Saint Michaels Gang

 

Forum: Saint Michaels Gang

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Created on: 04/02/11 02:19 AM Views: 10542 Replies: 17
Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Friday, April 1, 2011 09:19 PM

Classmates:

Annandale was an interesting community, because stuck right in the middle of it, and just a few blocks from Annandale high school there was a private Catholic school called St. Michael's. It was very popular and had a large student body, and went all the way from first grade through junior high. I think it would be fun for us all figure out exactly who went to Annandale high school who also went to St. Michael's. So I am starting a list, and I would like all of you to add anyone I have missed.

Additionally as you might recall in the 1966/1967 year for the first time St. Michael's decided to allow student photos. It was a big deal. If you remember, we were told by mother superior, that we did not need to wear our uniforms, and in fact could wear what ever we wanted. Well, at that time my favorite shirt was a very colorful silk Hawaiian shirt my father had brought back from Hawaii. When I wore the shirt, Sister Mary Carla, told me I would not be allowed to have my picture taken in such a disgusting shirt. Well at our recess break, I approached Mother Superior and asked her, was in fact true, and wasn't the policy that she had set down that I could wear anything I wanted including this colorful Hawaiian shirt. She said of course, and I told her how Sister Mary Carla, would not let me have my picture taken. (This was in the sixth grade). (I have some other incredible Sister Mary Carla stories, which I will share with you at another time or at the reunion) well when we came back from lunch and we were all sitting in our desk, Sister Mary Carla stormed into the room, and proceeded to tear into me like nothing I had ever had done to me, and especially not in public. She was furious that I had questioned her authority. Frankly I was scared to death. (She had already hit me previously, another story) when everyone left to have their photos taken, and I was told to stay behind. I sneaked over to the clinic. Many of you might remember that my mother was the nurse. I told my mother of the story.. I was shaking and nearly in tears.. And told her I was scared to death to go back to the classroom. My mother being the wonderful person that she was, pulled me out of St. Michael's, and the next day I started at Annandale elementary, where I had actually gone to the third grade a few years prior. What are some of your St. Michaels stories.

The main reason for telling the story, is I would give anything... I mean anything, if someone has a copy of the class photo. I know there is such a photo, because Maureen sent me the class photo for the same year for Sister Miriam Margret's class. (and all you guys have ties on, conformist and that includes you Steve Wendt)

OK, THE LIST:

Doris Lynch, Tommy daily, Sharon Balboni, and Taylor, Robert Conley, Cheryl George, Mike Sherrick, Danny Cadigan, Beverly Farris, Keith Mattingly, Tom Kennedy, Monica Suraci, Patrick Colton, Dicki Howe, Michael Sevey, Barbara Aaron, Patty Vauter, George Roberts, Pam Swim, Steve went, Mark Duffner, marine Hamilton, Carol McDermott, Johnny Owens, Peter Houlihan, Barbara Tatum, Mari Rechen, Douglas Schulz

 
Edited 04/01/11 09:41 PM
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Monday, April 4, 2011 11:06 AM

From: Les Dorland

I went to St. Michael's from 5th (Mrs. Lexcen) (6th Sister Carmen) (7th Mrs. Coleman)through 8th grade (Sister Miriam Margaret).     

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Thursday, April 7, 2011 03:19 PM

Hey Doug,

It was Sister Mary Carl (not Carla) ... she packed quite a punch (I remember her dragging out people into the hall and waiting for the usual slam up against the lockers ... such fun!)

I think I got all the hostiles ... Sister Rosamund in 2nd grade, Sister Mary Carl in 6th and Sister Miriam Margaret in 8th aka "Maggie" ... was only smacked with a yardstick by Rosamund so I guess I was lucky!

The worst fashion critic was Mrs. Coleman ... once when we were allowed to wear what we wanted, I wore a mohair sweater (a birthday gift and all the rage then) ... she dragged me out of the lunch line to tell me not to wear it anymore because it made me look fat - great for one's self-esteem!

Best nun, hands down, was Sister Robert Terese ... she loved throwing the football at recess ...

Keep the comments coming ...

