Alumni Hall Of Fame

The Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley’s Alumni Association's Hall of Fame honors former Club members and staff for their contributions to society, outstanding leadership, dedication to children, and service to Boys and Girls Clubs.

In January 2007, The Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley’s Alumni Association recognize ten former members and staff as inaugural inductees into the Club's Hall of Fame:

Jack Ribas

Jack joined the Boys Club in 1956, when it was just the backroom of the Community Center, and the dollar he spent on that membership was probably the greatest investment he had ever made. The Club had a major impact on his life and helped keep him off the “Street of Broken Dreams”. In 1960 Charlie Gardner gave him his first job ever….The Locker Room Attendant at $.50 per hour. Later Jack went on to work as a games room supervisor and a gym supervisor under the direction of Walt Oko and Red Goad.

Jack left the Club and Shelton to attend Boston University, but after school he came back to the area, living in New Haven for a short while, and eventually Shelton. He went to work for Carlson Consulting P.E. from 1969 to 1971 working as an engineer in training, and structural engineering draftsman. Jack volunteered evenings at the Club teaching ping-pong, pool, and supervising other games room activities. However, when a job opened at the Boys Club in Sept of 1971, for a full time program director he applied and was hired as the clubs first program director.

Jack worked for the Shelton Club until Oct of 1975 when he took the position of Unit Director at the North End Boys & Girls Club in Bridgeport. In 1977 he was promoted to the Director of Operations for all four Bridgeport units. However, when the Executive Directors’ position became available in his hometown, he jumped at the chance to come back and work at the club where he grew up. Jack took over the Community Center Boys Club in February of 1978, and has been its Executive Director since. The first thing Jack did at the Club was to admit girls as full time members (1979) and then, re-name the organization The Community Center Boys and Girls Club in 1979.

Some of the other committees, boards, and counsels that Jack is also involved in are Highland Golf Club, St Margaret May’s parish, Parent Child Resource Center, The Birmingham Group (Formerly Known as Valley Mental Health), CAP, the Community Alert Program, Derby-Shelton Rotary Club, and St. Vincent De Paul Society

On the professional level Jack is a past -president of the CT Area Council and the New England Commission of Boys & Girls Clubs. He is currently the President of the CT Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, and have been working with Joseph Andreana to get the 16 Clubs in this state into our State Budget, to help provide delinquency prevention programs.

Jack married the former Alicia Simonetti in 1978, and has two sons, John (23) and Matthew (21), they reside at 22 Kings Highway in Shelton and are now members of St. Joseph’s Parish in Shelton.

Peter Schuld

When Pete was 9 years old, his family moved from Seymour to downtown Shelton, he joined the Boys Club on October 17, 1957 and registered for school on October 19, 1957. He participated in virtually every activity from Billy Onion Stories on Saturday mornings, cooking, and boxing, to woodshop and ceramics. Pete also played on the travel basketball teams, and the travel ping pong team which was undefeated.

The director of the Boys club at that time, Charlie Gardner, was virtually a father image to Pete. Pete and Charlie would keep track of ping pong matches won between them, and that meant a lot to Pete.

Staff member Joe Petrunik was also another important role model to Pete. Pete believes that there was no one closer to Joe than himself. Every day he would send Pete to J Diner to get him a coffee light and sweet and a piece of lemon meringue pie. Since Joe did not drive, Pete would take him anywhere he needed to go.

Pete loved every activity the club had. In 1962 he thought he would win Boy of the Year, but instead Jack Ribas won, and Pete was devastated. However, 1963 was Pete’s year, he won Boy of the Year and it was the proudest day of his life. Pete put his accomplishment on every resume he wrote and to his surprise every interviewer has asked him about it.
Pete started his career with the Boys and Girls Club, when he worked behind the counter for two years selling candy and chips, and handing out pool sticks or ping pong paddles.

To Pete the Boys Club was the greatest place in the world; he would spend every minute that he could there. He feels it made him the best person that he could be. Pete volunteered there for more years than he can remember, and during all of that time he never found a kid that he did not like. Pete used the gamesroom and specifically, ping pong, to teach children skills, discipline, respect and responsibility. Not only was Pete a championship player, he has coached the best players our Boys and Girls Club have had. His dedication and commitment to the children is exceptional. He thinks nothing of traveling to New Jersey or Massachusetts so his players can play the best competition outside the Valley. During the last two years, Pete has revived the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley’s table tennis program and started the Lower Naugatuck Valley Table Tennis Club, which is currently one of the best programs in the Northeast.

