Wrapping up junior year — June 1963 Chronicle

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Bill McDonald

(Note: This completes the presentation of Cathedral Chronicles published during our years at CHS. There are many previous posts providing Chronicle issues, and all of the issues are available on the “Chronicles” page.)

The annual “purple issue” was the conclusion to the Chronicles of our junior year. Now, as seniors, we were going to be in charge, as much as a class of students could be in a rather, shall we say, top-down administrative structure.

Notice of our new status was this photo on page one of the new Student Council officers for 1963-64. “Climaxing a week of spirited campaigning,” the Chronicle said, Mike Reavey (top, right) was elected major-domo . . . president . . . and Kathy Modry (top, left) took the post of secretary.

Page three led off with coverage of the second annual communion supper, May 8, sponsored by the National Honor Society, featuring a Mass conducted in the Eastern Byzantine rite and its “strange English.” Toastmaster at the supper was Mike Reavey, who was also general chairman of the event. Marilyn Stowe was chair of the Mass committee and other directors were Jim Montanari (decorations), Cornelia Spring (invitations), and Bill Danoff (entertainment).

A page three article featured four new YLs of the Radio Club. “YL” in radio jargon, the article said, referred to “young ladies,” atypical members of such clubs. Indeed, Barbara Mooney (photo right), Patricia Manning, Patricia Matthews, and Lynn Lacivita broke the gender barrier at CHS, though Sr. Loretta Thomas was club moderator. The article also mentions Steve Sullivan, president of the club, and Ed Callahan.

Establishment of a new anthology and poetry, headed by classmates, was announced on page three. Carole Organek and Patricia Pettazzoni were co-editors of the project, to use work from three of Sr. Mary Magdalen’s English classes. Kathleen Burtt, Robert Lavoie, and Thomas Hebert were to serve as editorial board directors of the three classes, and Roland Chapdelaine, Thomas Kenney, and Peter Downs as corresponding business managers.

Page four mentioned summer activities anticipated for Kathy Modry (“filing meter slips in the large vault of the Springfield Gas Light Co.”) and Peter Mulvagh (visiting Toronto and Montreal), as well as Gene Ryzewicz and John Moore, who were to spend the summer doing maintenance work at CHS.

The Panthers took the city championship in track and just missed in baseball, according to coverage on page five. John Collins ran a 9.6 in the 100-yard dash and 23.1 in the 220, winning and setting records in both. Paul Rieker also won and set records in the low hurdles and javelin. Returning baseball players cited in an article were Tom Dunn, Gene Ryzewicz, Tom Nolan, John Stocks, and Bob Fitzgerald. Our “linksmen” (golfers), co-leaders in the city league at press time, included classmates Tim Swearingen, Roger Kasmer, Rich Murphy, Mike Bannon, and George Shannon. Reid Oslin wrote an article featuring five track team members graduating that month.

Page six reported that Rosemary Lavinski (photo) had recently been chosen president of the CHS Red Cross chapter. She was also president of the council representing all the Junior Red Cross chapters at high schools in Greater Springfield.

In Student Council election results other than the top positions, reported on page six, Brendan Montano, John Sheehan, and Bob Stroshine were elected judges while Bill McDonald was chosen sheriff and George Shannon, bailiff. (I mean, can there be a more bizarre title in high school than sheriff?)

The June 12, 1963, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

May 1963 Chronicle

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Bill McDonald

Our class made its mark in the Chronicle‘s last Literary Supplement of junior year.

There must have been a poetry project in class, because nine classmates had poems on the front page of the supplement: Carol Horr, Robert Zielinski, Christine Lukas, Martha Noonan, Kathleen Morin, Gale Lemanski, Carol Carriere, Laurena Fielding, and Joanne Chmura.

Ellen Boissonneault, Judith Cignoni, Karen LaRiviere, Nancy Thompson, and Alma Allard continued with additional poetry on page two of the LS. Reid Oslin and Barbara Mooney changed pace with two essays, and Susan Benoit added a drawing (left).

