He had the distinctive profile of the bird that gave him his nickname and a Wildcat spirit like no other, but everyone who knew Dave "Hawk" Fisher remembers a guy with a heart of gold.
The 63-year-old Gardner Wildcat Athletic Hall of Famer died suddenly on Sunday evening after suffering a fall in his home.
If you followed the Gardner sports scene over the past 50 years, you undoubtedly encountered the always-cheerful and ebullient Hawk; a local sports enthusiast who loved the Gardner High athletic scene and had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports.
He was a familiar face on the sidelines at Watkins Field for many decades as a volunteer on the chain gang for Friday night football games. The Hawk had been an adjunct member of the Wildcat football family for about as long as anyone can remember.
From his younger days carrying the water jugs to becoming a full-fledged team manager during his high school years, the Hawk remained on the football scene throughout five different Wildcat head coaches.
When he entered Gardner High as a freshman in the fall of 1972, he was asked by assistant football coach Ken Aho to serve as manager of the freshman football squad. Two years later, he became the varsity team manager and never left the sidelines.
From Marty Anderson and Jack Michalak, to Mike Sunderland and John Canu, and finally during all 29 seasons when his second cousin, Walt Dubzinski, Jr., served as coach, the Hawk always provided a helpful hand at whichever capacity he was needed.
He noted in a 2003 interview that his Wildcat football memories went back to the mid-1960s when his grandparents, Arnold and Annie Fisher, would take him to games at Stone Field to watch his cousin John Dubzinski play.
"My grandfather took me just about every Saturday," he recalled, noting that eventually, his interest in sports gave him the opportunity to ascend the cement ramps leading to Stone Field on those sun-splashed autumn Saturdays of the 1970s as team manager.
"I just remember coming out of that locker room, running up that first ramp near the practice field with the team, and then up that other ramp by the ticket booth," he said.
Throughout high school, he spent every season as a team manager, with memories also abounding from his years with the baseball and basketball teams prior to his 1976 graduation.
One of his fondest recollections was being urged by Wildcat varsity basketball coach Neal Burgess to accompany the captains onto center court at Harrington Gymnasium at WPI in 1974 and accept the District III runner-up trophy after Gardner's loss to St. Peter's.
"That was a great feeling," he said. "It would have been nice to beat St. Peter's in that game, but it was quite a ride that season."
He remained in Gardner after high school, attended Mount Wachusett Community College and moved on to serve as the scorekeeper for the Red Onion softball team in the City League. Later, he performed the same duties for the Ikonen team when his father, Dexter, was the team manager.
However, the Hawk was never too far away from Gardner High athletics.
In the early 1980s, he recalled being summoned out of the stands one day by then-Gardner athletic director Maurice Fitzgerald to lend a hand with the sideline chain gang.
He remained out there for the next 35 years and always made sports a big part of his life. Winters would find him serving as meet announcer for the Gardner Invitational Wrestling Tournaments over the years.
An employee at Wal-Mart, Fisher annually planned his vacation week to coincide with the Gardner Middle School Basketball Tournament so he could serve as official scorer and timekeeper for the 10-day event. Then, each year on Labor Day, he would be behind home plate umpiring the annual Lefty Proulx Old Timers' Baseball Game.
Unquestionably, his greatest moment came in 2004 when he was inducted into the Gardner High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the only team manager ever to be acknowledged for his many years of service.
At the conclusion of his acceptance speech, in which he called his induction, "The greatest moment of my life," he received a rousing standing ovation from those in attendance, acknowledging his tremendous contributions to the athletic program over the years.
One of my fondest memories of him was how, at the conclusion of every Gardner High football game when the marching band would play the school's alma mater, he would reverently stand with his Wildcat hat over his heart through the playing of the school song.
When asked once about the origin of his distinct nickname, he recalled the days of his youth hanging out at Bickford Playground. He was one of the regulars who'd while away the summer days playing the popular against-the-fence baseball game called Swamp League.
"Alan Dernalowicz was our playground director and he said I looked a lot like Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who was having a big year with the Red Sox that season," he recalled. "Since that time I've always been known as 'The Hawk.'"
And when pressed further about the origin of the Hawk nickname, he would proudly turn his face to profile and point to, "my schnozzola," he'd say with his distinctive laugh.
The Gardner sports scene has lost a loyal fan and a wonderful and special friend.
