'Redmen' beat out Black Label
BOSTONHERALD.COM
By Tyler B. Reed/MetroWest Daily News
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The man who claims he named the Natick High School sports teams "The Redmen" 50 years ago defended the name as "regal" not renegade.
The nickname has come under fire once again this year by some who say "Redmen" is offensive to Native Americans.
The local school board could vote on whether to keep it later this winter.
Silvio Mandino, a Holliston resident and 1956 graduate of Natick High, said he coined the term "Redmen" shortly after graduation when he worked as a sports writer for the, then, Framingham News, now the MetroWest Daily News.
Mandino said he picked the name because he felt another idea, to name the school "The Brewers" after a Carling beer factory on Lake Cochituate, would be inappropriate for a high school.
"I started using it. I didn't ask anyone's permission," he said.
"I chose it because I thought it had some tie-in with the history and nature of the town," Mandino said.
The town was founded more than 350 years ago by a group of converted Native Americans called the Natick Praying Indians.
"The word Natick is an Indian name," he said. "The whole idea of the town is based on that."
In another pending vote, Natick is also up against Brockton as the state's "Home of Champions."
The state Legislature is expected to rule on that title, with the "Redmen" the favorite to win.
treed@cnc.com