Most of the May 1963 issue focused on the outgoing senior class. Nevertheless, page one reported on activities and successes of several classmates.

A contingent from Sr. Marie de Lourdes’s history/government classes attended a simulated UN Security Council meeting at Amherst College. Kevin O’Malley, representing the Soviet Union, presided over the mock Security Council during its morning session. Also attending were Claire Pratte, Bill Fleming, George Shannon, and John Moore.

Staying a little closer to home, 10 classmates went to the Massachusetts Youth Citizenship Conference held at Westfield State Teachers College. They were Paul Bueker, Joe Fallon, Patricia Manning, Patricia Matthews, Barbara Mooney, Reid Oslin, Paul Rieker, Mark Rivest, Bob Stroshine, and Kathy Williams.

Anne Nadeau was among the members of the CHS Better Business Club to visit Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, according to a page one item. The group learned about the company’s “R.P.A. 501 electronic computers.”

It was noted, too, that Richard Bonneau and Paul Donahue would be attending a summer math program at Assumption College, Worcester, on grants from the National Science Foundation. John Sheehan was an alternate for the program.

Not surprisingly, Paul, John, and Richard also made the honor roll, Paul and John with first honors. Other classmates on the top rung were Ray Brassard, Eileen Carmell, Judy Cross, Dianne Dillon, Susan Hartley, Karen LaRiviere, Bill O’Malley, Claire Pratte, Gene Ryzewicz, and Barbara Shean.

The Panthers had an unbeaten stretch in baseball, page three reported. Hoping to grab the city title, CHS “bases its chances” on infielders such as Gene Ryzewicz, Tom Nolan, and Tom Dunn, and pitchers like Bob Fitzgerald. The JV team roster included Larry Maziarz, Reid Oslin, Bob Winship, and Louis Grondalski.

A page three article about a senior photographer for the Chronicle included a photo (right) of him taking a photo (unknown) of classmate Paul “Fuzzy” Dufresne practicing on the low hurdles. Another item, on the tennis “netmen” referred to Fran Liro and Gaetan Pelletier as “strong reserves.” Classmates on the golf team were Rich Murphy, Mike Bannon, Harry Dennison, James O’Connell, and Roger Kasmer, with George Shannon, Tim Swearingen, Robert Booth, and Tom Kenney on JV.

Page four included a feature on more behind-the-scenes personnel in the CHS stage scene. Gary Moran was pictured (left) applying make-up to a thespian and other classmates mentioned as make-up artistes were Bill Fleming, George Shannon, Bob Stroshine, Angelina Cardaropoli, Jacqueline Artiano, Joanne Gatti, Carol Kwasny, Elizabeth Malcolm, and Patricia Canning. Suzanne Babineau was cited for designing backdrops, and Paul Vey, Steve Sullivan, Fran Liro, Bill McDonald, and Bill O’Malley for amazing lighting.

Fr. Riendeau called out the following classmates for their participation in the Holy Week passion play: Peter Poitras, Patricia Ryba, Dennis Trelease, Bob McCann, Dave Guyer, Matthew Geboskie, John Auth, Bob Stroshine, Robert Menard, Karen McKeon, and David Rucinski.

Nine classmates were cited on page four for their success in the competition of the Eastern Division of the Junior Engineering Technological Society (JETS): John Trudeau, Bill Devlin, John Dubiel, Richard Bonneau, Fran Liro, George Shannon, Mark Sullivan, and Mark Roberts.

The May 20, 1963, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Literary Supplement, page one

Literary Supplement, page two

Page three

Page four

Showtime! Focus on Minstrel Revue

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Bill McDonald

The April 1963 Chronicle hyped as lead article on page one the upcoming Minstrel Revue, to open the following Tuesday.

