The ice hockey season is in full swing, and that includes San Diego State University’s men’s ice hockey team.

Alpine resident Tim Mehrer is a member of the 2025-26 Aztecs squad and he’s having a blast.

“It’s fun to play at this high level,” the El Capitan High School alumnus said. “There are a lot of good guys on the team and I enjoy the team camaraderie.”

Mehrer attended the Lakeside school all four years before making the cross-country trek New Hampshire to play Junior hockey for the Northern Cyclones for two years. The Cyclones compete in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) Elite, which serves as a launching pad for college and professional leagues.

Mehrer played in 43 games his first season with the team in 2022-23 with one goal and one assist and six penalty minutes. He logged time in five playoff games with one assist. He appeared in 38 games in his second season with the Cyclones, recording nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points with four penalty minutes. He skated in six playoff games with one goal.

He took a year off from the grueling grind of Junior hockey to suit up this season for SDSU. In three games with the Aztecs, he’s been productive with three goals, three assists and six penalty minutes.

Mehrer grew up playing the standard American youth sports — baseball, soccer and lacrosse. He then transitioned to ice hockey with the San Diego Saints youth club at the 10U to 18U levels. He learned to skate at the Kroc Center.

He said ice hockey caught his attention when he noticed his father watching “Miracle,” a film about the 1980 United States gold-medalist men’s Olympic team.

“Hockey was kind of unique, no one else in San Diego was playing it,” he said.

He got his feet wet in higher levels of local hockey by playing in five games for the San Diego United Hawks, a high school team that competes in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League. He appeared in 30 games with the Saints 18U-AA team in 2021-22, excelling with 17 goals and 12 assists for 29 points with 41 penalty minutes.

He finished second in scoring on that Saints team.

While he was attending El Capitan, he played three seasons of tennis for the Vaqueros, winning a San Diego Section Division III championship in 2021 as a junior and a league championship as a senior.

The 2021 season was unique Alpine skater enjoying SDSU hockey as the section combined boys and girls into a coed format in response to the coronavirus pandemic that forced teams to field shortened seasons. The coed format featured boys singles, girls singles, boys doubles, girls doubles and mixed doubles.

It was the first CIF championship in the sport for the Lakeside school.

Mehrer played doubles.

“It was an enjoyable sport,” he said. “My best friend was my doubles partner. He got me into it. It was something different from hockey.”

SDSU competes at the Division I level in the American Collegiate Hockey League, a club-based league separate from NCAA varsity teams.

This is the Aztecs third year since moving up to the ACHA’s highest level. The team is still experiencing growing pains with a 2-11-1 record through games as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey League, one of the premier ACHA men’s playing circuits.

Mehrer ranks fifth in scoring on the team but sits just two points behind team scoring leader Braden Mayer, an Eastlake High School alumnus. Jake Abenojar, Cameron Ferraz and Ryan Elleraas are all one point ahead of Mehrer, who is tied with teammates Mason Brown and Noah Robinson.

Elleraas also played for the Cyclones.

The Alpine skater recorded two goals and two assists in a 13-1 non-conference win over Cal-State Long Beach.

The St. Paul Boulevard Fire Department plans to build a new firehouse to meet modern safety and staffing needs.

Since the staff has grown beyond the original design, the current firehouse no longer fits the needs of the staff or the proper health and safety standards — according to NFPA 1500 safety standards and cancer prevention standards. It was built in 1990.

Eric Clark Peterson | Heritage Tractor regional sales manager

“Always bet on yourself, because you control the odds.”

ROCKFORD, Ill. — A local park district announced that a youth sports league will be starting soon.

The Rockford Park District Jr. NBA leagues are co-ed winter basketball leagues for boys and girls from kindergarten through 5th grade.

Players go to one 60-minute practice on Monday nights between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and one 40-minute game on Friday nights between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Playing time is encouraged for all participants, the park district says.

There are three age groups. Kindergarteners and first graders play at the “Rookies” level, second and third graders at the “Pros” level, and fourth and fifth graders at the “All-Stars” level, according to the Park District’s website.

There is also a “Little Hoopers” league for boys and girls from ages 3 to 4. That league starts on Jan. 31, 2026, at the YMCA SwedishAmerican Riverfront, located at 200 Y Blvd. It runs until March 7.

The Rockford Park District Jr. NBA leagues start Jan. 19, 2026, at the UW Health Sports Factory, located at 305 S. Madison St. It runs until March 6.

To sign up for either league, visit the park district’s website.

Joe Pinto, the Massapequa Herald Post’s Person of the Year Carolyn James /Herald

For 40 years, he has stood at the edge of the diamond, teaching generations of boys and girls not only how to field a grounder or swing through the ball, but how to believe in themselves. Parents trusted him, players looked up to him and the community came to rely on his steady presence in their youth sports programs. For Joe Pinto, coaching was never a hobby, it was a lifelong devotion to the sport he loved. But it was also something deeper.

Pinto’s father died when he was 5. His mother believed it was important for him to play ball and join the Scouts, where he could build relationships with male coaches and Scout leaders. He thought those experiences inspired his future as a baseball coach. What he didn’t realize then was that the path had also been nudged forward by his father — in the form of a worn note tucked inside a manila envelope.

“I was about 27 years old and was going through some of my father’s papers and there was a manila envelope that I picked up and opened,” recalled Pinto. “Inside was a note in my father’s writing that said: ‘Joe, be a manager.’ It was like my father was watching and listening to me.”

Joe Pinto, his wife Janis and sons, Joseph, Matthew and Vincent (center), who died in 2021. Courtesy Joe Pinto

Pinto, a Massapequa Park resident and commissioner of Parks and Recreation in the Town of Oyster Bay, grew up in Brooklyn. He came of age in the post-Dodgers era, when most people — including his family — became Mets fans.

