Share a Memory of Your Days at La Salle
This is the place for you to share any memories of your days at La Salle. Please feel free to share your memory with the Class.
It's amazing how I found this website. I really can't remember. I also don't hear very well, and I certainly need glasses, otherwise I am sure that by now,I would have contributed to the loss of many pedestrians. I moved to Florida to get away from the snow that isn't there any more.
I went back to LaSalle a couple of years ago and it's co-ed now. Why didn't they think of that back in the 60s? I think my Cs and Ds would have been Fs for sure.
When I look back on LaSalle, I can only remember the UTC buses including transfers from East Providence to school. I know I was there because I continued to go in the same direction to PC and then Bryant. And that is also a blurr. Getting old sucks. Trying to remember sucks. But somehow I believe that those four years might have been the starting point that pushed me through the next 60 years without getting run over. I must have learned something because they gave me a diploma.
Leesburg, Florida U.S.A. - Friday, May 24, 2024 at 22:41:40 (EDT)
LaSalle was for me overall a great experience especially the weekend Canteen dances where I got to meet a lot of pretty girls from Bayview and Classical who didn’t mind dancing very close despite the Brothers constantly pushing us apart! I enjoyed most of my classes making A’s in most of them and I was on the Indoor Track team which was fun. I liked Spanish and looking back I see that language choice seemed to be for the Brothers a way of classifying students. Taking Latin and French was front of the line eg 2A, B I was in 2G and those choosing Italian further down the line. I didn’t really care much about that. I liked going to class and the lay teachers wore suits and we wore neckties with sportshirts which I thought was cool. I found I really liked science and this eventually led me into a career in medicine. My favorite teacher was my senior year home room teacher, Dr Tom Lowery. I was thinking of going into the Navy when I graduated but Dr Lowery convinced me I should go to college. So LaSalle was a great experience for which I’m grateful.
James Crowley <jcrowley9802@gmail.com>Riversde, RI United States - Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 02:13:20 (EST)
In his book “My Losing Season: A Memoir” Pat Conroy tells his story of being the captain of the 1966 -67 Citadel Bulldogs basketball team. It was a New York Times “Best Seller” and in the book, Pat talks about his friend, the team manager, Joe Wofford Eubanks. Joe was also a friend of mine and I dedicated my first book “Reflections From the Web” to him. He was with me in the 1972 Battle of Kontum and he died on June 2nd 1972 when the helicopter he was flying was shot down. My memories of Joe run deep and I wonder what he would have said about his time at the Citadel with Pat Conroy and the “losing basketball season of 1966 – 67.”
While no one has written a book about the 1960 losing season of the La Salle football team there are some of us who remember the criticism of our performance that year. However, there were some bright flashes along the way and the outstanding performance of some of our “football stars” such as Ken Dion, Dan Sheehan, Tom DiPaolo and many others was captured in this great article in the “Maroon and White” written by Paul McGinn. It is interesting looking back at the life lessons learned on the football playing field and to reflect on how those lessons stood us in good stead for the rest of our lives.
(Note: the source for the Maroon and White football article is Chuck Danielian)
Carolina Shores, North Carolina United States - Friday, October 01, 2021 at 20:41:06 (EDT)
When Dick Cole moved from the I-C Home Room to the 1-A Home Room after his first quarter grades were so high, I began a life long friendship with him. I even gave him his new nickname of Cozy Cole which has stuck all these years.
We attended Providence College together and later reconnected when I moved to the Washington DC area in 1973.
Dick allowed me to sleep on his couch for some time until we ended up buying a house together in Alexandria.
He was a member of my wedding party when I married in 1979. And our friendship has continued until today as we move into our golden years.
Certainly meeting Dick and enjoying his friendship for over 60 years has been one of the greatest benefits of my attending LaSalle.
NK, Rhode Island - Friday, October 01, 2021 at 18:24:32 (EDT)
I will always remember the colorful and sometimes outrageous Joe LaBelle from Narragansett and our raucous Shore Line daily bus rides to LaSalle in the pre-Route 95 days.
Joe grew up near LaBelle’s Garage, right down the block from the infamous Beachcomber dive bar. We both worked summers at LaBelle’s where Joe taught me an enviable skill set: gas pumping, window washing, oil changing and flat tire repairing.
