DALTON, Mass. – If you enjoyed the Boston Red Sox’ 2004 World Championship run, give a little thanks to the town of Dalton.

 

Wahconah Regional High School graduate Dan Duquette was the keynote speaker at Sunday’s seventh annual Dalton CRA Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. And he told the crowd at the Stationery Factory that he could draw a line from his days as a bat boy for the Wahconah baseball team to two of the biggest names in Red Sox history.

 

“Franny Majchrowski taught me something very, very important,” Duquette said, referring to the left fielder from the 1969 Wahconah squad that was inducted into the hall on Sunday. “That is: It is good to have a temper if you’re a ballplayer. Franny Majchrowski had a temper, and a lot of times, he might make an out, and you could hear the expletives from left field throughout the county.

 

“But you know what that taught me? It taught me that he cared, that he cared enough to apply himself. He was passionate enough to apply himself.”

 

Duquette, who traveled with that ‘69 Wahconah team as an elementary school student, went on to be a standout athlete at the high school, playing on the 1972 undefeated football squad that was inducted on Sunday, and at Amherst College. And, of course, he carried his passion for sports into adulthood as a Major League Baseball executive, earning MLB Executive of the Year honors with the Montreal Expos, Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.

 

“I picked up a couple of players along the line who had real passion,” Duquette said. “One of them was Pedro Martinez. Remember when he almost started a riot against the Yankees and threw Don Zimmer on his face? That was a pitcher with a temper.

 

“Then the catcher with the Red Sox, [Jason] Varitek, he also had a temper. Remember when he lost it and popped A-Rod right in the face? That was one of the great moments in Red Sox history. And I’m going to attribute that to Franny Majchrowski.”

 

Duquette was part of the CRA Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 2019. Majchrowski joined him as an individual two years later.

 

On Sunday, the pair joined their fellow inductees in welcoming the Class of 2025:

 

• Contributors Craig Crosier, Dan McMahon and Brendan Ronayne.

 

• Coaches Matt Morrison, Pete Terpak and Patrick West.

 

• The 1969 baseball team, 1972 football team and 1975 boys basketball team at Wahconah.

 

• And athletes Louie Allegrone, Brittany Breault, Laurie Pero Cantarella, Jim Galliher, Tom Keefe, Mary Langendorf King and Art Sanders.

 

The annual event also recognizes the CRA Hall of Fame’s Story of the Year, this time Wahconah graduate and UMass-Boston senior Aryianna Garceau, a two-time NCAA Division III Champion who holds the DIII record in the 100 meter hurdles.

 

Duquette set the tone for the event by talking about his memories of growing up in Dalton and the lessons he learned from playing sports in the community.

 

“Harry Hume [a member of the ‘69 Wahconah baseball team] was one of my favorites,” Duquette said. “Harry, I worked with at the CRA, and Harry taught me community service and the value of community service.

 

“I was so touched tonight, when Harry’s wife came up to me and I got to meet his granddaughter and their new baby, who they named Harrison.”

 

Focusing on future generations of athletes is central to the mission of the Dalton CRA Athletic Hall of Fame, which, over the years, has raised more than $65,000 to provide financial support to families in need, allowing more than 500 children to participate in youth sports.

 

“Beyond celebrating the past, we’ve also invested in the future,” Hall of Fame Chair Dustin Belcher said in welcoming the crowd to the event. “The CRA Hall of Fame has opened doors to young people in our community, helping them to discover the joy of playing on a team, the excitement of summer sports camp and the confidence that comes from learning to swim.

 

“None of this would be possible without the founding major sponsors: the Berkshire-Taconic Foundation, the Feigenbaum Foundation, the W. Murray Crane Trustees, Helen and Michael Caufield, Linda and Ed Culverwell, Kim and Chris Matthews and also Hill Engineers and DAvid and Susan Lombard, who were part of the vision at the very beginning.”

 

That support speaks to what Belcher called, “the best community in the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

 

“It’s the people,” he said. “It’s the stories. It’s the connections. That’s what makes it different here. And that’s what makes it special.”

 

That – and a passion for sports that was on full display on Sunday afternoon.

 

“The CRA and Dalton sports mean something,” Duquette said. “Our lives mean something in this community when you participate in sports. It’s a point of pride for the community. There are standards to uphold, there’s a link between families and generations.

 

“And we all know why, right? I thought about why, and I thought about it again. ‘Why do we do that?’ And I said, because somewhere, deep down inside of us, we all want to show every day that we’re better than Pittsfield. That’s why we do what we do.”