“But secretly I rooted for the Yankees,” he said, laughing, later learning his father had been a Yankees fan, too. “I couldn’t tell anybody; you know, that’s like a mortal sin.”

Pinto’s first coaching assignments came in Brooklyn while he was attending Pace College in Pleasantville.

“I was 18 and it was freshman year,” said Pinto, recalling how parents helped cover the cost of his travel from Pleasantville to Brooklyn to manage the teams. He later coached in Pleasantville, cutting out the long trips.

He earned an accounting degree and joined Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, choosing to work out of the Syosset office rather than in New York City. The commute introduced him to Long Island, and he eventually bought a condo in Hauppauge.

Pinto married Janis, and the couple had three sons: Joseph, Mathew and Vincent, who died in 2021.

The family purchased a home in Massapequa Park and Pinto brought with him his passion for baseball and coaching. By then, he had taken a job with The LiRo Group, a construction engineering firm.

His devotion to youth sports eventually led him into politics. In 1995, while volunteering with the Massapequa International Little League, a fire tore through the Massapequa Park Community Center, destroying $35,000 worth of league equipment and uniforms. At the time, Pinto was serving on the Planning Commission. When efforts to recoup the loss stalled, a frustrated Pinto ran for village trustee — and won. He became deputy mayor in 1999.

“He worked tirelessly as a member of the Village Board and was an important part of many of the changes that have made Massapequa Park a great place to live and raise a family,” said Mayor Danny Pearl. “We are fortunate to have him as part of the Village, in Little League and in the Town of Oyster Bay as Parks Commissioner.”

During his time on the Village Board, Pinto helped revitalize village parks and recreation areas, work noticed by Joseph Saladino, who later became Oyster Bay town supervisor. Pinto eventually ran for Oyster Bay Town Council, where he used his CPA background to help manage budgets for, among other things, town engineering projects.

When the position of commissioner of Parks and Recreation opened, the Town Board quickly appointed him.

“On the board of our Little League, preparing fields, understanding all the complicated intricacies between the needs of our community and the role of our Town Parks Department, he is an expert in that and is the perfect person to head up our parks department and to also assist us in all of the financial matters of this town,” said Saladino in nominating Pinto.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Joe for close to two decades,” said Craig Garland of the Massapequa Coast Little League. “Joe is one of the most respected baseball people on Long Island. His passion for youth baseball and keeping kids in Little League is is second to none and when it comes to youth baseball here in Massapequa, Joe volunteers countless hours for the benefit of our community. That enriches the lives of children and families in Little League.

Garland added that his work as Parks Commissioner also helps enhance the quality and variety of youth programs in Oyster Bay.

Pinto has spent more than four decades coaching baseball. Looking back he says he sometimes thinks of some young, snarky kids who give him trouble when he tells them to run or work out. He says that 40 years from now, he hopes those same kids are together somewhere in Massapequa Park, looking back on those days and laughing.

Elmhurst starts work on new community center

Elmhurst Park District officials were on hand to mark the start of demolition of the community center, which is being torn down to make space for the new Joanne B. Wagner Community Center at 615 N. West Ave., which will have 127,250 square feet and cost nearly $85 million to construct.

Those at the ceremony included Park Board President Kevin Graf, Vice President Claire Kubiesa, Executive Director Jim Rogers and Commissioners Vince Spaeth, Meghan Scarsella, Carolyn Ubriaco and Susan Smentek.

The new center, which will be built by McHugh Construction, will add more recreation and early childhood programming, thanks to being about four times larger than the previous center.

It will feature a full-size gymnasium, indoor artificial turf field, three-lane elevated walking track, expanded gymnastics and dance studios, an indoor play area, early childhood and preschool classrooms with a separate entrance, administrative offices and multipurpose community rooms. It is expected to open in fall 2027.

Leyden Youth Basketball League starts soon

Children in first to eighth grade can participate in the Leyden Youth Basketball League from Jan. 10 to March 27 with the Park District of Franklin Park.

Players can work on their ball skills, exercise teamwork via games and once-weekly 60-minute practices and build confidence. Teams are formed from Franklin Park and nearby communities.

The fee includes a T-shirt uniform. Resident passholders in first and second grade pay $105 and others pay $115. Older grades pay $130 for resident passholders and $140 for others.

A late fee of $15 will be charged for those who register after Jan. 3. Sign up by calling 847-455-2852 or online at fpparks.org.

Learn about winter birds at forest preserve program

The Forest Preserve District of Will County presents Backyard Winter Birds from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Jan. 11 at Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook.

Participants can learn which birds migrate through Will County and which stay during the winter, as well as how to attract them to a yard.

The program includes a short guided hike and indoor bird viewing with a warm drink. Register by Jan. 10 by calling 815-722-4121 or online at reconnectwithnature.org. It’s free and open to anyone 10 and older.

Storyteller highlights his new book in La Grange

Master storyteller Nestor Gomez will present stories from his new book, “Rescue Me,” at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at the La Grange Public Library, 10 W. Cossitt Ave.

The book explores his four-legged family members and the bonds formed with them. Attendees can buy copies of his book, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to local animal shelters.

The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Registration is required by visiting lagrange.library.org or calling 708-215-3200.

Women of natural history star at garden club meeting

The Darien Garden Club presents Women of Natural History from 6:0 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5 at St. John Lutheran Church, 7214 S. Cass Ave. in Darien.

Kim White, a local master naturalist, will talk about some of the women who have contributed to natural history from 1458 BC to the current century, shining a light on women who rarely were given credit for their accomplishments, Dame Jane Goodall and Queen Hatshepsut are among those who will be highlighted.

A general meeting follows the presentation. All are welcome. Learn more at dariengardenclub.com.

Send news to pioneerwest@tribpub.com.