IN Canon-Mac Winter 2018 | Page 52

Fitting Ending for C-M’s Annual Wellness Day Each year, Canon-McMillan School District offers a CM FIT Day to its seventh grade students. In September, the District celebrated its 12th annual CM FIT day. A dozen years ago, Mrs. Sue Vulcano, the school nurse, applied and received a grant from Highmark. The basis of the grant was to promote fitness and nutrition to as many public education students as possible, to highlight it as a lifelong process to stay in good health. “We as a society have to promote and encourage lifelong fitness and proper nutrition to this sedentary generation,” Vulcano said. “We have to teach by being good role models. What the students see is important to us, will be important to them. We promote parents to take part in our day festivities every year.” Leonardi’s Presence Will Long Be Felt at Canon-McMillan His presence at Canonsburg Memorial Stadium and at all points in the district’s athletic facilities will forever be felt. Mr. Harry Leonardi is gone but will never be forgotten. Canon-McMillan School District honored the memory of Mr. Leonardi prior to a home football game October 5 against Pine- Richland. The district presented his family with a replica of the plaque that will hang in the new field house at the stadium. Mr. Leonardi — a staple at Canonsburg Memorial Stadium for 46 years — passed away August 19 at 97-years-old. He retired after 37 years with the district but he continued as a volunteer at the stadium an additional nine years. Mr. Leonardi grew up in Muse and spent most of his life in Canonsburg. He was groundskeeper and equipment manager for Canon-McMillan School District. Mr. Leonardi was elected to the Canon-McMillan Hall of Honor in 2009. Canon-McMillan honored Mr. Leonardi by presenting his family a replica of a plaque that will be hung in the new equipment room at Memorial Stadium. “Harry was dedicated to Canon-McMillan,” said Frank Vulcano, Jr., Canon-McMillan’s athletic director. “He spent more time at the stadium than anybody. He treated it like it was his home. “Harry was a special person. to do what he did as long as he did, I’m not sure we will see that again. He had the mentality of a work horse. Time didn’t mean anything to him. He did what it took to get the job done.” 50 CANON-MAC Guy Montecalvo, former Big Macs’ football coach and athletic director, said Mr. Leonardi’s dedication and longevity is to be admired and cherished. “Harry put his heart and soul into his job,” Montecalvo said. “And he did an amazing job. He was totally devoted. I enjoyed every minute we spent together. “He was a fixture at the stadium and at the various fields in the district. The care he took of the equipment and his awareness of what we needed was invaluable. “He was invested in his job because it was part of his life. He took great pride in what he did. He put his heart and soul into it.” Mr. Leonardi was a graduate of Cecil High School. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a staff sergeant with Anti-Tank Company 376th Infantry Regiment under Gen. George Patton. “He was proud of that as well,” Montecalvo said. “He was asked to talk about that with our students from time to time.”