My favorite memory was when a young beau, infatuated with his date, tried to drive off in his convertible before I could disengage the gas hose. It twisted like a snake and drenched her with gas. Always wondered how that romance turned out!
Joe fancied himself quite the mechanic and turned a nifty profit one year helping panicked LaSalle physics students create battery powered engines.
Sadly, they failed to run and Joe took an uncharacteristic low profile with his angry clients.
Joe was also quite the macho charmer and sometimes took out his false teeth to charm the St. X girls on the bus.
But the Brothers’ training served him well as he married a former nun and always let me know the hard truth- that, at best, I earned my driver’s license from a Sears and Roebuck Catalog.
RIP Joe (USMC) a genuine, great person!
I think of him often!
CA - Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 13:33:39 (EDT)
It was great to hear from our classmate Al Sanford in his recent post on the website.
Al is a man of many talents. I ran into him in the 90's when he owned a lobster boat and a seafood store in Westport, Massachusetts. He also had constructed a building on the old Navy Base in Quonset where he ran a thriving wholesale lobster business.
NK, Rhode Island - Thursday, September 09, 2021 at 17:52:23 (EDT)
Memories of La Salle
I don’t have a lot of memories of my La Salle days. I can remember playing JV football and Knobby Walsh and Mr. Fallon as the coaches. After my freshman year I needed to get a job because my father had died so I worked at Stop and Shop for the rest of my La Salle years. I bought an old 1949 ford to go back and forth to school.
I do remember going to the “smoking room” where the smoke was so thick you could hardly see. I remember being beaten a few times by “Black” Pat. I have no idea why I was hit.
I remember some of my classmates and hope to reconnect with some of them at some point. I tried to reach Randy Chew a few years back but I was unable to make contact.
Hayesville, NC - Thursday, September 09, 2021 at 16:36:10 (EDT)
The Rhode Island Catholic Teachers College
On Saturday mornings the LaSalle Academy Main Building on Academy Avenue would become surrounded by yellow school buses filled with nuns from all the Catholic parish schools in Rhode Island.
The nuns were there to attend The Catholic Teachers College of RI. I do not know but most of you may be unaware that the majority of the Sisters we had for elementary school had been thrust into their jobs without college degrees.
So the Catholic Church Hierarchy had opened a College for them to obtain their bachelor degrees.
This college was the Catholic Teachers College of RI. You can get clearer evidence of the existence of this School by searching through the Providence Journal Obituaries which often mention it when detailing the lives of many of the nuns, especially from the Religious Sisters of Mercy who taught many of us in elementary school.
Frank Sullivan
- Thursday, August 19, 2021 at 04:55:00 (EDT)
Recollections of LaSalle and After
If I get long winded and tend to go on, it’s because, except for a few of you, I haven’t had any contact with you in 60 years. My first recollections of LaSalle are from the spring 1957 when my parents were trying to figure out how they would come up with the $110/semester tuition. If they knew what it was today, they’d be turning in their graves.
Thanks to classmates like Cole, Cooney, Larkin and Robinson who kept moving the bell curve, I don’t have a lot of great scholastic memories other than getting hit over the head with a book by “Black” Pat.
My best memories and friendships came on the old dirt football practice field. I went out for spring practice my sophomore year and Frank Finizio took me under his wing. That friendship carried on to the campus at URI where we became fraternity brothers in Phi Mu Delta, three years later.
During that spring practice a junior named Brooks was in at right end. My childhood friend, Dave Gallogly, also a junior, was the left defensive end. I was at right halfback and Danny Sheehan called a pitch out 40. At the snap of the ball ole Brooksie, who never could block, goes down flat on his face and Dave nails me in the backfield full speed on my right knee. The last thing I remember of my first spring practice was Tony Amoriggi picking me up in arms like a baby and carrying me off the field.
When I came out in the fall of my junior year I was greeted by Knobby Walsh and told that because of the knee injury and the fact that Coach Cronin would have to wrap it in a “Duke”, I could only play defense and special teams. So fast forward to the practice field. Coach Cronin was becoming innovative. He was taking one of the backs and moving them to the slot as a blocker (a la Lenny Moore with the key block on Jimmy Patton, clearing the way for Alan Ameche in the Giants/Colts OT Championship Game). Dick Palmisciano came through the slot and hit me the hardest I had ever been hit, resulting the only concussion I’ve ever had.