Rita Arsenault was early in the lineup, offering “It’s a Big, Wide, Wonderful World.” Also on the card was the “Sinner Man” quartet that included classmates Bill Danoff and Larry Dempsey. Among the dancers were Reid Oslin, Dan Cotter, and Peggy Morneau. Other vocalists were Pat Raimondi (“Little Things Mean a Lot”), Robert Fitzgerald (“Dear Old Donegal”), Frances Hull (“Mr. Wonderful”), Suzanne Tokarski (“Climb Every Mountain”), Paul Poirier (“Stage Door Canteen”), and Mary Lou Lattinville (“Eileen”) (photo right).

Classmates who directed groups included Suzanne Rouillard (“Please Don’t Eat the Daisies”), Linda Nickerson (“Barefoot Days”), Rosemary Lyons (“Tico-Tico”), and Elaine Ambrose (“Alley Cat”). Appearing in “Alley Cat” were Josie Albano and Mark Rivest, photo left.

Page one also reported several classmates were about to head out to Orleans, Mass., for the state student council conference. Slated for fun on the Cape were Kathy Modry, Mike Reavey, Dianne Dillon, and Jim Montanari. No funny ideas. Accompanying the contingent were Sr. Marie de Lourdes and Sr. James Martin.

Classmates John Dubiel and John Trudeau (photo above), whose projects won awards of “superior” at the CHS Junior Engineering Technological Society (JETS) fair, were to be showcased at the East Coast JETS science fair at Cathedral May 10-12. Bill Devlin, Richard Bonneau, and Fran Liro were also to show projects at the event.

Also on page one was notice that our class came in third in raising funds for the Catholic Bishops Relief Fund. We gave $2,348.67 to the total of $9,505.66, with Homeroom 314 leading the way.

Ed Callahan wrote an article on page three about Mechanical Drawing courses available at CHS. Kathy Williams, as the caption to the photo of her (at left) said, was one of only a few girls to take any of the courses. Charlotte Chartier wrote a paean to the many celebrities from the fair city of Springfield. Another brief item on students with names of famous people included only John Marshall from our class, namesake of a former US Supreme Court Justice. Rosemary Hickey was in a photo (right) probably used to fill some space.

Page four offered an article about the trials and tribulations of directors of student groups to appear in the upcoming Minstrel Revue. Suzanne Rouillard was quoted.

Dianne Kruger had a leg up, actually both of them, in this photo from page five, linked to an article about upcoming programs in tennis and gymnastics for the girls. Among boys in gym classes, the article reported, James Webb was tabbed best gymnast and Dennis Trelease best basketball player. James Webb and Joseph Marino were named most improved wrestlers. Paul Rieker was also cited for excellence on the parallel bars.

A preview of the baseball team mentioned Gene Ryzewicz, Bob Fitzgerald, Bernie Cavanaugh, Tom Nolan, Don Chase, and John Stocks. Spring drills for football were also taking place and mentioned in that article were Dan O’Malley, Denny Finnerty, Fran Stachowicz, Gene Ryzewicz, and Ed Crowley.

The track preview cited Bill Fleming, Bill Armstrong, Paul Rieker, Ronnie Sommers, John Collins, Mark Roberts, and Dennis Trelease, while Rich Murphy was listed in the golf article and tennis coverage mentioned Bill Wood and Gaetan Pelletier.

Marilyn McCarthy and Carol Horr (photo, right) were featured in a page six article. The Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honor Society inducted 13 classmates: Alexander Aiken, Ray Brassard, Sally Conklin, Tom Counos, Judith Cross, Robert Green, Richard Grout, Richard Kielbania, Bill Liquori, Bob McCann, Jim Montanari, John Murtaugh, and Connie Spring.

Page six also reported on the Junior Prom to take place that same evening. Nancy Thompson and Maureen Pollard were co-chairs of the decorating committee (theme was “Oriental Garden”), while Donna Roy was in charge of the photo area. Bill Danoff headed up the entertainment committee and others involved were Joe Gelinas, dinner; Patricia Ryba, tickets; Marilyn Stowe, programs; and Bob Cardone, refreshments.

