The current uniforms are:

In Poor Condition –  Zippers are worn out, cuffs are ripped beyond repair, pants have holes and threadbare areas, jackets have yellowed over time, shako straps, visors and plumes are broken and worn.

Wrong Sizes –   Today’s Band students are taller and larger than previous generations. The current mix of uniform sizes no longer effectively serves the Band.

Dated & Inconsistent – The current design of uniforms was debuted in the fall of 1995. Four years later additional uniforms were needed to accommodate a larger Band. A different uniform company was used resulting in a different tone of white and slightly different jacket-front layout. Simply put, our Marching Band does not look “uniform”.

Pricing Per New Uniform:

Jacket: $196.49          Capes: $50.87                        Pants: $45.00

Shako (hat):  $44.00             Plume: $16.00

Total Uniform: $352.36

Total to Outfit the CHS Marching Band: $35, 236

Donations can be made out to “Chelmsford High School Band” and sent to:

Matt Sexauer, Director of Bands

Chelmsford High School

200 Richardson Road

N. Chelmsford, MA 01863

Tom Gallagher ’87 will be honored as the Cannons Honorary Coach this Saturday, May 5^th

A portion of every ticket sold will go to the Tom Gallagher Fund

A Great Opportunity to Support Tom and his family with a fun day and night

Parking Lots open at 3pm for tailgating

Contact Brian Krol at the Boston Cannons for Tickets!

617-746-9933 at ext. 2703 or bkrol@bostoncannons.com

We appreciate all of the support!!

See you on Saturday and Go Cannons!!

Hello Alumni,

I am introducing a new program to CHS which will be for the sophomore and the junior classes. The program will be a Career Options Breakfast. I am modeling this breakfast after the one that Westford Academy as been doing successfully for many years. The future plan is to have two different days one in the fall for juniors and one in the spring for the sophomores. I missed the fall, so I am going to target just the juniors this spring.

My expectations of how this is going to work are:

· It will take place during the first block of the day (attendance will take place at the breakfast) it will start at exactly 7:20 am and end at 8:15.

· Each student will attend (2) 20 minute sessions with careers of their choice (they will pick them ahead of time).

· Each speaker will talk about their career choice, the college they attended, the major they chose and why, do they like their job, does it pay well….etc. I am looking for about 10-12 different careers for the students to choose from.

All I am asking of you is, to commit one hour of your time to talk to some students about your career. The alumni Association is always trying to find ways to be more involved in the High School, so what a better way than to share your career and experiences with the students.

The date for this year’s first Career Options Breakfast is June 6, 2012 and it will take place in the newly renovated Career Center. I will be serving coffee, tea, juice and muffins for breakfast.

If you would be interested in signing up please fill out the registration form here or if you have questions you can call me at 978-251-5111 ext 4292 or email me at achesonc@chelmsford.k12.ma.us.

Thank you in advanced for your time and effort.

Cindy Acheson
Career Center Facilitator
Chelmsford High School
Class of 1976

by Christine (Frassica) Scaplen ’87

I’ve been to many of the CHS Alumni Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies … not all of them, but a good portion since they began in the early 1990’s. People have asked “Why are you here?” “Who are you here for?”

While there is usually there is at least one person that I know being inducted – a teacher, mentor or classmate – I find listening to the 9 stories of the honorees’ lives after CHS to be inspiring and a wonderful testament to how they started from a little town called Chelmsford and then moved on to make a mark on the world.

Some people don’t quite understand. Those are the ones who ask “Why do you keep looking back at high school?” But the Hall of Fame for Chelmsford High is really the opposite of that – it doesn’t look back but really looks at the “what happened next”?

What the Alumni Association does is begin with a common thread – the time we spent in a community, time in the classroom, on the playing field, in the arena of performance or just the halls. It then shows the spirit and path of folks into the world far beyond … through their life after high school, sometimes through college or military, through career and into civic involvement. These are real people, many with extraordinary achievements as adults. Not everyone started as the typical “superstars” in high school. What the individuals being honored have done are sometimes simply awe-inspiring, but other times just inspirational as you hear of their self-made successes or their influence on others by taking a path less taken.

Please look around you to see whether any of your classmates, teachers, coaches or advisors have made an impact in the lives of those they have touched since Chelmsford High. Sitting in the audience for the 2012 ceremony, I can think of several CHS ’87 classmates who I know have stories worth sharing – scientists, artists, business leaders, volunteers, and other life-changers.

Consider nominating someone you know for the CHS Alumni Association Hall of Fame. You will not only help to celebrate that person’s achievements, but you’ll give credit to those who may have gotten them started and those who helped them along the path, as well as the chance to inspire the hundreds of people by bringing to light what this one “hometown boy or girl” has done.

Get the nomination forms here.

Photo of Jack Lang 

By Kris Pisarik

While I extend my hearty congratulations to all nine people being inducted into the Chelmsford High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame next weekend, I am extremely happy about two in particular: Jack Lang and Al Thomas.

Both built dynasties in their respective sports, but it is their grace, dedication and modesty in leadership that both should long be remembered for most.

I had Al Thomas for U.S. history in eighth grade. Although a good portion of the year was taken over by a student teacher, I remember Al as being a very good teacher who instilled in me an interest in history that I carry with me today. He went on to a solid career teaching social studies at Chelmsford High, rising through the ranks to dean and ultimately as principal until his retirement two years ago.