But my favorite recollection was junior year on that same dirt practice field. Danny was at QB, Leo Cooney was either at guard or center and big Larry Lague on defense over center. About three times in a row, he came crashing through, sacking Danny. We went back to the huddle and Danny called “quick pass to Lague on two” – he lobbed the ball right into Larry’s bread basket. Larry gripped his “interception” as all eleven of us pig pilled him.
We didn’t face many black players back then, but when we did “Slick” Pena always had the same pep talk – “He big, he fast, and he looooves to play fooootball”. One last memory. Senior year we made a bus trip to CT. to play Notre Dame of West Haven. They totally outclassed us. Coach Cronin dug deep in pockets for dinner at the restaurant on the turnpike. We were all really acting up and I heard Knobby turn to the coach and said “the way these guys are acting up after losing, I would hate to think how they would have acted if they had won.”
Naples, Florida USA - Tuesday, August 10, 2021 at 12:58:30 (EDT)
THE PAYMENT CARD
Many 1961 La Salle classmates are quite familiar with the tuition card. On the other hand, there are some that have no idea what this is all about. If you were on scholarship, your parish pastor paid, or you were lucky enough to have your parents or grandparents pay La Salle's tuition in full at the beginning of the year, you may have no clue regarding this card.
Yet there were other fellow classmates who had to make their monthly payments out of their own hard-earned dollars from part time work, or ask or beg their parents for money each month to make this payment. Rumor has it that some classmates had to check in with their parish pastor for their tuition money. Other classmates may wish to share their stories about making their tuition payment to La Salle.
Bye the way, current tuition for high school students is about $16,300 and financial aid is only available for the high school program.
- Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 23:04:53 (EDT)
Fellow Classmates:
It seems just like yesterday when I started my Coke binge while a student at LaSalle Academy. Of course, what stood out was the heroics of Ken Dion on the football team and Don Pastine reminding us that he was better than anyone else and Chuck Gaffney and Bill Warburton with their memorable Hockey Team. Who could forget the wrestlers, the Cerra brothers and Tom F. Di Paolo.
The most memorable individual of all was “Black Pat”. I remember him calling me out of class and reminding me that I didn’t get the haircut “that I did get” and then without me preparing for it give me a shot in the side of the head. I went down against the radiator with this huge noise (it didn’t hurt), got up and thought he would apologize and then rapidly hit me with another one.
That wasn’t the only beating I caught in life and it certainly wasn’t the only one I caught after I left there.
I continue to kick ass and I hope everyone else is doing the same. See you all on October 16.
P.S. By the way, Coke is Coca-Cola.
Sincerely,
Ronald J. Resmini
- Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at 19:22:53 (EDT)
Looking Back
It's been a long minute since we graduated from La Salle Academy.
And I'm willing to overlook your gray hair, sunken eyes, pale skin and
wrinkled hands, and tell you it's not so. But you'd see right through me.
You're still as sharp as a tack!
I think it was Kurt Vonnegut who said that true terror is to wake up one
morning and discover that your high school classmates are running the
country.
What I remember most about high school are the memories I created when
reminiscing with my friends.
When I try to think back to my days in high school, there are gaps. I try
to fill them in, but I can't tell you if it's always the truth.
Today's news talks about diversity, racial equity, white privilege, and
religious tolerance. At La Salle, segregation was frowned upon and the
integration of Caucasians and Catholics was strongly encouraged.
It seems like most of the students who attended La Salle came in by bus.
And although busing was credited with stress, insomnia, obesity, muscular
pains, unhealthy food habits and the inhalation of exhaust fumes, it never
seemed to have an effect on these guys.
When I was a kid I used to play baseball, basketball and football out on the
street. By the time I got to La Salle I didn't recognize any of these
sports. You see, when you're in high school, all sports are "organized."
And, who could forget the smoking area in the basement. It was affectionately called "The Pit," and the only students who smoked there
were "Hoods."
Do you remember the CBA Chemistry class we took during our senior year?
That's when we discovered that 2 + 2 = 10.
If someone's hair was longer than an inch, and slicked back with hair cream,
he was called a "Mondo." But if someone's hair was less than an inch long,
and parted on the side, he was called "Collegiate." And then the hippies
came along with their long hair and beards, and soon everyone became
unrecognizable.