Suzanne Babineau (photo, left) and Donald McCormick were mentioned in an article about those behind the scenes who prepare the scenes that are the backdrops in the Minstrel Revue. Cadet Master Sergeant Robert Burati, an item reported, had been selected by the Civil Air Patrol for an exchange program with a similar cadet in Chile. Bob was to spend time in Chile that summer.

The April 26, 1963, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Rolling into spring 1963

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Bill McDonald

Class rings come onto the scene. Still have yours? Still fit? 🙂

Anyone recognize his or her hand in the March 1963 Chronicle photo? Remember, there’s an idiom “I know it like the back of my hand.” You might also remember posing for it, of course. Girls’ hands are on the left and boys’ hands on the right (no mixing!). From the top, left: Diane Tranghese, Donna Roy, Holly Donohue. From the top, right: John Dubiel, Gary Moran, Bob McCann.

Lead story, page one, was about the upcoming Science Seminar. Classmate Paul Donahue was listed as leading the seminar in quantum mechanics.

Page three offered this photo of Jim Montanari looking at an exhibit of prize-winning math projects, which included one of his. (Jim’s holding a report entitled “Computing Devices.”) Among others in the exhibit were projects by classmates Fran Liro, Tim Holt, and Joe McClellan.

Reporter Charlotte Chartier penned a piece on page three about Springfield’s role in the American Revolution.

Bob Stroshine wrote on page four about the visit of a Springfield native serving in the US State Department to CHS. The diplomat talked with members of the History Club, as well as to history and government classes. Barbara Mooney also offered a profile of band director Walter Nickerson. Page four also carried a feature and photo (left) on the work of Susan Benoit decorating the bulletin board in Fr. Nadeau’s religion classroom, which was also her homeroom.

Page five covered the story that haunted the lives of Panther sports fans for two consecutive seasons. Reaching the Western Massachusetts basketball championship finals, the Panthers lost a very close game to St. John’s of Shrewsbury. (Senior year, CHS again lost in the finals, to St. Mary’s of Worcester.) An accompanying item about JV basketball listed Roger Kasmer and Larry Maziarz as members.

Reporting on all-star honors, page five mentioned that Gene Ryzewicz had been named winner of the Lahovich Award as outstanding high school athlete in Greater Springfield. Gene was the first Panther to receive the award since 1954. Tom Nolan and Tim Wright earned honorable mention among hockey all-stars.

James Gastone is mentioned as the only junior on the bowling team, while Jeanne Twohig was a member of our class’s girls basketball team that lost 16-6 to the senior girls. (It was those odd rules back then.)

The track preview mentioned several classmates: John Collins, Paul Rieker, Bill Fleming, Bob Cardone, Dave Wall, Tim McManus.

“Club Notes” on page six reported Kevin O’Malley received a silver cup for debating and appeared on the “Chalice of Salvation” television program along with other top debaters. Jim Montanari designed the cover of the 1963 Pantherpix (as he did for our year). Thaddeus Boryczka hiked from Worcester to Springfield with other members of the Springfield Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

Four hundred Cathedralites participated in the National Prize Math Exam, according to the item on page six. Classmate Richard Bonneau finished third and James Gagne was the top scorer among those with five semesters of math. Other top scorers from our class were Wayne Malone, Eugene Ryzewicz, and Paul Donahue.

The March 29, 1963, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Juniors now — 1963

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Bill McDonald

Zoom ahead a few months (hey, the way-back machine can go back and forth, but only decades ago). It’s February 1963. (Earlier issues from our junior year are available on the Chronicles page.)

Lead story, page one, was the honor roll. Classmates who made first honors were Ray Brassard, Ruth Camyre, Judith Cross, Paul Donahue, Susan Hartley, Karen LaRiviere, Joe McClellan, George Shannon, and John Sheehan. George’s photo (right) was also featured in the article on the speech festival. Among the 24 CHS students participating were classmates Bill O’Malley (group discussion), Kevin O’Malley and John Moore (extemporaneous), Jim Montanari (original essay), Barbara Mooney (prose reading), Brendan Montano and George Shannon (radio newscasting), Dianne Dillon and Reid Oslin (serious prose interpretation), Dan Noonan and Paul Donahue (oratorical prose interpretation).

