'Thanks, Coach:' Lenox Honors Lafave, Carroll
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| The basketball court at Lenox High now is named for retired coach Fred Lafave. |
LENOX, Mass. – Lenox Memorial Middle High School could have recognized Fred Lafave just for the Western Massachusetts titles he won in boys basketball, girls basketball and baseball.
Or just for the 1,000-plus games he coached at the school.
Or just for state titles his teams won in boys and girls basketball.
But Lafave left an even more indelible mark on the Millionaires.
“His involvement in basketball goes on today, his influence, his imprint,” Lenox alumnus Mark Gilligan said on Saturday afternoon. “At Lenox High School right now, his daughter, Nicole Patella, is the girls basketball coach. [Her son] Bailey Patella is helping her also.
“I would also like to mention that Scott Sibley and Kevin Downer – Scott’s the high school basketball varsity coach and Kevin Downer is the high school baseball coach – both played for coach Lafave. So today those kids are learning a lot. I, of course, played for coach Lafave, and I was the golf coach this year.
“What we learned from him, as far as dealing with people, organizing practices and things like that, today kids continue to benefit.”
On Saturday afternoon, the Lenox community recognized Lafave and longtime Principal Joseph J. Carroll.
Gilligan was one of several alumni who shared their memories of the two civic leaders: Carroll, for whom the school’s gymnasium is named, and Lafave, who as of Saturday, is the namesake of the basketball court.
“This afternoon, we are honoring two men with a combined 67 years of service as educators, coaches, mentors and role models to generations of Lenox citizens,” said 1976 alum Steve Chessare, who served as master of ceremonies for the event. “The impact that their character, compassion and dedication permeates the fabric of the town of Lenox to this day and is evident in the tremendous outpouring of support that has resulted in this wonderful day of appreciation.”
Chessare credited Carroll, a World War II veteran and Boston College-trained educator, with helping Lenox Memorial meet the new challenges of the post-war era and Baby Boom generation.
“Joe recognized that his job and his job and the job of his faculty was not only to educate the student, but to guide and mentor each one of them along their proper, and oftentimes unique path to what would lead to a fulfilling life,” Chessare said. “His zeal for educational innovation was applied equally to math and science skills as well as to life skills – to liberal arts and fine arts as well as to industrial arts and technical arts.
“Joe personally launched the debate and drama programs that still exist today. He set in motion the expansion of sports programs that include soccer, cross country and golf. And in 1962, he hired a young man with no coaching experience as a science teacher and assistant basketball coach. In a few minutes, we will honor that young man [Lafave] for the impact he had on thousands of Lenox citizens.
“Joseph J. Carroll literally and figuratively laid the foundation for what is today’s Lenox Memorial Middle and High School.”
State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli was on hand to present state house citations honoring both Carroll and Lafave. Carroll, who died in 1967, was represented by his son, Joe.
“The Massachusetts House of Representatives offers its sincerest congratulations to the Joseph J. Carroll family in recognition of the rededication of the Joseph J. Carroll Gymnasium at Lenox HIgh School,” Pignatelli read.
A Lenox High alumnus, Pignatelli was one of several to marvel at Lafave’s athletic accomplishments.
“Coach Lafave led both the boys and girls basketball teams to 17 Southern Berkshire titles, one Berkshire County title, five Western Mass titles and two state championship titles – one state title in 1974 for the boys, and the other in 1992 for the girls, making him the only coach in Massachusetts to win both the boys and girls state championships,” Pignatelli said.
“Coach Lafave also coached baseball for 17 years, with a Western Mass title in both basketball and baseball in 1971. Coach Lafave was the first high school basketball player himself in Berkshire County to score 1,000 points, long before the 3-point shot.”
Tom Voisin talked about the first time he met Lafave, in the much smaller gym at the old Lenox High School, and painted a picture of what the coach meant to his young student-athletes.
“If you’ve seen the movie ‘Hoosiers,’ we lived in a world like that back then,” Voisin said. “If you didn’t get to a Lee-Lenox basketball game and get your fannies in the seats by the JV game, you didn’t get in. There was no way you got in. Basketball was everything to us back then. We didn’t have cell phones and TikTok and those kinds of things. But we had basketball, and basketball was so important.
“And now we had a coach who was going to take us further down the Turnpike than we ever thought was possible. He was going to change the game completely. We’re here today because of this man, who has meant so much to our town, our community and, most importantly, to us, his players and students. Thanks, coach.”