There was a guy on the football team who was nicknamed "Horse." And there was another guy on the wrestling team whose nickname was "Animal". I often
wonder if they used these names during job interviews.
There's a theory that the Saturday night "canteens" were responsible for the
ringing in our ears, also known as tinnitus.
Some things last forever. The "Awful-Awful" milkshake is still being served
at the Newport Creamery which was a frequent hangout for the guys who never
liked to stay home and do their homework.
And for those who had an aversion to reading, CliffsNotes was the greatest
invention of all time.
During Junior year we were taught how to exercise all ten fingers on a typewriter. But with the onslaught of technology we had to learn and master
the art of using just one finger to "text." This changeover must have been mind boggling for most of us since it was like trying to play a piano with a
guitar pick.
The best thing about our typing class was that we didn't have to stay up
all night "cramming" for the final exam.
I still don't know how we made it through high school. There were no
laptops, Internet browsers, laser printers, flash drives, iPhones, videos,
or social media sites.
The smell of freshly cut grass makes me think of the Saturday afternoon
football games at Cronin Field. After graduation I moved to California
and came across a field of grass that had a funny smell and made me laugh.
I often wondered what Christmas would be like after moving to the west coast. Although most of the golden state (CA) is a dry desert baked with cacti, yucca plants, palm trees, and olive groves, it actually mirrors the little town of Bethlehem. Yet the ocean state (R.I.) continues to use snow flakes, icicles, fir trees and pine cones to camouflage the actual
background of the Nativity.
As we grew older and became senior citizens, the aches and pains that
accompany aging became more noticeable. And let's face it: No one's
looking forward to wheelchairs, hearing aids, or stair lifts. But what's
even worse is that all these items require batteries.
I don't think any of us had a clue on what the future would hold. In fact,
the poet Robert Bly described high school this way: "By the time a man is
35 he knows that the "images" of the right man, the tough man, the true man,
which he received in high school, do not work in life."
And although we have a low ceiling hanging over our heads, keep the faith
and follow the sun.
Redondo Beach, California USA - Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at 15:10:18 (EDT)
I have nothing but fond memories when I think of my years at La Salle. There are just so many thoughts that pass through my mind. I think we were in a golden age at La Salle, we were so fortunate to have the Brothers and all of those other dedicated teachers there to teach and guide us. May God bless them all, they were always there for us, always.
One of my strongest memories I have are those assemblies in the Auditorium. Whether it was for the La Salle Auxiliary, or a Pep rally or whatever and the Benedictions with Fr Cassidy. Burnt into my mind and soul is “Holy God We Praise thy Name”. I can so vividly remember Mr. Toti giving us those firebrand speeches.
I worked in the Bookstore for Brother John. I learned a lot from Brother John and admired him. I’m not fully sure how I got that job but suspect it was through my parents.
I had an additional connection to La Salle, my only first cousin, Jim Ford, Class of ‘54’ was raised by my parents as my brother. He was my brother!
He played on the 1954 Hockey team that won the State Championship; he was one tough cookie. Through him and for him we regularly had Brother Patrick, Brother Anthony and Brother Christian as visitors in our home, right through my time at La Salle. It was a safe house where they could come, be welcome, let their hair down and relax, so I knew them all well. In fact, Jim and I invited them to our parents 25 Anniversary which was after I came home from Vietnam.
My introduction to La Salle was my home room teacher Mr. Pina. I used to go to the football games when I was a kid, Jimmy played football too. I watched Bernie play football and now WOW, he’s my home room teacher.
Unfortunately for me my parents started me in first grade at 5 and I was a left-handed, right sided brain daydreamer. I believe I am one of the class babies, I was born in 1944 and just turned 77 in March.
I don’t know who remembers but at the end of the first semester all of us with failing grades, I had a D in Algebra, were shipped to the F class which also happened to be closer to the door. Enter Brother Patrick my new Algebra teacher, I went from a D to an A. Every day he’d go up and down each row and if your homework wasn’t done there was immediate Corporal Punishment. One day as he walked by me he said “Some day” to which I replied “No way Brother Patrick”. He was very proud of the fact that he turned me around. I believe I graduated from La Salle a lot because of him.
What wonderful memories I have. The great teachers I had, Mr. Toti, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Petit, Mr. McDonough and all the others. Those dedicated brothers who were always there, Brother Patrick, both Brother James, Brother Maurice, Brother Leo, Brother Anthony, Brother Andrew and all the others. To this day I carry my rosary beads every day.
