St. Jerome Parish
632 Bridge Street
North Weymouth, MA. 02191
May 2002
Speaking at the SJS Spring Show on April 11, Carolyn Downey Donahue '86, Secretary of the SJS Alumni Association Board,
told the audience that SJS was building an Alumni Database, and invited them to help us locate all of our Alums.
Folks who stopped off at the Alumni Information Desk before and after the show had a chance to meet with Association Board members including, Vice President, Ann Marie Downey '75, Daniel Giannandrea '84 and John Hause '75.
Class News and Notes
Paula J. Clifford (SJS '85) was recently awarded "2001 Prosecutor of the Year" by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for her work in the prosecution of vehicle homicide cases. Ms. Clifford works as a prosecutor for the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, and serves as Deputy Chief as the leader of all district courts in Bristol County. She also serves as a director of the North Weymouth Civic Association.
A Step Back in Time
Do you remember…proudly wearing your new uniform and "school shoes" on the first day of school, Sr. Joan St. Patrick playing the bagpipes down the corridor, the switchboard in the Principal's office, and Field Day at Webb State Park? Were you ever "lucky" enough to forget your lunch and given the "opportunity" to venture up into the inner realms of the convent for a frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwich? (You may have even been lucky enough to get one with raisins in it.)
Can you recall learning the Palmer Method in 2nd grade, taking "nature" walks/picnics up to Great Hill, bringing your sneakers to change into on Gym Day, cutting through Mr. Blackstone's closet, the big red building blocks in Kindergarten and boot trays outside the classroom on snowy days? (You would need to bring your "school shoes" on those days as well because boots were not allowed.) On snowy days, do you remember being asked to clear the snow off the teacher's cars and maybe, just maybe, throwing a snowball or two?
Do any of these teacher tools ring a bell; the clapper, the pitch pipe or the instrument that drew perfectly straight chalk lines on the board? Do you remember riding the elevator with Sr. Anne Casmir, the smell of paper having been "run off" on the mimeograph machine, Christmas Gift Wrap sales for $1/box, selling candy for a nickel, and proudly carrying your navy blue SJS schoolbag over your shoulder? You know, the ones the teachers would warn us would choke us if we wore the straps on our heads?
Perhaps you remember the end of the school year marked by an entire school outing to Gun Rock Beach in Hull when it was acceptable and legal for parents to carpool on field trips and kids to put their toes in the water? Were you fortunate enough to have been an altar boy under Fr. Larry Sullivan's guidance, or having your report card handed to you by Monsignor Sullivan? Remember Table Washer and Milk Duty and having to get the milk in crates, sometimes frozen, out of the big silver chest in the kitchen? This job had a fringe benefit because you could leave class a few minutes early.
How about those St. Patrick's Day shows where the boys would wear green paper ties pinned to their shirts and lipstick was a must under the bright stage lights? It was assigned homework to memorize all the words to the songs without the sheets in hand. Does "Delaney's Donkey" or "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder" ring a bell? If you were lucky, you might just get to enjoy a green milkshake at McDonald's after the show to wet your whistle.
Do you recollect prayer services in the chapel, delivering milk carton candy baskets to the residents of Cadman Towers, being reprimanded for clapping the erasers on the outside brick wall, Art and Science Fairs, playing Red Rover or Rattlesnake out in the schoolyard and enjoying a Burger King lunch on First Friday? Do you remember the maroon station wagon that the nuns shared, rumored to have been purchased with S & H Green Stamps?
If you have answered yes to any of the above, consider yourself an extremely fortunate person for you must have been a student of St. Jerome School. And chances are you're smiling…
told the audience that SJS was building an Alumni Database, and invited them to help us locate all of our Alums.
