Passing of Rene Blanchard

Today's Obituary in the BFP lists the many accomplishments of Coach Blanchard during his teaching and coaching career at Winooski High School and his legislative life after he retired from education . Since he lived in the same development as I in Essex Junction and only three streets from me, and since he was the Varsity Basketball Coach at WHS when I held the same position at EJHS , we ,as one would expect , had many, many conversations .
Rene's sense of humor , quick active mind and comedic touch made him a favorite with the fans and students not only at WHS but also within the Burlington basketball crowd , and he was extremely popular as a teacher and coach. However , the obit didn't inform the general readers what we , who lived in that era, knew .
Winooski had an excellent feeder program for youth basketball , supervised by very competent volunteer coaches , and the kids who came through it really learned the game of basketball . The older students , before entering high school , played in the area CYO league and typically were the best teams competing. As such , it drew the interest of Bernie Cieplicki , highly successful Rice coach , who ,in turn , recruited many of the most skilled Winooski kids to enroll at Rice High School ( supported by church scholarships and parental discounts ) rather then attend the local high school . In fact , at one time ( 1967-68 ) , four of the five starters for Rice were Winooski students who could have played for Rene . That fact , and the fact that " little " Winooski with it's smaller enrollment competed successfully with the larger schools in many sports , but most especially in basketball , is in itself a tribute to Rene and his coaching skills .
Rene certainly was one of the best in the educational community , and more importantly , was a great person besides .