Basketball has been a big part of Brian Montanaro’s life for as long as he can remember.

Montanaro had his fair share of playing days in high school and college, but his transition to coaching came quicker than expected in the mid-2000s.

Fast forward to today, and he’s currently in his first season as head coach of the Baldwinsville boys basketball team.

“It’s been a great experience so far,” Montanaro said. “From a strategic side of things, when you graduate seven seniors like we did last year, that’s never an easy stepping stone into the following season and filling roles in the process. But we have a lot of good returning players who have stepped into the role and have been buying into everything we’ve been doing and sharing. They’ve been working their butts off, which is awesome. Our goal is to continually improve, one step at a time. And as long as you put forth that effort, whether it’s on the core, in the classroom or later in your professional life, that’s the attitude that’s going to make you succeed. It might not always show up immediately, but you keep up that consistency and the results will follow. That’s kind of the mindset we have.”

Before Montanaro entered the coaching world, he played at Bishop Ludden. A 2001 graduate, he was part of a 2000-01 Pat Connelly-Gaelic Knights squad that made a run to the New York State Class B semifinals.

“Having Coach Connelly as my coach was awesome,” Montanaro said. “He was a great coach and mentor. I had a very good three-year career there, and Coach Connelly was a big reason for it.”

Montanaro went to play for Daemen College (Daemen University), an NAIA Division II program that recently moved to NCAA Division II.

“I had different offers or (Division I) coaches that reached out to me, but a lot of them were like Ivy League and Patriot League schools where there weren’t really academic or athletic scholarships,” Montanaro said. “I was trying to find the right fit that I thought made sense for me. When I visited Daemen, I visited Canisius on the same trip. Once I stepped onto the Daemen campus, I fell in love with it. I thought the coach was awesome. I got to meet some of the players, I got a tour, and I met some teachers on the visit. It was just the way everyone was so friendly, outgoing, upfront and honest with what they were looking for and how I’d fit into the program. I knew right when I left the campus that that’s where I wanted to go.”

Montanaro was a 6-foot-5, jack-of-all-trades player for Daemen. He played every position for the Wildcats, receiving All-America and conference player of the year honors near the end of his career.

Daemen reached the NAIA Division II Tournament two years in a row, including an appearance in the Elite Eight.

“(College basketball) was an amazing experience,” Montanaro said. “I lived and breathed basketball. I was in the gym all the time, working out, playing, helping, and breaking down game film with the coach. I loved being on the road and pushing the team. I had a great group of kids that I played with, and we pushed each other all the time.”

Montanaro had a chance to play basketball overseas, but the opportunity to coach was calling. That’s when he decided to stay with Daemen for the long haul and also graduated from the college in 2006.

“I had a few offers to coach college,” Montanaro said. “It seemed like most of the coaches in our conference that reached out to me at one point or another said, ‘If you want to coach, we’ll be happy to take you on. We’d love it.’

“Then I had my coach at Daemen say, ‘I think I’m planning on retiring in the next couple of years. I’d love for you to come on, be the assistant coach, and take over the program.’ That was kind of the path that I went toward. I got my master’s degree while I was coaching.”

Soon after coaching at Daemen, Montanaro realized he wanted to start a family with his high school sweetheart, Ashley.

“While I loved coaching, it was hard to justify being on the road all the time,” Montanaro said. “Coaching and not being able to be part of my kids’ lives was not the way I wanted it to be.”

Montanaro took a break from coaching, then got back into it when his kids started playing basketball.

He and his family moved to Syracuse in 2016. From there, Montanaro and his family became involved with the Baldwinsville Sting, a youth basketball program within the area.

“I got involved with it from there and then, with my knowledge and background and having both boys and girls in the program, it was a natural fit,” Montanaro said.

Montanaro coached some of the Baldwinsville Sting squads that his kids were on. In 2021, he took over as president of the entire program for a few years.

Right before the 2024-25 season, an opportunity arose to be an assistant under head coach Tom Brown for the Bees’ varsity squad.

Montanaro credits his time with the Baldwinsville Sting for his transition to coaching high school basketball.

In the midst of working on his physical education certification, Montanaro was already a substitute teacher within the Baldwinsville Central School District.

Coaching at the same time made sense for Montanaro.

“(The Baldwinsville Sting) kind of led its way into me getting into the school and the varsity program and a unique position to help build a basketball culture,” Montanaro said. “At B’ville, that hasn’t always been here and that’s our goal over the next few years here is to keep building that connection from the ground up with a youth level up through the high school program.”

