From left, Tom Vincent, David Cross, Meghan Callahan Pugliese. David Mathewson, Antoinne Harris, Bill Garrity, Shannon O’Neil and Rick Bazzano at the 2024 Simsbury High Hall of Fame dinner at Riverview Restaurant. More photos from the banquet.
SIMSBURY – It’s been several decades since Bill Garrity was a boy growing up near Simsbury High’s Holden Field. His home was close enough to the school where Garrity could hear the roar of the crowd when the Simsbury football team would hit the field.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Simsbury was good. From 1966 through 1973, Simsbury had eight consecutive winning seasons and lost just seven games while winning 63 games and seven conference championships. One loss was due to a forfeit for an ineligible player, stripping away another victory.
To Garrity and his friends, the Trojans were larger than life and Garrity couldn’t wait to play for the Trojans once he got to high school.
His high school career didn’t turn out the way he imagined as a youngster. It began with an 86-yard kickoff return in his first varsity game as the Trojans beat Hall by two, 16-14, in the season opening game in 1974.
But these were different Simsbury teams that the ones that preceded them. The most games that Simsbury football won in Garrity’s career was five in his junior season.
But it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for Simsbury High or his experience in athletics where he was an all-conference selection in football and baseball as a senior in 1977.
Garrity and his wife, Ann, stayed in Simsbury, raising their three children here. He was a member of the Simsbury Board of Selectmen for 10 years (1995-2005), the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce and the Northwest Community Bank Board of Directors (2019-present). His company, Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming has donated to many athletic and community organizations throughout the years.
For his success on the field and his support of Simsbury athletics off the field, Garrity was one of eight people and one team inducted into the Simsbury High Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 6 at the Riverview Restaurant.
Lauren Cecchi (Class of 2006), Antoinne Harris (1995), Shannon O’Neil (1993), Megan Callahan Pugliese (1998), LeVar Gary (1998) Tom Vincent (1966), the late Kip Sowel (1972) were recognized along with the 2003 Simsbury boys hockey team that won a state championship.
Callahan-Pugliese, Gary and Vincent were part of the Class of 2023 but they were invited back to this year’s banquet.
Meghan Callahan Pugliese gets a hug from her daughter after her speech at the recent Simsbury Hall of Fame banquet. More photos from the banquet.
The 2023 banquet was halted midway through the ceremony when Robert Thompson, the father of inductee Tammy Thompson O’Brien collapsed at the banquet and passed away. Wes Connell and Samantha Kelly were also invited again but were not able to attend Saturday’s event. O’Brien attended the banquet on Saturday.
Garrity’s enthusiasm for Simsbury, his time at Simsbury High and his participation in athletics was evident.
It was the common thread for each of the inductees who came of age in Simsbury and with the help of athletics and the men and women leading their respective Trojan teams.
Cecchi was a three-time All-State softball player at Simsbury and the Gatorade state player of the year in 2006. She played one season at UConn before stepping away from the diamond due to injuries.
Illness prevented Cecchi from connecting with her classmates at this event. “She was in tears,” said Roger Coombes, a member of the banquet organizing committee.
Pugliese, known as Megan Callahan during her high school years, was a four-time All-State selection in cross country and a two-time All-New England runner. She was also a four-time All-State runner in outdoor track and field as a member of the 4×800 relay team, earning All-New England honors in 1998 as part of Simsbury’s 4×800 relay.
She helped Simsbury’s outdoor track team win their first state championship in 1995.
She fondly remembered her final race as a Simsbury athlete at the New England championships on the same day of graduation and attending graduation with her hair still damp. She thanked her parents and Simsbury for their support. “Simsbury did a great job supporting student athletes and setting an example for future athletes to strive for,” she said.
And when she finished her speech. Pugliese hugged her young daughter who raced up to hug her mom.
Levar Gary and his mother wave to the crowd at the Simsbury Hall of Fame banquet. More photos from the banquet.
Tom Vincent is no stranger in Simsbury. He was an All-Northwest Conference athlete in soccer, basketball and baseball, earning All-State honors in baseball in 1966. After college, he came back to town where he was a long-time assistant coach to Hall of Fame coach Ray Schwarz from 1974-82 in boys basketball.
He began coaching as a 21-year-old with a Simsbury Babe Ruth baseball team before coaching Little League baseball from 1973-89. He was the head coach for the Simsbury American Legion baseball team for more than 20 years, winning four Zone 1 titles and leading Post 84 to the 2003 state championship and the New England regional semifinal in 2003. In 2021, he was inducted into the Connecticut American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.
Tom and his brother, Tim, opened Vincent’s Sports Shop in 1973. Sports were not his only contribution. Tom was elected to the Board of Selectmen in 1998 and he served as First Selectman from 2001-07.
