Fire Bowl II brings in food, donations to help Tri-Town

By Pete Fontaine
Posted 11/27/15

Although the Johnston firefighters lost last Thursday night’s Fire Bowl II at Mayor Joseph Polisena Stadium by a score of 13-0, head coach Dave Pingitore said it was a “great night.”

“It …

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Fire Bowl II brings in food, donations to help Tri-Town

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Although the Johnston firefighters lost last Thursday night’s Fire Bowl II at Mayor Joseph Polisena Stadium by a score of 13-0, head coach Dave Pingitore said it was a “great night.”

“It was a super success that brought in 1,000 pounds of food and $500 in cash, and money is still coming in,” he said.

After Pingitore was congratulated on his team’s effort by Polisena and Johnston Fire Chief Tim McLaughlin, the Johnston firefighter offered: “North Providence has a young and talented team with speed. We’re already looking forward to next year.”

Soon thereafter, Polisena offered: “And we’re going to make this bigger and better next year.”

While last Thursday night’s results surpassed any expectations as far as collecting non-perishable food items and monetary donations that go directly to the Tri-Town Community Action Agency Food Bank, Polisena – and officials from both fire departments – want to do even more in 2016.

And while neither Pingitore nor Polisena tipped their hand, they hinted that there could be a change in the Fire Bowl format next time around.

“We’re already talking about playing it earlier in the fall,” Pingitore said. “Like October … when the nights aren’t as chilly as they are in November. There’s a possibility of an expanded format, too.”

Even prior to this year’s Fire Bowl II, North Providence’s Anthony Rampone and his long-time friend and game co-organizer Pingitore talked about getting more fire departments involved to help further boost Tri-Town.

The quarterback play of North Providence’s Jeff Bibby, and the pass-catching and speedy runs of Brad Russo and Chris Pistacchio, who each scored a touchdown in their team’s triumph, highlighted last week’s game.

“Chris Pistacchio played football for me here at Johnston High School,” Joe Acciardo, Johnston’s head football coach, said while talking in the game from the press box. “He’s still got speed.”

Meanwhile, Johnston Fire Fighters Local 1950 President Keith Calci and Vice President Jon Pistacchio – who is Chris Pistacchio’s cousin – issued the following statement after yet another successful event: “Keith and I are extremely proud of our Local 1950 brothers and sisters. They left it all on the field. We collected over 1,000 pounds of food and regardless of the score, tonight was a win!”

The two Johnston Ffrefighters went on to offer “special thanks to Mayor Polisena for letting us play on such a beautiful sports complex. We hope this tradition carries on for many years. Congratulations to Coach Rampone and North Providence Local 2334. We’ll see you next year!”

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