Mari (Rechin)

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:16 AM

Father Scannell:

Just the name should start around of conversation. Fear is what one fellow St. Michaels parishioner said about him in an e-mail to me. He was dedicated! But I actually once thought of going into religion as a  proffesion. Father Scannell turned me off a bit. What bothered me was his constant sermons on the issue of money. It just seemed to be a conflict of what religion was supposed to be all about. Douglas Schulz

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Friday, April 22, 2011 07:34 AM

I lived behind St. Michael's, and went to school there from 5th to 8th grades.  My siblings went there too.   My parents were parishioners at St. Mike's.  Personally, I felt traumatized by the experience.  Life was harsh there for students...the approach for the most part was to motivate students to learn through fear.  I always avoided the confession line for Father Scannell, too scary.  Many of the nuns scared me too.  I saw my first  dead body at a funeral for one of the nuns who died. My mother let me bring books to read to church...thankfully.  Father Scannell's sermons were delivered so sternly, that I figured that was how God approached dealing with his people.  My mother always said, "yes but he's very intelligent."  Mari, I liked Robert Terese too, she loved sports and was nice to students.  I remember wearing vaseline on my eyelashes because makeup was not allowed, and kneeling down so teachers could check our hemlines, which had to reach the ground.  Remember the boys being separated from girls and taken to the staionary closet for a separate lecture about "sex."  Boys were just staring to have longer hair and teachers would humiliate them by calling them the "female" version of their names, e.g., Roberta instead of Robert.

There were many fun times too, we sledded every winter down the long line of hills starting at the rectory and coming down all the way to our street, Carmine.  Watched a friend plough into the brick school building on her sled and lose her two front teeth.  We searched in the snow and found them and she got them put back in.  My dad made us sling shots and we were hanging out in a parking lot at St. Mike's shooting rocks up in the air, and a car came around the corner and my sister's rock came down and put a hole in the driver's windshield.  We all took off running.  In high school, sad to report that a bunch of us were out running around at night and came across a "bum" passed out on St. Mike's lawn and stole his leftover beer.  I had many good friends at St. Michael's School, as most of us  lived in the nearby neighborhoods, and a few I still keep up with.  At the end of 8th grade my  parents wanted me to go to a Catholic high school and I refused.  That was probably one of my first moments of rebellion.  So they gave in, and I went to AHS.  I hope to see some of these friends at the reunion this  fall!!

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Saturday, April 23, 2011 08:14 PM

Debra:

I'm glad to hear that someone else is willing to admit to being a juvenile delinquent. We were always slipping out the back door during church services. Father Scannell, realized it and would be there sometimes to ambushes, it got to be a game. Were we in any classes together, who did you have in sixth grade, I am trying to track down the class photo. As you will note from my earlier entry, I am not in the photograph, but I want to see who all was in my class. I remember that I was at St. Michael's when they came on the loudspeaker to tell us all that Pres. Kennedy had been shot.

Schulzy

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Monday, April 25, 2011 10:58 AM

 St. Michael's - It's been over 30 years since I've woken up in a cold sweat wondering which shinanigan Maggie (Sister Mary Margret) was going to tie me to!  Oh, the thousands of "conferences" with my father (a hardned Army Colonel) and years of associated "groundings" that I thought were mercifully erased from long term memory cells. Now you go and stir up the whole sorted affair.  Whose doll do I put the pin in? Was this your idea Doug?

The brutal truth is that Gitmo detainees have a pampered existance by comparison! Nuns have special powers.  A 90lb nun can easily lift a 110 lb infidel by his ear alone.  She can spot a cigarette from a half mile through dense woods in the rain. Democracy?  HA!  You WILL do as you are told!  Himmler and Mengela were said to have been the product of a full 10 year exposure. Your only method of venting was a no holds barred game of "smear the queer" on asphalt. The girls won't remember that one.  

 

The low point of my tenure there unvolved a fellow who I am sure was known to any urchin or nare-do-well in grades 5-7.  His christian name was Billy Hyland. More commonly he was known as Lucifer.  Billy could get you anything, cigs, beer, Playboy magazines etc.  For those of  you who don't remember him, he was the guy who was ALWAYS put directly next to Maggie at ALL church services.  I was assigned to "Cecil" whose real name excapes me.  Anyway, Billy had a grand scheme to retire off the profits that could be had by selling "stripper" pens to all the catholic boys.  WHat is a stripper pen you ask?  It is a fountain pen that is adorned with bathing suit beauties whose suits ARE the ink.  Turn it upside down - no ink - no suit. Billy had the access but he was short on finances. Enter me.  

 

They sold like wildfire for a week until Sister Roberta (now married) confiscated one being used in class and thought the matter so egregious that it was immediatly brought to the attention of one Thomas P. Scannell.  The user (not the sharpest tool in the shed) was dragged behind closed doors in THE RECTORY!  It was just a matter of time before he cracked.  When I heard my and Billy's presence requested in his office over the PA I knew my life, as I had known it, had come to a sudden conclusion.

As it turned out, I lived ,albeit with the freedom of Hannibal Lecter! But then on reflection I've heard most catholic boys had a challenging time.

BTW Billy made a fortune in the import/export business and lives in a penthouse in Hong Kong.         