He spearheaded the building of the Simsbury Performing Arts Center on Ironhorse Blvd., the renovation and expansion of Simsbury High and the renovation of the Simsbury Public Library during his tenure as first selectman.
“Opportunities are often missed because they are disguised as hard work,” Tom Vincent said.
He thanked his parents for their support that allowed him to play three sports as a youngster, his brothers for their support as adults and the many coaches at Simsbury that he played under and coached with to help him grow through the years.
Rick Bazzano spoke for the late Kip Sowpel, a 1972 Simsbury High graduate that began the Simsbury High girls hockey program in 1987 and promoted the sport around Connecticut, even after taking a job in the Boston area. He would commute back to Simsbury during the hockey season.
Sowpel, who played hockey at Nichols College, organized the Central Connecticut Girls Ice Hockey League in 2000 and was president of the league from 2000-08. He led Simsbury to a pair of state titles in 2001 and 2005.
Sowpel died at the age of 53 in 2008. “He put public high school hockey on the map in Connecticut and New England,” Bazzano said. “He was the first sitting commissioner of a league in Connecticut with the original six – West Hartford, West Haven, Hamden, Hand, Guilford and Simsbury.
“He is one of the many visionaries that helped make Simsbury a great place to live,” Bazzano said.
Simsbury’s Antoinne Harris, right, introduces his son to Hall of Fame trainer Emily Lou McLean. More photos from the banquet.
Harris attended the banquet with his family. One of his sons wore his letterman’s jacket but Harris looked like he could still fit into it.
Harris was a three-sport athlete at Simsbury, earning All-State honors in football and wrestling. He also ran track and field where he tied the school record in the 100 meters in 1994.
In football, he helped the Simsbury football team advance to the state finals twice (1993, 1994) and win two CCC West championships. As a senior, he ran for 1,236 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 302 yards. He earned All-State honors as a defensive back.
As a wrestler, he won a Class L and State Open title in 1995 and finished second in New England. He helped the Trojans win the 1995 Class L state championship – their second-ever state title.
In college, he attended the University of Southern California and walked on to play football for USC, playing for three seasons.
“I stand here this evening because sports changed my life,” Harris said. “I have to acknowledge and thank from the bottom of my heart, the town of Simsbury and the A Better Chance (ABC) program. The ABC program has been creating opportunities (for youngsters) for 50 years.”
He thanked football coach Joe Grace for believing in him before he believed in himself. He thanked wrestling coach Frank Chaves for teaching him how to compete in a competitive wrestling room that didn’t anyone to rest on their laurels.
“These experiences from sports have really shaped every aspect of my life,” Harris said. “It shows up as heard work, resilience, commitment, continuous improvement, integrity and respect.”
Gary was All-State football played at Simsbury, earning All-State honors in 1997. In track and field, he set school records in the 100 meters and 200 meters in the spring of 1998 that lasted 24 years. His indoor track school record in the 55 meters in the winter of 1998 stood for 24 years, too.
Born in Hartford, Gary came to Simsbury as a kindergarten student through the Project Concern program that allowed city students to attend schools in suburban towns.
His athletic success continued to Nichols College in football and track and field. He was a four-year starter on the Bison football team who lead the team to a New England Football Conference division title in 2001 and the ECAC championship game in 2000. In track and field, he set the school record in the 100 meters and was part of a record-setting 4×100 meter relay team. He was inducted into the Nichols College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
O’Neil was a three-sport athlete at Simsbury, earning All-Conference honors in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. She was a two-time All-State player in field hockey in 1992 and 1993 and an All-American player in lacrosse in 1993.
She played lacrosse at Villanova where she was a four-year starter and help the program record for most career points through 2022. She was the head coach for the Saint Anselm women’s lacrosse team before returning to Villanova to be head coach of the Wildcat women’s lacrosse program from 2000-06.
After a successful career of more than 15 years designing software for leading pediatric hospitals, O’Neil return to coaching and is the national coach of the girls lacrosse program at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
O’Neil recalled the competitive nature of sports in Simsbury and the warmth that the players received from their classmates and fans.
“They played to win. Not just games but championships – state championships,” she said. “Most of the students, the Simsbury community, the parents and teachers, they actually paid attention. They watched the games. They celebrated us whenever they could. They cheered for us in the hallways.”
The 2003 Simsbury High boys hockey team was also recognized and inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Trojans went 18-1 in the regular season and beat Fairfield Prep, 1-0, in overtime on a goal from Kevin Connolly to advance to the state Division I finals. In front of an energetic crowd of 3,486 at Ingalls Rink on the campus of Yale University, Simsbury (22-2) won their first state championship in boys hockey with a 3-2 win over Hamden.
More photos from the 2024 Simsbury Hall of Fame induction banquet
