Going Back

an article written for the MSBA 60th Anniversary (2010) by former MSBA Historian John Cherico

 

Getting started with this article for me will be a task; so here is my story:

 

Back on a weekend in 1960, I was fishing the Cape Cod Canal when I met this fisherman, Bob Black was his name. We were waiting for the tide to turn. It was a damp and foggy night; the fishing was slow and at about 2:00 am it started to rain. Come to find out this Mr. Black was from the same town that I was from. We were talking about the gear we had. He introduced me to the Reverse Atom. We talked for about two hours, the rain had started, and no fish came through the canal.

 

He asked me if I belonged to a fishing club. I said no. That’s when he told me about the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association. He told me how the club was ten years old and had 700 members and about how they meet once every month on Beale street in Quincy MA and about the free coffee and donuts, movies, guest speakers and fish talk.

 

Wow. I said all that for three dollars a year. He told me the meetings were held on the third Tuesday of the month. So, my friend Dick Piantedosi and I drive down from Somerville. That’s when it all started. I sat in on the meetings for about a half year. I wasn’t making any friends with anybody. So, I asked the president Harry Bailey if I could help out in any way. He said sure, come to the next E-Board meeting, which I did.

 

My first job was helping out at the sportsmen show at the Mechanics Hall on Huntington Ave in Boston. That’s when the fun began. Listening to all the fish talk and what and where they caught them. Back then, the shows were nine days long. I was tired but I couldn’t wait for my next job. I started helping out with the coffee and donuts. On and on it went that way one job after another. Then it came show time and we moved from the Mechanic’s Hall to the Commonwealth Armory. That’s when I tried my hand at the Swimmer Angler contest representing Mass Bass (MSBA). That was the hardest fishing I ever did.

 

I got involved in all the committees I could get on: Outing, Tri-State, Mystery Trips, Tournaments…then in 1969, I became President of this fine club. Now it was my job to take over find help to work the sportsmen show booth.

 

After two years at the Commonwealth Armory, we moved to the Hynes Auditorium on Boylston street in Boston. The 1960’s were fun years, then came the 1970’s. Past President John DeMasi introduced me to Angelo DiSimone, the President of the Garcia Mitchell corp. A number of our members worked the Garcia booth at the show for about four years that went on. Then I met Chuck Caliri, a rep for the Thomas F. Gowen company and the Stren Line Fishing company.

 

I was a field rep for Stren Line. Then I got connected with Plano Tackle Box company. Between the shows, I was field-testing Stren Line and representing Plano Boxes in store promotions. I was having the time of my life.

 

Onto the 1980’s, it started to get a little slow at the club. Striped bass fishing was slow due to the lack of fish. The striped bass population was way down. I became President again in 1982. Membership was dropping off. We could not get anyone to step up and volunteer.

 

Then in the1990’s, things started to pick up when Ralph Bergonzi took over. We started to have fun again. That’s when we took our mini-sportsmen show out of the meeting hall and into the Quincy Armory, where we held our first fishing expo.

 

Now we are in our 60th  year and our club is still going strong. The whole idea is that a club is only as strong as its members and if you want MSBA to be strong, you have to get involved.

 

Here it is, 50-years after I joined the MSBA and it’s been the fastest fifty years of my life. I wouldn’t change it for a SEVENY POUNDER.

 

John Cherico Past President & Club Historian

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          * * * John Cherico passed away on March 25, 2016 at the age of 85

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