St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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K if LL + X2 wr Q ..-.... - ....,.,N-. .-V -1 1--:- .........---..-, -I n . q Fired Teachers May Get Jobs Back l 4 BUY SMLURS MISSING St. Sebastian Students in Small Boatg P, .. .. , , ... , vfnnow ' ' - ' Reversal Seen P W ' lo' ceilm' lterfiring ol P M emo rar Qt t Se:f'.:ef3:' Ermwlmf 'zz . '-rf it . ..-.49 MISSING MARINERS Boyle, Murphy, Greene, and Gibbons just after their safe arrival at Scituate. that night, they ran up the outside of Cape Cod the next day but were unable to put into Orleans because of surf at the harbor entrance. Later that evening, off WellHeet, they saw a light on shore and Boyle swam a half mile to phone the Coast Guard who towed the craft into Nauset. They spent the night in the Coast Guard station and then started for Provincetown in the morning. With the aid of another tow they made that day's objective and on Friday at 4:30 P.M. they sailed for Scituate, hoping to arrive at midnight. Seven miles out of Provincetown they lost their wind as a fog set in. Their plight was made more serious because they were ,I I-

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A broader Spring athletic program than ever before was attempted in 1947, for the School fielded teams in Tennis and Golf as well as Baseball. The racqueteers were coached by Fr. Aubut and the divot diggers were Fr. Hannigan's pride and joy. Jack Nawn, Frank Pitts, Jim Ryan, Harold Field and Park Hurley were the junior candidates on the court, while Joe Deignan, Bob Murphy, Gene Pierotti, Jack Nawn and Don Marshall represented us on the links. All things considered, both teams acquitted themselves very well, breaking about even in their matches. When Baseball started there was great gloom in the vicinity of the Hill because illness had deprived the nine of the services of Bob McNabb who had fallen victim to pneumonia and pleurisy. A stiff schedule had been arranged and the coach was almost desperate until Andy McAuliffe stepped into the breach and proved himself a fine hurler. His strikeouts mounted with each game and he reached his peak in the St. John's Prep game when 24 victims fanned the breezes. Despite such an unexpected solution to our pitching problem, the team was plagued with anaemic hitting and an epidemic of costly errors so that the season's record was four wins against nine losses. There was some consolation in the fact that the teams that beat us went on to establish impressive records, and also in the fact that the Red and Black had shown magnificent spirit even in adversity. In the Red-Blue game, Ed Quirk's Blues defeated Frank O'Donoghue's Reds to win a plaque for the veteran outfielder. By that time, Commencement Week was upon us and it began with the Year's End Party which featured the traditional banquet, followed by a showing of Take me out to the Wigwam and the awarding of sports letters and jackets. Many of us attended the Senior Prom at the Woodland Golf Club the following night where Harold Field's prancing was the hit of the evening. On Tuesday the Fathers' and Sons' Day Red-Blue game was rained out but the weather cleared to permit the Seniors to enjoy their outing at Swampscott the next day. Thur'day brought the Baccalaureate Mass at the Cenacle convent, the Headmaster being Celebrant, assisted by Fr. Beatty, Deacon, and Fr. Cotter, Subdeacon. After the Mass, Monsignor Mclnnis delivered a forceful address to the Seniors, the undergraduates and the assembled parents. In the evening at the annual Musicale, Leo Litwin and his orchestral ensemble delighted a large throng at the Hotel Bradford Ballroom where the soloist, Alice Farnsworth, received a most enthusiastic tribute from the audience. For the first time in the School's history, the Graduation was held at 10 A.M. with Bishop-Elect Wright presiding over the exercises on the grounds the Archbishop's Residence. The Salutatory and Valedictory orations were delivered by john Cremmen and john Kirk before Bishop Wright gave his stirring and impressive address. For the awarding of diplomas, the graduates were presented to Bishop Wright by the Headmaster and the presiding prelate expressed his con- gratulations to the recipients. To bring the morning to a close, the Bishop celebrated Solemn Benediction assisted by Monsignor Mclnnis and Fr. Flanigan. Although this was the third time that we had witnessed the Graduation Exercises, they made a deep impression upon us this year because we realized that, when they were held again, we would be the central figures. Early in the following September, we were shocked to see the School's name in newspaper headlines that reported four of our Sebastianites missing at sea. A hurried digest of the news report revealed that four days before, Vin Greene, jack Boyle, Bill Gibbons and Bob Murphy had set sail from Nantucket in a leaky catboat, Smuggler's Luck , with Boston their destination. After putting in at Chatham -I 72 1-

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right in the shipping lane of the Cape Cod Canal and in fact only the flashing of a light on their sail prevented a fishing boat from running them down. Because they were unreported since leaving Provincetown, newspapers and radio reports listed them as missing and caused untold anxiety not only on the part of the parents whose sons were involved, but also on the part of the entire St. Sebastian family. The School was deluged with phone calls until shortly after Noon on Saturday when news reports announced that the missing mariners had made port at Scituate a short time before. Surprised when they were beseiged by reporters, the quartet cooly remarked that they didn't know everybody was worried about us. Further question- ing revealed that a breeze came up at 3 A.M. to blow them in toward land and, when the fog lifted, they were able to see Brant Rock just about 8 o'clock. Less than five hours later they came into Scituate Harbor to find themselves celebrities whose stirring adventures had to be chronicled on the front pages of Sunday morning's papers. The details of this escapade were still on our lips when we climbed the Hill on September 22nd to begin our Senior year at St. Sebastian's. The heroes were kidded good-naturedly about the affair and they replied with exaggerations that made good listening. As usual, the School year opened officially with the Mass of the Holy Ghost, followed by the Headmaster's traditional address and the assigning of classrooms. For the first time, our number was small enough to permit us to be based in one room and immediately we surmised that that fact would add to the enjoyment of our last year. As we glanced about our top-floor classroom, there was only one new face to be seen, although several familiar faces were missing. The newcomer proved to be Charlie Hearn, a native of Long Island, N. Y. who had taken temporary residence in Boston. As the day proceeded, we learned that the School had several new instructors to take the places of Fr. Cotter, who had been made Headmaster of the Cathedral High School, Fr. Desmond, who had been assigned to St. Clement's Preparatory Seminary, and Fathers Stocklosa, Joyce and Dacey who had returned to parochial duties. Two of the new priests, Fr. Harrington and Fr. Sylvester, were assigned to our class, while Fr. Barrett and Fr. Gilmartin were to teach the lower classes. At the same time we learned that Fr. Flanigan had been appointed Assistant Headmaster. It did not take long for us to realize that this would be the busiest and most rigorous year that we had spent on the Hill, because the Faculty lost no time in applying the pressure necessary to prepare us for College Boards. In addition, several new extra-curricular activities were started, a Science Club, a French Circle. and junior and Senior Debating Societies. To organize for the year ahead, we went to the polls early and elected jack Boyle, President, Bill Morrissey, Vice-President, Andy McAuliffe, Treasurer, and jim Ryan, Secretary. Hugh Bradshaw and Bob Sullivan were chosen to represent us in the Pepsi-Cola scholarship exams and there was much discussion on the matter of Class rings. Plans for THE ARROW were formulated, we were all given a quota of ads to obtain, Tom Barrette was named Editor with George Kelley as Associate Editor, Dom Morley was appointed Business Manager, and Hugh Bradshaw and Gene McAuliffe were put in charge of the Art and Photography departments. On September 29th, the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, we assisted at a Mass commemorating the sixth anniversary of the opening of St. Sebastian's and -I 74 1-