Strengthening North Attleboro, One Student at a Time.
Gary passed away on March 19th, 2009. His brother Doug DiNardo began thinking of ways to give back to North Attleboro, while maintaining the strong legacy Gary had built in his lifetime in North Attleboro. The Gary DiNardo Memorial Fund was born, with its mission being to accomplish those two goals of giving back to the town, while building a long-term legacy in Gary’s memory.
Gary was a three-sport athlete at NAHS, and later matriculated to UMASS/Amherst where he continued to play baseball. Gary’s elder son Nick, played baseball and football during his high school career at NAHS, while his younger son Jesse, flourished as a performing artist during his high school career. So, it was decided that the Fund would sponsor two annual scholarships to NAHS graduates. Each of the scholarships is in the amount of $2500 and one is given annually to a graduating athlete, and the second is given annually to a graduating performing artist.
By 2023, the Gary DiNardo Memorial Fund had already donated in excess of $80,000 to graduating NAHS seniors, and while that was certainly gratifying, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to donate over $50,000 to renovate the NAHS baseball field, and the North Attleboro School Board voted unanimously to name the new field “The Gary DiNardo Memorial Baseball Stadium”, which has since been nicknamed “The Bull” in Gary’s honor. The intent of this donation is to continue to give back to the town of North Attleboro, while building a long-term legacy in Gary’s honor. Literally hundreds of North Attleboro residents will play on the Bull each baseball season, and it has become the home of the North Attleboro High School Red Rocketeer Baseball Program.
We thank you for supporting this great cause, and for your continued support of our annual flagship fundraising event which is The Gary DiNardo Memorial Golf Tournament. Please continue to consider contributing to our cause, and continue visiting this site for registration information, donation opportunities, photos of our scholarship winners, and joining us for laughs at our annual golf event.
A Thank You From One Of Our Recipients
My name is Jhanavi Kapadia, and I was the recipient of the Gary DiNardo Memorial Scholarship for Athletics in 2016! You might remember that my career path at the time was to attend medical school and become a neonatologist following the completion of my undergraduate degree at the University of Vermont. I am excited to share with you, that I am finally beginning my medical school journey next year, most likely at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. My interests are a little bit different right now, as I hope to pursue a career in helping individuals who are struggling with substance use disorders!
I feel honored to have received this award in honor of Gary. I also want express my sincerest thank you for alleviating some of the financial burden that comes with the transition to college and making my life as a freshman more manageable – not only for me but for many graduating seniors at North Attleboro High School. Thank for giving back to our community, and providing many this amazing opportunity. I will be forever grateful.
I wish you all well, and hope your 2023 has been off to a great start!
Warm Regards,
Jhanavi Kapadia
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I’m Neil Gagne, Ryan’s dad. I can not begin to explain how much we appreciate you awarding your dads scholarship to Ryan. We are so thrilled, as Ryan had not received any awards or qualify for any financial aid. As working people (Barbara is an RN and I’m a firefighter), an award of $2500 is huge to us in making his first year of college more manageable. I did visit the web page to learn more about this honor-what a wonderful tribute to your dad! We will do our best to have Ryan live up to the high standards Mr. DiNardo obviously set for his family. We so much look forward to meeting everyone on the 14th, and with the added bonus of playing a round of golf! Again thank you so much!
Warmest regards,
Neil and Barbara Gagne