Mark A. Lauretti

Mark was a member of the Boys Club in the 70’s. “The Shark” was very athletic and played on numerous Boys and Girls Club basketball teams. He was also a varsity basketball player at Shelton High School. Known as a tough competitor during his childhood, Mark has always given his time to the Boys and Girls Club. Whether it is coaching a team, hosting an event at his restaurant or helping us thru his official capacity as the Mayor of Shelton, Mark is truly a Boys and Girls Club supporter.

Mark A. Lauretti, Mayor of Shelton since 1991, has earned the trust and confidence of the people of Shelton. During his terms in office, Shelton has been proud to boast an unprecedented period of economic growth and earned national recognition for its boomtown image. Retail, corporate offices, industrial, and research and development firms continue to locate in Shelton providing a benchmark for economic development that has received statewide recognition.

Mayor Lauretti has focused his energy and commitment to improving the quality of life for the residents of Shelton. He has focused much of his energy on numerous city infrastructure projects and the rebirth of development in the downtown area. As a community leader, he manages a municipal budget exceeding eighty million dollars.

One of the Mayor’s major concerns has also been conservation and the preservation of open space. He holds an undergraduate degree in pre-environmental zoology from Ohio University and a masters degree in science education from Syracuse University.

He has held positions as a teacher, track and basketball coach at Shelton High School, Syracuse University and Central High School in Bridgeport. A natural athlete, in 1979 he played in a professional basketball league in Bologna, Italy.

Mayor Lauretti is the Chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization in Bridgeport, Secretary/Treasurer of the Valley Council of Governments, member of the Coastal Corridor Transportation Investment Area Board, member of the Board of Directors for the State Nutmeg Games, member of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority (CRRA), an Executive Board Member of the Housatonic Council of Boy Scouts of America and Chairman of the Valley Transit District.

The proud father of four children, Alexa, Nicholas, Anthony and Joseph, Lauretti resides in Shelton with his wife, Anndee. Currently serving his eighth consecutive term as Mayor of Shelton, he thrives on his hectic schedule and enjoys his service to the people of Shelton.

Richard O. Belden

Richard “Dick” Belden was a member of the Community Center from 1947-1952. He was a very active member enjoying sports and social recreation. His dedication to the Boys and Girls Club and the City of Shelton is well documented in his long political career.

Deputy House Minority Leader at Large, Richard O. Belden of Shelton was first elected to the House of Representatives from the 113th Assembly District in 1974. He has been re-elected every two years since and is currently the longest continuously serving member in the history of the House (the Dean of the House). Representative Belden has a long history of leadership within his caucus and is widely respected by both sides of the political aisle particularly for his length of service, knowledge of the legislative process, expertise in parliamentary procedure and broad understanding of the issues.

A lifelong resident of Shelton, Representative Belden is a 1953 graduate of the Shelton school system. He served his country in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1961. In 1999, Rep. Belden retired from Sikorsky Aircraft after 38 years of employment. While at Sikorsky, he served in numerous management positions, the most current being Sikorsky’s Ombudsman and Real Estate Manager.

Representative Belden has been a member of the Shelton Republican Town Committee since 1964. He served on the Shelton Board of Apportionment and Taxation fro 1967 to 1971, on the Board of Alderman from 1972-1973. He has been a member of various Shelton Building Committees, overseeing construction of a library addition, a new high school and the senior citizen center.

A trustee of St. Margaret Mary Church since 1978, Representative Belden also served on the Parish Council from 1975 to 1978. He is a corporator of Griffin Hospital, the Birmingham Group and the Lower Naugatuck Valley Boys and Girls Club. He is a co-chairman of the Valley Substance Abuse Council and a member of the advisory board at the Emmett O’Brien Regional Vocational-Technical School. Rep. Belden is also a member of the American Legion Post 16.

Shelton native, Rep. Belden celebrated his 72th birthday this year. He has been married to the former Bertha M. Kurtyka since 1956.

Leon Sylvester

Leon’s career spans over four decades in Shelton Public School Education including experiences in elementary and secondary instruction, coaching, counseling, administration and the last 14 years as superintendent of schools.

During his tenure as Superintendent, Leon founded Shelton’s Student Mentoring Program which was recognized in 2005 as the State of CT champion mentoring program. A program that the late John “Red” Larsen successfully administered, and which Leon still participates in today. In a different vain, he established Shelton’s Long Range School Facilities and Capital Improvement Plan overseeing the addition of media centers in the city’s elementary schools and the construction of our new Intermediate School and combined athletic/recreation facilities at Shelton High School/SIS campus.

