St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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STUDENT COUNCIL Standing: Gibbons, Green, McCarthy, McGoldrick Seated: Slattery, O'Donoghue, Kirk, Cremmen, Caulfield, Pitts ing with reference to future events, but its chronicling of past personal exploits and social interests caused keen interest or profound dismay, depending upon one's point of view. At times it seemed as if a glossary of terms was needed to make its cryptic comment intelligible, and, more often than not, it needed previous cen- sorship before being permitted to fall into parental hands. We were quite proud of the part played in its production by our fellow Sophomores, for Jack Kirk, Dick Griffin, Larry Cazale, john Kehoe and Bob O'Shea were on the reportorial staff, Frank Fandel served as Business Manager, and Frank O'Donoghue roamed the campus to snap the celebrities whose biographical sketches were to appear. Al- though charges have been made that, at least on some occasions, The Walrus has misquoted statements and distorted or obscured facts, it certainly aroused the greatest possible interest that could be desired. Another literary venture of the School during our Sophomore year was the publication of a yearbook, The Arrow, which was intended to serve our gradu- ates as a record of their St. Sebastian days. Their enthusiasm aroused by the plan, the Class of 1945 went to work zealously on the project with Fr. Flanigan and long afternoon sessions were spent in the Library compiling and revising material for the pioneer edition. As undergraduates we were not intimately associated with the effort, but we did assist the cause by obtaining ads and patrons for the book. When it eventually appeared, we were pleasantly surprised by its beauty and we read it avidly from cover to cover. Our pride in showing it to friends was verified sometime later when Marquette University awarded it All-Catholic rating. In the realm of sports, we took up where we had left off the year before with even greater enjoyment. Reporting as J.V. veterans this time, we put ourselves

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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-

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into Fr. Keating's hands once again and found the conditioning process still as rig- orous as a year before. When the time came to encounter the opposition of other j.V. elevens, a schedule was arranged and we were tested in the fire of combat. Browne and Nichols, Roxbury Latin, Belmont Hill and Angel Guardian were the foes of that campaign in which Bill Heavey, Vin Horrigan and Dick McCarron stood out for fierce tackling, while Herb Baker and jack Nawn shone offensively. In the Angel Guardian contests, Fr. Keating's neutrality was a highlight that was watched closely by both sides. During the indoor season that followed we had plenty to interest us when the ice and hoop campaigns began. For a second year, the Skating Club became a mecca for St. Sebastian rooters on Saturday nights and they had every reason to cheer their favorites on as they battled splendidly for the League crown. In the final analysis we had to be content with a co-championship shared by Malden, but there were chills and thrills galore especially in the 1-1 stalemate that closed the season. J.V. Hockey also was attempted and Fr. Hannigan's ambitious proteges were bolstered by our contributions, Dick McCarron, Prank O'Donoghue and Ed Quirk. The court game introduced us to Fr. John Redding who undertook the tutoring of our hoopsters after our loss of Fr. Collins. From our class, dominant figures like Bob McNabb, Dick Tonner, Herb Baker, Bill O'Leary, Bob McGarty and Jim Caulfield did much to lighten the burdens of the new coach as the team emerged with five victories in nine starts. As we expected, the spiritual aspect of our training was taken care of thor- oughly in a well-planned program. Daily Mass was celebrated at 8:30 each School day by the Headmaster and, while attendance was optional, we frequently availed ourselves of the opportunity to assist at the Holy Sacrifice. In keeping with the tra- dition set by the older classes, we began and ended each day with a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, and we looked forward to the First Friday Communion Masses ALTAR BOYS Standing: Keefe, Melly, Carroll, Hurley, Field, Keelan, McNabb, Doherty Seated: Hennessy, O'Donoghue, Boles, Fr. Dacey, Fichtner, McAuliffe, Bullock