I wish we could see them all now and thank them for all they did for me and all of us.
There is a beautiful classic Catholic hymn called “Soul of my Saviour”. Part of the last verse is “Guard and defend me from the foe malign, in death’s dread moments make me only thine; call me and bid me come to thee on high”. They guided, protected and defended us and made us who we are. “Religio, Mores, Cultura”. God bless them all.
- Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 20:42:47 (EDT)
SNOWY DAYS - TWO STORIES
I lived in Warwick RI and, in my sophomore year, I occasionally was able to get a ride to school from a senior named Norman Caron. Norman had a black, 1949 Ford, that he was very proud of. He had painted the dashboard black and sprinkled it with white paint using a toothbrush. The back seat floor boards were so rotted out you could look down between your feet and see the road.
At the time, he was dating Pat Clarkin, the sister of my classmate, Lenny Clarkin. Pat was a senior at Saint Francis Xavier Academy in Providence and sometimes, Norman would drive Pat into school. I would sit in the back seat, very envious of Norman, because I thought Pat was a beautiful girl and I knew I had no chance to date her.
One snowy day Norm picked me up for school. Pat was not in the car but there were a couple of other classmates in the car, maybe Al Sanford, I can’t remember the names now. It had been snowing most of the night and I was hoping that the brothers would cancel school for the day. No chance. Actually, by the time we headed into school the roads were pretty clear although the plows had pushed a good bit of snow into piles off the road.
We were all pretty unhappy that school had not been canceled so we thought it would be a good idea to arrive late. As we approached a little coffee shop in Cranston, Norm suddenly swerved his car into a snow bank just off the road. We were all delighted because, after all, we got stuck in the snow and promptly went into the shop for coffee and donuts. Norm decided to use the pay phone and call the school to let them know that we would be late because we were “stuck” in the snow. I don’t know what was said to Norm, but he came back and said we needed to leave right away. We easily pushed his car out of the snow bank and arrived at school about an hour late.
The brothers were not happy with our excuse. It seemed that no one else was late that day due to the snow, not even the bus driven by Jake Powell from Westerly RI. It was not a happy day for me and it was the last time we tried that trick.
Snowy story two –
Occasionally I would get a ride home from Mickey Klitzner. Mickey lived on Richmond Drive in Warwick as did Ronnie Kart and Carl Houle. On this day, it had been snowing and the roads were slick but not too bad. I think Ronnie and Carl were also in the car that day.
Not far from La Salle we approached a road that was a steep hill that ended in a tee intersection at the bottom of the hill. It may have been Atwell Avenue but I can’t remember now. It was a residential neighborhood and cars were parked on either side of the road all the way down the hill. As Mickey eased the car over the crest of the hill and started down the steep slope it was not long before he lost control on the slick road. No matter what he did, he could not stop the car as it careened down the hill hitting cars along the way bouncing from one side of the road to the other. It was an exciting moment for all of us, especially Mickey, as there were many expletives being shouted with each bang against yet another car.
When we finally got to the bottom of the hill, we were very lucky that there were no cars crossing the intersection or we would have hit them also. We finally stopped against the curb of the cross street which kept us from going into a chain link fence around a factory.
None of us were hurt and Mickey’s car was still running after the many hits it took on the way down the hill. Needless to say, it had many dents along both sides and the doors were pretty banged up. As we looked back up the hill, it was clear from the various dents and scratches we could see on a number of cars that we were fortunate we were not injured and the damage was not worse. As I recall, we all gave a sigh of relief that no one was injured. We continued our trek home with Mickey muttering something about his father was going to kill him when he found out about the multi car accident.
I never heard what happened to Mickey, or what explanation he gave at home, but his car had a number of dents and scratches on it every time I saw it.
Carolina Shores, North Carolina USA - Monday, May 31, 2021 at 23:24:06 (EDT)
Maroon and White
Frank Sullivan has provided us with the front page of the June, 1961 graduation issue of the Maroon and White. The class of 1962 had taken over editorial responsibility.
Richard Larkin is featured both as an actor and scholar, while John Robinson and Jim McAleer are lauded for their debating skills. Bishop McVinney, Governor Notte, Mayor Reynolds, and Father Joseph Lennon highlight the graduation plans. The Proms were held at the legendary “Rhodes on the Pawtucket”
Ah! The halcyon days of our youth.