In his early days, Al helped launch — perhaps catapult might be a better word — the swimming program. For a school without a pool, to say his teams made a splash around the Merrimack Valley — heck, the state — would be an understatement. That legacy continues today, as CHS continues to churn out champion swimmers and teams, which he still occasionally has a hand in as an assistant coach.

But for me, what stands out most about Al Thomas was his leadership upon being thrust into the principal’s job with a school year already in progress. The transition was seamless. And while few of us probably have a clue as to how stressful that job might have been, Al did it with poise, grace and little fanfare. He also became a fixture at nearly every extracurricular event. It was great seeing him at the cross-country meets, watching his students shine. And it was great for his students to see him there. Be it a parent or a teacher or any mentor, being there shows a caring and respect for the students’ hard work.

Al gave a riveting commencement speech for CHS grads, my daughter Kristi among them, last June, in which he reminded us all how blessed we are to live in such a great town, with a great high school. He then proceeded to challenge them to do “great things,” and recycled his popular quotation during his tenure as principal, “make it a good day, or not, the choice is yours.”

Al, you made many days outstanding. You were a great leader and remain a pillar of the community.

I first met Jack Lang when he was my eighth-grade algebra I teacher at the Parker School. Although he made bad jokes when illustrating the foil method of factoring (upon solving an equation on the chalkboard, he would declare, “Foiled again.”), he was an excellent teacher who helped me to perhaps my highest grades ever in math. That was the last I would see of him for many years.

Fast forward (and rewind I guess) to about 10 years ago, when my oldest daughter, Beth, joined the indoor track team her freshman year to stay in shape for soccer. Turns out she was a pretty good runner, and the following fall it didn’t take a lot of convincing by her running friends to make the jump to cross country. It turned out to be one of the best decisions for her, and the three sisters that followed her, as they have all flourished on the tracks and trails of the sport. A big reason for that is Jack Lang.

His record is staggering. Here a few snippets: His teams have won 28 Merrimack Valley Conference Championships, he has coached 31 individual Division I State Champions, and in 2003 and 2004, his girls cross country teams won back-to-back Division I State Championships, the latter of which I had the pleasure of cheering as a parent of two team members — in the snow at Franklin Park in Boston. Another highlight was seeing him tear up for the first time after his cross country team upset Haverhill at the MVC meet in Chelmsford in October, winning by a mere 3 points. His infant granddaughter was there — perhaps a future runner? — and made the moment all the sweeter to savor.

But Jack is a Hall of Famer not only for his outstanding record, but also the caring he brings to coaching each athlete, whether she’s a school record holder like my daughter Alyssa, or the slowest kid on the team. His modest and compassionate approach to coaching, particularly girls, is a stark contrast to some. He deflects attention from himself and shines it on his athletes, for they are the ones going the distance for him and for Chelmsford High. But it is Jack who has pointed the way for these many years. While he has attempted to retire at least three times, I am thrilled he will still be coaching our youngest daughter, Jennie, for her senior year next fall, when like all of her sisters, she will be a co-captain for one of Jack’s teams.

If you’re a former colleague or athlete of Jack Lang or Al Thomas, $50 tickets to the induction are still available by calling George Simonian at 978-256-3100 or Terry McSheehy at 978-251-3788. The ceremony is Saturday, March 24, at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, N.H. Social is 5:45 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m.

-Kris Pisarik is The Sun’s Managing Editor/Nights, and is also the editor of the Lion’s Pride, the Chelmsford High School Alumni Association’s magazine where an earlier version of this column first appeared.

Robert Kydd ’50

Kirk Lamb ’64

John “Jack” Lang, Teacher/Coach

Tom Peterson ’87

Lisa (Graceffa) Scherber ’72

Ed Scollan ’72

Gary Spellissey ’69

Patricia (Tetreault) Stutz ’66

Weldon “Al” Thomas, Teacher/Coach/Administrator

Our annual Hall of Fame dinner and induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 24, 2012 at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH.   Tickets are $50 each, and are now available by contacting George Simonian at 978-256- 3100 or Terry McSheehy at 978-251-3788.

NOTE ABOUT HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS

Nominations for the CHSAA Hall of Fame are accepted on a rolling basis (forms can be found here), but nominations must be received by November 1 in order for the nominee to be considered for the following spring’s induction.  Nominations are active for 5 years, and if not selected within that 5-year period, nominees may be re-nominated.  Nomination forms may be updated with new information during that 5-year period, as any information that speaks to the worthiness of the nominee should be considered by the selection committee.

If you can’t make it to the dance and you’d like to make a donation to the Class of 2012, checks can be made out to “Chelmsford High School” with “donation to 2012″ in the memo and sent to: Chelmsford High School 200 Richardson Road North Chelmsford, MA 01863 ATTN: Joan Murphy or Margaret Blakley.

Thanks and looking forward to seeing you!

When the Chelmsford Lions football team hosts the Central Catholic Red Raiders on Friday, October 28^th the game is Chelmsford High School Alumni Night at George Simonian Alumni Stadium. All Chelmsford High alumni and parents are invited to visit the Chelmsford High School Alumni Association booth located near the field for information about our programs and ways to become more involved as a member.   Please join us to support the Lions both on and off the field.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 28^th.  The game begins at 7:00 p.m.

http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_18998882

It will be published in its entirety, as well, in the fall issue of our alumni magazine, The Lion’s Pride!

Marina Rojo Merino, left, with Jennie Pisarik atop Mt. Willard, N.H.

Marina Rojo Merino in the White Mountains.

If there are any other CHS host families who would like to share their experience (past or present) on our blog, please email blog@chsalumni.org.