Scared!

One time in Junior year, when it was late in the evening and the lights were turned down, I heard Ed Prybylski coming up the long stairway (toward the Old Wing Junior dorm) in his normal carefree and lanky way. I decided I was going to scare him and so I hid behind the laundry bag stand on the stairwell platform just outside the junior dorm area. Just as he passed me I jumped out at him but my plan backfired. In his panic at being scared in the dark, his limbs flew out in every direction. His flying right hand caught me with a blow across the side of the head. He of course was not happy with me and I was not happy for having gotten myself a well placed karate chop.

Say goodbye to LIFE!

One time Bill Hanlon and I were taking a shortcut through the kitchen area and stopped to talk with Sister Stella who was chopping vegetables with a large knife. Right out of the blue, Sister Stella stopped chopping and held the tip of the knife up to Bill’s throat as a joke and in broken English and thick Spanish accent, said, “Bill, say goodbye to LIFE!”

62 to 66

Watching the new building go up. Kennedy assasination. Cuban missle crisis. Wednesday afternoon sports. Sunday afternoon sports. Hockey on bad ice. Flag football. Eastern States Exposition. The Mikado and Pirates of Penzance and the Million Dollar Saint. Bruder, Casper, Nabity et al. The nuns. Being IS or OS. The education. Driving the tractor around the grounds. And all the while being around the greatest group of guys.

Too Many to List

I remember the excitement of starting the school year – heading up Mount Lenox on Labor Day Weekend – always trying to beat the seniors to the top.

I remember how Halloween was such an event from Fr. Krah and Fr. Coyle telling ghost stories in the old wing library to the “stroll” past the Mercy Father’s graves on the way to the bonfire at the soccer fields.

I remember the smell of pine throughout the chapel and old wing library during Christmas time when trees were brought in from the grounds.

I remember the Tea House in the woods – the beautiful workmanship that – unfortunately – was destroyed by fire during the vacant years following the IMH closing.

I remember the letter I received in August,, 1978 telling us the IMH would be closing following the 1978-79 school year. (Hey, they can’t all be great memories!)

Dark Confession Part 6 of 6

In the Faculty draw there was a phrase in Latin which could have been written by Miss Hesse herself the other Latin teacher. From past experience of my Latin talents, you must please bear with my poor translations kills, but I think it said something to the effect that ” taking a position in an all male school definitely doesn’t increase your chances of a date” or it might have said ” I should have taught French” (you know how Latin could always have 2 meanings depending on the case it was in!)

Checking the health records of Mrs.” only babe for miles around ” Mahoney it was noted that when she had to check for fever she would do so by kissing the forehead of the boys and found that the majority of them were definitely warm most of the time! (The ironic thing is that 95 year old army nurse Mrs. Martin at the Marians, never found us warm, kiss or not)

There also was a rumor that some of Old Charlie Seigers rolls actually are on display in the Smithsonian museum of natural history (Of course you have to go to “rocks and minerals ” to see them). OOPS, sorry got to go, someone just pulled up to the building and we have to sneak out. As we were trying to make our escape, the care taker caught us and told us that we had better leave because we didn’t belong there….Little does he know I thought to myself….I’ll always belong here! In closing I just want to say that my experience at the minor sem. was outstanding. It was a significant stepping-stone along my journey of life. I will pray for each of you during this time in our reunion year. I pray that each of you be given a renewed vision, I ask that God heal you of all the bumps and disappointments life gave along the way, and the expectant hope that we have only just today, begun this journey called life! (It is also my hope that Mr. Kiley was still alive to read the previous incredibly long run on sentence, it would be sure to kill him right where he stands!.) (Mr. Kiley your humiliation paid off, I still stink at English)

Thanks for the memories Guys it seems like only yesterday

Dark Confession Part 5 of 6

(Please excuse me as I think out loud I know many of you are waiting for the “grand finale “. This was when we broke into the “inner sanctum,” none other than the Principles office of ” Fr Pickem then Stickem ” Burns! Yes it was indeed a triumphant moment when we were able to decorate the underside of the very desk that His highness used, with a few choice nuggets of our own!(Trust me, it was no easy task finding space in a virtual field full of antique and dried landmines taken directly from the schnoz of old Fr Burns Himself! (For those of you who have a weak stomach, forget you just read the last line) (Just think, if he was ever canonized we would have plenty of 1st class relics!…just teasin, ( I’m going to need absolution from my buddy Fr. Mark Garrow!)

Believe it or not the old rosters were still there (nothing too important to report except contrary to popular belief Gerry Hefner was not a perfect student, if memory serves correctly he only had a 99% average! (Again just teasin Gerry)

There was also a note on Mike Perrys card that if His feet grew any bigger, they would have a hard time finding sneakers for him in Lenox and that a new show called Sesame Street was willing to buy Mike to be used as the letter “L” on the show!

Mark Garrows card mentioned He would probably be the Marian least likely to actually become something in the Marians (Mark, I guess they were expecting pope)

Oh yea there was also something in Russian on Henry Leszkowicz . My Russian is not that good but I think it said something about Henrys ” defection “to the other side of the border in Stockbridge and that they would be watching him. (Don’t worry Henry the Sacred Heart guys still love you! I still say The Marians definitely had better food! ) (On a serious note Henry I left the Marians the year you came on board and wish I had the opportunity to know you there)

Dark Confession Part 4 of 6

We made our way down to the “promised land “and this experience seemed like something out of the Broadway show Les Miserable. Remember the part when all of the students that fought the good fight came back inspirit and the only surviving student could see there faces. It was really filled with emotion as I could still see all your faces written on the walls of “the days gone by.” It seems a shame that all to often we don’t appreciate the present gifts we are given until they are gone. What are the chances of all of us meeting together in one place at one time in the 70’s, sharing our hopes, dreams, talents, you might ask? Funny you would ask the very same question that popped into my mind that very night! I realized that the chances of us being together in those crazy years of the 70’s was 100%! You see, I don’t think there are any coincidences in life. I believe that God has a perfect plan for each one of us and that each one of us was needed to shape the people we are today…. I thank each of you for your very generous contributions. I thank you for the joys, and yes, even the pain that each of you contributed to me as a person, for I believe God uses everything for the good of those who love Him. I have often wondered how the people in our school made out and always was my hope that as a result of being in our school, touch the lives of the thousands of people they have met along the way. For me, my very brief stay in the Berkshires profoundly impacted my life.

Dark Confession Part 3 of 6

We then proceeded to ” Mac’s domain” or the Gym ( byits common name)We noticed a large warped area in the gym floor behind which there were a couple of old basket balls. What was a trip to the gym without playing one of our favorite games? So we found the lights and started throwing the old ball around and shooting hoops. After a nice sweat we made our way over to the Science lab. There were still all kind of stuff left there from school. Of course we set up a couple of experiments of our own in honor of the occasion. The people who bought this place, was an organization for executive alcoholics. I bet when they saw our experiment they probably thought some of the CEO’s went off the wagon and got there before they closed on the deal. I still remember Br John Thomas (the nice old guy with the “hornectomys” on his forehead) teaching physics class there. After sifting through all that neat stuff we went over to the ceramics class where most of you guys apparently forgot to take your projects home. There was tons of that stuff lying around. The whole adventure was very surrealistic, kind of like going into one of those movies where you are transported into the future and you come to a clearing on the beach and see the arm of the statue of liberty sticking out. (a scene from planet of the apes) The place was weird because although a lot of familiar stuff was laying around it seemed like it was abandoned for years.

Dark Confession Part 2 of 6

Smith and I retold the story of how we out foxed Fr. Westhoven in Latin class. How he was determined to show how little we knew of the ancient language by giving Smith and I this awesome translation to do from the textbook.( actually he was right we didn’t know what he was talking about most of the time but we weren’t going to let him prove it) We knew we could never do it, so while you guys were all at mass (if you recall the Marian students had study hall.) Smitty and I tip toed upstairs to ol Westys room and lifted the textbooks English translation. On the way out we past one of His favorite stopovers, “the faculty pub,” and had a few for the road! The next day the good “Pater” stumbled into class with ” the Dark glasses on” and immediately asked me to stand and read my translation. Flawlessly I proceeded over the next 15minutes as I watched Fr Westhoven stand motionless at the front of class.( didnt quite know if he was in shock or just past out in the erect position) Nervous, I waited for a response when suddenly what seemed like an eternity, his head dropped down and the blood shot eyes peered out over the horizon. I figured the gig was up because there was no way he was going to buy this. He said with his usual endearing tone ” Kulik!!!”………………. ” Sit down!!!!!!”Of course I have to give the devil his due. After I left Bellefontaine that year I was joking with Westy and told the proud story of my devious accomplishment. He smiled at me and told me he found one of my papers by his desk that day and knew I had done it! Then gave one of his funny laughs. He was some character. He went on to head an Indian reservation I think in the Dakotas. I think they are still having a debate over which language is older, Latin or Apache.

Dark Confession Part 1 of 6

I have been in continual contact with the Marian Fathers since I left. I often return for a visit down memory lane and always take the opportunity to drive by Bellefontaine. I have to tell you a story of one of my “dark confession” Bellefontaine visits. I’m not quite sure what year it was ( I think 81 or 82) Bellefontaine was being sold. I was up for an ordination and I think it was on the property. Anyway, I met my brother Jeff and Henry Smith (graduated Bellefontaine 72) up there for the occasion. We were having some of the ” suds ” over at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge when we thought it would be a cool idea to see if someone would let us in the school. When we got there the place was just about abandoned. No lights, no alarms. (give ya 2 cents if you can tell me what happened next!) Smitty as we used to call him tried the door, but as you can imagine was locked. Someone however forgot to lock 1 of the 52 doors we tried! (didn’t they always say they would leave the back door open for us? or was that motel 6?)So with flashlights in hand we made our way down the old corridors of Bellefontaine. The moment we stepped in we emotionally regressed 10 years and forgot that we were now upstanding U.S. citizens. This was kind of like an adventure out of a movie and we weren’t going to loose this opportunity. We went into the library and all our old classrooms, and of course began imitating all of our old teachers. We especially had fun at Mr. Kiley’s expense (that guy loved to humiliate us).