West opens curtain on new auditorium
On Thursday evening, Sept. 28, the red carpet was rolled out and the paparazzi were ready and waiting as the doors to the Cranston High School West auditorium were officially opened and the final product of this phase of the Cranston High School West Alumni Association's auditorium restoration project was unveiled.
Mayor Allan Fung was on hand to cut the red ribbon, which signified that it was time to welcome everyone inside, where a gala affair was taking place.
A three-piece band played in the background as guests mingled in the auditorium both before and after the event, walking up and down the brand new aisle carpets, searching out their commemorative name plates found on the seats, using their programs which contained a list of all seat sponsorships and their locations as a guide. Newly installed lighting over the audience seating area shone brightly and banners signifying years of graduating classes from CHSW decorated the newly painted walls. “It wasn’t done by one individual”
Special guests filled the stage and the rows of seats as emcee for the evening, 2002 graduate Ed Brady welcomed all to the special event and to the new Cranston West High School auditorium. As an alumnus of the school, Brady said that he felt a special excitement, joy, honor and sense of pride as he entered the auditorium that evening and he hoped his fellow alumni and all guests felt the same way.
“Looking around this room, these are the people that helped make this happen, helped make this a reality. It was just a dream two and a half years ago, something we were just talking about, and to actually be sitting in it right now and to be seeing it as a reality is an amazing feeling,” he said. “Cranston Pride, two simple words that means so much to this community, as I look around this room, it wasn’t done by one individual, it was a community that came together, that made donations, $10 at a time, $25 at a time, $100 at a time, $200 at a time, that’s how we made this possible. We all wanted to give back to an organization, a facility that gave so much to us as alumni, just as a community.”
Brady was thankful for his having grown up in Cranston and for his Cranston West education.
“My parents worked really, really hard to allow us to live in this community, a city full of history, a city full of pride, a city where everyone knows everyone and everyone has each other’s backs, a city full of love,” he said. “I say it proudly and I say it loudly wherever I am, I am a Cranstonian through and through.”
He introduced 1983 West graduate and CHSWAA president, David DiMaio.
“The Cranston High School West Alumni Association set out with a lofty goal, to restore the CHSW auditorium. Now just two short years later, we are here to celebrate everyone who helped to make it happen. I would like to first thank my fellow alumni members who made the commitment early on to help,” DiMaio said.
He cited each of his board members, Karen Casale, vice president; Lorri Manni, CPA Treasurer; Ami Ricci, Secretary; Edward Brady, Director; Justin Erickson, Director; and Adum Lupino, Director.
“We should applaud their continued support and dedication to the Cranston High School West community,” DiMaio said. “This project was a wonderful example of what a private-public partnership can accomplish. I hope that it will be the first of many. Without the commitment of these partners, this restoration would’ve never happened.”
He thanked specifically Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, Senator Hanna Gallo, Mayor Allan Fung, City Council President Michael Farina and the City Council, Cranston School Committee, Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse, and the Cranston School Department facilities staff. He also thanked school principal Thomas Barbieri, his administrative team, faculty and staff.
He also thanked local businesses for their help along the way and directed the audience to see the complete listing in the program, as well as corporate, business and seat sponsors for their donations of money, knowledge and effort in getting the project done.
He also thanked his wife Lianne and daughter Morgan, a 2017 graduate of CHSW who had returned from college for the event.
“Finally, for the CHSW alumni and future alumni, always remember, ‘Once a falcon, always a falcon,’” he said.
Speaker Mattiello took to the podium next, and shared how honored he was to be present at the unveiling.
“This is going to serve our students, our school, our citizens and our entire community, because we are going to have all kinds of events here,” he said, thanking everyone involved for their community efforts, in-kind services, and elbow grease. “You folks are the one that got all of this done. This doesn’t get done without a lot of work.”
He applauded the alumni association for their tireless efforts along the way and cited his governmental partners, the Cranston School Committee, recognized Representatives Stephen Ucci and Bob Lancia, also in the audience, for their advocacy and support, noting that it was Ucci who first introduced Mattiello to DiMaio two years ago.