(Comments and suggestions for The Gardner Scene can be sent to Mike Richard at [email protected] or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563)
Grandfather: Arnold Morse Fisher, Memorial #83948791
Grandmother: Anne Dubzinski Fisher, Memorial # 116904030
The 63-year-old Gardner Wildcat Athletic Hall of Famer died suddenly on Sunday evening after suffering a fall in his home.
If you followed the Gardner sports scene over the past 50 years, you undoubtedly encountered the always-cheerful and ebullient Hawk; a local sports enthusiast who loved the Gardner High athletic scene and had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports.
He was a familiar face on the sidelines at Watkins Field for many decades as a volunteer on the chain gang for Friday night football games. The Hawk had been an adjunct member of the Wildcat football family for about as long as anyone can remember.
From his younger days carrying the water jugs to becoming a full-fledged team manager during his high school years, the Hawk remained on the football scene throughout five different Wildcat head coaches.
When he entered Gardner High as a freshman in the fall of 1972, he was asked by assistant football coach Ken Aho to serve as manager of the freshman football squad. Two years later, he became the varsity team manager and never left the sidelines.
From Marty Anderson and Jack Michalak, to Mike Sunderland and John Canu, and finally during all 29 seasons when his second cousin, Walt Dubzinski, Jr., served as coach, the Hawk always provided a helpful hand at whichever capacity he was needed.
He noted in a 2003 interview that his Wildcat football memories went back to the mid-1960s when his grandparents, Arnold and Annie Fisher, would take him to games at Stone Field to watch his cousin John Dubzinski play.
"My grandfather took me just about every Saturday," he recalled, noting that eventually, his interest in sports gave him the opportunity to ascend the cement ramps leading to Stone Field on those sun-splashed autumn Saturdays of the 1970s as team manager.
"I just remember coming out of that locker room, running up that first ramp near the practice field with the team, and then up that other ramp by the ticket booth," he said.
Throughout high school, he spent every season as a team manager, with memories also abounding from his years with the baseball and basketball teams prior to his 1976 graduation.
One of his fondest recollections was being urged by Wildcat varsity basketball coach Neal Burgess to accompany the captains onto center court at Harrington Gymnasium at WPI in 1974 and accept the District III runner-up trophy after Gardner's loss to St. Peter's.
"That was a great feeling," he said. "It would have been nice to beat St. Peter's in that game, but it was quite a ride that season."
He remained in Gardner after high school, attended Mount Wachusett Community College and moved on to serve as the scorekeeper for the Red Onion softball team in the City League. Later, he performed the same duties for the Ikonen team when his father, Dexter, was the team manager.
However, the Hawk was never too far away from Gardner High athletics.
In the early 1980s, he recalled being summoned out of the stands one day by then-Gardner athletic director Maurice Fitzgerald to lend a hand with the sideline chain gang.
He remained out there for the next 35 years and always made sports a big part of his life. Winters would find him serving as meet announcer for the Gardner Invitational Wrestling Tournaments over the years.
An employee at Wal-Mart, Fisher annually planned his vacation week to coincide with the Gardner Middle School Basketball Tournament so he could serve as official scorer and timekeeper for the 10-day event. Then, each year on Labor Day, he would be behind home plate umpiring the annual Lefty Proulx Old Timers' Baseball Game.
Unquestionably, his greatest moment came in 2004 when he was inducted into the Gardner High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the only team manager ever to be acknowledged for his many years of service.
At the conclusion of his acceptance speech, in which he called his induction, "The greatest moment of my life," he received a rousing standing ovation from those in attendance, acknowledging his tremendous contributions to the athletic program over the years.
One of my fondest memories of him was how, at the conclusion of every Gardner High football game when the marching band would play the school's alma mater, he would reverently stand with his Wildcat hat over his heart through the playing of the school song.
When asked once about the origin of his distinct nickname, he recalled the days of his youth hanging out at Bickford Playground. He was one of the regulars who'd while away the summer days playing the popular against-the-fence baseball game called Swamp League.
"Alan Dernalowicz was our playground director and he said I looked a lot like Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who was having a big year with the Red Sox that season," he recalled. "Since that time I've always been known as 'The Hawk.'"
And when pressed further about the origin of the Hawk nickname, he would proudly turn his face to profile and point to, "my schnozzola," he'd say with his distinctive laugh.
The Gardner sports scene has lost a loyal fan and a wonderful and special friend.
(Comments and suggestions for The Gardner Scene can be sent to Mike Richard at [email protected] or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563)
Grandfather: Arnold Morse Fisher, Memorial #83948791
Grandmother: Anne Dubzinski Fisher, Memorial # 116904030
He had the distinctive profile of the bird that gave him his nickname and a Wildcat spirit like no other, but everyone who knew Dave "Hawk" Fisher remembers a guy with a heart of gold.