CHS debated the issue of equal educational opportunity (I guess some topics hang around). The page one item said classmates Bill Fleming and John Moore would take the affirmative, while Mike Reavey and Bill O’Malley would argue the negative, all “under the tutelage” of Kevin O’Malley.

Also on page one, classmates George Shannon, Roland Chapdelaine, and Dennis Trelease were to act in a drama festival presentation of “St. Joan” by George Bernard Shaw.

Margaret Chabot presented on page three a translation in French of a brief article on the language lab and another article reported that Dan Noonan would represent Cathedral in the American Legion’s oratorical contest.

A feature on the CHS majorettes, page four, highlighted classmates Anne Murphy (up in the air at right in image above), Susan McKenna (front left), and Carol Ferraro (third from left, front). The article also mentions Patricia Sullivan and Lynn Lacivita.

Patricia Matthews wrote on page four a report about the results of requests sent by juniors who were to participate in the Model Senate to the US Senators they would represent. Mike Reavey, Barbara Mooney, Kathy Williams, Patricia Manning, Reid Oslin, and Mary Ann Polpec all said they received responses, but John Moore was apparently stiffed by Sen. John McClellan (D-Ark.). Sandra McKay, center, and Rosemary Lavinski were included in a photo at right about the school chapter of the Red Cross. The woman at left is dressed in what apparently was a Red Cross uniform.

Hoopster classmates Dave Wall, Gene Ryzewicz, Rich Murphy, Larry Maziarz, Jack Lawler, and Pat Turner celebrated with other Panthers winning the Interschool League title and moving on to the Western Mass. tournament (page five photo).

Panther grapplers (getting into the retro lingo here) were cited in a page five article reporting on the wrestling team’s 50-0 (!) defeat of Classical, second shutout in city league wrestling history. Featured in the article were classmates Ed Crowley, John Cardano, John Sheehan, and Ben Aleks.

The page five report on the hockey team . . . excuse me, the “icemen” . . . mentioned classmates Tom Nolan, Tom Webber, and Don Chase. The swim team . . . er, the “mermen” . . . suffered through a 2-10 season, but the article citeed the success of Dan Kelly and participation of Bill Wood.

Wrapping up the sports coverage was this photo of student gym instructors, from left on the bars, Richard Guilmette, Bob Cardone, John Cardano, and Ed Crowley. At left are Billy Wise, director of physical education, and Carmen Scarpo.

A page six article featured the 4-H Club activities of Roland Chapdelaine and his freshman sister, Anne Marie. They lived at the time in what was probably “rural” East Longmeadow. At left is a picture of Roland and an award-winning sheep.

Also pictured (below) on page six were classmates Elizabeth Brown and Carol Salvon, being shown proper switchboard technique by senior Marguerite Tourville. (Technology is probably the most significant factor in dating us.)

The February 28, 1963, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Rising Juniors in the summer of ’62

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Bill McDonald

It was the summer of 1962. Top songs were “The Loco-Motion” by Little Eva, Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking up Is Hard to Do,” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You” from Ray Charles. The Class of 1962 graduated and moved out of the way so that the Class of 1964 could become juniors.

Kathy Modry, left, and Mike Reavey, top, took their place as officers of the Student Council. Ed Ferrarone and Monica Sullivan were senior officers.

Page one of the May 1962 Chronicle reported on graduation and had the picture above. (I wonder how long it took for a girl to become president or vice-president of Student Council.) There was also a report that John Sheehan had been elected secretary and Paul Donahue treasurer of Mu Alpha Theta, the “mathlete” society. In addition, Paul and James Leary were cited as classmates among the school’s winners in the UMass Prize Math Examination.