New Haven , CT United States - Monday, May 24, 2021 at 21:45:29 (EDT)
I could go on at an intolerable length about what sticks in my mind from each of my four years at LaSalle, but I want to focus instead on a single pair of days in religion class when we were juniors.
A man named Brother Eugene--tall, young, earnest, new to teaching--was having trouble reaching many of us with Catholic doctrine that most of us had been studying since we were in the first grade. But one day he decided to teach us Catholic Just War doctrine, something Saint Augustine had come up with back in the fifth century. Catholics can participate in or support a war only if, Saint Augustine had said, the government that's waging the war is fighting for a just cause--e.g., repelling an invader--AND is using just means to achieve its just end. So, Brother Eugene said, our declaration of war against Japan in December of 1941 was just because Japan had attacked our warships at Pearl Harbor a few days earlier. But, he asked, what about our use of atom bombs on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th of 1945?
As a general rule, he said, the deliberate bombing of civilian populations as a way to force an enemy to admit defeat is regarded by Catholic theologians an unjust means to a just end. But what if, he asked, the use of nukes on those two cities was, as a practical matter, the only way that we could convince the Japanese government to admit defeat? Would that fact turn an otherwise unjust means into a just one?
These questions provoked an animated discussion among those of us in Brother Eugene's religion class on that day as many of us had fathers who had fought in World War Two, and those of us whose fathers had not fought in that war had heard about the war from the time we were four or five years old. For almost all of us, no one had ever asked us to consider if, as of August 6th or 9th of 1945, it had become an unjust war. On the contrary, all that most of us had heard was that the war was entirely just--a veritable crusade, as some had called it back when the real Crusades were thought of as having been eminently just. Things got even more animated, heated even, the next day, when Brother Eugene suggested that maybe the nuking of Hiroshima was defensible as the only way to convince the Japanese government to surrender, but the nuking of Nagasaki was utterly immoral as it involved the annihilation of thousands of Japanese civilians before the Japanese government had had a chance to determine just how massive our killing of the civilians of Hiroshima had been. What Brother Eugene got me thinking about on those two mornings back in 1960 has stayed with me even to this point in my 79th year on earth.
USA - Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 19:39:51 (EDT)
After nine years of Catholic education at Sacred Heart School in East Providence, I guess it was predestined that I attend La Salle with a number of my Sacred Heart classmates. Upon entering La Salle in my sophomore year, I was quick to learn what real homework was like. Most of my classes were taught by the Brothers and one of my favorites was mechanical drawing taught by Brother Joseph (golden gloves champ, I believe). In this class, we held our drawings out the window to make blueprints. A good number of my classmates were from the Westerly RI area and I admired why they took the train everyday just to go to La Salle. Either because I worked after school or because I was not much of an athlete, I did not participate in any formal athletic activities--but I do remember playing crab soccer and kick ball under the guidance of Mr. Powell.
In my junior year, I was introduced to a favorite activity of the day--smoking in the low ceiling basement smoking room. It only took 25 years to lick the habit. I was in Vince McGinn's homeroom class and actually got up to 11 words per minute without errors in his typing class (a,s,d,f,g,semi,l,k,j,h). Just about every morning in my junior and senior years I could be found in Brother John's Coke room drinking a $.05 soda and admiring pictures of past athletic teams. Senior year memories put me in touch with some of the best teachers I had--Brothers John, Paul, and David.
During my time at LaSalle, I most remember (1) taking my payment card to the payment office each and every month and paying the $15 tuition out my own money and (2) eating my many bagged lunches at the stand-up tables in the cafeteria. I also remember the football rivalry between East Providence High and La Salle on Thanksgiving Day before 8,000 to 10,000 fans--nowadays just about 500 fans. And who can forget the 1961 New England high school hockey championship team--La Salle.
La Salle activities I like to think less about included (1) the annual St. La Salle Auxiliary fund raiser-- I just did not like having to ask people for money and (2) of course, the biweekly report cards which had to be signed by my dad.
Springfield , VA USA - Saturday, May 08, 2021 at 16:14:38 (EDT)
The ages of 13 through 18 are pretty significant in life, especially viewed through a 60 year perspective. These years require guidance, role models, energy, commitment, passion, goals, self-esteem, and faith to help us find meaning and our places in life.