The 63-year-old Gardner Wildcat Athletic Hall of Famer died suddenly on Sunday evening after suffering a fall in his home.
If you followed the Gardner sports scene over the past 50 years, you undoubtedly encountered the always-cheerful and ebullient Hawk; a local sports enthusiast who loved the Gardner High athletic scene and had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports.
He was a familiar face on the sidelines at Watkins Field for many decades as a volunteer on the chain gang for Friday night football games. The Hawk had been an adjunct member of the Wildcat football family for about as long as anyone can remember.
From his younger days carrying the water jugs to becoming a full-fledged team manager during his high school years, the Hawk remained on the football scene throughout five different Wildcat head coaches.
When he entered Gardner High as a freshman in the fall of 1972, he was asked by assistant football coach Ken Aho to serve as manager of the freshman football squad. Two years later, he became the varsity team manager and never left the sidelines.
From Marty Anderson and Jack Michalak, to Mike Sunderland and John Canu, and finally during all 29 seasons when his second cousin, Walt Dubzinski, Jr., served as coach, the Hawk always provided a helpful hand at whichever capacity he was needed.
He noted in a 2003 interview that his Wildcat football memories went back to the mid-1960s when his grandparents, Arnold and Annie Fisher, would take him to games at Stone Field to watch his cousin John Dubzinski play.
"My grandfather took me just about every Saturday," he recalled, noting that eventually, his interest in sports gave him the opportunity to ascend the cement ramps leading to Stone Field on those sun-splashed autumn Saturdays of the 1970s as team manager.
"I just remember coming out of that locker room, running up that first ramp near the practice field with the team, and then up that other ramp by the ticket booth," he said.
Throughout high school, he spent every season as a team manager, with memories also abounding from his years with the baseball and basketball teams prior to his 1976 graduation.
One of his fondest recollections was being urged by Wildcat varsity basketball coach Neal Burgess to accompany the captains onto center court at Harrington Gymnasium at WPI in 1974 and accept the District III runner-up trophy after Gardner's loss to St. Peter's.
"That was a great feeling," he said. "It would have been nice to beat St. Peter's in that game, but it was quite a ride that season."
He remained in Gardner after high school, attended Mount Wachusett Community College and moved on to serve as the scorekeeper for the Red Onion softball team in the City League. Later, he performed the same duties for the Ikonen team when his father, Dexter, was the team manager.
However, the Hawk was never too far away from Gardner High athletics.
In the early 1980s, he recalled being summoned out of the stands one day by then-Gardner athletic director Maurice Fitzgerald to lend a hand with the sideline chain gang.
He remained out there for the next 35 years and always made sports a big part of his life. Winters would find him serving as meet announcer for the Gardner Invitational Wrestling Tournaments over the years.
An employee at Wal-Mart, Fisher annually planned his vacation week to coincide with the Gardner Middle School Basketball Tournament so he could serve as official scorer and timekeeper for the 10-day event. Then, each year on Labor Day, he would be behind home plate umpiring the annual Lefty Proulx Old Timers' Baseball Game.
Unquestionably, his greatest moment came in 2004 when he was inducted into the Gardner High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the only team manager ever to be acknowledged for his many years of service.
At the conclusion of his acceptance speech, in which he called his induction, "The greatest moment of my life," he received a rousing standing ovation from those in attendance, acknowledging his tremendous contributions to the athletic program over the years.
One of my fondest memories of him was how, at the conclusion of every Gardner High football game when the marching band would play the school's alma mater, he would reverently stand with his Wildcat hat over his heart through the playing of the school song.
When asked once about the origin of his distinct nickname, he recalled the days of his youth hanging out at Bickford Playground. He was one of the regulars who'd while away the summer days playing the popular against-the-fence baseball game called Swamp League.
"Alan Dernalowicz was our playground director and he said I looked a lot like Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who was having a big year with the Red Sox that season," he recalled. "Since that time I've always been known as 'The Hawk.'"
And when pressed further about the origin of the Hawk nickname, he would proudly turn his face to profile and point to, "my schnozzola," he'd say with his distinctive laugh.
The Gardner sports scene has lost a loyal fan and a wonderful and special friend.
