By Joe Milliken
THE SHOPPER
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. — Lifelong Bellows Falls resident and Bellows Falls Union High School graduate, teacher, and coach, Tim Eno, was recently chosen as an inductee into the Vermont Principles’ Association Hall of Fame.
“I received the phone call last week and it caught me totally by surprise,” Eno said in a recent interview. “The induction is in Montpelier on May 20.”
A graduate of BFUHS in 1976 and Keene State College in 1981, Tim has been a positive fixture in the community and school system for over three decades.
“I’ve been a teacher for 35 years and for the last 18 at the Bellows Falls Middle School,” Eno said.
Eno has also been heavily involved in school athletics, having coached the school’s track-and-field and cross-country ski teams for nearly 30 years.
“I have been the BFUHS head track coach for the last 27 years and this one will be my last,” he said. “I was also the cross-country coach until 2019, and held that coaching position for 20 years.”
Coach Eno’s accomplishments are impressive; achieving an astounding 18 combined state championships, many conference and league titles, as well as coaching many individual state and New England champions. His impact on the community, the student athletes, and his peers is unmistakable.
“I absolutely love coaching track and cross-country, and I have been blessed with numerous intelligent assistant coaches over the years which has helped me achieve those championships. . . it wasn’t just me! I’d like to especially thank ‘Grump’ Haskell, who has been with me as a volunteer assistant coach for all of my 27 years in coaching.
“I ran cross-country and played basketball for Coach Russ Pickering in high school and he probably had the biggest influence on me as a student athlete. We were D1 state champs in cross-country in 1973, 1974, and 1975. He was a great mentor and I’m not really sure what path my life would have taken without his mentoring along the way.”
As the varsity track and cross-country head coach, Eno has helped hang many championship banners in the BFUHS gym, including nine boys’ and six girls’ track-and-field state titles, as well as one boys’ and back-to-back (2018 and 2019) girls’ cross-country titles.
“Bellows Falls is a very unique town and school system where we are blessed with hard-working, dedicated athletes,” Eno added. “The support from parents, the school, and the community has just been incredible over the years, and it has been such a pleasure coaching and making all these friendships with the athletes, other coaches, and parents along the way.
“It won’t be easy to walk away from all of this, but Coach Bisbee told me once upon a time that ‘you’ll know when it’s time…’ and I think it’s time! Many thanks to everyone that has helped me a long the way. Go Bellows Falls!”
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