June 20, 2014
Pete Shanno, a retired Physical Education teacher, has been the distance running coach at Leonia High School since 1991. He is a member of the Leonia Presbyterian Church and Rotary of the Palisades. He volunteers for CoFiA (Community of Friends in Action) and the Center for Food Action, and for the past 38 years, he has organized the Annual 4th of July Run for Fun in Leonia. His wife Susan (Liccardo) is a retired LHS Spanish teacher. Their daughter Lisa, also a teacher, lives in Maywood with her husband Joe and their two children.
Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in Leonia, the youngest of three kids. My father died at the age of 39, two months before my birth. My mother, Gwen Shanno, raised us with the help of her parents, who had moved in with us. When we were older, she got a job in Borough Hall as the Leonia Tax Collector. My wife and I both graduated from Leonia Elementary School (now ACS) and Leonia High School. We live in the house I grew up in on Vreeland Avenue.
Do you remember Anna C. Scott?
She was my principal at Leonia Elementary School. I remember her once giving me a stern warning for running in the hall. She was generally beloved and knew the name of every student in the school.
What was it like growing up in Leonia?
Most of my friends were around during the summer, and we played sports in empty lots and the old golf course. For seven summers, in high school and college, I worked for the DPW. Some of our jobs were to scrape old paint off the signposts, paint wooden slats for benches, and install all the alternate parking signs through town. The only mishap I remember is placing all the signs along one street facing the wrong direction. Our foreman realized that mistake and we hurried back to right the wrong.
As a young man, did you have role models?
I was fortunate to have several men in town show me the ropes, including the late Frank Montmeat and my late neighbor, Wes Vreeland, both from church. Wes’s family settled in Leonia in the 1600s. After Wes died, his wife Anne moved to Florida. While searching for a bedspread she had left behind in the attic, we found a box of historic letters, deeds and bills of sale (including the sale of slaves) from the 1700s, dating to before the American Revolution, all intact! We donated “the Vreeland Papers” to the Leonia Library’s local history collection.
How did you meet Susan?
We met at a summer softball game on what is now the LMS field. We were both incoming freshman, but she was a freshman at Leonia High School, and I was a freshman at American University. Even though both our families were members of the Leonia Presbyterian Church, we didn’t know each other. Understandably, her parents weren’t thrilled that their 14-year-old daughter was dating a college guy. We exchanged hundreds of letters during our eight-year
courtship, and married a month after she graduated from college, 44 years ago. We honeymooned at the Elbow Beach Surf Club in Bermuda and returned to Bermuda for our 25th anniversary.
What was your first job after college?
After getting my degree in Health and Physical Education, I was hired to teach Phys. Ed. in the Ridgefield Middle School. I was unhappy teaching that age group and was going to leave, when I had the good fortune of being offered a position by the Ridgefield elementary school principal. I found my calling teaching K-5 and stayed there forty years, until I retired in 2007. In 1997 I was asked to be part of a pilot program for autistic children, one of the first in the area. We received students from all over northern NJ and quickly grew from six students to 100. It was such a privilege being a part of that program, which I loved.
Do you miss being around young kids?
Now we’re grandparents and love it! A highlight of my week is when I take my grandson PJ out to lunch on Tuesdays and then back to our house, and when Susan and I have our granddaughter Lily after school on Thursdays. They are the blessings in our lives.
When did you get involved with the 4th of July Run for Fun?
I was on the Rec Commission in the mid 70s and proposed the idea. Thirty people showed up to run in the first one, and it rained the entire morning. Now we have over 100 participants. We offer a 5K race and walk, a mile race and a ‘Round the Block’ race for kids. The United Way of Bergen County, under the direction of Leonian Tom Toronto, provides the T-shirts, and the trophies are purchased with the entry fees. Until recently, Susan was the timer; now we have a professional timing service. Many of my former LHS runners participate. A friend of mine, Paul Jayson, hasn’t missed a race. Everyone has a great time.
Have you ever run a marathon?
Yes, I’ve run in nine marathons, including the NYC Marathon, with my best time of 2:57. I also ran two marathons in Alaska to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I’ve been running my entire life and typically run four to eight miles, 3 to 4 days a week, year-round. I run in the new Overpeck Park or north towards Tenafly on the roads.
What’s a typical week for you?
I coach the distance runners at LHS from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. during the week, and attend track or cross country meets all day on Saturday in the spring and fall. I volunteer four days a week, including serving lunch to day laborers and packing food at the Center for Food Action. I am also very involved at church, from singing in the choir to helping maintain the building. I’m the Sergeant at Arms at Rotary, which meets on Friday mornings. I’m also on call as the “house dad” at the Oelhaf House. I’ve made so many new friends through my volunteer work–it was an unexpected bonus of retirement. My world has expanded without leaving the area.
What’s your involvement with Rotary?
I was a founding member of the club, which formed in 2009. I chair their Weekend Snack Pack program, which provides snack packs (juice, canned fruit, granola bars, mac and cheese) to children in Leonia and Edgewater who are eligible for free and reduced lunch. We currently provide them to approximately 80 (anonymous to us) children. Rotary provides most of the financial backing for the program.
Where do you most enjoy traveling?
Our favorite trip as a family was five weeks in the British Isles, staying in B&Bs. Susan and I are huge fans of all things British and hope to explore Great Britain more now that we’re retired. We just came back from Ireland, which was fantastic! This past summer, I was a “voluntourist” in Guatemala with a program called “Hug It Forward.” Our group, which included Leonians Caroline Sobering and Suzanne Broffman, helped build a school. In the future, I’m looking forward to taking service trips with Rotary. We also love our month at Long Beach Island every summer.
Does your family have any traditions?
Susan, a fourth-generation Leonian whose family grew up on Gladwin Avenue, is the eldest of a family of seven children. There are 31 of us in Bergen County, and we celebrate all the kids’ birthdays together. We also love celebrating Christmas. We decorate the whole house, with Christmas trees in every room, including the bathrooms! The whole family is always together for Christmas dinner.
What do you most like about Leonia?
Leonia has always had an unwavering commitment to excellent education. The demographics of the town have changed, but as a coach to numerous international students, I’ve observed that whoever moves here wants a good education for their children. Leonia schools excel at that.
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