Elected in 1996 … graduated from Nyack H.S. in 1956 … nicknamed “Snookie” … fine three-sport athlete who, at 5-foot-8, 135 pounds, was one of the better “little men” in Rockland scholastic sports … he earned nine varsity letters … was a three-year starter in basketball and as a shortstop in baseball, and was the football quarterback as a junior and senior … garnered five All-County berths, two each in basketball and baseball, and one in football … he became the fourth player in Rockland history to score 40 or more points in a basketball game when he scored 42 against Tappan Zee in 1956 … he averaged 21.3 points per game that year … in baseball, he averaged .396 his senior year, .309 his junior year, and committed only three errors in two years at shortstop … he also once pitched a one-hitter against Tappan Zee … he quarterbacked Nyack’s co-championship 1954 football team and its 1955 runner-up unit … during that time he passed for seven touchdowns and ran for four more … he also played safety and returned punts … Simonds won the James E. Grasso Memorial Trophy as the county’s outstanding high school athlete in 1956 … he earned a scholarship to Bowdoin College, where he was a three-year starter, co-captain and top scorer on the basketball team… he spear-headed upset victories over such Division I teams as Rutgers and Delaware … Simonds was a three-time Bear Mountain Summer Basketball League All-Star playing with the Tallman Mountain Boys Club of Piermont, Lucky’s Men’s Shop of Nyack and T.J. Freeman Insurance of Haverstraw … he was the leading scorer on the first Rockland team to win the title (Freeman Insurance) … Simonds later was a reporter and sportswriter for The Journal- News for nine years, and retired in 1992 after 13 years as sports editor of the Hartford Courant.