Jenner's name taken off football field

NEWTOWN -- For 24 years, Newtown High School's athletic field was named "Bruce Jenner Stadium," after the Olympic decathlon gold medalist.

That was until school officials felt slighted by Jenner, who attended the school during his junior and senior years and graduated in 1968.

Jenner played football, basketball, ran track, and assistant town clerk Monica Duhancik, who also attended the high school, said she remembered he took the girl who became former first selectman Herbert Rosenthal's wife to the prom.

About eight years later, Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

The same year, on Sept. 25, 1976, Newtown High School held a dedication ceremony, where the stadium was officially named after Jenner.

Jenner attended the ceremony, as well as Bob Mathias, who won the decathlon in 1948 and 1952.

In 1997, school officials asked Jenner for help with making $400,000 worth of improvements to the stadium, but they did not hear back from Jenner.

"We were looking for both financial and moral support," former Newtown High School principal William Manfredonia told The News-Times three years later.

"I wrote to him twice to see if he could help, and I even called, but I never even got the courtesy of a reply letter," Manfredonia said.

Michael Kelley, then president of the high school's Blue and Gold Booster Club, also made calls to Jenner.

"I never spoke to him personally, but I called his office and home numerous times," Kelley told The News-Times at the time. "His wife told me he was involved in other commitments and was not able to help us."

Kelley worked with the booster club to raise money for lights and a press box for the new stadium, he said.

On Oct. 2, 2001, then-superintendent of schools John Reed told the school board that Manfredonia had been working with other groups in town to rename the stadium and the fields.

Reed announced at the meeting that Jenner Stadium would be renamed "Blue and Gold Sport Stadium."

Kelley, whose club had been raising money since 1990, agreed with the name change, he said.

"Now might be the ideal time to recognize the greatness of the generosity shown by people in the community for the betterment of the town's youth," Kelley said.

"It would recognize the small group of people who started the club, its present members and those we anticipate in the years to come."

On Oct. 10, 2001, the school board unanimously approved the name change and also renamed the athletic field area in the rear of Newtown High School the "Harold S. DeGroat and Ann Anderson Sports Complex."

Longtime resident Joan Crick told The News-Times then the stadium never should have been named after Jenner, it should have been given the name of Harry DeGroat, a longtime high school sports coach and physical education teacher, who died nearly 40 years ago.

"He did so much for the town and is remembered by so many for his work and achievements," she said.

Today, the high school stadium still holds the name of the Blue and Gold Sport Stadium, and a plaque there lists the names of people who donated money for stadium improvements.

Jenner, who school officials still don't seem to have a personal connection with, is known for his role as Kim Kardashian's stepfather on the E! Entertainment Television network show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

"I think we made the right decision in choosing his name for the stadium at the time, but over the years there hasn't been a connection between Mr. Jenner and Newtown," Kelley said several years ago.

Contact Stacy Davis at sdavis@newstimes.com or 203-731-3331.