OLMIS Alumni Hall of Fame

Year of Induction	Letters from Our Hall of Famers
2002
2003	A Letter from Brian Mahoney... Hello Students, I think it is great that one of our “Hall of Famers” is teaching at OLM. Congratulations Gail! As a quick follow up, this past June I conducted the 18th Annual Fishing Outing for the Disabled which was held at Darlington Park in Mahwah, NJ. I had a record number of OLM parishioners in attendance to help out. Ever since you gave me the opportunity to present this outing to the class rooms at OLM, the attendance continues to rise. It was instrumental in giving quite a few of our teenagers the opportunity to pile up community service hours toward their goal prior to their upcoming Confirmations. I was so pleased with their eagerness to participate and I believe that they will continue to attend in the future. This event has gone so far beyond my expectations. What has started on a local community basis has gone National! In April of 2004, ESPN/Bassmasters had flown my wife and me to Disney World and presented me the “2004 B.A.S.S.. Chapter of the Year Award for Special Events” in which I accepted on behalf of my fishing club, The Bergen Bassmasters. This event was chosen out of hundreds of entries from around the world. The President of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Ass. (B.A.S.S.), Ray Scott, was truly touched by this event that had been put together by a local NJ Fishing Club. This event is now the blueprint for the hundreds of Bass Clubs on a National basis. Other Disabled people can now reap the benefits of participating in a sport that they would have otherwise not had the chance. Although I am humbled by the recognition, I am very grateful for all the help I have been given from our OLM community and I am certain that I would not have been as successful without their support. I am looking forward to continuing this event and working with my fellow parishioners’. Best regards, Brian Mahoney Class of 1974
2004
2005	A letter from George DeTitta . . . George DeTitta e-mail: georgedetitta@prodigy.net October 5, 2006 Dear OLMIS students, faculty, and families, First of all, I would like this opportunity to congratulate and welcome our latest Hall of Famer. Congratulations and best wishes to you, Gail! It has indeed been a very busy year since my visit to OLMIS in late spring of 2005. If you remember at the time, I was working on a Spike Lee film titled, “Inside Man”. Since that time, the film was completed and released this past spring. It received great reviews, and has gone on to become Spike Lee’s biggest-grossing film to date. It was recently released on DVD and was in the top five in sales. Following that film, my wife, Lesley, and I, took a month off and retreated town to the beach in North Carolina. I returned to New York to work on the New York portion of Steven Spielberg’s film, “Munich”, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar as one of the best films of the year. It was a great experience for me to work again with Steven Spielberg, one of the most renowned movie directors of our time. I had previously worked with him very briefly on Whoopi Goldberg’s screen test for the film, “The Color Purple”. Soon after “Munich, I went on to work on a small independent film by a first-time director who is also a brilliant writer. He has created quite a thriller. The film title is “Michael Clayton”, and stars George Clooney in the title role. It was one of the best scripts that I have read in quite a while. Early word on the production is that it is going to be a very good film. Look for it next year. I followed that film up with a recently-completed project for Disney titled “Enchanted”. This film is a fairy tale that takes place in New York. It has all of the earmarks of a true Disney classic film, and will debut next year during the holiday season. What makes this film different is that it starts out as animation, and then the characters enter the real world of New York City, where they are transformed into real people. The animated drawings were really quite wonderful to see, harkening back to Disney’s golden era of classics. What made this film extremely different in today’s world is that the animation was done in the old-school, traditional way - - hand-drawn, with NO computer animation. It will have the great look of cartoons of old, and could become the new “Cinderella” in my opinion. We’ve been told there will be an “Enchanted” ride at Disney’s parks and major merchandising campaigns will help promote the film, The live actors starring in this film include Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, and Susan Sarandon, and it is a production not to be missed for all Disney fans out there! Hopefully, you’ll all be Enchanted! This brings me to my current project, and it is what the studios call a “tentpole” film; basically meaning one with a very big budget with lots of special effects, and a big star which the studios have great expectations for. In this case, the star is Will Smith, and the title of the film is “I Am Legend”. This is a re-make of an old Charlton Heston film which was titled, “Omega Man”. In “I Am Legend”, Will Smith plays a scientist who is the last man left in New York City after a virus has wiped out the population of New York. Some of the people who caught the virus have now mutated into creatures who wander the city at night. Based on the book of the same name by Richard Matheson, this is a New York like you have never seen. Deserted for three years, New York City is overgrown and abandoned - - a very different look than I have ever done. A long and challenging few months lay ahead. Principal photography began on September 25th. We have an ambitious schedule and hope to be finished with the filming by the end of February. The film is scheduled for release sometime in 2007. That takes us up to date since I last met you all at OLMIS at my Hall of Fame induction in 2005. I do hope that this past year has been a great one for all of you. I send you all my best regards. Once again, I extend my congratulations to our latest Hall of Fame inductee, Gail. All the best to you! Take care and be well! Best regards, George
2006	Congratulations Mrs. Gail Miller Tonks, Class of 1964!

