St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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FIRST FRIDAY MASS Father Flanigan blesses the Seniors at the end of their private Mass in the sacristy. again we were impressed by the insistent advice of Fr. Mclnnis as he addressed us in the Chapel and outlined our responsibilities as students of a College Preparatory School. As we wended our way to our second-floor classrooms, we found new lads accompanying us, and the realization that our group of the previous year had been added to, came as a bit of a shock. When the desks were assigned in the A and B Sophomore sections, we learned names that soon would be glibly familiar to our tongues as their owners became part and parcel of our everyday lives. It was not long before new members like John Boles, Bruce Campbell, jim Caulfield, Lar- ry Cazale, joe Ford, Ollie Hennigan, Larry MacKenzie, Bob McNabb, jack Nawn, Frank O'Donoghue and Dick Tonner were absorbed into our ranks with such thoroughness that we ceased to think of them as newcomers. We were sur- prised also to find some of the familiar faces of our Freshman classmates missing at the start of this second School year, but they were a small minority whose ab- sence was compensated for by the influx of new Sophomores. In the dining hall we had an opportunity to assume an assured air as we took our places and scrutinized the newcomers who had succeeded us as Freshmen. The presence of another row of tables prepared us for the fact that they outnumbered us by being fifty strong. Soon, some math-minded soul pointed out that the stu- 1

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ceedings for our contribution to the line-up was considerable. Two Freshmen were among the six Red and Black skaters who took the ice against St. Mary's of Wal- tham and hence we cheered every movement of Ed Phillips and jack Slattery to the echo. While our icemen went down to defeat on that occasion, they more than atoned for that failure in later appearances as Jack Mulhern and Ed Phillips led them to third place in the final League standing. Apart from the interest provid- ed by the games, it was wonderful to note how the contests worked magic in ob- taining parental permission to venture forth on Saturday nights. At the conclu- sion of the season we were quick to vote the ice venture a complete success and we hoped that Hockey would be a permanent feature of the sports cycle on the Hill. Meanwhile, the Christmas vacation had come and gone, to be remembered especially for the Christmas party which preceded it. We learned that this too had become a tradition of the School and we more than enjoyed the banquet and the varied entertainment that followed. On that occasion, Varsity and J.V. athlet- ic rewards were distributed and we were thrilled to have our prowess so publicly noted. We were quite impressed also by the importance of the juniors when it was announced that they were permitted to hold the first St. Sebastian prom under the able direction of Charlie McCarron. All in all, the year would have been en- tirely a succession of pleasant surprises had it not been for the death of His Emi- nence William Cardinal O'Connell in early Spring. As students of the last educa- tional institution he had established, we felt deeply affected as we assisted at the Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul in our School Chapel. To end the year on a memorable note, we had the experience of playing j.V. Baseball under Fr. Flanigan. From workouts that began in the gym cage we passed to the outdoor diamond as soon as weather permitted. Daily practice and insistent coaching eventually molded together a nine that took on strong compe- tition in the weeks of the scholastic year that remained. As moundsmen on that aggregation we had Dick Griffin and john Gallagher who turned in creditable performances despite the fact that their support was a bit on the porous side. Of- fensively, our attack was led by Ed Quirk, Bill O'Leary, and Bob Bullock against competition provided by teams like the Mission High J.V.'s and St. joseph's Acad- emy of Wellesley. While the defeats exceeded the number of victories, that fact was lost sight of as we watched the Varsity pile up seven wins in eleven starts, the season's highlight being jimmy Collins' bid for a no-hitter against Browne and Nichols. To close the academic year we attended the Year's End Party at which awards for scholastic excellence were announced and Baseball letters were distributed. We were particularly pleased when Dick GrifHn's attainment of a scholarship for the year ahead was revealed by the Headmaster. Thus the first chapter of our St. Sebastian career drew to a close most pleasantly, marked by the compilation of a treasury of memories which we hoped would be increased in the three years ahead of us. After the rest and relaxation of the Summer months, we were rather resigned to a return to School routine and we speculated interestedly as to what St. Sebas- tian's would be like with a full complement of classes from Seniors to Freshmen. We were not quite prepared, however, to find the Chapel just about filled with students as we filed in for the Mass of the Holy Ghost on the opening day. Once

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dent body had now reached a total of one hundred and thirty-five. Another ob- servant citizen called attention to the presence of two new Faculty members whom we came to know as Fr. joseph Desmond and Fr. Clifford. We were not destined however, to enjoy Fr. Desmond's company for long, because a sudden death took him from us on October 4th. In his place came Fr. Beatty as the English teacher of the Freshman class while Fr. Clifford introduced the same group to the rudi- ments of Latin. As September days rolled by we came to identify the new students who were not in our own class. While most of them were rather obviously first year students, twelve belonged to the current junior Class and Don Gibbons had joined the Senior group. The outstanding recollection of the scholastic year 1944-45 centers around the enthusiasm with which we heard that our Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, had named Bishop Cushing to succeed Cardinal O'Connell as Archbishop of Boston. A holi- day was declared and, on the day following the announcement, a Mass of Thanks- giving was offered up by the Headmaster in the School Chapel. After the Holy Sacrifice, Fr. Mclnnis' words helped us to appreciate the providential character of the appointment. Within a short time we were pleased to hear that Arch- bishop Cushing had met with the Headmaster and the Faculty and had expressed his deep interest in St. Sebastian's high ideals and rapid development. The School year was not very old when we were grieved to learn that our Latin instructor, Fr. Collins, was being sent to Catholic University for advanced study. During the year of his association with us both as a teacher and as Faculty Director of Athletics, we had come to regard him as an integral part of our St. Se- bastian life and it was with deep regret that we bade him farewell. To succeed Fr. Collins, Fr. james Redding made his appearance on the Nonantum Hill scene and took over our Latin classes with an intensive enthusiasm that was satisfied with nothing short of perfection. In time he came to know us all well personally and was most generous with his time and advice. From an academic point of view, we had been trained well the year before and we settled down to scholastic pursuits in rather docile fashion. As competi- tors for honors, we had to reckon with Larry Cazale's consistent brilliancy and john Boles' determined effort, and their presence did much to spur us on to greater heights. The subject matter of our Sophomore year was arduous enough to call for blood, sweat and tears being expended on Caesar's military campaigns and The ldylls of the King together with congruent triangles and their geometric kin. However, the day's labors were lightened now and again by Fr. I-Iannigan's puns and Griff's tearful laughter. At times misdemeanor marks reached fearful pro- portions, while in Fr. Flanigan's class a wrong answer could bring immediate re- tribution as he circulated through the aisles. The success of a translation was easily discernible on Fr. Redding's face, and unsatisfactory work drew forth em- phatic facial and verbal signs of disgust. Despite these hazards, we reaped our share of Honor Roll awards and maintained the class prestige in this respect. The folly of not struggling with might and main was graphically brought out on Black Monday, April 30, 1945, when we missed the presence of several classmates who had failed to hold their heads above the scholastic waters. Without a doubt, one of the milestones of our St. Sebastian career was reached when The Walrus made its appearance as the School newspaper. Supervised by Fr. Beatty and edited by Myron Bullock '46, it was sedate enough in its report-