Leon remains very involved in the Valley Community. He has held a seat on Shelton’s Planning and Zoning Commission for 20 years, serving as chairman for 6 years. He serves on the Board of Directors of our Boys and Girls Club, Corporator of Griffin Hospital, Chairman of St. Joseph’s School Board and has most recently been invited to join the Board of Directors of the Valley Community Foundation.

Having been recognized numerous times throughout his career, Leon attributes any success he might have enjoyed to the lessons he has learned and support he has received while growing up in our Shelton/Valley Community. Most certainly from family and friends and never to forget the time he spent as a boy at the Shelton/Derby Community Center, the forerunner to our great Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.

Leon is a lifelong resident of Shelton, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Elementary School and Shelton High School. He received his B.S. in education at the University of Southern Connecticut and advanced degrees in both guidance and administration at the University of Bridgeport.

Lou Salemme

Lou was a member of the Shelton-Derby Boys Club from the time he was 8 years old. As a downtown kid, Lou explains that the “club was my backyard.” He spent everyday at the club. Lou loved all the programs the club had to offer, camping and fishing trips to Moosehead Lake in Maine with Joe and Jack, Athlete of the Year in the gym or any gamesroom game, but ping pong was his passion and he became a championship player. He remembers Coach Pete Schuld “would take us everywhere to play – Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Virginia.” One of his best memories was “winning my category at the Eastern Open Tournament in Virginia.” All the practice had paid off.

Lou was an all around club member and one of the few members to win both the Junior Boy of the Year and the Boy of the Year Award. The Boy of the Year award was a “great thrill in my life.”

Now as an alumni member of the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Lou is a vital part of the Alumni Association’s success in supporting club programs. Lou serves on the committee for the Alumni Golf Tournament as well as having his company, Kelly-Mart Mobil, contribute as the major sponsor.

In addition to all of his volunteer efforts with the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley, Lou also coaches Little League and Babe Ruth baseball in Shelton. This past year, his Babe Ruth team made it to the World Series in North Carolina finishing as one of the top 6 teams in the country.

Lou sums up the Alumni Hall of Fame Award by saying, “It’s a great feeling since the club was such a big part of my life as a kid.” Lou lives in Shelton with his wife, Rayna, and his three boys, Jake, Lou and Nick.

Joe Salemme

“I was 8 years old when I became a member of the Boys’ Club. Our family moved over Rapp’s Restaurant and I spent all of my free time at the Club. I think I signed up for every activity that I could at that age including: ping pong, basketball, hockey, ceramics, wood shop, games room, “Athlete of the Year, swimming (at Seymour High School) (I was a tadpole) and every contest that Jack Ribas would think up to keep us occupied.

Discipline was always an issue at the Club. Joe Petrunick had a variety of “accessories” he kept on hand to assist him. Usually they consisted of broken pool sticks and although Joe was a bit heavy, I’ll never forget how quick he was. Ouch! One of my fondest memories was when Joe invited me to go with a group of kids on his annual trip to Moosehead Lake in Maine. Joe was a wonderful man.”

“Mrs. Schmecker is one of the sweetest women I have ever met and we all looked forward to Friday and Saturday when we could make something in ceramics and bring it home. Wood shop was another one of my favorite activities with her husband, Lou.

“As a young kid, I had a bit of an attendance problem. I’d get in trouble and Jack would send me on “vacation.” I would watch my brother, Lou, play ping pong and I wanted to be as good as him so I played quite a bit at a young age. I was the youngest player on our team and we would travel and play other clubs. Our team was really good.”

“I didn’t realize this until recently when my sons were playing ping pong at the club with, whom else, but Pete Schuld! They were laughing when they returned home. Pete told them of how I was apparently the reason for ending our 156 game winning streak. Not by losing a match, but being disqualified (I had a slight temper problem back then).

“I look back at those years and smile – like many other adults with their own fond memories of the Club.”
Today Joe is a strong supporter of the club. As an alumni member, his businesses, Kelly Mart Mobil and Connecticut Waste Transfer, support alumni events as major sponsors. Joe has sponsored trips for our members to attend Yankee Stadium; he has helped us build a beach for the pond at Three Saints Park Summer Camp, and is always willing to help out at any club function.

Joe now resides in Naples, Florida with his wife, Kelly, and his sons, Joseph, Jr. and Domenic.