(Comments and suggestions for The Gardner Scene can be sent to Mike Richard at [email protected] or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563)
Grandfather: Arnold Morse Fisher, Memorial #83948791
Grandmother: Anne Dubzinski Fisher, Memorial # 116904030
The 63-year-old Gardner Wildcat Athletic Hall of Famer died suddenly on Sunday evening after suffering a fall in his home.
If you followed the Gardner sports scene over the past 50 years, you undoubtedly encountered the always-cheerful and ebullient Hawk; a local sports enthusiast who loved the Gardner High athletic scene and had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things sports.
He was a familiar face on the sidelines at Watkins Field for many decades as a volunteer on the chain gang for Friday night football games. The Hawk had been an adjunct member of the Wildcat football family for about as long as anyone can remember.
From his younger days carrying the water jugs to becoming a full-fledged team manager during his high school years, the Hawk remained on the football scene throughout five different Wildcat head coaches.
When he entered Gardner High as a freshman in the fall of 1972, he was asked by assistant football coach Ken Aho to serve as manager of the freshman football squad. Two years later, he became the varsity team manager and never left the sidelines.
From Marty Anderson and Jack Michalak, to Mike Sunderland and John Canu, and finally during all 29 seasons when his second cousin, Walt Dubzinski, Jr., served as coach, the Hawk always provided a helpful hand at whichever capacity he was needed.
He noted in a 2003 interview that his Wildcat football memories went back to the mid-1960s when his grandparents, Arnold and Annie Fisher, would take him to games at Stone Field to watch his cousin John Dubzinski play.
"My grandfather took me just about every Saturday," he recalled, noting that eventually, his interest in sports gave him the opportunity to ascend the cement ramps leading to Stone Field on those sun-splashed autumn Saturdays of the 1970s as team manager.
"I just remember coming out of that locker room, running up that first ramp near the practice field with the team, and then up that other ramp by the ticket booth," he said.
Throughout high school, he spent every season as a team manager, with memories also abounding from his years with the baseball and basketball teams prior to his 1976 graduation.
One of his fondest recollections was being urged by Wildcat varsity basketball coach Neal Burgess to accompany the captains onto center court at Harrington Gymnasium at WPI in 1974 and accept the District III runner-up trophy after Gardner's loss to St. Peter's.
"That was a great feeling," he said. "It would have been nice to beat St. Peter's in that game, but it was quite a ride that season."
He remained in Gardner after high school, attended Mount Wachusett Community College and moved on to serve as the scorekeeper for the Red Onion softball team in the City League. Later, he performed the same duties for the Ikonen team when his father, Dexter, was the team manager.
However, the Hawk was never too far away from Gardner High athletics.
In the early 1980s, he recalled being summoned out of the stands one day by then-Gardner athletic director Maurice Fitzgerald to lend a hand with the sideline chain gang.
He remained out there for the next 35 years and always made sports a big part of his life. Winters would find him serving as meet announcer for the Gardner Invitational Wrestling Tournaments over the years.
An employee at Wal-Mart, Fisher annually planned his vacation week to coincide with the Gardner Middle School Basketball Tournament so he could serve as official scorer and timekeeper for the 10-day event. Then, each year on Labor Day, he would be behind home plate umpiring the annual Lefty Proulx Old Timers' Baseball Game.
Unquestionably, his greatest moment came in 2004 when he was inducted into the Gardner High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the only team manager ever to be acknowledged for his many years of service.
At the conclusion of his acceptance speech, in which he called his induction, "The greatest moment of my life," he received a rousing standing ovation from those in attendance, acknowledging his tremendous contributions to the athletic program over the years.
One of my fondest memories of him was how, at the conclusion of every Gardner High football game when the marching band would play the school's alma mater, he would reverently stand with his Wildcat hat over his heart through the playing of the school song.
When asked once about the origin of his distinct nickname, he recalled the days of his youth hanging out at Bickford Playground. He was one of the regulars who'd while away the summer days playing the popular against-the-fence baseball game called Swamp League.
"Alan Dernalowicz was our playground director and he said I looked a lot like Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who was having a big year with the Red Sox that season," he recalled. "Since that time I've always been known as 'The Hawk.'"
And when pressed further about the origin of the Hawk nickname, he would proudly turn his face to profile and point to, "my schnozzola," he'd say with his distinctive laugh.
The Gardner sports scene has lost a loyal fan and a wonderful and special friend.
(Comments and suggestions for The Gardner Scene can be sent to Mike Richard at [email protected] or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Road, Sandwich, MA 02563)
Grandfather: Arnold Morse Fisher, Memorial #83948791
Grandmother: Anne Dubzinski Fisher, Memorial # 116904030
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