[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         TRIBUTE TO JAKE POWERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 1997

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to revise and extend my 
remarks about an extraordinary member of the Worcester, MA, community, 
Jake Powers.
  For literally decades in the city of Worcester, men and women and 
children of all ages have benefited from the leadership, vision, and 
organizational skills of Jake Powers and his special commitment to 
community service.
  In the 1950's, Jake Powers organized a summer basketball league--
which at the peak of its popularity attracted more than 12,000 fans 
annually. In the 1960's, Jake Powers created the Worcester Park Touch 
Football League which at one time had 2,500 participants each year and 
5,000 spectators during the annual super bowl.
  Remarkably, over a 20-plus-year period, Jake Powers' determination 
and commonsense strategies raised more than $400,000 for the Mercy 
Center for Developmental Disabilities.
  Then in the 1970's, he participated in the creation of the Stan 
Musial Baseball League and was the vice chairperson of the Irish Celtic 
Cross Memorial which is on the grounds of city hall.
  Jake Powers is the acknowledged historian in Worcester of all 
subjects with an Irish theme.
  And legend has it that this gentleman once removed a manhole cover 
and inserted a canoe at the basin of the Blackstone Canal. Jake Powers 
paddled under the streets of Worcester--for educational purposes--to 
study the structure of the canal which was built by Irish immigrants. 
Fortunately for so many of us, Jake didn't get lost on that occasion.
  Jake's family includes his wonderful wife Martha and the proverbial 
apples of their eyes, Michael, Mary, and Kathy.
  On behalf of Jake Powers' numerous students, fans, admirers, and 
beneficiaries of his lifetime efforts, I am inserting John Dempsey's 
column of May 16 from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

                   Sorry, Jake, Just Grin and Bear It

       I'm pretty sure that Jake Powers does crack a smile now and 
     then.
       I figure he indulges in one occasionally with members of 
     his family, or perhaps with some particularly close 
     colleague. As for my own experience, all I can say is that 
     I've known him for years and the closest thing to a smile 
     I've seen on his long, lugubrious Irish face was a wry smirk.
       Which isn't to say that he lacks a sense of humor. On the 
     contrary, Powers wields a keen and waspish wit. It's as dry 
     as a dowager's martini, and by the time you get the joke the 
     conversation has often moved on to the next topic.
       But Mr. Smiley-face, he's not.
       Powers is formally known as Vincent E. Powers, professor of 
     history at Worcester State College. But you'd have to go back 
     even further than his last full-face grin to find anyone who 
     actually uses his real name. The ``Jake'' dates back more 
     than half a century to his boyish summer days in the 
     outfield, when his Lincoln Street buddies named him for some 
     now long-forgotten baseball star. It stuck, but good.
       His mother always loathed the nickname, refusing to pass on 
     messages directed to Jake Powers. Her little boy was named 
     Vincent, if you don't mind. There was nobody in her house by 
     the name of Jake.
       Powers is a legend in Worcester. He'll hate me for saying 
     that, firstly because he loathes the kind of facile 
     hagiographic stuff that too often makes its way into the 
     newspaper, and, secondly, because as a former athlete he 
     believes that games are won by teams, not individuals.


                          revered by students

       But his achievements are undeniable. Former students revere 
     his ability to ground the study of history in the reality of 
     the city around them, and he is known for guiding graduates 
     in their careers long after they have left his classroom. 
     Powers, along with friend Edwin Butcher Jr., has long managed 
     the city's huge parks football program, which over the past 
     20 years has raised one-third of a million dollar for the 
     Mercy Center.
       Along with North High classmate John J. Conte, now 
     Worcester district attorney, Powers built up the basketball 
     program at Crompton Park, which in its heyday drew thousands 
     of fans.
       Most importantly, without Jake Powers there would be next 
     to no working-class history of Worcester. He pioneered 
     research into the Irish immigrants who came here decades 
     before the potato blight to build canals and railways. He 
     knows Worcester inside-out, from the days when cows grazed on 
     the Common, through its times of glory as a surging 
     industrial power, right down to today, as the city 
     uncertainly edges toward a post-industrial redefinition of 
     itself.
       Anyway, Powers is 67 now, and his many friends, former 
     students and football and baseball players figured it was 
     time for a tribute. So they've arranged a big bash Thursday 
     at Wachusett Country Club. ``He's always been a behind-the-
     scenes guy,'' said Walter Shea. ``He's always done things for 
     others, and was never really recognized.''
       The organizers thought Powers wouldn't be crazy about the 
     idea--and they were absolutely right. But they went ahead 
     anyway.
       ``One committee member is in the state police,'' Shea said, 
     ``so we figure we'll get Jake there even if we have to have 
     the cops detain him.''
       They won't have to go that far, but Powers is still ticked 
     off by the whole affair. This week he is trying to correct 
     final exams and put together a summer baseball schedule, and 
     the last thing he needed was some dumb appreciation night he 
     didn't ask for anyway.
       ``I'm not sure what this damn testimonial is for,'' he 
     said. ``I don't even know what to call it. It's not a 
     retirement party, because I'm not retiring. It's not a wake, 
     because I'm not dead. If you say it's for coaching, well, I 
     had good players. If it's for teaching, I had good students. 
     For the sports programs, I had good people around me. No one 
     person does it all. People exist in a social network, and 
     they depend on the ability and cooperation of all involved.''
       Come on, Jake, I said. You have to admit that you're this 
     unusual blend of jock and academic.
       Wrong approach.
       ``I don't like labels,'' he said. ``I like sports, but I 
     resent being categorized as a jock. And I dislike the notion 
     that if you're an academic you're somehow effete, 
     intellectual and nonphysical.''
       Jake, I said, won't you at least try to have a good time?
       He chuckled. ``Oh, I guess I'll be able to enjoy myself,'' 
     he granted.
       In his own way, of course.
       ``He's got that expression, `I'm not going to crack a smile 
     no matter what,' '' said Shea. ``It'll make no difference if 
     we use a video or a still camera for the benefit--all the 
     photos of Jake will come out looking like still pictures.''

     

                          ____________________