Category: Fundraiser - Peter W. French Memorial Website

21st Annual March Madness Pool

4/9/2024

The 21st edition of our annual fundraiser shattered the record for most participants, as we had 568 entries in the Original Pool and 366 in the Sweet 16 Pool. That, along with some generous donations throughout the tournament, helped us raise around $5,500 for Peter's Foundation this year. During the pool's 21-year run, there have been around 1,400 different people who have participated, including 17 who haven't missed a single year (and another 14 who have missed just one) and 253 who have participated at least 10 years. We obviously couldn't do this pool, or have the amount of success we have, without all of you, so an enormous thank you to everyone for keeping this thing going strong each year!

This year's Original Pool bragging rights went to Patrick Ulacco, who claimed a hefty $1,135 along the way! Also finishing among the prize winners and taking home some bacon were Vincent Leo, Jr, Michael Litano, Van French, Joseph Pembroke, John Rooney, Jason Mathers, Antoinette Perlack, Robert Sprague, and Jennifer Ulacco. Claiming the $650 1st place prize in the Sweet 16 Pool was George Lavelle, and Lesley Pincince, Caroline Brennan, Bryan Duffy, Jennifer Ulacco, and Joseph Dangelo also finished in the prize winnings as well. There were a lot of first time winners in there, which we love to see.

To see the full standings or to participate in the future, go to https://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com. We hope to see everyone next March when the madness begins anew!

UConn Huskies 2025 National Champions

2025 Tournament Bracket

20th Annual March Madness Pool

4/4/2023

In its 20th year, our biggest annual event (the Peter French Memorial March Madness Pool) turned out to be the biggest and most successful one yet! We set the record for both Original Pool brackets (510) and Sweet 16 brackets (370). Along with some very generous donations during the tournament, this helped us to raise close to $7,000 for the Foundation, which is also a new record. A HUGE thank you to everyone for participating this year and continuing to help make it grow, even 20 years later.

The Original Pool saw Matt Colangelo take home the 1st place grand prize of $1,055. Other prize winners included Ryan Willis, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jess Oknin, Mike Kasprzak, Lisa Macalaster, David Morse, John Kimble, Jason Mathers, and Fred Cole. John Kimble, Burns McKinney, and Wendy Oleksiak split the prize for Most Correct Picks, showing off their pick-making dominance. In the Sweet 16 Pool, Noah Jackson snatched the $595 1st place prize, followed by Daniel Ulacco, Randy Kessler, Scott Smith, Sanford Whitehouse, Fred Driscoll, and Stephen Michienzi. Through 20 years of running this fun event, we've had over 1,350 people total participate, including 19 who haven't missed a single year and another 13 who have missed just one. And we're up to 229 who have participated in at least 10 years. We love putting this on for everyone and love seeing it continue to grow!

To see the full recap of the pool and all the standings, check out the pool homepage at http://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com/. We hope to see you all in March of 2024 for the 21st annual!

19th Annual March Madness Pool

4/5/2022

The 19th iteration of our annual March Madness Pool turned out to be our biggest and most successful one yet! We set the record for most Original Pool brackets (501) and most Sweet 16 brackets (347). Along with some very generous donations during the tournament, this helped us to raise a little over $6,000 for the Foundation, which is also a new record. A HUGE thank you to everyone for participating this year and continuing to help make it grow, even 19 years later.

The Original Pool saw Jared Kurker take home the 1st place grand prize of $1,090. Other prize winners included Kevin Kelly, Noah Pearlstein, Dave Foley, Brett Portanova, Ethan Solomon, Andrew Flynn, Jamie Glydon, Christian Burgoyne, and Mike McGeehan. Cathy Shea and Brett Portanova split the prize for Most Correct Picks, showing off their clairvoyance. In the Sweet 16 Pool, James Flynn snatched the $600 1st place prize, followed by Raleigh Zbinden, Jillian Flynn, Linda Nerrow, Andrew Flynn (who captured the rare double-victory, prizing in both the Original and Sweet 16), and Chris Byrne. There were a lot of longtime pool participants who claimed their first ever prizes, which made us very happy. Congrats to all the winners!

To see the full recap of the pool and all the standings, check out the pool homepage at http://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com/. We hope to see you all in March of 2023 for the 20th annual!

18th Annual March Madness Pool

4/6/2021

Our annual March Madness Pool returned after a 1-year Covid hiatus for its 18th year, and it was especially meaningful to us this year as it occurred just a week after the passing of Peter's father. This year's pool saw a 425 brackets in the Original Pool and a near-record 300 in the Sweet 16 Pool. This helped us raise around $4,000, which brought the 18-year run of this event to around $58,000 raised for Peter's Foundation. We're so humbled by the loyalty and kindness of so many of you throughout the years, so a very heartfelt thank you from all of us!

This year's Original Pool (and its $1,010 1st Place Prize) was won by Natasha Mikus. The top 8 finishers received prizes, so also earning hefty amounts were Greg Monast, Kaelynn Altobello, Sarah Dinneen, Tom Cannon, Matt Sayers, Paul Capodanno, and Taylor Connors. Drew Denerstein, though falling out of the money for total points, did manage to grab the $100 prize for Most Correct Picks. The Sweet 16 Pool was won by Dan Verbanac, who took home the $515 1st Place Prize. Also finishing in the money were Finn Pincince, Tom Cannon, Ryan Brown, Richard Paduch, and Novar Whitworth. Congrats to all of the winnners, and once again, thank you to everyone for making this year's pool one of the biggest yet!

For all information on the pool, including how to play next year and a complete history of the pool, go to the pool's permanent homepage at http://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com/.

Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser

2/8/2021

Though it pained us to watch Tommy have fun in the Super Bowl without us, we were very excited to host the Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser once again. With 2 grids to choose from this year, participants could select up to 10 squares total. Numbers were then randomly chosen to fill up the grid, and the score at the end of each quarter dictated who the winners were of the pool. Congrats to the two big $300 winners, Paula Michienzi and Greg Stanton (for claiming the 3rd Quarter and Final Score Prizes), and to Ed Schultz, Kerry Dinneen, Allison Rymsha, and James Flynn (for each claiming $100 quarter prizes). Just like with our March Madness Pool, half of the total money in the pot went to the winners and the other half went to the Foundation, and as a result, we were very excited to raise $1,000. Thanks to all for participating!

Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser

2/3/2020

With some new blood in the Super Bowl, we were very excited to host the Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser once again. With only 1 grid to choose from this year, participants could select up to 5 squares total. Numbers were then randomly chosen to fill up the grid, and the score at the end of each quarter dictated who the winners were of the pool. Congrats to the two big $300 winners, Christopher West (for claiming the Final Score Prize) and Matt Nagler (for claiming both the 2nd and 3rd Quarter Prizes), and to Diane Schienda (for claiming her $150 1st Quarter Prize). Just like with our March Madness Pool, half of the total money in the pot went to the winners and the other half went to the Foundation, and as a result, we were very excited to raise $750. Thanks to all for participating!

17th Annual March Madness Pool

4/9/2019

Hard to believe, but this year marked the 17th iteration of our annual March Madness Pool. This year's pool saw a record number of brackets in the Original Pool (484) and a near-record in the Sweet 16 Pool (290). This helped us raise around $4,000, which brought the 17-year run of this event to just under $53,000 raised for Peter's Foundation. This is truly an incredible number that has allowed the Foundation to greatly impact the lives of many. From the bottom of our hearts, an enormous THANK YOU to everyone for making this event such a success!

This year's Original Pool (and its $1,165 1st Place Prize) was won by Ashton Therrien. The top 9 finishers received prizes, so also earning hefty amounts were Scott Kessler, James Grebinski, Yoav Gluckman, Kristy Marble, Anna Kerkorian, Scott Clukey, Maggie McKinney, and Jim Dinneen. The Sweet 16 Pool was won by John Hennessey, who took home the $525 1st Place Prize. Also finishing in the money were Collin Wedderburn, Dawn Wood, Patrick Mikus, and Jay Legendre. Congrats to all of the winnners, and once again, thank you to everyone for making this year's pool one of the biggest yet!

For all information on the pool, including how to play next year and a complete history of the pool, go to the pool's permanent homepage at http://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com/.

Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser

2/3/2019

With our (and Peter's) beloved Patriots back in the Super Bowl for the 3rd year in a row and 4th time in 5 years, we were very excited to host the Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser once again. With 2 grids to choose from, participants could select up to 10 squares total. Numbers were then randomly chosen to fill up the grid, and the score at the end of each quarter dictated who the winners of the pool were. Congrats to the 2 big $300 winners for claiming both the Final Score Prize and 3rd Quarter Prize (Allison Rymsha and Tom DiChiappari), and to the other 4 winners for their $100 1st and 2nd Quarter Prizes (Matt Nagler, Elaine Canina, Linda Nerrow, and Chris Ryan). Just like with our March Madness Pool, half of the total money in the pot went to the winners and the other half went to the Foundation. So in addition to celebrating another Patriot championship, we were very excited to also raise $1,000. Thanks to all for participating!

16th Annual March Madness Pool

4/3/2018

This year marked the (gasp!) 16th edition of our annual March Madness Pool. This year's pool saw a near-record number of brackets in both the Original Pool (460) and the Sweet 16 Pool (301). The 16-year run of this event has now raised over $48,000 for Peter's Foundation, which is truly an incredible number that has allowed the Foundation to greatly impact the lives of many. The pool’s popularity and success are due solely to the kindness of so many of you, be it through entering a bracket or two (or five!), recruiting friends to play, or giving extra donations along the way. So from the bottom of our hearts, an enormous THANK YOU to everyone for making this event such a success!

This year's Original Pool (and its $1,000 1st Place Prize) was won by Zachary Poirier. The top 9 finishers received prizes, so also earning hefty amounts were Eric Poydar, Ashton Therrien, Carter Capodanno, Burns McKinney, Alex Popp, Cathy Ellsworth, Richard Paduch, and Joseph Dangelo. The Sweet 16 Pool was won by George Lavelle, who took home the $500 1st Place Prize with a perfect bracket. Also finishing in the money were Will Felcon, Paul Capodanno, Nancy Volel, Greg Monast, and Joe Foley. Congrats to all of the winnners, and once again, thank you to everyone for making this year's pool one of the biggest yet!

For all information on the pool, including how to play next year and a complete history of the pool, go to the pool's permanent homepage at http://pfmffundraiser.weebly.com/.

Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser

2/4/2018

With our (and Peter's) beloved Patriots back in the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in 4 years, we were very excited to host the Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser once again. With 2 grids to choose from, participants could select up to 10 squares total. Numbers were then randomly chosen to fill up the grid, and the score at the end of each quarter dictated who the winners of the pool were. Congrats to the 2 big winners for claiming the $200 Final Score Prize (Richard Paduch and Bill Meehan), and to the other 6 winners for their $100 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarter Prizes (Linda O'Brien, Raleigh Zbinden, Matt Sayers, Scott Dinneen, Jack Squeglia, and Laurie-Jean Herlihy). Just like with our March Madness Pool, half of the total money in the pot went to the winners and the other half went to the Foundation. So despite a heartbreaking loss for the Pats, we were very excited to raise $1,000. Thanks to all for participating!