When Montanaro stepped in as the next head coach at Baldwinsville for the 2025-26 season, the pipeline between the Sting and the high school program solidified even more than before.

“I think that pipeline is huge for helping with that culture and building it,” Montanaro said. “There are a lot of great parents who volunteer and help with coaching with the Sting program. Being able to be connected to them and all the players, knowing me from seeing me at Sting (games and practices) and seeing me at tryouts and summer camps, and now seeing me there and then coming to the games and seeing me coaching, they can see the same things I’m teaching (on varsity). There might be some tweaks and a little bit more advanced, but teaching them that this is what you’re building toward. It’s been extremely helpful teaching my own kids and their teams, and they see it at both levels and see that coaching style. I’m trying to bridge it all with that. I think it’s great for the program and something that’s only going to be beneficial in the long run.”

Montanaro’s own children are following in his footsteps. His oldest daughter, Lilly, is on the Bees’ JV girls basketball team. Maximus is one of Baldwinsville’s modified basketball squads, and some of his kids currently play for the Sting.

Montanaro’s varsity squad played in the Rome Free Academy Invitational over the weekend. As the Bees trek through the season and beyond, Montanaro will be there to guide them.

“There are a few things we talk about regularly in practice,” he said. “One is that it is all right to make mistakes. It’s just a matter of how you learn from those mistakes and how you keep building on them every day. It’s about a growth mindset and always getting better each day. As long as you bring a full effort every day, we’re going to get better. You’ve got to push yourself and the person next to you.

“We’ve been using the term ‘hive mentality,’ and as the Bees, we’re all in this together. We’re one team. We’re one hive and one drive. We have one singular goal, so it’s about us building together. It’s not about one person always standing out and only doing things. It’s about what can I do to make the player next to them better, which is going to ultimately make me better and the team better. Having that consistency is what you need to really improve and build over the course of the season or over the course of a few years in your career.”

Addie McCluskey

Elmore Autauga News

Prattville Fire Department’s (PFD’s) Battalion Chief Travis Rodie celebrated his retirement, Dec. 22, 2025, at Stanley Gann Training Center, marking the end of a 26-year career of dedicated service.

Mayor Bill Gillespie presented Rodie with a token, recognizing his selfless leadership and long-standing commitment to the citizens of Prattville.

“Chief Rodie has done so much for our community,” said Gillespie. “One person can’t do everything, but one person can make a difference, and he’s done it from the top down.”

Assistant Chief Ricky Roberts also highlighted Rodie’s commitment to the community, which he said has extended far beyond PFD, including his service in the U.S. Air Force and his time coaching local youth sports.

“You’ll never meet a more dedicated employee than Travis,” said Roberts. “When given a task, whether he liked it or not, he would always get it done. His work ethic is unmatched. He’s championed physical fitness, invested deeply in public education, and consistently advocated for every single member of this department for 26 years.”

In the days leading up to his retirement, Rodie made a point to visit each fire station, offering encouragement and sharing lessons he hoped would stay with his colleagues long after his departure.

“There are three things I try to teach my grandchildren that I will leave you with today,” said Rodie. “All you need to be successful in this world is to be smart, be kind, and be strong.”

Rodie concluded the ceremony by calling his final class of recruits forward for one last tradition: 20 team pushups. As they counted each repetition, the emotion in the room was unmistakable — a fitting tribute to a leader whose impact will be measured not just in years served, but in the people he shaped and the legacy he leaves behind.

Gregory Dean Craig, 62, of Otwell, passed away December 19, 2025, in Huntingburg.

He was born June 11, 1963, to Jerry and Patty (Hayes) Craig in Washington, Ind.

Greg had worked as a land surveyor for Nerco and Phoenix Natural Resources. He spent 18 years with the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and currently works in the parts department at Farbest Foods.

Greg was kind, hardworking, and loved his family fiercely. He told his wife he loved her every single day. He prayed for each member of his family every day while driving to work. He was often quiet but felt things deeply. He especially loved being “Pap” to his grandson, Barin. He delighted in doing things with him and loved it while on vacation when Barin, who loved the beach, wanted to leave it to have a campfire with Pap.

Greg was happiest while fishing or hunting and loved being at “The Last Resort”. Going on a little fishing trip with his dad or his son, Clint, was a special treat. He coached both his children in youth sports and supported everything they did. They knew he always had their back. He also took great pride in keeping his lawn in pristine condition.

