[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO RAY McKENNA

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                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 17, 2002

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute 
to Ray McKenna of East Hartford, Connecticut. There is truly only one 
name that can be associated with sports in my hometown of East 
Hartford: Ray McKenna. For kids like myself, growing up in Mayberry 
Village, Ray was a person to look up to. He is a legendary figure and 
it only proper that he be recognized for his achievements and his 
positive influence on our community.
  I am also submitting for the Record a radio commentary by Scott Gray 
of WTIC 1080 AM in Hartford, who captured the essence of Ray McKenna 
and his importance to East Hartford.

              [From WTIC AM News Talk 1080, May 16, 2002]

                          Commentary for Today

                            (By Scott Gray)

       University of New Mexico women's basketball coach Don 
     Flanagan wrapped up his acceptance speech on being inducted 
     into the East Hartford Explorers Tap-Off Club Hall of Fame at 
     the Marco Polo restaurant last night with a simple thank you. 
     Flanagan, who knows something about winning, felt it was 
     important to thank another big winner from East Hartford, the 
     man responsible for the annual fete, Ray McKenna. But he 
     wasn't thanking Ray for putting on the dinner or for his 
     induction into the hall of fame, he was thanking him for 
     giving a kid from the Mayberry Village section of East 
     Hartford, which has produced a list of national and 
     international sports luminaries, inspiration, inspiration, 
     and a chance to see such heroes as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy 
     and Tommy Heinsohn play basketball in an intimate setting in 
     his hometown. I did mention Flanagan knows about winning. In 
     sixteen seasons as a high school coach at Eldorado High in 
     Albuquerque he had a record of four hundred one wins and 
     thirteen losses. In seven seasons at New Mexico he's turned 
     the program into a big winner, with a 144-72 record and games 
     played in front of average crowds approaching nine thousand, 
     fifth highest average in the nation. But on the second 
     Wednesday of every May the biggest winner in East Hartford is 
     named Ray McKenna. He talks about the committee that puts the 
     annual dinner together. I've never seen one. The committee is 
     named Ray McKenna, the guy who coached the East Hartford 
     Explorers to more than eleven hundred wins and less than two 
     hundred fifty losses, and thirteen New England Basketball 
     Association titles. And every year they celebrate the team, 
     they celebrate the town, they celebrate East Hartford sports. 
     Every year they fill the banquet room at the Marco Polo, they 
     come for Ray McKenna. Mayor Tim Larson beams about the new 
     UConn football stadium going up in his town, and the 
     innovations that will be part of it. Congressman John Larson, 
     if he can't be there in person, reads the names of the 
     inductees, the Explorers and, as he says, the legendary Ray 
     McKenna into the Congressional Record. Dave Cowens and Larry 
     Costello and John Calipari and Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma 
     have all come to be part of the celebration of Ray McKenna. 
     Dom Pemo, Tom Penders, George Blaney and Nick Macarchuk have 
     all come. Bill Detrick and Howie Dickenman, the legends of 
     Central Connecticut, rarely miss it. They come to celebrate a 
     glorious past and to honor it's heroes. They come to honor 
     the new stars and bright young citizens of East Hartford High 
     School basketball and those kids from neighborhoods like 
     Mayberry Village who go on to greater glory. They come, like 
     Don Flanagan, who broke away from a busy schedule, to say 
     thanks to Ray McKenna. There's a baseball park in the town 
     named for the humble former East Hartford mailman, who utters 
     his classic expletive, ``pretzels'', anytime someone suggests 
     he's more special than he believes himself to be. However Ray 
     McKenna may downplay his own accomplishments, accomplishments 
     that have enriched so many lives, this I know to be true. 
     When you say Ray McKenna in East Hartford, magic happens. 
     With a comment from the sports world, I'm Scott Gray.

     

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