St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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After the Christmas vacation interlude, it was no time until the Annual Retreat was upon us and we were listening to conferences given by Father Robert Burns of the Paulist Fathers. In the meantime, some of us were naive enough to respond to Father Harring- ton's invitation to form a Swimming Team, but we were not too sure of our sanity in retaining our membership after Water Polo had evolved. As usual Father Keating and his Alpiners had plans made early for the North Conway expedition and they took off in high glee on February 23rd. Wlieii they returned, the reverend mentor devoted him- self with might and main to a new project, the production of a Minstrel Show that would have an all-Sebastianite cast. A new stage graced the cage for the occasion and the performance was given on the night of April 30th. Hilarity reigned from the open- ing gun to the finale as our hearties sang, danced, joked and impersonated so convincingly that parents could hardly believe that they were watching their own sons, From our point of view, these junior were outstanding in the galaxy of stars that performed that night: Dick Collupy, Tom Greene, Clem Dore, Park Hurley, Paul McDonald, Fran Downey, Ed Ryan, Ralph Donnelly, jack Cochran, Jack Baker, Paul Burke and Fran Kett, Wlieii the final curtain descended, Father Keating was given a magnificent ovation by the 750 people in attendance, because there was no doubt in anyones mind but that he deserved chief credit for the success of the novel venture. On April rfth, a joint Communion Mass and Breakfast was held for both the Alumni and the members of St, Sebastian's Association, Mr, Thomas Mahony, U, S. observer at the San Francisco Peace Conference, gave a very timely and interesting talk. Wlieii the Alumni voted for new ofhcers, john Pickard '46 was chosen to succeed the retiring first president, jimmy Collins '45, Two weeks later, St. Sebastian's sponsored its first Science Fair and it revealed great scientific interest and talent, After a careful inspec- tion of each exhibit, Father Devlin, SJ., the judge, awarded first prize to our Paul Sullivan for his model gas-producing plant. Anxious to practice their French on unsusa pecting Quebec, the members of the French circle made a trip to the Canadian city with Father Aubut during the Easter vacation and they returned boasting that they had not spoken a word of English since their departure from St. Sebastian's. The long-awaited prize debate between the Senior and junior societies was held in May and our Paul McDonald was instrumental in gaining the verdict for the older group, ARROW STAFF Sealed: Connor, McDonald, Father Flanigan, Corcoran, Kett. Slfzzirliafg' O'Brien, R. Collupy, Flanagan, Kelly. .j 80 j..

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he was out of danger, His convalescence was a speedy one and we were happy to see him on hand for the Football banquet on November sorh. That evening proved to be a grand occasion with a capacity attendance present to honor our gridmen and to enjoy celebrities like Herb Kopf, Dan Kelly and Art Gore, The J.V.'s came in for their share of attention as well as the Varsity and they received letters in recognition of their fine play throughout the season, Each Friday during the Football season, dinner was enlivened by the rafiling of a pair of tickets to B.C, games and we were disgusted with the regularity with which Freshmen and Sophomores held the lucky stubs. When the Tennis Tournament was held, Jack Nawn again emerged as School Champion, and the ideal fall weather permitted Father Hannigan to exercise his golf proteges in a few matches that testified to Fran Kett's improvement. Meanwhile, Roger Vorce was producing newsy issues of The Walrus and the Honor Roll revealed the presence of two new intellectuals in our ranks, jim Coleman and Paul Sullivan. To prepare for the Basketball season, the School announced the appointment of an Assistant Coach, Mr. Robert Hogarty, former Holy Cross star, while the lettermen of the preceding year met to elect our Fish Collupy captain, Beginning their season earlier than ever, our hoopsters made their debut with a win over Sacred Heart at Boston Garden and then went on to a fine 13 and 9 season that carried them to the finals of the Private School Tournament where they were nipped by Browne and Nichols. The quintet had a distinctly junior make-up with Bill Brooks, Hilt Collupy, Bob Kelly and Fran Kett compiling 460 points among them. At the season's end, they were rewarded for this fine play with a trip to New York only to see their favorite Holy Cross forced to bow to Kentucky. On the ice, St. Sebastian's fielded a veteran sextet that was liberally studded with junior members: Bob Murphy, Bill Gibbons, Bruce Harrigan, Henry Lane, Bob Kelly and Murray Regan. Although the School had withdrawn from full membership in the Catholic League, we were a guest member and played the seven other teams in exhi- bition contests held for the first time at the Arena. Malden Catholic was our only con- queror during the season and we felt that that defeat could be attributed in no small degree to the fact that Captain Bob Egan's gliders had not recovered from our junior Prom of the night before, The proximity of Christmas occasioned the annual pre-holiday party in the refectory which was attended by 75W of the student body even though it came on one of the worst nights of the worst winter in the School's history. During the vacation, the Alumni sponsored their second Communion Mass and Breakfast at the School and heard a fine address by Rev, William A. Donaghy, SJ. As far as we were concerned, the high spot of the season was reached on january 3rd when we held our junior Prom in the charmingly festooned Dining Hall. Bill O'Brien and his committee did a superb job of promotion and we received loyal support from the whole student body. Hal Reeves' musicians were the melody makers and our fair guests gushed becomingly over the vanity case souvenirs. Speaking of melody makers reminds us that Father Barrett had our sympathy throughout the year as he strove vainly to form a School orchestra that would play in the same key at the same time. january 26, 1948 was an important milestone in St. Sebastian's history for on that date an organization composed of fathers of the School's students and named St. Sebas- tian's Association was formed. Adopting as its objectives the welfare and advancement of the School and the spiritual and intellectual advancement of its membership, the Association elected Mr. Harold Field, President, Mr. Paul Corcoran, Vice-President, Mr. Cyril Cochran, Treasurer, and Mr. Joseph Deignan, Secretary. Under the chairman- ship of Mr. Williani Morrissey, the new organization conducted a Penny Sale at Brighton High School in the spring and we juniors were happy to work at the tre- mendously successful affair which realized 35300 for the School, The membership also enjoyed a Day of Recollection given on a Sunday at St. Sebastian's by Monsignor Mclnnis. :-I 79 l-:

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We had always appreciated The Walrus, especially after Bruce Harrigan joined the photography department, but we did not realize its true worth until The Barton Globe awarded it first prize as the best school newspaper in Class A competition. The award carried with it a prize of 3100 for Editor Roger Vorce which he did his best to donate to the School -- but all in vain. Knowing Father Beatty's penchant for keeping his own name out of The Walrus, the Monsignor and Father Flanigan conspired with the older members of the staff to add two pages to the final issue and the extra sheets were filled with eulogies of Father Beatty, one of which purported to be autobiographical, The utmost secrecy was observed and the moderator of The Walrus did not dream that anything was afoot until the journal was distributed in the Refectory. To close out the athletic year, St. Sebastian's produced one of the finest Varsity Baseball nines in its brief history. Captained by Andy McAuliffe and equipped with two top-flight twirlers in Bob McNabb and Andy himself, the team rolled to a 9 and 3 record via a schedule that could not have been any more difficult. The high point of the campaign was reached when the Red and Black achieved successive victories over Thayer, Dummer, Exeter, and B.C. High to win the mythical private school title. Our class- mates, Henry Lane and Bob Kelly, led the sluggers with averages of .400 and .390 respectively, while Billy Gibbons, Bill Brooks, Hilt Collupy and Bob Joyce were other juniors who made regular berths on the club. While not as successful as our diamond representatives, the Red and Black Tennis team won its share of victories to justify the hours of coaching received from Father Aubut. Once again we were at the threshold of the Commencement Week and we took a keener interest in the proceedings because the next time they were re-enacted we would be playing the central roles. The traditional Year's End Party was the first event and it was held on Monday evening in our own refectory. After the sumptuous repast, the movie Play Ball was shown and the various athletic awards were distributed. The following afternoon, our nine pleased the Fathers' and Sons' Day gathering by defeating B.C. High, 11-10 and that evening the Seniors held their prom at the Longwood Cricket Club. Wednesday brought the Senior Outing at the New Ocean House and, the next afternoon, Bob McNabb's Reds assured his plaque by a clean-cut 6-1 triumph over Larry McAuliffe's Blues, To provide something novel for the annual Musicale, the Walpole Glee Club and a symphony orchestra of sixty pieces under the direction of Frederic Kempf were invited to create the musical background for the reception to our graduates and both units delighted the large audience at the Bradford, Our Lady of Presentation Church, Brighton, was the scene of the Solemn Baccalaureate Mass on Friday morning and the sermon was preached by Rev. Cornelius T. Sherlock, Diocesan Superintendent of Schools. The Graduation Exercises held at the Archbishop's House that afternoon were graced by the presence of Most Reverend john J, Wright, Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, and His Excellency addressed the graduates and conferred the diplomas after jack Boyle and Hugh Bradshaw had delivered the Salutatory and Valedictory orations. Solemn Benediction crowned the day and at its end we bade a sad farewell to the members of the Class of 1948 who had been so close to us in our three years on Nonantum Hill. Proud of our status as Seniors, we returned to St. Sebastian's last September 20th to begin the final lap of our course. We had heard during the summer that Monsignor Mclnnis was making the pilgrimage to Rome and hence we were not too surprised when it was Father Flanigan who celebrated the Mass of the Holy Ghost in the Chapel. Once again we listened to the rosters of the classes being read and heard the injunction of three hours study each night, only to be shocked when Father Flanigan rather calmly asserted that of course, for the Seniors, three hours work will not dog it may be four hours, or even more. After dismissal from the chapel, we reported to our top-floor classrooms to find that we had been divided into two groups, Senior A, which was based in the old Senior classroom, and Senior B, which had its headquarters in a newly- partitioned section of the former Chemistry Lab lecture hall. For the most part, each section had its own program, although we were to come together for classes in Religion, .-I 81