Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Dick Brown on December 01, 2011, 08:43:24 AM
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Today's Obituary in the BFP lists the many accomplishments of Coach Blanchard during his teaching and coaching career at Winooski High School and his legislative life after he retired from education . Since he lived in the same development as I in Essex Junction and only three streets from me, and since he was the Varsity Basketball Coach at WHS when I held the same position at EJHS , we ,as one would expect , had many, many conversations .
Rene's sense of humor , quick active mind and comedic touch made him a favorite with the fans and students not only at WHS but also within the Burlington basketball crowd , and he was extremely popular as a teacher and coach. However , the obit didn't inform the general readers what we , who lived in that era, knew .
Winooski had an excellent feeder program for youth basketball , supervised by very competent volunteer coaches , and the kids who came through it really learned the game of basketball . The older students , before entering high school , played in the area CYO league and typically were the best teams competing. As such , it drew the interest of Bernie Cieplicki , highly successful Rice coach , who ,in turn , recruited many of the most skilled Winooski kids to enroll at Rice High School ( supported by church scholarships and parental discounts ) rather then attend the local high school . In fact , at one time ( 1967-68 ) , four of the five starters for Rice were Winooski students who could have played for Rene . That fact , and the fact that " little " Winooski with it's smaller enrollment competed successfully with the larger schools in many sports , but most especially in basketball , is in itself a tribute to Rene and his coaching skills .
Rene certainly was one of the best in the educational community , and more importantly , was a great person besides .