“You aren’t making this easy, are you?” Joe DiMaio said, peering over at Paul Abbott, vice president of the Jamestown Public Schools District Board of Education.

DiMaio, long-time board member and board president, presided over his last school board meeting on Tuesday night.

While he thought he would leave the meeting without incident, Abbott, the rest of the board and Tim Mains, superintendent, had other ideas.

Just before the end of the meeting, Abbott took to his feet to speak about the impact DiMaio has had on the district, the board and on Abbott himself.

He said he remembered then Coach DiMaio was a new member of the Jamestown High School football team fondly.

“I remember back in the fall of 1985, Coach DiMaio was one of the varsity football coaches, and I was on the varsity football team. It can be a little intimidating for a 16-year-old kid to be in a program like Jamestown,” Abbott said. “Joe was engaging and he made you feel like you were part of the Red Raider family, and he made it an enjoyable experience.”

He said that DiMaio made everyone feel like they belonged, and still does.

“That is because the Jamestown Public Schools and the Red Raiders have always been family to Joe DiMaio. I see how much pride he takes in this district,” Abbott said. “I don’t think there are enough good things that could be said about what Joe has done for this district, what he has done for this board and what he has meant to all of us. Joe, on behalf of the board and Mr. Mains, I want to thank you.”

DiMaio was given an MVP lifetime membership to Harley Davidson of Jamestown and a Harley Davidson clock.

“Traditionally, when someone leaves the board and it’s someone who has been with the district for a while, they would get a J watch, or something that is Jamestown. I don’t think there is anything J that we could get,” Abbott said. “I couldn’t get a tattoo on him without him knowing about it.”

In an instant, DiMaio pulled up his sleeve to reveal a Red Raiders-themed tattoo on his shoulder, much to the delight of the room.

Mains said there was one more part to DiMaio’s gift.

“There is something J that you don’t have,” he said. “We all know you’ve been a coach, but also believe on behalf of the children of this district, you’ve been a blocker, a tackle, a wide receiver and you’ve been our quarterback for the last few years. When they said they were taking a whole bunch of money away from us, you didn’t taken that line down and you took that ball and ran with it.”

Mains said DiMaio has been the voice of the district during his time.

“Since the High School is the school of champions, we kind of think you are our champion,” he said. “So, there is one thing we would like to add to your collection. It’s a football that says, ‘Honoring Champion Joe DiMaio, board of education member 2004-2016 (and) board of education president 2012-2016.'”

Dimaio thanked the board profusely and stood to say a few words in parting.

“Thank you so much. This has meant a lot to me,” he said. “You don’t give 43 years of your life for something you don’t really care about. I want to thank everybody, and the other aspect of it is if I didn’t think I was leaving it in good hands, I wouldn’t have gone.”