Pete Desimone and his wife, Rachael, woke up at 5 a.m. before Syracuse’s home opener against Wagner. They filled a truck and trailer with tents, seats, display goal posts, a 10-foot long dinosaur and a blue and an orange replica bell, similar to the one rung after an SU touchdown in the Carrier Dome. By 7:30 a.m., eight hours before kickoff, they set up in their usual spot at the Skytop lot on South Campus.

Among the chairs, food and chatter, hung a wooden orange board which read “the Mayor of Skytop” engraved in blue. The sign served as a reminder of a former tailgater, Mark Fenton, who invented Desimone’s nickname and gifted him the sign.

What started as six people sitting with cold food in the back of a trailer before a home game against Penn State in 1989 turned into a seasonal passion, one that transformed Fenton into a lifelong Orange fan.

In 2016, the tradition of weekend tailgates came to a halt when Fenton was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Fenton stopped coming on Saturdays to South Campus and became bedridden.

“Mark used to go to these games in pain and we never realized how much pain he was in,” Desimone said. “He never showed us, told us, cried about it.”

As Desimone kept the tradition alive – one that now involves more than 30 people mostly from his job at Crouse Hinds Hall – Fenton stayed at home and watched every SU game from his living room TV.

Pete Desimone, the tailgate partner of Mark Fenton.

Max Freund | Asst. Photo Editor

In the beginning of 2018, Fenton’s condition worsened and Desimone wanted one last tailgate for his friend.

He called Dale Keller, also a tailgater in the Skytop lot and the father of SU long snapper Matt Keller. Desimone asked if Keller’s son and a couple of teammates could stop by Fenton’s house on Feb. 10. Desimone and Rachael set it up like any other tailgate: food orders, Otto the Orange memorabilia and a guest list of friends and family. Matt and 17 of his teammates, mostly linemen such as Sam Heckel and Mike Clark, visited Fenton’s house.

Just before the group of SU football players walked into Fenton’s house, Desimone met them outside.

“Listen, Mark is real bad,” Desimone said to them. “If you guys can’t handle it, I understand.”

Though he barely spoke due to his condition, Fenton’s eyes lit up when some of SU’s biggest players walked through his door. In a nightgown, Fenton laid in a bed adjacent to the kitchen as the players conjoined arms and surrounded the bed, talking to Fenton, who had a noticeable smile.

“It was a cloudy day that day,” Desimone said, “But in the pictures, it looks like a bright light shining through.”

Matt handed Fenton a white Nike football, signed by members on the team in blue ink. After the exchange, Fenton whispered, “Go SU,” as loud as he could, one of the few words he said on the day.

Courtesy of Rachael Desimone

“It was phenomenal, just very overwhelming,” said Fenton’s brother, Mike, as tears streamed down his face. “The parade of the players were so gracious. It seemed like it was going on forever and forever.”

Fenton, 63, died on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2018 at 4 a.m.

The second paragraph of his obituary read, “He always supported his hometown team throughout the years, no matter what their record. The tailgate parties at Skytop were one of his favorite times of year.”

Before the 2018 home opener, Desimone and his crew hosted a tailgate in memoriam for Fenton, which served as a fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation.

When Fenton first started tailgating, Desimone recalled him getting in the way – wanting to help out too much. So Desimone tasked him with handling the money before every tailgate. As Desimone slowly became known as “The Mayor,” Fenton was called “The Book Keeper of Skytop,” a title people still remember him by.

Kevin Camelo | Digital Design Editor

Desimone estimated he’s spent more than $3,000 on tailgate decorations. One of his most prized possessions is the “Dino Dinosaur” — a project he and Fenton first worked on when head coach Dino Babers was hired. The dinosaur is coated in orange paint and decked out with flame decals on the face, a navy SU logo on the figure’s stomach and an Orange-branded construction hat.

The decoration has gained acclaim past the parking lots of Skytop.

“I saw (Babers) at a breakfast place after his first season,” Desimone said. “When he was done eating, I started to talk to him. He asked for my name and I said ‘Pete, but they also call me the Mayor of Skytop.’ Dino pointed at me and was like ‘You’re the one, you’re the one with the dinosaur up there.’”

Among balloons and a 20-yard mock football field were signs for Fenton. Closer to the lot of cars read a sign, “Memorial tailgate for Mark,” in black and orange block letters. On a telephone pole nearby, a blue poster said, “All donations will go to the CNY Kidney Foundation.”

A bag, containing three different types of pins hand-painted by Fenton’s children and grandchildren, floated among the crowd. The tokens of tribute featured phrases like “Cure Cancer” and “For Mark” with ribbons, polka dots and hearts filling up the blank space in either green, blue or orange coloring.  Every person at Desimone’s tailgate, and most of the other surrounding tailgates, sported them.

Max Freund | Asst. Photo Editor

Desimone, Rachael and Mike sat in a circle with Fenton’s family members and co-workers, reminiscing on great SU time periods. Most of the tailgaters, like Fenton, never attended Syracuse, but fell in love with their hometown school.

As the discussion continued, Mike remembered Fenton. He talked about Fenton’s favorite SU football moment — the Orange’s 32-31 victory over West Virginia to cap off an undefeated 1987 season. They discussed Fenton’s praise of women’s basketball coach Quentin Hillsman and how he transformed the program with a 2016 run to the Final Four.

They shared what Fenton meant to them. Mike teared up as he recalled his brother letting him, his wife and young child live with Fenton for eight months, many years ago. Fenton wasn’t the oldest of his five siblings but became their “protector,” Mike said.

“Mark’s the type of guy that’ll give his last dollar to you if you need it,” Desimone said. “He never gets mad, never. His heart was big as anything.”

Earlier, Desimone auctioned off Fenton’s coveted orange folding chair for $126. Around noon, the sound of a bell and a ringing automated horn after every donation could be heard from across the parking lot. At 12:30 p.m., a neighboring tailgater talked with Mike briefly and slipped him $20. Mike walked over to Desimone, who was engulfed in conversation.

“It’s your turn,” Mike said to Desimone.

The mayor, with the same gleaming smile he exhibited all morning, emphatically rang the bell as the lot began to cheer.

“Today was a contribution to him,” Rachael said. “Next week, we will go on for SU.”

Published on September 10, 2018 at 10:21 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman