Medley of memories

Fr. Corcoran and his rhythmic bell ringing in the freshman dorm and how he loved finding someone not so eager to wake up…..debate quotes for speech class with Fr Nabity….everyone trying to outdo the other in making up false names to quote…..working summer camp weeks – Bali Hi wine and Dennis Chaffee running around the L playing guitar after a long long walk from Lenox after the wine…

Saturday Night Study

Okay…well since the statute of limitations is now up……as we all know Saturday night study as still supposed to be reading for a class assignment only…no outside reading…..well I had come across The Cross & The Switchblade and did not want to stop reading….Larry Becker sat beside me. and Pere Burns wan monitoring that night. Well, it just so happened that the book was the same size as our latin dictionary so I took the cover off the Latin dictionary and taped it to the cover, Larry thought I was nuts and would get caught or that I should at leas put it away when Pere Burns came through, but I didn’t. I had my Latin book open on my desk with about 1/2 page of translation homework done when Pere Burns stopped at my desk and cleared his throat….I looked up and he nodded to the book which was not on the desk, but sort of just below my desk….I held up the cover for him to see and it was my Latin dictionary..he nodded okay and moved on…..finished the book that night and then retaped toe cover to my dictionary…..not really much now, but a victory over the system back then…

Making Maple Syrup class of 78

Mr. Allen in the spring brought us out and about the property to tap the Maples in the court yard for sap to make into maple syrup. I found this to be a very interesting project and as a class we all enjoyed collecting the sap, bringing it to the kitchen where we got a giant industrial strength aluminum pot from the Sisters and proceeded to boil down the sap into a syrup. As a class we continually collected, added tasted and followed the progress of our maple syrup. It got sweeter every day.

One night, apparently as the sap was almost ready for a class breakfast, the sap had boiled down to beyond syrup and had burnt a hole clean through the bottom of this giant industrial strength pot we had been using to boil the sap in.

The sisters were probably relieved to have our science experiment out of the their kitchen. But anyone who had breakfast that morning may recall the scent of a science project gone bad…

Brian 1978

Brother John Thomas and the ladder incident

It was always very apparent that Brother John Thomas was the epitome of piety, devotion and service, yet my fellow students and me quite often found amusement in some of his rather quirky mannerisms and unique approach to life. There is one specific incident that I will always remember about “BJT”.

During the middle of one of the daily Masses in the new wing chapel, Brother John Thomas, without hardly being noticed, very quietly got up and left by the rear doors. Several minutes later, the side door to chapel opens and in comes a rather frail Brother John Thomas carrying a heavy stepladder. I am sure it was not his intent but of course, with all eyes upon him, the entire Mass came to a complete stand still. Even the Priest just stood there with his mouth wide open. Apparently, Brother John Thomas was the only one who had noticed that the Tabernacle Candle had burned out. Brother John Thomas just went about his task of replacing and relighting the candle just as if he was all alone doing his every day maintenance. Afterwards, he folded up the ladder, exited the side door in a dignified manner and a few minutes later returned to his seat at Mass.

At the time, we all found difficult to stifle the laughter at someone who seem to be so oblivious to the attention that he had brought to himself but later in life I have come to respect BJT’s conviction and dedication to the school and to the Lord.

Memories

Who remembers going out throughout Lenox and surrounding areas after school, door to door selling those packs of mints…..can you imagine doing that now??? that was scary…

Stewart sandwiches, “Heart of Gold “blasting in the gymnasium, promised land, Mac shooting hoops thru the rafters from half court, joining “The Bobby Orr Fan Club”, gym hockey at the marians, the hot tub (pool) at the marians, Mr. Mindle-explorers, Mr. White-hockey, making maple syrup (unsuccessfully), flooding the El- thanks Andy for letting go of the hose…… , spit balls in Fr Nabitys class, ring-o-livio, German in Latin Class, Pileated wood peckers, hockey on the pond, the Turkey Bowl, Fr Dolan playing ping pong, trout fishing with Fr Krah, Cool Duel with the flash bulbs at night in the dorm, hikes up Lenox mountain, Sunday mornings into Pittsfield for donuts, movies in Pittsfield, Saturday afternoon into Lenox, more to come…