Waterford

Then the busy years went rushing by us, the song lyric goes, we lost our starry notions on the way. If by chance I'd see you in the tavern …

And the Waterford guys did Monday night, the de facto "tavern" by the beach in the 06385, the backyard bar owner John Ryan calls "The Swamp." Starry notions surely have given way to wives, kids and jobs, but they'll always have the games, the friends, the memories, the things that really do last forever.

Pretty cool, really, that 40 years later, you get together and remember every shape and form of the formative days. They'll do it again Friday at Langley's, the hip eatery at Great Neck Country Club, raising a glass to the fifth Waterford Hall of Fame class.

The honorees: Vicki (Bartolucci) Malone (softball), Lee Elci (baseball), Billy Gardner Jr. (baseball), Jeff Hedden (golf), Karlton Perkins (football), Jim White (football) and the late Ed Evento, also known as "Cactus Jack," the man after which the benevolent organization to which all the night's proceeds go, is named.

Tickets are $30 and may be purchased at the door, beginning with a social hour at 6 p.m.

This week's traditions - football and food among them - also include reunions, formal and otherwise. Waterford will be awash in much Waterford-ness. Not bad for a town whose sporting traditions aren't that old.

"All the guys like Cav (event organizer Jim Cavalieri) and Dave (current athletic director Dave Sousa) grew up with Waterford sports in their infancy," said Ryan, a Cactus Jack Foundation member. "They love this stuff. Even though Waterford High (1956) hasn't been around forever like NFA, the guys that are still in love with Waterford want to get the message across."

Cavalieri, a former quarterback for the football team, has become the town's unofficial sports historian. His message is as valuable as it is succinct: Don't ever forget where you came from. And if it's Waterford, be proud, because there's much to be proud of.

"We're trying to make it a Waterford night," Cavalieri said. "Get some people together, have a few beers, listen to a few speeches and make it a social night. And induct quality people.

"The only school that I know in the area that has a real strong alumni association is NFA and that's a different animal," he said. "Once you leave high school, you don't have a lot of contact. How cool would it be to build that bridge and have the kids enrolled now get to know what the alumni were about?"

Class No. 5 will also honor the 1973 football team, the undefeated Eastern Connecticut Conference champion. That team, coached by previous inductee Dick Cipriani, perhaps began the tradition of success at Waterford that extends now to many sports of both genders.

Sousa was the odd combination of guard and corner (no word whether he was a first baseman and a centerfielder for the baseball team, too). There was Keith Burrows, Ron Twitty, Jerry Picardi, Perkins, Earl Heath, Dave Davies …

There was no Gatorade Player of the Year Award and not even a Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference back then.

"Just the Dick Galiette Player of the Week," Cactus Jack member Dan Pickett said.

"Dave Sousa had five interceptions in one game," Cavalieri said. "And he played guard and led on the sweep. The sweep was the play. Like the Green Bay Packers. Then he played corner. Think about that."

They went on to remember how the undefeated team was several games into the 1974 season unbeaten as well. They remembered their many friends and coaches, including the late Tom Dorsey, the only guy who could correct your grammar and teach blocking techniques at the same time.

It should be a fun night for anyone with an affinity for the 06385. Made better, too, by the sizable donation to Cactus Jack from the Mortimer Family and Great Neck Country Club.

"We want to build a traditional evening and do it every other year," Cavalieri said. "The Friday after the home game every Thanksgiving."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius