Novello takes down Saturday greasy pole flag

Jun. 27—Anthony Novello was walking Saturday's Greasy Pole competition for his neighborhood and for his family name.

Novello, 33, grew up on Fort Square and has been celebrating the St. Peter's Fiesta traditions his entire life. He also came into Saturday's competition aware that a Novello had never won a greasy pole. That is until Saturday.

Novello was walker No. 7 and needed only one try to get to the end of the 40-foot greased telephone pole that sits off of Pavilion Beach, taking down the flag with a flawless second round walk for his first flag. Anthony was walking with his brother, Dom Novello, for the first time on the same platform and the two veteran walkers wanted to make sure with two Novello's in the field, one would take home the win.

"There has never been two Novello's on the same pole so we joked about it this week that if there's two Novello's up there one has to win it," said Anthony Novello, a veteran walker of more than a decade. "I grew up down here, my grandparents lived on Fort Square so it's a dream come true. It's something I always dreamed of as a kid and it all just fell into place."

There weren't any close calls before Novello's winner walk but there were some solid walks. That meant Novello, who wears a charm with St. Peter on it that he embraces before every walk, had to make his way through a pole that was still covered in grease for the most part. While he slipped a little about halfway there, he quickly regained his balance and had plenty of momentum to get through the rest of the walk and take down the flag.

"It was early second round so I had to earn it," Novello said. "I pulled the rag back on the platform because I don't like standing on the rag. I just took off, next thing I know I see the white grease. I slipped a little but didn't fall then I just walked right through it. When I hit the water it meant the world to me. I just yelled 'I did it for the Fort.'"

It was also a good weekend for Novello's Lanesvillle softball team, the Loggers as all three 2022 champs, Leo Cannvo (Friday), Novello (Saturday) and Derek Hopkins (Sunday) play on that squad.

"We talked about it at our last game we have a bunch of walkers and we wanted a Logger to take it every day," Novello said.

"After Leo won on Sunday I knew it was up to me on Saturday because Hopkins was taking it on Sunday."