Dave Condon

Dave was a member of the Boys Club under the guidance of Director Charlie Gardner. Dave enjoyed the woodshop where he learned many skills that he still uses today. Dave credits Charlie Gardner for helping him in his younger years for giving him the confidence to be a productive citizen.

Dave has been instrumental in helping the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck rebuild after the fire in 1991. His efforts helped the club raise over 4 million dollars in building the clubhouse at One Positive Place, Shelton. His company DNS Associates, where Dave is the Chairman and CEO. has always helped the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley when asked.

Dave joined DNS Associates, LLC in 1985. Dave’s experiences working with nonprofit agencies and volunteer organizations began in 1968. They include working with agencies such as: Boy Scouts of America, Associations for Retarded Citizens, Jaycees, the Leukemia Society, the Connecticut Hurricanes Drum and Bugle Corps, YMCA, Sheltered Workshops and Phi Delta Kappa International, as well as church, hospital, museum and university groups. Mr. Condon and his company Diversified Nonprofit Services are considered one of the leading nonprofit management and resource development consulting firms in the country and are particularly noted for their work with Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the United States.

Prior to joining DNS, Dave served as a special education teacher at Derby High School, Director of Special Services for the Derby, Connecticut Public School system and later as President and CEO of Durham Hill School, a nonprofit residential treatment facility for mentally challenged children and adolescents. Dave also taught as an associate professor at the University of Southern Connecticut and has lectured at numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Mr. Condon was the first recipient of the Alumni Champion of Youth Award presented by the Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.

A long time resident of Derby, CT, he now resides in West Haven, CT with his wife, Connie, a former Boys and Girls Club Executive Director in Columbus, Indiana. Three of their five children, Michael Condon, Siobhan Condon, and Jennifer Rehbein, live in Connecticut while their two oldest daughters, Sondra Morningstar and Amy McKenney, live in Shelbyville, Indiana with their five grandchildren.

Joe Petrunik

Joe was a staff member for many years at the Community Center and the Boys Club. As a staff member, Joe left every member with a touching story. Pete Schuld explains, “Joe would do anything for kids, he was a great friend.” Jack Ribas recalls “how the staff and the members would play an annual basketball game against each other and Joe would come up to the gym, take his one half court shot, make it and the kids would go crazy!” “Joe would take us on camping trips to Moose Head Lake in Maine,” remembers Lou and Joe Salemme. “It was a great trip.”

Most people knew Joe as the man behind the front desk, he was much more – a friend, a father figure and a caring person. Today the club has a computer to keep track of members’ numbers. Back then there was no computer but Joe knew everyone’s club number. Joe truly touched every club member. Joe had the magic wand and if you did not cross off your number or if you misbehaved, Joe would wave his magic wand and magically you would remember the rules.

Joe truly gave his whole life to the kids at the Boys Club. Joe has since passed away, but his memory lives on in each person who attended the club and was touched by Joe.

Mary Schmecker

Mary Schmecker has been involved in the Boys and Girls Club for 35 years teaching children love, patience and skills through her ceramics program. Any child who has attended the club’s ceramics program has a touching story of Mary and her husband, Lou.

In her own words, Mary explains how she and Lou began the ceramics program: “In 1970, a friend of my husband said that the Derby-Shelton Boys Club needed someone that would know about ceramic kilns. Knowing that my husband and I did ceramics, he told us to see a Mr. Tom Frank, the director of the Boys’ Club. Mr. Frank showed us the kiln. It was stored in a room that had dentist equipment in it. At that time, a local dentist came in to check the boys’ teeth. Tom wanted to know if we knew how to use it and to see if it was in working order. Of course, having a ceramic studio and kiln at home, we knew what to check. The kiln was very small but we found it to be quite suitable and in working order. Mr. Frank then asked me if I would run a ceramics program for the club with hand picked kids (the best of the bunch). I started the program in September 1970. I ran the program using my own supplies until January 1971. In January, the director offered me $3.00 an hour to continue the program. Thirty-five years later, I am still here. I have taught the children of boys that were in my program long ago. In addition to teaching, it has been a learning experience for me. I have learned patience, tolerance and I have also learned to accept the love the kids gave to me and in turn, to give it back. Many hugs were exchanged in these 35 years. I have been told, “Mrs. Schmecker, you give the best hugs!”

“I’ve learned a lot from the children. They have taught me diversity, and how to accept people for who they are, not what they look like. They taught me patience and I truly love all of my ceramics children.”

Mary is truly a diamond in the world. Her love of children is only second to the love the children have for her.