As juniors, according to an item on page two, we were to read, over the summer: Profiles in Courage, Crucible: Story of Chemistry, Pocket Book of O. Henry, Red Badge of Courage, Bridge of San Luis Rey, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Jane Eyre, and Submarine. (Remember that fantastic finish to Crucible? 🙂 ) Kathleen Ensign wrote a brief article on page three about altar boy capers, and Suzanne Babineau was mentioned in a note about scenery backdrop artists.

Page four was essentially devoted to recollections about Billy Wise, moving from 37 years as coach of football, basketball, and baseball at CHS to the role of director of physical education.

Classmates noted in the sports coverage on page five included Rich Murphy and George Shannon (golf); Gene Ryzewicz, Don Chase, and Tom Nolan (baseball), John Collins, Bill Fleming, and Bill Armstrong (track).

Ryzewicz, when he wasn’t playing shortstop

Bill Fleming, left, and Bill Armstrong

Classmates were starting to take leadership positions in various clubs and organizations. Page six reported that Bill O’Malley (Debating Society), Elaine Gelinas (Nurses Club), and John Dubiel (Radio Club) were to take treasurer posts.

In what approaches something you might see in the contemporary Onion, there is an item on page six with the headline “Senior Loses Cow in Middle of Road.” And it reports exactly that. Check it out.

The June 12, 1962 Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Chronicle — We’re still sophomores

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Bill McDonald

The May 1962 issue of the Cathedral Chronicle was, as it should have been, pretty focused on the soon-to-graduate Class of 1962. Not a single picture of a classmate . . . but we were represented well in the Literary Supplement.

Page one did mention that classmates Marilynn Stowe and Bill Devlin were among the first CHS art students to submit entries to the International School Art Program.

Bill also had a prize-winning sketch of a beach house (left) included in the Literary Supplement (pages three and four). Anne Fahey published a poem and sketches constituting “Scenes from ‘Silas Marner.'” One of her sketches is at right.

Patricia Trench and Jeff Powers each had an essay on page three, along with Barbara Mooney, Jim McCaffrey, and Kathleen Ensign on page four. Barbara Shean, Christine Lukas, and Fran Liro were represented as poets on page four.

The CHS “cinder men” dominated the West Springfield relays (page five), and several classmates contributed to the success. Dennis Trelease and John Collins were among the sprinters, with Steve Sullivan adding to the middle-distance runners and Dick Grogan to the broad jump team. There’s extensive coverage of three other track meets, with mention of these classmates, and one odd entry. “John Collins, though running slowly, took two first places.” John . . . running slowly?

Rich Murphy is cited as a golf team member, and the CHS “diamonds” include Don Chase at 3rd base and Gene Ryzewicz at shortstop.

The honors list for the third quarter, sophomore year, only merited the back page. Attaining First Honors were Ray Brassard, Josette Bouchie, James Boucher, Vincent Brown, Judy Cross, Dyanne Dillon, Paul Donahue, Bill Liquori, Patricia Malinski, Jim Montanari, June Morini, Bill Nader, Claire Pratte, Donna Roy, John Sheehan, Alan Sponburgh, and George Shannon.

The Chronicle of May 18, 1962

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Chronicle way-back machine returns. We’re sophomores

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Bill McDonald

It’s the Chattanooga Choo-Choo crowd getting ready for Minstrel Show! Phil Dube, Elaine Ambrose, Jeff Powers, and Jane Buckley.

The April 1962 edition of the Cathedral Chronicle led with a promo for the Minstrel Revue of 1962, to take place May 8-11, and featuring several members of our class.

Soloists on the marquee included Rita Arsenault, Dyanne (sic) Dillon, Frances Hull, and Mary Lou Lattinville. Featured dancers included Peggy Morneau and Dan Cotter, while 14 group performances helped fill out the bill.

The only other page one mention for a classmate was the report that Dan Noonan had received a silver medal in the recent state speech finals.

