By NANCY HILER
Additionally, one of the alumni speakers revealed clues to mystery of the map's creation.
Former coach honored
During the Mepham High School Alumni Association's celebration of the school's 70th anniversary on Sept. 9, former school athletic director and coach Nicholas Sabetto was honored posthumously for his dedication to and serving as a role model for his students, whom he considered his second family.
Alumni Association Vice President Vincent Proto presented a plaque to three of Sabetto's five children at the ceremony. "Nick put Mepham on that map for sports," Proto said, pointing to the recently restored mural of Long Island on the auditorium wall. "By the time of his retirement in 1975, he was the only coach in New York state history whose teams won major championships in four different sports."
Having interviewed family, friends and many of the athletes Sabetto had coached, Proto said that he was loved by all. Time and again many mentioned that the coach considered his students to be part of his family, and spoke of their admiration for him, and looked up to as a second father, he said. In accepting the award, Sabetto's son, Chris Sabetto, said, "It went both ways. He admired you as much as you admired him."
Accomplished alumni
The association also presented 2007 Who's Who Awards to four alumni in recognition of their accomplishments in their fields of work and service to their communities.
· Lauren Boglioli, M.D., class of '83, received the award for her life-saving work as a nuclear cardiologist.
· Mona Friedman Jamison , class of '67, was selected for her distinguished career in law, which included chief legal counsel to the governor of Montana and involved historic preservation and environmental work.
· Roy Probeyahn, class of '56, was chosen for his work as an advocate for people with developmental disabilities, particularly those with autism.
· John Scalesi, class of '75, was honored for his volunteer and career service as an emergency medical technician and as fire rescue safety instructor.
Although Jamison was unable to attend the ceremony, the three others expressed their gratitude for the honor. Probeyahn said he shared the honor with his wife, Arlene, also a Mepham graduate, without whom his work on behalf of the disabled, including his own three autistic sons, would not be possible. "This advocacy effort is to integrate our most vulnerable into the mainstream," he said, "what I believe is the last civil rights movement."
Viola Quiney Young, class of '56, was presented with the Meritorious Service Award for her work on behalf of the Alumni Association. Young was among the original former students who started the group, served as its second president, and continues to actively organize many of its functions and activities.
Might be map-makers
The ongoing mystery into the creators of the map mural, whose restoration was also celebrated Sunday, might be solved soon. Former alumni association president Frank Setteducati announced during the ceremony that the art conservator Jonathan Sherman who refurbished the mural got a call from one of the owners of Rambusch Decorative Studio, a family-owned, Manhattan-based decorative painting firm in existence since the 1890s, which specialized in decorative murals in public buildings through the 1950s.
"They believe they created a map identical to this map [the one in Mepham's auditorium] in the original Waldorf Hotel, which was razed in the 1930s to make room for the Empire State Building," Setteducati said. "It may have been the same one and reinstalled here."
Sherman, who was unable to attend the dedication ceremony, would be talking to members of the firm to see what their records may show and would provide further details as they became known, Setteducati said. "The mystery may be solved," he added. "We're still finding out."
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