NORWALK – Frank LaPak of Newtown, a longtime member of the layout and production team at The Newtown Bee, will be honored Wednesday, November 2, by the Norwalk Old Timers Athletic Association at its 43rd annual Awards Dinner at the Continental Manor in Norwalk.

Mr LaPak was a four-sport star in Norwalk in the 1940s and ‘50s.

He played basketball for the Norwalk YMCA Juniors in the late 1940s, the St. Joseph CYO team from 1949-52 (leading that team to a pair of titles), Ben Franklin Junior High School from 1946-48 (serving as captain in ’47 and ’48) and for the Roy Brothers in the Industrial Basketball League in 1955 and ’56.

Meanwhile, Mr LaPak pitched for the Ben Franklin Junior High School baseball team in the spring of 1948 and playing outfield for the Woodward Avenue Athletic Club in the late 1940s. He moved to the infield in 1950 and ’51, playing for the Norwalk High School baseball team and leading the team as a senior with a .393 average.

On the soccer pitch, Mr LaPak played three years under Hall of Fame coach Tom Scarso and, as senior captain, led the squad to its first County Conference championship.

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1953-55, it was time to try softball. Mr LaPak played softball for the South Norwalk Trust (helping lead that team to a Class B city title in 1955 while earned co-MVP honors) and Poe’s Shoreline (helping lead that team to a Class B city title in 1956).

Mr LaPak is being honored along with Lou Cundari – who was a member of the O’Brien Press softball team that Poe’s Shoreline bested in the 1956 title game. Tickets to the dinner are $50 and can be obtained at the Laurel Athletic Club and at City Hall in the office of City Clerk Mary Roman.