Year of Induction

Letters from Our Hall of Famers

2002

2003

A Letter from Brian Mahoney...

Hello Students,

I think it is great that one of our “Hall of Famers” is teaching at OLM. Congratulations Gail!

As a quick follow up, this past June I conducted the 18th Annual Fishing Outing for the Disabled which was held at Darlington Park in Mahwah, NJ. I had a record number of OLM parishioners in attendance to help out. Ever since you gave me the opportunity to present this outing to the class rooms at OLM, the attendance continues to rise.

It was instrumental in giving quite a few of our teenagers the opportunity to pile up community service hours toward their goal prior to their upcoming Confirmations. I was so pleased with their eagerness to participate and I believe that they will continue to attend in the future.

This event has gone so far beyond my expectations. What has started on a local community basis has gone National! In April of 2004, ESPN/Bassmasters had flown my wife and me to Disney World and presented me the “2004 B.A.S.S.. Chapter of the Year Award for Special Events” in which I accepted on behalf of my fishing club, The Bergen Bassmasters. This event was chosen out of hundreds of entries from around the world. The President of the Bass Anglers Sportsman Ass. (B.A.S.S.), Ray Scott, was truly touched by this event that had been put together by a local NJ Fishing Club. This event is now the blueprint for the hundreds of Bass Clubs on a National basis. Other Disabled people can now reap the benefits of participating in a sport that they would have otherwise not had the chance.

Although I am humbled by the recognition, I am very grateful for all the help I have been given from our OLM community and I am certain that I would not have been as successful without their support. I am looking forward to continuing this event and working with my fellow parishioners’.

Best regards,

Brian Mahoney

Class of 1974

2004

2005

A letter from George DeTitta . . .

George DeTitta

e-mail: georgedetitta@prodigy.net

October 5, 2006

Dear OLMIS students, faculty, and families,

First of all, I would like this opportunity to congratulate and welcome our latest Hall of Famer. Congratulations and best wishes to you, Gail!

It has indeed been a very busy year since my visit to OLMIS in late spring of 2005. If you remember at the time, I was working on a Spike Lee film titled, “Inside Man”. Since that time, the film was completed and released this past spring. It received great reviews, and has gone on to become Spike Lee’s biggest-grossing film to date. It was recently released on DVD and was in the top five in sales. Following that film, my wife, Lesley, and I, took a month off and retreated town to the beach in North Carolina.

I returned to New York to work on the New York portion of Steven Spielberg’s film, “Munich”, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar as one of the best films of the year. It was a great experience for me to work again with Steven Spielberg, one of the most renowned movie directors of our time. I had previously worked with him very briefly on Whoopi Goldberg’s screen test for the film, “The Color Purple”.

Soon after “Munich, I went on to work on a small independent film by a first-time director who is also a brilliant writer. He has created quite a thriller. The film title is “Michael Clayton”, and stars George Clooney in the title role. It was one of the best scripts that I have read in quite a while. Early word on the production is that it is going to be a very good film. Look for it next year.

I followed that film up with a recently-completed project for Disney titled “Enchanted”. This film is a fairy tale that takes place in New York. It has all of the earmarks of a true Disney classic film, and will debut next year during the holiday season. What makes this film different is that it starts out as animation, and then the characters enter the real world of New York City, where they are transformed into real people. The animated drawings were really quite wonderful to see, harkening back to Disney’s golden era of classics. What made this film extremely different in today’s world is that the animation was done in the old-school, traditional way - - hand-drawn, with NO computer animation. It will have the great look of cartoons of old, and could become the new “Cinderella” in my opinion. We’ve been told there will be an “Enchanted” ride at Disney’s parks and major merchandising campaigns will help promote the film, The live actors starring in this film include Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, and Susan Sarandon, and it is a production not to be missed for all Disney fans out there! Hopefully, you’ll all be Enchanted!

This brings me to my current project, and it is what the studios call a “tentpole” film; basically meaning one with a very big budget with lots of special effects, and a big star which the studios have great expectations for. In this case, the star is Will Smith, and the title of the film is “I Am Legend”. This is a re-make of an old Charlton Heston film which was titled, “Omega Man”.

In “I Am Legend”, Will Smith plays a scientist who is the last man left in New York City after a virus has wiped out the population of New York. Some of the people who caught the virus have now mutated into creatures who wander the city at night. Based on the book of the same name by Richard Matheson, this is a New York like you have never seen. Deserted for three years, New York City is overgrown and abandoned - - a very different look than I have ever done. A long and challenging few months lay ahead. Principal photography began on September 25th. We have an ambitious schedule and hope to be finished with the filming by the end of February. The film is scheduled for release sometime in 2007.

That takes us up to date since I last met you all at OLMIS at my Hall of Fame induction in 2005. I do hope that this past year has been a great one for all of you.

I send you all my best regards. Once again, I extend my congratulations to our latest Hall of Fame inductee, Gail. All the best to you!

Take care and be well!

Best regards,

George

2006

Congratulations Mrs. Gail Miller Tonks, Class of 1964!

O.L.M.I.S. Alumni Hall of Fame