St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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SENIOR SOCIALITES AT JUNIOR PROM fLeft to Rigbtj O'Shea, Kirk, Ford, Shannon, Cruickshank, Cremmen, Heavy, O'I.eary, Watson, McCarron, Griffin for training under Mr. Whelan. Off the campus, the Alumni met at joe Carroll's home early in the year for the purpose of organizing into an active group and the twenty-two graduates present chose jimmy Collins '45 as President. Vice-Presi- dential chairs were awarded to Ed Courtney '45 and john Pickard '46, while the of- fices of Treasurer and Secretary fell to Ed Murphy and jim Lydon, both of '45. Within the structure of our own class, elections were held early in November and, after the first ballot had resulted in a tie between jack Cremmen and jack Kirk, the second poll gave the honor to the Basketball captain. For the second successive year, our scholar par excellence was accorded the Vice-Presidency, Frank O'Donoghue was designated Secretary, and jim Caulfield, who did such a fine job in heading the Class Ring Committee, was elected Treasurer. Without losing any time, Fr. Flanigan called an early class meeting to discuss our edition of The Arrow and announced the appointments of john Kirk and Bob Bullock to head the editorial and business staffs, respectively. Bob O'Shea and Dick Griffin were designated jack's chief lieutenants together with an editorial council that included john Boles, George Shannon, Bill Heavey, Bob Fichtner and joe Ford. Skill in photography made Frank O'Donoghue a natural to head that department, while Dick McCarron emerged with the task of shouldering the financial worries with Bob Bullock.

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Early in july we were overjoyed to learn from the Boston Press that Fr. Mc- lnnis had been elevated by His Holiness Pope Pius XII to the rank of Papal Chamberlain with the title of Very Reverend Monsignor. We sensed at once that this honor had been conferred on the Headmaster of St. Sebastian's both as a recog- nition of outstanding priestly work for twenty-five years and as a seal of approba- tion on the School founded and developed under his direction. When we re- turned to the Hill, we found no change in him except the purple piping on his cassock which caused us to blurt out frequently I mean, Monsignor after we had saluted him as Father, We were fully cognizant of the responsibility that was ours when we began our fourth year last September. To come back to the Hill as Seniors was pleasant enough, but our status also demanded that we set the tone of School life in rather serious and dignified fashion. Previously we always had an older group to look up to, now we could seek inspiration only in our own ranks. When we assembled our personnel in the first-floor Senior classroom, we found that our numbers had been increased by three new additions, Al Cruickshank, john McAuliffe and Matt Thornton. The last named lad remained only for a fleeting period of time, but the other two stood shoulder to shoulder with us through the rigors of our final year. On the Faculty roster there were three new additions, Fr. Francis Desmond, who was assigned to us in English, Fr. Dacey, our instructor in Latin, and Fr. Aubut, new member of the French department. Their presence called attention to the fact that Fr. Redding and Fr. Clifford were no longer in our midst, but had been sent to universities for further study, the former to Fordham and the latter to Laval. As seniors, we were freed from the duty of waiting on table, but there was no noticeable slackening of our scholastic requirements. The languages returned to plague some and please others, and there was much jousting with the sciences, as usual. In Latin, Fr. Dacey did not vary from the perfectionist approach instituted by Fr. Redding, and, had he been so minded, joe Ford and Dick Griffin would have protested to high heaven. The well of English seemed inexhaustible as Fr. Desmond meted out generous portions of the greats in English Literature and gave us writers' cramp with copious notes on all the literary forms. To close the day, the Greeks had an exhilarating meeting of minds with Xenophon during which the intimate round-table approach gave rise to many quips. Trig and Physics were formidable at best, but Fr. Cotter's patience was unending. Under Fr. Keating's objective analysis we surveyed our country's history and traced the pattern of current events in a highly palatable manner. In the background at all times the spectre of College Boards loomed large and we really set to work with in- tensity. True to his form of other years, john Kirk did not allow his many extra- curricular interests to keep him from the Honor Roll. While we missed such personalities as Bob McGarty and jack Seth from our crew, we had to contend with the fifty Freshmen who energetically occupied the first corridor with us. Their first participation in a School-wide observance came on September 20th when the student body offered its felicitations to Monsignor Mclnnis on his fiftieth birthday. After dinner that Noon, Fr. Beatty expressed the Faculty's sentiments on the occasion, while Robert Bullock presented the Head- master a Spiritual Bouquet which was the offering of the entire School. The new Sebastianites were also tested for vocal talent and many of them were selected

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During the Fall we followed the Red and Black gridders loyally as they faced stern opposition from schools of the caliber of St. john's Prep, Cambridge High and Latin, Lawrence Central Catholic and Lawrence Academy. Our Senior class was well represented in moleskins by Co-Captains Harwood and Caulfield, john Ellard, Ed Quirk, Jack Cremmen, joe Ford, Dick Watson and George Shannon. While the one point victory over Cambridge High and Latin was a thriller, and the tie with Lawrence Central brought us satisfaction, the apex of St. Sebastian's Football prestige was reached when we tied a powerful St. john's Prep eleven, 7-7. With 1100 spectators present in observance of Parents' and Friends' Day, the Ar- rows battled heroically to limit the invaders to a single hard-won touchdown and then nullified it by scoring on a spectacular Boyle to Collupy pass. After the con- test, 750 guests availed themselves of the invitation to attend the Coffee Hour in the refectory and replay the epic struggle over the refreshments. Defeat came 6- nally toward the end of the season when Lawrence Academy forced us to bow on All Saints Day and St. Clement's of Somerville took us into camp in a Sunday con- test that found us weakened considerably by the scholastic ineligibility of four regulars. The three wins, two ties and two defeats hardly consituted an impres- sive record, but the schedule provided us with an opportunity of comparing our warriors with seasoned campaigners from older and larger schools and, in our eyes, the Red and Black gave a magnificent account of themselves. In the Red-Blue intersquad battle, john Ellard finally proved his right to a plaque by vanquishing a courageous Red team led by joe Ford. With Fr. Keating once more at the helm, the j.V.'s and J.j.V.'s enjoyed a highly successful season, suffering only one re- verse at the hands of a more-experienced Lawrence Central Catholic team. Dou- ble victories over Thayer and St. Mary's of Brookline together with a triumph over Immaculate Conception of Newburyport were the highlights of a campaign that produced junior stars like Captain Bob Kelly, George McGoldrick, Bill O'Brien, Bill Carey and J.j.V. Captain Dick Mulhern. Another pleasant project was introduced in early Autumn when a School Tennis Tournament was held under the supervision of Fr. Aubut, new Tennis coach. With the prize of a new racquet as an incentive, thirty boys competed vig- orously, the Senior candidates being john Ellard, George Shannon, Bob O'Shea, john McAuliffe. When the preliminary rounds had been completed, jack Nawn faced Frank Pitts in the finals and came through with a straight-sets victory that enthroned him as School Champion. Conscious that our hours as Sebastianites were shortening all too quickly, we entered upon the final hoop and ice seasons. To face another season of top-flight competition, Captain jack Cremmen relied upon Classmates Bill Harwood, Bob McNabb, john Ellard and Dick Watson and, as usual, they did not let him down. Early in the year, the quintet suffered the loss of Bob McNabb, high scorer of the preceding Winter, through illness and the frail lad's sharpshooting was sadly missed. For the first time in School history, our basketeers were invited to play several games on the floor of the Boston Garden and they reacted with highly creditable performances. On the night of the annual Christmas Party, B. C. High visited our cage for the first time and 400 fans applauded the efforts of the Arrows to cope with the depth of the in-towners. Once again, jack Cremmen and Bill Harwood composed a stellar defense, while Hilton Collupy, Bob Kelly and joe Shea were among the leading scorers. In the Red-Blue duel that closed the season,