MAPLEWOOD — The Columbia High School graduates inducted into the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame last week included a former class president with Yale and Harvard on his resume and an admittedly poor student known for cutting class.
Attorney and philanthropist Fred Profeta, Restaurateur Sabatino Perrotta Jr., and writer, producer, director Joanna Calo were all in attendance at the event that saw them join a distinguished group that includes Olympians, Grammy winners and Oscar-nominated actors.
Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez opened the event telling the students that the three distinguished individuals on the stage all walked the same halls they do each day and that he hoped their stories would inspire them.
Perrotta, who owns two restaurants Sabatino’s and Valley Street Eatery that are within a short walk from the school, got perhaps the loudest applause. Perrotta was introduced by his brother, Mickey, who talked about how his brother wasn’t the best student and might be better remembered for “running amok in the halls.”
“If you had told me 18 years ago that a member of my family would be up on this stage,” Mickey joked, “I would have thought it was me.”
Sabatino Perrotta, Class of 2010, opened Sabatino’s Pizza in 2018. After graduating high school, he spent some time in Italy and took classes at Union County College before being accepted into the Culinary Institute of America.
He worked at various restaurants and spent time travelling and working in different kitchens before opening Sabatino’s.
After Sabatino’s had been open for a couple of years, he opened Valley Street Eatery with his friend and colleague, Matt Thornberry. Both restaurants have become popular township fixtures.
“Growing up wasn’t easy but it wasn’t hard,” Sabatino Perrotta said before talking about how he was inspired by his father’s work ethic and his formative years working at Roman Gourmet in Maplewood.
“Don’t waste time, it’s limited,” he said, before taking out his phone so he could take a selfie with the full auditorium behind him.
Joanna Calo, Class of 1998, is a Los Angeles based producer, director, writer and show runner. She is the director of the Emmy Award winning FX series, “The Bear.” She has also written for the Emmy-Award winning Netflix series “Beef” and several other shows including “Hacks,” and “The Baby-Sitters Club.” Her animation credits include “Bojack Horseman,” “Tuca & Bertie” and “Undone.” Calo also co-wrote the 2025 Marvel feature film “Thunderbolts.”
Calo has won three Writer’s Guild of America Awards, an Independent Spirit Award, a Peabody and a Producers Guild award. She won a primetime Emmy Award and was nominated six more times.
After a video taped introduction from a colleague, Calo talked about how strange it felt to be on stage.
“The last time I was on this stage, I was playing fiddler in ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’” Calo said before talking about how much she enjoyed Columbia and growing up where she did.
“Not just this school, but this town, let me be free,” she said. “Find ways to be free, be authentic to yourself.”
Calo offered advice to the students that included: Work hard; stay off your phones; enjoy your life; don’t use AI.
“Your lives are going to take you to wonderful places,” she said. “My story is boring and meandering but I found the thing I love.”
Profeta, a former Maplewood mayor, attorney, and philanthropist, graduated from Columbia in 1957 as senior class president. He attended Yale University and Harvard University Law School and then practiced law in New York City for 61 years. Profeta twice won cases against Donald Trump before he became president.
Profeta served as mayor from 2003 to 2008 and started several non profit organizations, including the Community Coalition on Race, YouthNet, the Maplewood Village Alliance, the Maplewood Green Team and most recently, he created and donated $1 million to the Maplewood Foundation, which makes grants to local non-profits.
In 1977, he organized a citizens’ group that overturned a Board of Education decision to close and tear down Maplewood Junior High School. Enrollment had been declining but Profeta and others saw that as a blip rather than an ongoing trend.
During his term as mayor, he was the first in the state to preside over a same sex marriage.
Profeta has made significant gifts to Columbia over the years, including donations towards Underhill Field, the CHS auditorium, the repair of the clock tower and scholarships for graduating students.
Profeta, who is about to turn 87 and retired this year, read an excerpt from a speech he gave at his own high school graduation.
“Among the things I said that night was that this was the last time we would all be in a room together and that was true,” Profeta said. “The wide world I talked about in 1957 that was ahead of us, is behind us now.”
Profeta told the students that not everyone is good at the same things.
“The number one thing I want to tell you; in your life, make sure you do what you are good at and what you love,” he said. “Follow your soul and remember we are not all good at the same things.”
He also told the students to not be afraid to challenge authority when authority is about to do something wrong or dumb.
And favor meaning over money.
“Is it OK to be rich, sure, as long as it’s not the most important thing in your life,” he said. “The joy of doing what you love is better than money.”
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