St Andrews Seminary - Mapav Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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S A T O R A Letter From the Class of '43 Saint Andrew's Seminary June, 1939 Dear Seminarians, Our purpose in writing this letter is that we may introduce you to the class of '43. Perhaps you have already stored away in those crania of yours a few scattered details of our history, but these facts have not been presented to you side by side so that you might obtain an understand' able view of the significance of our accomplish' ments. As far as we know, there is no historian who has put our story into the annals of time, therefore, having a sense of selffpride, we shall endeavor to give you our autobiography. Let us then draw aside the curtain of time and look upon this, our short life- As all people are proud of their birthdays, so are we proud of September 7, 1937, for that is our birthday. It was 1937, as you no doubt ref member, that the old seminary building and grounds were sold to Eastman Kodak Company. As a result the school had to be moved, taking up its new and present location in the former Cathedral School. Consequently much confusion prevailed. However, though our entry was made under such a condition, we got off to a fairly good start. We proceeded cautiously into our studies, since they were entirely unfamiliar to us, and we were ignorant of even the slightest thing about them. No doubt this ignorance was the cause of such blunders as, the claim of one of our members that Dr. Jekyll was the friend of Mr. Hyde. Often our way was blocked from swift prog' ress by obstacles or in other words, tasks, which were caused by everything from tossing erasers and playing minature golf on the desk, to throwing snowballs from the window fwith Father Lyons as a spectator across the street, and playing football in the hall. If any of you are wondering why there is a big dent in one of the lockers, wonder no longer, because it merely marks the place where a former member of the class, Ralph Brower, was buried when he happened to be in the way the time the lockers fell over. fifty-two HARRY BEsToR, '43 In the month of September 1938, when we returned to the hallowed halls of Saint Andrew's, we found that our original class of about twenty had been reduced to half that number. Never' theless, the addition of four new fellows strength' ened us. Again we resumed our school workg this time with more ease because the newness of the sub' jects which had confronted us previously in the first year was now gone, but the 'kprofsu saw to it that we didn't allow any laxity to present itself. Also more books were read in our second year than we had read before. This was due to the institution of thc book chart by Father Marks. Jimmy Baker knows this only too well as he was kept continuously busy keeping our records up to date. The spiritual field of the class need not be so fully discussed, because the mere existence of the class explains this completely. However, it can be said that in our second year our spiritual activity was augmented, with many of the fellows being active members in the various societies- Saint John Bosco, Mission Society and others. All took an enthusiastic interest in the newly or- ganized Sodality. Regarding sports, you can see that as Freshf men we started to take an active part in what ever sports were afforded. In our first winter here, bowling seemed to be the only type of sports available, since means for others were lacking. Here some of the class showed some good work. In fact, Bill Lally was a member of the winning bowling team. Then spring gave us a chance to show our skill in what many said was baseball, but anyhow there were quite a few who showed some skill. We engaged in a few inter' class games, in which our best victory was that over the present Seniors. That season we also had the privilege of having jim Lyons chosen as catcher for 'LIggie Saint Georges team in the AllfStar game on Mission Day, he gave a fine per- formance in the game. Perhaps our showings in sports in the Sophof more year were even a little more representa' tive. A great many more engaged in bowling. We had representatives in both the Saint Patrick

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1 9 3 9 First RowfLeft to 'ri LEO BEATTIE f HAROLD BESTOR WILLIAM LALLY f DOMINIC MOCKEVICIUS Second RowALeft to JAMES BAKER f ROBERT MARCIGLIANO JAMES BARRETT f GERALD DUNN f Thi-rd Row-Left to CORNELIUS DUFFY DONALD COROORAN JOHN LATUCCA CHARLES SCHIAVI JAMES LYONS f Not in Picture: JOHN CAHILL ght: - 1 .fx li right: right: SECOND YEAR f Qur Lady of Perpetual Help, Rochester f Our Lady of Good Council, Rochester f E f . . f f Holy Rosary, Rochester .L fl 'J f f St. George's, Rochester f St. Margaret Mary's, Rochester f Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Rochester f Blessed Sacrament, Rochester St. John the Evangelist, Rochester f St. Thomas Aquinas, Leicester f St. Joseph's, Oneida St. Mary's, Scottsville f - St. Anthony's, Batavia f St. Margaret Mary's, Rochester f St. John the Evangelist, Rochester jiftyfonc

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1 9 3 9 and Holy Family Leagues. At the end of the Holy Family bowling season, the doubles matches were held in which jim Lyons was one of the winning couple. We had only one interfclass game and this did not speak so well for us as we lost to the juniors, whom we had challenged. Many of the class took part in the Bowling party which we had at Saint Michael's during the Easter vacation. In the line of baseball there was only one inter-class game and that was with the Frosh, who defeated us by a fair margin-their begin- ner's luck. This is our history. Brilliant? Nofbut prof gressive and A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss.'l Therefore we shall say adieu and hope that our class will continue successfully until we reach our goal on ordination day, June 1949. Your fellow seminarians, The Class of '43-. 'TTT 'fb ' Cur Gymnasium Surely you recall that day last Januaryg you seemed so astonished at the time that it would be impossible to forget so soon. I, for my part, ref member distinctly the account of your episode just as you described it to me. It was something like this: 'LIt was just another one of those days. We had no particular thoughts except the one about the dismissal bell at two fortyffive, as we started for school like the 'whining schoolboy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school' At school, the second floor was not in the same condition as we were accustomed to see it. An unfamiliar obstacle met our gaze-yes, it was a stairway to the third floor. We approached this new gradient curiously but cautiously, for, whither these steps led, we knew not. At any rate, we began to climb them and, at the top, we pushed open the door and meekly peered in. The sight that we beheld was unprecedented within the walls of Saint Anf drew's. In the middle of the floor there was an orderly scramble for a basketball and a game seemed to be in progress, down at the far end of the hall, the air resounded with the solid blows administered by a couple of skillful boxers, a short distance from our feet was saw two would' be wrestlers grappling convincingly on a mat. The thought that this was our gym entered our minds but we could not believe itg we dispelled it at once, thinking that we were in a dream. Ah, my friend, you were wrong, you were mistaken and not at all in a dream. Indeed, Saint Andrews, in the seventh decade of its existence, really has a gymnasium, the desire of so many EDWARD REDDER, '40 years is now realized. The one thing that has so long been a misty Hgure on the horizon is now a reality. The story of its establishment is not intricate -perhaps, it is not even interestingffbut it is an indication of the cooperative spirit existing in the seminary today. Early in the year the proposition of using the third floor for this purf pose was put before the faculty. They heartily approved the idea and, as a result, plans for this project were drawn up. The students conducted a campaign to raise funds and, due to the gen' erosity of the clergy and laity, it was a huge success. Then the action began. The interior of the monstrous hall was torn down and slowly built up again into the fine structure which we behold today. Baskets were erected on the court, the floor was leveled, a stairway between the second and third floor was built, and at last the gym began to take on the look of general improve' ment. Later, muchfneeded paint was applied to the walls and the veneer of completion began to show itself. As yet we have been privileged to look only upon the external enhancements of our gym, but, in reality, there is something greater than is evif dent. What we see now is pleasing to us but it hardly indicates what it has in store for us and posterity, It will be in the gym, that we unload our daily burdens, here we will receive recreation when we are tired and strained from mental effort. In years to come we will always bear a deep sense of appreciation toward the initiators of such a worthwhile addition to our seminary. jftyfthree