LaSalle provided so many of us with those qualities. The Christian Brothers were committed men of faith, trained to build a solid foundation for our lives in the context of a strong faith.
I believe that they were successful. If our education was a bit more structured and authoritarian than that of our children and grandchildren, this was, after all, the 1950’s. The Brothers did respond to the Sputnik-era enhancements in math, physics, and chemistry, while maintaining their strength in the classics and humanities.
LaSalle left us with an indelible heritage. If I don’t still have rosary beads in my pocket, and if Jesus has not always lived in my heart, when I have decisions to face, I always have Brothers Eugene, Paul, Stephen, James, David, Timothy and all the others guiding me to do the right thing.
New Haven, CT - Monday, March 29, 2021 at 10:11:25 (EDT)
I had gone to public schools from K through 8. My only experience with Religious Teachers was the Sisters of Mercy at St Brendan's in Riverside where we public school kids attended Religious Instructions (the forerunner of CCD) once a week.
The first Christian Brother I met was Brother Francis, the Pro-Director, who had an office inside the right front door of the Building. He was an intimidating figure and did not project a warm and fuzzy image when I went to the School with my Dad to pick up the application paperwork.
After taking the exam and gaining entrance, I ended up in the 1-A's, a group of 42 guys who had mostly attended parochial schools and knew things like what a Participle and a Gerund were. I was a bit overwhelmed at my own ignorance and could see I was behind my classmates in English grammar and syntex.
Brother Barnabas Mark was our English Teacher and he threatened to "Come down on us like a ton of bricks with two guns ablazing" if we did not quiet down and do our lessons.
But Mr. Petit was a likable Civics Teacher who taught us the three branches of government and prepared me for one of my life long passions.....Politics.
I actually played JV Hockey during my Sophomore Year for Coach Petit but never made the Varsity,which was a good lesson for life in that it taught me to accept not being able to succeed in everything I tried. What I have learned from that is: All of us have different gifts, we just need to discover them and then develop them. More to follow.....
North Kingstown, RI United States - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 18:13:36 (EDT)
I have many wonderful memories of my time at La Salle. Going to Brother Anthony’s Athletics office at the morning break to get a coke, in a real glass bottle, and eating pretzel sticks walking around looking at the many pictures of La Salle sports teams on the wall was always a delight for me. I imagined that someday my picture with the football team would be on that wall.
People with whom I have talked have trouble believing that we had to eat lunch at stand-up tables. Some thought that was “cruel and unusual punishment” but we thought it was normal. We all brought our lunch, and it was always interesting to me to see and smell what other guys had brought to eat. It was the first time I saw a green pepper sandwich.
Being a procrastinator at that stage of my life, it was not unusual for me to not have my homework ready for class. In those cases, the brothers did not have any trouble applying on the spot corporal punishment to me. I would never have told my parents about getting that kind of “correction” because my father might want to reinforce the “correction.”
Many of those memorable days run together in my mind: spring football practice followed by hot summer days with Coach Cronin or “Knobby” Walsh pushing us hard. I remember team mates Danny Sheehan, Ken Dion, Roger Brock, Leo Cooney, Bob Famiglietti, Ray Manocchio, Chuck Danielian and Tom DiPaolo among others. It was interesting to me, that when I gave a presentation on the Vietnam War to the De La Salle eighth grade class in November 2019, Tom DiPaolo’s grandson was in the class, and he stopped to introduce himself as Tom’s grandson after the presentation.
Many of the brothers and lay teachers I had at La Salle left a lasting impression on me. In my senior year Brother Alfred James was my home room teacher. Our home room number was 306 and I was the president of our home room. He was a very positive influence on me at that time in my life.
Of all the classes I took at La Salle, Mr. Vincent McGinn’s typing class was the one that gave me a skill I would need for the rest of my life. I never knew how important it would be for me to learn how to type and to develop that skill. The ubiquitous nature of the keyboard as an input device has been critical to many of the jobs I have had. My facility with devices such as computers and communication systems has been made much easier because of my ability to quickly type my thoughts into the device. Who knew?
All and all, I feel I was blessed to be able to go to La Salle. I know that my parents had to struggle to come up with the financial resources that allowed me to become a La Salle Academy graduate.
Calabash, string:NC USA - Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 13:22:11 (EDT)