, to coach brought me back to my
"Grass Roots" at North and for that I will forever be indebted! Join me in
Turning Back the Hands of Time to 1978 and how the memory of a Blizzard
impacted me!

The Blizzard of '78 reminds me of very fond memories of my Track and
Field career at North Attleboro. Hopefully, I won't bore you but wanted
to take the time to share my thoughts regarding it's impact on my life.

The year was 1978 and I was a sophomore at North. When the storm hit
we were only days away from the Hockomock Championship at Franklin.
During that season I ran the 600, High Jumped, and High Hurdled. The
movie hit of the day was the movie "Rocky" and it was a rage at the box
office! It also inspired me to believe that anything was possible if you
were willing to pay the price.

I was having a good season for a soph. but nothing outstanding. I felt
good about getting an occassional first in the 600 or H.J. but resigned
myself to the fact that Jr.'s and Sr.'s were out of my league. Our
league was loaded at that time just as it is today! The 600 was
especially tough and as a sophomore running against Jim Wilson, Jim Lawhorn, and
the rest of the league it was survival of the fittest!! During the
dual meet season I had been destroyed by the Big Boys and was in fear of
running against them in the league meet. As many H.S. Track and Field
athletes know, losing can be a very traumatic event in ones life.
Especially in a race where you need to torture yourself to Survive! As the
days counted down to the Big Meet the Blizzard of 78 hit! As many of
us old timers know, we were snowed in for days. In fact, I remember my
family pulling the sled to town for supplies and food. We lived on
Fales Road and it was days before the plows even made the trip our to our
neck of the woods! Of course the biggest concern for me was finding a
place to run and train during the time out of school and away from
practice. I was terribly afraid of being embarrassed in the 600 again and
knew that if I showed up unprepard my life as I knew it would never be
the same! I didn't know it at the time but the storm also ended up
being a blessing because the guys seeded ahead of me(except Wilson and
Lawhorn) decided to take the time off. With fear of failure in my mind I
decided to train in the snow with snow boots and heavy clothing on
Fales Road! Each day I ran the length of the road high stepping until I
couldn't go any further. When I recovered I would do it again and again.
Little did I know that this training would later lead me to understand
that hard work and dedication was a formula for success!

When we finally got back to school I remember the team and the
custodial staff getting out our shovels and clearing the track. I will never
forget reminscing with Dexter Harmon about that 3 years ago during a
winter season practice. (Events can help us to remember where we came
from and form who we become)! As for the meet, I finished third in the
600 with a PR of 1:19 at Franklin! Boy did I hate those corners!! I
remember most of the field dying when the lactic acid set in and the piano
jumped on their backs. As for me, my training helped me to push Wilson
and Lawhorn to the finish and I had validation that conditioning made a
difference!! It further re-inforced to me that Track was not a
secondary sport and that it was a sport that somehow modeled life. That in
life you would have ups and downs but if you perservered and gave
everything that you had success was possible! The success of a PR or just
preparing to compete. That it was a sport for me and one that I wanted
to excel at! It was Fitness for Life!!

By my senior year I was blessed to have captained the indoor and
outdoor teams, to have jumped 6'6" in winning the State Class meet, having
run 38.5 in the 300 hurdles, or scoring 226 points in a season. But
the greatest honor was anchoring the great 4x400 team of Steve Burns,
Vinnie Brennan, Mike Espinosa, and future N.E. 800 champ Lenny
Harmon(3:24). The one ingredient that wove all of us together was the dedication,
hard work, and perserverance of running repeat 400's against each
other in practice until we dropped!!! Knowing that if we put the work in
and that we believed in each other and in ourselves that anything was
possible! That a group from N.A.H.S.( three of us from Fales Road) could
beat the teams from Boston, and Providence, and Brockton and place 2nd
in N.E. behind O.A.! That is what a team was all about!! No one
dazzling but just a group of hard working blue collared kids!

In closing, we sometimes take for granted people or events that
challenge us and force us to step up. For me it was the choice of taking the
easy way out and not preparing or putting in the work in a snow storm
to eventually experience success on the track which later on can be a
stepping stone in life! It was rising to the challenge of Mr. Ayotte
chasing us around that track or trucking us to New Englands! A life that
you don't know where it will lead but a life you can use to make a
difference! It's easy to quit and it's easy to give up but once you've done
that your life will never be the same.(Don't ever Give Up!) I will
never forget some of the lessons of life I have learned on the track. It
is what I have experienced in Track and Field and in my life that saved
me from dying on the side of a road in March 2001! That if you believe
and never give up that anything is possible!! Thanks for all that you
and all coaches do to impact lives and thanks for the memories!!

In Fitness for Life,
Jerry