Category: Casino Fun

Sanford Stragnell of Huletts Landing refereeing a women’s rugby match.(Click to see full-scale.)

I recently learned that Sandy Stragnell of Huletts now referees rugby matches. If I had known this earlier, I would have included this in my recent post on local connections to sports. So if you don’t know anything about a scrummage or the difference between the rugby league and the rugby union, Sandy would be the one to know.

Sandy was a rugby player in high school and in college. While playing for the Oregon State Rugby Club he was part of a traveling side that played in Wales and England one summer. He also coached both men’s and women’s rugby at Castleton State College (now Castleton University) in Vermont. He played briefly with the Rutland Men’s club and is now a Level 1 Rugby Referee.

Liam Ballantyne (5th from the left) with the United States Coast Guard Academy’s sailing team. (Click picture to see full-scale.)

In my recent post on our local connections to sports, I failed to include Liam Ballantyne’s participation on the United States Coast Guard Academy’s sailing team, currently ranked fourth in the Northeast. Liam is the son of Peter and Angela Ballantyne.

You can read Liam’s Coast Guard Academy’s sailing profile here. Liam is the skipper of a J70 sailboat, which is quite large, as seen in the picture below.

This past October he won his race at the Boston College regatta where he made a quick tack right approaching the finish line and surged ahead of three other boats.

Liam skippering his J70 (on the left) for the Coast Guard Academy against the Harvard team (right). (Click picture to see full-scale.)

While so many of us are fans of some team or sport, I wanted to try and put as many connections that Huletts Landing has to individuals, teams or sports that might be of interest. While I can’t say that these are all of them, I wanted to try and start compiling a list. So here’s to sports in our community:

Aileen Colligan holds her Silver Medal in Figure Skating from the 2016 Empire State Games.

Empire State Games

Aileen Colligan, daughter of John and Beth Colligan of Huletts Landing, recently won a Silver Medal in Figure Skating at the 2016 Empire State Games in Lake Placid. This follows her Gold Medal from the 2015 Winter Games.

Princeton University Football

Brett Stewart, son of Jeff and Pam Stewart of Huletts Landing, just finished his freshmen year playing defensive back for the Princeton Tiger’s football team. Stewart’s grandfather played football in the NFL for the Chicago Bears. Read Brett’s Princeton football profile here.

George Washington University Basketball

Mike Lonergan, who I interviewed when he was the head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Vermont, is now the head coach at George Washington University, where his team is fighting for an NCAA berth. Mike and his family are frequent visitors to Huletts Landing. Recently, he recounted for a DC Radio station, the hilarious story of when he was asked to leave his daughter’s JV basketball game.

Historical

1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games

Russ Considine, who grew up in Huletts, and who continues to visit, took many award-winning photographs at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. His blog account of the famous games can be found at: http://rustyconsidine.blogspot.com

The following video by Yahoo Sports, contains many of his award-winning photos of speed-skater Eric Heiden who won 5 gold medals at the 1980 games. (It contains a short 15 second advertisement at the beginning.)

Former MLB Baseball Player – Ebba St. Claire

Former Major League Baseball Player, Ebba St. Claire, and his wife Maxine ran the Soda Fountain during the 1970’s while their son Shane constructed some docks in Huletts Landing. Randy St. Claire, one of their other sons, has had a long career in Major League Baseball, first as a pitcher for the Montreal Expos and later as a pitching coach. Most recently, he served as the pitching coach for the Miami Marlins last year.

Former NFL Quarterback – Ken O’Brien

Finally, I have been told, that former NY Jets starting quarterback, Ken O’Brien, who was born in Rockville Centre, once visited the Casino when he stopped by Huletts. He evidently posed for some pictures – which if anyone has – I will gladly post. Is this enough to make any Patriot’s fan switch their allegiance to the Jets??