Brightside Memories
Burlington Street East L9k Hamilton, ON, Canada

1932 Wreath laying at the Hamilton Cenotaph from Jim Julian, whose father is in this photo ...

VINCE PALANGO: Remembering a gentle, gentleman from Brightside ... hello all ... when a man passes away - fine, wonderful memories come to mind - and so it was when our friend and neighbour Vince Palango, after ninety years, departed on November 4th, 2020 ... Peacefully, with his loving children and family by his side to comfort him, Vince left us to join some of his siblings and old friends from Brightside with whom he grew up through grade school, high school, the church, ...sports teams, and life ... he always spoke proudly of his family and his friends valued their relationship with him ... ... Vince was a respected and respectful man, a good friend to many; happy, gentle, and kind ... in the neighbourhood, he was considered one of the most helpful and good people ... for more than sixty years, along with Johnny Fioravanti his 'Co-Commissioner', he planned, organized, and smoothly ran the venerable Brightside Bowling League, a source of pleasure to generations ... somewhere along the way, another good guy George Duffy was recruited to share the League's expanding workload ... scheduling, dues collection, sponsorship funding, along with bowling shirt design and approval were only part of the job! ... post-game, late night refreshments, and storytelling were also included in the job description - Vince seldom left early ... he performed admirably too, as a valued member of the 1983 Brightside Reunion Committee, and more recently when extensive efforts were undertaken to gather fast fading aspects of the neighbourhood's history, he was there ... ... a lifelong sports fan and player, baseball was his favourite; he was a catcher with significant prowess ... he was as well, a major organizer of the Palango Family Baseball Team which travelled the area, dressed in their own uniforms, taking on all challengers to raise money for worthy causes ... if you saw the team's green uniform, you'd know somehow there were bowling shirts in their origin! ... ... Vince was a hard-working, forty year Stelco veteran, well known and highly regarded by his co-workers ... he worked in the Hot Strip Mill, one of the company's oldest flat-rolled mills, built on the inlet lands near Birmingham Street, one of Brightside's boundaries and within sight of the Palango family home on Lancaster St ... like Brightside, the Mill has long since gone silent; Vince though, outlived it ... ... in his spare time Vince, self-taught, mastered many skills amongst them woodworking ... his garage workshop housed every conceivable device to enable his craft ... many a family member and friend has a handcrafted, wooden Christmas bauble made by Vince ... he also made many of us happy just being around him ... Vince was a gentle, gentleman - may he rest in peace ... >> by the BRIGHTSIDE RAMBLER

"A Golden heart stopped beating ..." Rest in peace, Vince PALANGO - from Brightside ...

Sincere condolences from Brightside Memories on the passing of fellow Stelco Hamilton retiree, Vince PALANGO. Rest in peace, my friend.

Football, George Duffy and two kids from Brightside ... ... a small story to provide an insight into the man ... ... on November, 27, 1954, at Varsity Stadium, Toronto, ON the heavily favoured Montreal Alouettes hosted the Edmonton Eskimos in the 42nd Grey Cup game before a capacity crowd of 27,321 fans that included George Duffy and his wife Laura ... the matchup was to become a classic amongst the annals of the Grey Cup and Canadian sports history ... the game was the first...Continue reading