Mount St Michael Academy - Mountaineer Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

Page 30 text:

Paul Ernest . . . the wooden outdoor track. It is a convenience, even a luxury, of which few other schools can boast. 1943 was a big year in every sense. That was the year Brother Nicholas returned as Director and took up his pleasant task of making friends with the school and for the school. He was to become well- nigh indispenstable in his six-year stand at the helm. That was also the year the Mount football team rose to glory. Howie's squad was a thing of matchless precision as it ripped through St. Agnes, Xavier, Chaminade, Brooklyn Prep, Fordham Prep, Haver- straw, Curtis and . . . the final flourish . . . Cardinal Hayes. As New York champs we challenged the West to send us their champs, the challenge was taken up by St. George H. S. of Chicago. Quite a commotion was stirred up over the coming frayg the newspapers were interested, the Mount was New Yorks team. The arena would have to be the Polo Grounds, a lesser stadium would not be worthy. At Grand Central the Mount band met the visitors in an appropriate fashion, a half-hour serenade. The great day was raw and the sky overcast, but the game kept thousands of spectators at a fever heat of excitement. We scored first and were within one minute of scor- ing last, but the clock ran out on us with the score- board registering ZO-25. Newsreels took the game all over the country and showed it to'soldiers, proud Mount alumni among them, in other lands. Gerry Begley, Frank Burke, and Bill O'Connor went on to play for Notre Dame. An excellent band under the masterful conduc- ting of Bro. Gerald Dominic won two trophies at the Irish Feis at Fordham. The track team, as usual, won the Bronx-Manhattan-Westchester Meet. Wy 792

Page 29 text:

7757 75 ill ll dl :nina minds' d aw.:-tattoos-OVQUUQAD - -ft, The purpose of the raffle of 1940 was solely to finance a new gymnasium. Mount students of the succeeding years would become more and more con- vinced of the truth of the adage concerning the con- struction of Rome. Gonzaga High traveled all the way from Wash- ington, D. C., for the privilege of eking out a one- point victory over M. S. M. Our first musicale was excellently rendered but poorly attended. Time and the growing reputation of our orchestra would soon fill the empty seats Sunday May 19 1940 was a very significant day in Mount history Before a large throng gathered for the annual gym exhibition Mrs McGovern unveiled a memorial and presided at the dedication of the athletic field to her late husband Mr Patrick Mc Govern a great benefactor of the school Another great friend of the Mount Reverend ohn T ordan formerly Pastor of St Frances of Rome and now happy in Heaven blessed the memorial tablet It was Mr McGovern who filled in the swamp areas of the property leveled the playrng fields and covered them with four inches of rich black loam Due to the recent construction of the new Memorial Building over the site of the memorial stone its plaque is being affixed to the wall of the Memorial Gym facing the football field so that Mr McGoverns memory may be per petuated among present and future students for years to come 1942 stands out as a year for establishing prece dents but equal initiative was displayed the follow ing year St Patrick smiled down from heaven upon row after row of smartly marching Mounties Gather ing dusk hindered the vision of thi other spectators On May 18 of that year the school was solemnly con secrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary a truly noteworthy event in our annuals The hundreds of students gyrating and gesticulating in unison under the direction of Howie Smith little thought that they were staging the last gymnastic exhibition that they were ending a glorious tradition The yearly exhibi tions were magnificent spectacles but they belonged to a vanishing era The faculty shifted the burden of the student body onto the broad back of John A Meseck steamer and the experiment proved so suc cessful that a boat ride to Playland is now a yearly must Finally we should mention in a grateful tone the product of the labor and ingenuity of Bro , v i , . 1 , . 1 , . - , . , J -J , , . Q 7 V ' ' , . 3 - llllllllllilllgiun . . . . . Q..--. -... ., .4-.--nn' A :Ilan uulnn 0 1' ' ' ' 1 : 1 A'uSuu.w--- ..,,.aisz.-.-i.mu:nl.i I . I. , U . .Q ph neuron-Q4 ' ' . . , ina' , ,a , . ' ,-. , . L y V K K ' A 1 I la V , if ' A g g -1 V K I I . . .Qwy ,. ., . . . . 1 ff go , - 3 SL. i I ' A ,, I li . '. 1 r 1 A if 1 '1 M i A ug h , . , sm A.!,. 1 , ' ' ' - ' r - up ,,,lr: '

Page 31 text:

ffffe -as-J: ' ' ' A ,C W lihw K .A 1 , if fa X .N 4 R 'Q Q, l N. Our alumni in khaki were increasing in number. Almost eight hundred names appeared on a beautiful Honor Roll, the handiwork of Bro. Paul Ernest. We were and are especially proud of the 32 gold stars gleaming from the boardg so proud that the newest and best we have . . . the Memorial building . . . has been dedicated to them. At about this same time twenty members of the Fathers' Committee met for the first time to discuss ways of financing the new gym. The June Festival showed indications of develop- ing into a bazaar. In 1945 the school acquired a much needed feminine touch. The Mothers' Club was formed under the presidency of Mrs. Begley. The most immediate result was the first Christmas Bridge Party. Another powerful grid machine crushed the CCNY jayvee 52-O, and went on to humiliate Hayes 40-O. The alumni flocked back to the school for the Home-Coming Party. Over five hundred ex-Mounties renewed acquaintance with their former teachers, present for the occasion. Hubert Donlon won laurels as an orator in the Holy Name and Journal American contests. The first bazaar proved a success beyond all ex- pectations. Only the area between the power-house and the dormitory was used, and it turned out to be woefully inadequate. Hundreds of people had to be turned away for want of room. Howie Smith accepted an offer for Holy Cross, and we bade him a noisy though reluctant farewell