BENNETT BEACON

DONATE

Ray Skaine

Ray Skaine

by | Feb 17, 2023

Ray Skaine was a standout athlete in football and track for Bennett during the 1 950’s. As a junior in 1 955, he was honorable mention All-High in football. Following his superb 1 956 senior season, Skaine was named first team All-High as an interior lineman by both the Buffalo Evening News and the Buffalo Courier Express. On the gridiron, his proficiency as a tackle and special teams place kicker, were major contributions for a Bennett Tiger’s team that defeated McKinley 9-6, in the annual Thanksgiving Day game at All-High Stadium.

In the most successful season of his four year career, Bennett finished 6-2, including a memorable defeat of East High, the eventual co-champion of the Harvard Cup campaign in 1 956. In addition to his All-High honors, Skaine received recognition as All-American Honorable Mention in Scholastic Magazine.

In track & field, Skaine was a heavy point contributor to Bennett’s cause as a shot put specialist. He was one of only a few boys to represent Bennett in the 1 957 All-High track meet.

Following his athletic career at Bennett, Ray matriculated at UB and played on the 1 958 Lambert Cup Championship team for Buffalo, the team finishing with an 8-1 record.

Skaine now plays an active role in numerous community organizations, including the Bennett High School volunteer mentoring program. He is married to a former Bennettonian, Sandy Markham. They have raised 3 children in Clarence, NY. where they have lived for the past several decades.

William “Bill” Truckenbrod

William “Bill” Truckenbrod

by | Feb 17, 2023

Bill Truckenbrod was a four time All-High swimmer at Bennett in 1949 and 1950. His specialty was the 100 yard freestyle, gaining All High honors in that event plus the 160 yard free relay in both years.The Tigers were the Syracuse Cup champions in 1950.

Truckenbrod was Class Historian of the senior class in 1949, and attended the University of Michigan in 1951 and 1952. His college education was interrupted by the Korean War, when he decided to enlisted in the U.S.Navy and later became a night jet fighter pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge. After his military discharge in 1957, Truckenbrod continued his college education Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Truckenbrod graduated with a degree in Building Construction in 1959 and joined the family construction business. He is married with 5 grown daughters, one of whom (Krista ) was also an All High swimmer at Bennett 30 years after her dad in 1979.

Joseph Voskerichian

Joseph Voskerichian

by | Feb 17, 2023

Joey Voskerichian appears to be the ideal person to be receiving the E.Y.Hannel Memorial Award. Like Earle, Joey has a backround in athletics at Bennett, playing varsity baseball and football, and continued his career in the business world with involvement in sports and charity work. Voskerichian is a University of Buffalo graduate and a Korean War veteran. His work history includes the Tampa, FL Police Department and a banking executive. Voskerichian retired in 2000 as a senior vice president of Bank of America. He also served on numerous boards of directors.

Voskerichian’s sports backround beyond Bennett H.S. includes varsity baseball and football at the University of Buffalo and service ball, coaching at the Jr. and Sr. high school level and officiating H.S. and college baseball and basketball. Voskerichian received the “Outstanding Citizen Award” from the Tampa Sports Foundation. His activities include chairman of the Special Olympics at USF, the World Championship Boxing Challenge, and involvement with the late George Steinbrenner’s “Gold Shield Foundation”, which provides financial assistance to families of law enforcement and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

Joey Voskerichian joins his brother George as a member of the Bennett Sports Hall Of Fame.

James J. Weindel

James J. Weindel

by | Feb 17, 2023

Jim Weindel was a three sport star at Bennett in the early 50’s. He was a backfield star in football, the starting point guard in basketball, and a catcher in his specialty, baseball. In football he started for the Tigers in his junior and senior seasons, a team that went undefeated but couldn’t play in the Harvard Cup game because of an overage player. Highlights include scoring a TD on a 43 yard play to defeat arch rival Kensington, breaking a 4 game losing streak to the Suffolk Ave. school. Weindel also scored a Touchdown in the Kensington game in his senior year for a two year win streak against the rival Knights. He later attended Mississippi State on a football scholarship.

In basketball, weindel was the starting point guard on a team that did not win the Yale Cup, but defeated the team that did, the legendary Emerson High powerhouse, in both his junior and senior years.

Weindel’s specialty was baseball. A three year varsity player, he was the All-High catcher in 1952. His batting average that year was .392, and he caught for Johnnie Zeitler (B.S.H.O.F. ) and Earle Hannel, on a Cornell Cup championship team. After a stint at Mississippi St., Weindel signed a professional baseball contract with the Chicago Cubs. He rose to the level of AAA in 3 years of pro ball. He later played with the top amateur local baseball team, the Simon Pures, where his batting average was .342.

Jim Weindel served in the U.S. Army, is married with 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.

Reg Eyre

Reg Eyre

by | Feb 17, 2023

If ever there was a “man for all seasons” in the annals of Bennett High School sports history, it would be none other than 1959 graduate, Reggie Eyre. As a football, basketball and baseball major letterman, Eyre is one of the select few Bennett athletes to have played on a championship team in all three sports. When the Tigers won the Cornell Cup baseball championship in 1957, the Harvard Cup championship for football in 1958, and were crowned Yale Cup basketball champions in 1959, he became a member of the exclusive “trifecta” club.

As a hard hitting, multi position baseball player, Eyre was named first team All-High in his senior year, hitting a robust .520 and patrolling the outfield positions with skill and grace. A starting End on the gridiron, reliable #17, Reg Eyre played with determination and was a major cog in the 1958 Bennett team that rolled through the Harvard Cup season undefeated, finishing an unblemished 7 wins, 0 losses.

On the hardcourt, Eyre was part of a Bennett hoops squad that was the first Bennett team to capture the Yale Cup, as well as the Board of Education playoff trophy. At the culmination of his final season at Bennett, he was the only member of his senior class of 1959 to win a varsity letter in three sports.

After completing his education at Bennett, Eyre attended the University of Buffalo. He currently resides in Tonawanda, NY.