Page 6 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, NOVEmbER 13, 2026 “E” CLUB | FROM PAGE 1 By Joe McConnell T he “E” Club of Everett has been around for 54 years as an organization, and its core mission remains the same. As a group, they continue to be dedicated to preserving and promoting the Everett Tradition in Sports. They meet twice a year, once in May, where they present scholarships to worthy EHS graduates. But in their upcoming November dinner only days away on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Spinelli’s in Lynnfi eld, the Club will host a night that’s bound to stir up memories. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, followed by dinner at 7. Mike LaCourt, the current “E” Club president, will preside over the evening’s activities, along with Justin DelGaizo, who will act as the evening’s MC. LaCourt has served as the club’s president the last fi ve years, but has been a longtime member since he was a sophomore at the high school in 1985. He played football, basketball and baseball under the tutelage of legendary coaches James “Tank” Agnetta, John DiBiaso and Ernie Ardolino. Longtime Pop Warner supporters Al and Ginger Perillo and the 1990-91 EMass EHS boys basketball champions will be the guests of honor for Tuesday’s gala. Former Merrimack College men’s hockey coach and current New Jersey Devils Chief of Amateur Scouting Mark Dennehy will be the guest speaker. The Perillo’s, born and raised in Everett, have been married for 63 years. Their spirit of volunteerism has been on display for over 50 of those years. As EHS graduates, they fully understand what sports means to this community. They have been synonymous with the Everett Huskies Pop Warner program and Pop Warner football in general for over fi ve decades. They have three children – Rich, Paul and Jennifer – and each of them had participated in the Huskies program. Al’s first involved with the Everett Huskies program was in 1974. He became the Huskies president in 1978, before becoming the Greater Boston League (GBL) Pop Warner president in 1981. In 1993, he moved into a board role for EMass Pop Former Merrimack College men’s hockey coach and current New Jersey Devils Chief of Amateur Scouting Mark Dennehy will be the “E” Club of Everett’s guest speaker for Tuesday’s (Nov. 17) get together at Spinelli’s in Lynnfi eld. (Courtesy photo) Warner, where he then matriculated into the role of Regional Director for New England Pop Warner, a position he held for 25 years until his retirement in 2021. He was inducted into the National Pop Warner Football Hall of Fame in Chicago last March. Ginger’s first involvement with the Everett Huskies was as a Team Mom in 1974. She became the Huskies’ cheerleading program director in 1980, and was instrumental in the creation of the Greater Boston Cheerleading League in 1986, where she became its president. Eventually, she became the EMass Director of Pop Warner Cheerleading, a role she hsad for 35 years. Next April, she will join husband Al as a National Pop Warner Hall of Fame member. The 2027 ceremony will be held in Florida. While the Perillo’s no longer have an active daily role within the Pop Warner football organization, they both still serve as valuable contributing consultants. The Crimson Tide have had more than their share of championship teams over the years, but the 1990-91 boys basketball team still stands out among the many. They are only of two EHS hoop squads to win a state title. The other one was in 1959. John DiBiaso was that team’s head coach, and he was ably assisted by longtime trusted mentor Paul Bertone. That Tide team in the previous campaign fi nished up with Al and Ginger Perillo will be recognized by the “E” Club of Everett during its November get together at Spinelli’s in Lynnfi eld Tuesday night (Nov. 17) for their extraordinary contributions to Pop Warner football locally, regionally and nationally. (Courtesy photo) a 21-2 record. They advanced to the Division1 North fi nals, where they lost to GBL rival Cambridge, the eventual state champs. They were defi nitely determined to go further after that heartbreaking loss, and they didn’t disappoint. They were 20-3 in the fi rst full season of the new decade. For the record, they were 41-5 over that twoyear period. The 1990-91 squad won the GBL with a 14-2 record, and then made it to the EMass fi nal at the old Boston Garden, where they knocked off Catholic Memorial, the Division 1 South champs, 72-65 in front of over 10,000 fans. However, those Everett boys lost in the state finals at the Worcester Centrum to a highly talented Springfi eld Central squad, which had four Division 1 college basketball players on it, including future NBA fi rst round draft pick Travis Best, who went on to have a 10-year pro career. Co-captains John “Bubba” Sagarino and Malik Curry were GBL All-Stars and Boston Globe All-Scholastics. Sagarino was also named the Boston Globe Division 1 Player of the Year. Jerry Navarra, Corey Washington and Derek Motto were named League All-Stars. A total of 12 members of that team, including Mike Bova, Steve Hearns, Rich Bradley, Mike Roy, Jason Willis, Peter Morel and Eddie Cuthbert, are committed to attend Tuesday night’s get together at Spinelli’s. Three of them will be fl ying in from California (John Sagarino), North Carolina (Derek Motto) and Florida (Bradley). The EHS basketball cheerleading squad, coached for many years by Maureen DiBiaso, will also be recognized by the “E” Club. Eight of those cheerleaders are expected to be at Spinelli’s, as well. Tickets are still available for Tuesday’s November “E” Club event, and may be purchased on the club’s website at www. eclubofeverett.com. Tickets are $65 per person.
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