A small article on page three spurred an amusing recollection. The headline reads “Sophs Name Byron to ‘Hall of Fame,'” but the article never says that. It only includes Byron among those being considered for the honor in Sister Agnes Bernard‘s second and fourth period English classes. As I recall, we were to write essays extolling the virtues of our candidates. Some or all were read out loud, and the class was to select the Hall of Famers. Paul Donahue nominated Lord Byron, a flamboyant and notorious Romantic poet who lived fast and died young in 1824. (That’s from Wikipedia; it’s not like I remember those details.) But I do remember being impressed with Paul’s willingness to challenge the usual cast of characters for such things, e.g., heroes, saints, presidents, ball players. I also recall thinking Sr. Agnes Bernard may have been bemused more than scandalized by the choice, as well as Paul’s energetic nomination. I believe Lord Byron made the Hall of Fame.

If we need another reminder of how much time has passed, page four announces the upcoming appearance at CHS of the choral group from the St. Francis de Sales School “for Negro girls in Powhatan, Virginia.” The choral “directress” was a CHS alumna, class of 1933.

Page five has a picture of budding track star John Collins as the Purple Panthers opened their season. Also cited as participating were Dennis Trelease and Dick Grogan. Tom Counos and Bill Wood were on a tennis team that was, according to the report, “Coachless, but not hopeless.”

The April 18, 1962, Cathedral Chronicle

Page one

Page two

Page three

Page four

Page five

Page six

Surrey Road to be home of Pope Francis Cardinals

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Bill McDonald

A $50 million regional Catholic high school, born of the merger of Cathedral and Holyoke Catholic high schools, is to be built where we went to school, on Surrey Road in Springfield. Mitchell Rozanski, bishop of Springfield, made the announcement today.

Also announced were the school colors and nickname. The Pope Francis Cardinals will carry the colors red, gold, white, and gray. (Personal comment: Seems odd to use a term that has an obvious religious connection to the name of the school and then have it refer to a bird. Trying to have it both ways? Do you like the new nickname? They could have been the “PF Flyers.” :))

The new school already has a website.

The two schools are to remain separate and in their current locations in 2015-16. Cathedral, with an enrollment of about 200, will continue in the former Memorial Elementary School in Wilbraham and Holyoke Catholic, with about 220 students, will stay at the former Assumption Elementary School in Chicopee. The schools are to merge organizationally in 2016-17 but remain in their current locations until the new school is completed.

Last graduation from Cathedral?

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Bill McDonald

Wow. Is that the whole class?

Today was graduation day for the Cathedral High School Class of 2015. And that class may well be the last from a school called “Cathedral.”

Ceremonies were held at St. Michael’s Cathedral for the 48(!) members of the class. They had spent their four years at Cathedral in temporary quarters at a former elementary school in Wilbraham, following the damage to the CHS structure on Surrey Road from the 2011 tornado.

The diocese of Springfield announced May 29 that the new name of the school resulting from the merger of Cathedral and Holyoke Catholic high schools would be Pope Francis High School. According to the report in the Springfield Republican, the two schools will operate under the new name beginning in the 2016-17 school year, but remain in their present distinct locations. Another article yesterday referred to Holyoke Catholic’s graduation this year as its last.

According to the news report, the name of the new school was recommended by a group of students from each school, “working with school officials,” and the recommendation was “accepted” by Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski. (If you don’t sense my skepticism about that process, I’ve been too subtle.)

There is still no announced decision on the location of the new school, nor regarding school colors or mascot.

It appears Purple Panther High will Iive on only so long as our memories live.

Purple Panthers '64

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Class of 1964's graduation from Cathedral High School

Monthly Archives: June 2015

Wrapping up junior year — June 1963 Chronicle

May 1963 Chronicle

Showtime! Focus on Minstrel Revue

Rolling into spring 1963

Juniors now — 1963

Rising Juniors in the summer of ’62

Chronicle — We’re still sophomores

Chronicle way-back machine returns. We’re sophomores

Surrey Road to be home of Pope Francis Cardinals

Last graduation from Cathedral?