“You know, when you go to high school, and you come into a place like this, intimidated, worrying about getting through your freshman year, and then by the senior year you’ve had a great experience, you don’t realize when you’re here that when you start, that someday you’re going to be part of the community and that you’re going to give back to the school that gave so much opportunity to you, and that’s exactly what these folks all did,” he said. “They at one point earlier in life came into this place as freshmen, and today are successful members of our community and they remembered what this place did for them and they gave back and that’s what we all try to do in our little ways, but these folks went above and beyond.” “It was a great template”
Mayor Allan Fung welcomed all honored guests and audience members, and shared his pride and excitement in representing the city at the evening’s event.
“Falcon pride is really riding high throughout Cranston tonight,” he said. “It is because of all of you, the members of the Cranston West Alumni Association and all the Cranston West alumni, you have really shown, made us all proud, putting together this example of a true public-private partnership, that most importantly benefits one priority for all of us, our students, making sure they have a wonderful environment here, not just for this year but for many years to come. Cranston is one of the best places to live because of the people, and tonight is a shining example of that.”
Senator Gallo expressed her joy at being at the event.
“This is a great example of how much can be accomplished when we all pull together and work together as a community and collaboratively towards a common goal,” she said. “The Cranston West community can’t help but be impressed by the outstanding work of all the members of the CHSWAA but not just the association, but of how they were so good at tapping every single resource they could tap. To go to the Laborers, to go to the community for funds, to get members of the community to do the rugs, the ceiling, it’s tapping every resource that we have, making sure that the superintendent is on board, that the principal and school committee are part of this whole plan. It’s working together, it’s civic engagement. It was no small task, it is quite remarkable.”
Councilman Michael Farina and 1996 West graduate began his speech by thanking former councilmen and current councilmen in the audience in addition to those guests named previously, and he shared with guests his strongest memories of being in the auditorium as a student years ago, including time singing in the choir, in the drama program both using the auditorium space.
“Everything I am is because of this school, because of this school, being a Cranston student learning here and growing here, being a Cranston resident, everything I am, I am because of this school,” he said. “Being here and standing here tonight is a testament to all of the teachers, administrators, coaches, and anyone I had the privilege of learning from at this school. My growth is a testament to all of those people.”
He praised the collaborative efforts of the project, noting that it wasn’t one party or another, one group or another.
“It was a great template for how we can do things in Cranston,” he said. “It’s a template for other ideas for how we can continue to make Cranston the best place to live.”
He gave the members of the CHSWAA board of directors each a citation from the Cranston City Council.
Michale Traficante spoke, representing several different organizations, as a past city mayor, school administrators, as a member of the Cranston School Committee, and as Director of Governmental Affairs for the New England Laborers, and cited the Laborers as well as the students and educators at the New England Laborers’ Cranston Public Schools Construction Career Academy (NEL/CPS) for their instrumental role in the project including during the demolition phase of the project, not just contributing financially, but also in manpower.
“Eight young men came here during their apprenticeship training, and within two days they had demoed this entire auditorium,” he said. “Great things are done by great people”
Principal Thomas Barbieri thanked all of his faculty and staff who were in attendance that evening, as well as those who could not be present, stating that the staff at CHSW was truly the emotional thread of the community, keeping the school going on a daily basis, the backbone of the school. He spoke of his phenomenal student body. He thanked DiMaio and the CHSWAA for making a dream come true for a new auditorium space, one that he had since 2012.
“In 2012 I had a dream,” he said. “I knew that we had to do something about this auditorium. It was an injustice to the community as we welcome everyone here for functions. When the class of 1963 said that they wanted to leave a gift, I asked them to consider starting an alumni association. David DiMaio and his group stepped up and took over, and they have made a dream come true for me from 2012. I am so impressed. They stepped up and made a dream come true for the entire community.
“This is truly the definition of what it means to be a community, and tonight we can all be proud of what it means to celebrate what it means to be part of a community,” he said. “Great things are done by great people.”
Superintendent Jeannine Nota-Masse finished up the speaking portion of the event and again cited all who were involved in the restoration efforts.
“This was truly a group effort, a collaboration,” she said. “I look at all the beautiful updates and I cannot express how grateful I am for all of your hard work. I am extremely grateful to all those who grew up in this city, lived in this city, went to school in this city and worked in this city. Thank you for having faith in our schools, in the people who work here. I am truly grateful for those who support me and for those who support our community and for those who care about our community.”
Following the speaking portion of the event, guests enjoyed refreshments donated by Superior Bakery, Twin Oaks and the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center’s Culinary Arts program, who provided desserts and passed hors d'oeuvres throughout the remainder of the evening.