Greg was a collector at heart, whether it was fishing lures, plastic worms, or Batman figures for Clint. When Clint was born, he bought a rattletrap lure to start his collection. He owned possibly the most extensive beer memorabilia collection around and was so proud of his “museum”.

Greg is survived by his wife of 38 years, Jody (Booth) Craig; daughter, Allyson Michelle (Jim) Bowers, or “Ally Shell” as Greg called her; son, Clint Matthew (Kelsey Barrett) Craig, or “Slappy” as Greg called him; grandchildren, Barin, Klaire, and Kameryn Bowers; mother, Patty Craig; brother, Brent (Jamie Williams) Craig; uncles, Gordon Craig and Roger Chamness; an aunt, Patsy Gilham; and several cousins.

He is preceded in death by his father, Jerry Craig; grandparents, Marion and Anita Jean Hayes and Luther and Norma Craig; aunt, Debbie Chamness; and his mother in law, Sharon Booth.

Services for Greg will take place at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, December 26, 2025, at Harris Funeral Home in Petersburg, with visitation time from 10 a.m. EDT until service time.

Burial will follow at Otwell Cemetery.

Harris Funeral Home is entrusted with care.

On a cool and sunny Friday afternoon, I finally did what I’d been meaning to do for several weeks.

I drove over to Edgewood Park to have a look at the former Dixie Youth Baseball fields. After several years of being unused, McComb officials recently removed the fencing around each field along with several buildings on the property.

It’s an inglorious ending to a place that introduced thousands of local children to baseball and softball, and drew hundreds of their family members and friends on summer evenings to watch the games.

But now it’s gone. I parked my car and looked out at the property, trying to recall the location of the various fields.

Everything has been removed. The concession stand, the overhead press boxes behind each home plate, the storage buildings, the fences, the dugouts, the bleachers, the cinder blocks. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like even the sidewalks were gone.

One overhead light lay on its former field, where the minor league used to play. There were three vehicles on the property, with guys completing the removal work, including a truck and a backhoe.

I don’t blame the city for clearing the property. It had been overgrown for several years until the city board approved the cleanup.

Nor do I blame the McComb Exchange Club for merging its youth baseball operations with Summit several years ago and moving to the Windsor Gay Youth Complex, which has more space than Edgewood Park did. Times change, and decisions have to be made.

In fact, Pike County once had three Dixie Youth Baseball locations, in McComb, Magnolia and Summit.

The Dairy Belt leagues in Magnolia were the first to close, pretty much going the way of all the dairy farms that Southwest Mississippi used to have. And then McComb DYB left Edgewood Park, where it had been since it started in 1958, for Summit.

Mary Ann and I were regulars at youth baseball games from 1994 to 2008, if my math is correct. Though it could be aggravating at times for parents trying to make sure their kids got to where they were supposed to be, the upside to Dixie Youth Baseball far outweighed any hassles.

The baseball fields are gone, but the memories remain. Every family has them, and here are some of my favorites:

• Coaching T-ball was comically fun. I remember one year, a player insisted on sitting down in the base path whenever he was in the field. I would have to go lift him up to move him out of the way.

• John’s junior league team Sonic won the championship in 1997. It was a close race with another team.

This team was a great group of kids, and they had good coaches and especially a fun group of parents. And the Sonic on Delaware Avenue, to their credit, donated a bunch of hamburgers for the team party.

• Thomas struggled at the plate in his first few games of minor league, when players graduated to a live pitcher instead of the junior league machine.

I pulled out my VCR tape of “The Empire Strikes Back” — this was the summer of 2000 — and had him watch Yoda’s tutorials of Luke Skywalker. A Jedi must feel the Force; it surrounds us. Believe in what you can do. And the very next game, he got a hit.

• When Audrey was in the softball leagues, one year I had these comical trash-talking contests with friends whose daughters were on another team. Audrey, it turned out, was a decent player. A sign of her future on the high school volleyball team.

When Audrey, our youngest, finished her last year of Dixie Youth, I was glad to be free of spending two nights or four nights a week at the park. I planned to go back once in a while to see what was going on, but I never did.

This would be the right place to thank all the Exchange Club members and other volunteers who do the hard work of running Dixie Youth. They all are champs.

Looking out at the empty space on Friday, it had to look a lot nicer than it did when the property wasn’t being used and the weeds had taken over. So I’m OK with starting from scratch on what is a pretty large piece of Edgewood Park.

A soccer league has asked to use the property, and I hope they, or some kind of youth sports group, gets it. The place has six decades of history, and that ought to continue.