Class of 1978 Valedictorian Paul Widerman Returns
Paul Widerman was once one of the kings of Huntington High School. The Class of 1978 valedictorian won two state wrestling championships and went on to earn a biology degree at Harvard College. He recently returned to his alma mater to visit friends and former classmates and attend a Blue Devil wrestling meet.
“It was great to be back in Huntington and get to visit the high school for such an exciting home wrestling match,” Mr. Widerman said about the meet that Huntington eventually won on tie-breaker criteria over Islip.
Mr. Widerman said he considers Blue Devil mat coach Lou Giani “a second father to me and the rest of the guys,” and he thoroughly enjoys every opportunity he gets to speak with his longtime mentor. During the visit, he was able to spend time with many fellow graduates who were in attendance at the match, and was even introduced to current Huntington High School Principal Carmela Leonardi.
Today, Mr. Widerman resides in San Clemente, California, which he termed “absolutely beautiful.” It was the location of President Richard Nixon’s “Western White House,” known as La Casa Pacifica.
The founder and chief executive officer of THINKFIT, the maker of SmartBells fitness equipment, Mr. Widerman captained the Harvard wrestling team and won the National Olympic Qualifying Tournament and was the first alternate on the U.S. freestyle Olympic wrestling team in 1984. He invented SmartBells, which has grown in popularity and today is used by college and professional sports teams, members of the military and countless others.
THINKFIT was originally based in New York, but an effort to grow the company led to the move west. “I moved to California two years ago to work on my business, but my roots are in Huntington and I visit whenever I can to see my family and friends,” Mr. Widerman said.
Regarded by many as a creative genius, Mr. Widerman is also a fitness fanatic and has been his entire life. As a college senior, he finished third in the National Freestyle Championship and ran the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon in the same weekend.
Mr. Widerman, who in high school was a member of the National Honor Society and earned a Regents Scholarship, the Robert A. Cushman Award and a Phi Betta Kappa certificate, called Huntington “an incredible community and school system” and said the wrestling team provides participants an outlet “where you learn to dream bigger than you are, set you are goals, and work harder than seems physically possible. That formula makes a connection we carry with us forever. Grasshopper never loses the lessons of Master Po!”
The Huntington grad’s mother, Carolyn Widerman, was a longtime district business teacher, first at Robert K. Toaz Junior High School, where she worked as a typing teacher and later at Huntington High School, where she eventually became business department chairperson, too.
In 1978, then-district policy resulted in there being 14 valedictorians. In addition to Mr. Widerman, the honoree included Betsy Ash, Peter Bronstein, Joseph Cravero, Stephanie Eckert, Abner Greene, Laurie Gutstein, Peter Hatcher, David Kells, Judith Lischetti, Susan Ringler, Barbara Safran, Janet Silverman and Bonnie Traub. The policy was in effect from 1973-78.
For more information about THINKFIT or the SmartBells product line, visit www.thinkfit.com.
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