 

 

 
Edited 04/25/11 06:10 PM
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Monday, April 25, 2011 11:23 AM

John:

You have not lost one bit of your humor and wit. My mother often wondered why she even bought me new slacks, it just took one or two days of our rough and tumble events on the asphalt, and the knees were gone on the pants. Now why did you have to go and bring up those pens? There was nothing more exciting in the world to a 12-year-old. And while we're on the subject, what would it cost for you to send me one, I'm still a 12-year-old that heart. Schulzy

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Friday, July 8, 2011 06:25 AM

Hi Doug:

 

it was great hearing from you -- please add me to the St Michael's gang list - I LOVE reading the stories - John Allen's was too funny.  Remember Nina Picciano?  I reconnected up with her after 20 years and we play golf together - she lives in DC.  I might bring her to the reunion with me - would that be ok?  She has sooo many stories about the nuns!!

Suzanne Cowley (Mullin)

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Tuesday, July 12, 2011 03:51 PM

I didn't go to St. Michaels, but I just posted the names to the class photo Maureen Hamilton asked me to enter.  Maureen sent me the names...she remembered most of them...but not all, so I need your help! 

Please take a look at the class photo and view each person individually and add those names that are left out or incomplete...hopefully, there aren't any that are incorrect!!!  If you're unable to add them yourself, send me an email and I'll take care of it.  

This is also true for the 6th grade class photo from Braddock.  It would be great to get all the names posted!!

Thanks a bunch!!!   

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:36 AM

Debra, You are such a trooper, thanks for all you have done, and this is a great idea to get all thier names. And does anyone have a class photo from 6th grade at St. Michaels for Sister Mary Carla's class, I would give my left arm to see that photo. No, I am not in the photo, Sister Mary Carla would not let me have my picture taken becuase of the Hawaian shirt I was wearing. Schulzy

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Sunday, July 31, 2011 08:37 PM

Omg!   Nina Picciano was my new

friend who was stung by a bee on the first day of school in first grade in the convent - and she wasn't fazed by it at all, and I was crying for my mom to take me home!   She was a trouper, and we spent many good times together -

Sister Therese loved to jump rope, remember?  I do remember standing outside the convent on school mornings to earn the opportunity to carry the nuns' satchels to the school.....     how funny was that???

I had lots of wonderfull memories from St. Michael's and it's great to hear the other stories!

 

Patty

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Monday, August 15, 2011 08:30 PM

 

I hope that you will pardon the intrusion onto your site by a Southern Baptist. I just thought that I would share a few memories of life between you guys and us guys from our early years.

1960-Dad was an enthusiastic Rooseveltian Democrat, and he was all in for Kennedy, Catholic or not. My Mom's father, the Shenandoah Valley farmer, hated Kennedy with a passion, in no small part due to his religion. They were both strong-willed, and the walls of the house would shake when they argued. Beyond those walls, the discussion of Kennedy's religion was a truly ugly aspect of that campaign.

My earliest knowledge of Catholicism came from my brother, who is about 7 years older than me. Remember the public service ads featuring Khruschev (We will bury you)? Buying stamps at a dime a piece to glue into the book to buy a defense bond? The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis air raid drills? 

So against this backdrop my brother is teaching this not-too-bright youngster: Communism/Catholicism...Dictator/Pope-Get  the connection? No offense guys, I really did equate the two in my younger days.

My favorite-I attended the First Baptist Church of Annandale on Columbia Pike (there's a picture of it in the background of one of Janet Stevens Habermann's photos-though it is hard to see because of the crowd watching the parade). It was next to the Fire Department. And on Sundays at noon, just as our preacher was hitting the high notes, the siren would go off. Every Blessed Sunday. I was told that it was the Catholics who ran the Fire Department who set off the siren on Sundays just to mess with our service. I was about 15 before I realized that the siren went off every day at noon. 

And finally, Mary Spriggs. When I finally got the nerve to speak to her, one of our first conversations was on religion. And Catholic Mary, upon hearing that I was not just a Protestant, but one of those radical Baptists (Don Rogers' Catholic wife  observes that Baptists are like cats, you know they're up to something, you just can't catch them), asked, 'We're not supposed to like each other, are we?" 

For the sake of Catholic/Southern Baptist relations, as well as the greater glory of the Kingdom, I set aside my prejudices and continued to hit on her every day. No sacrifice is too great for the cause of harmony and peace. 

This world has gotten more screwed up in many ways, but I do think, and am heartened, that our prejudices are not as pronounced as they once were. The situation today is not perfect, merely better.        

 
Edited 08/16/11 01:44 PM
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2011 09:36 AM

Greg: I am glad that you saw your way around your strong religious beliefs to hit on Mary; I too tried but never got anywhere. I remember the church. When they were making some construction modifications to the church, a bunch of stuck out one night and somehow get into the basement of the church.. it was scary and dark. And I was sure that God was going to strike us down for misbehaving. Schulzy

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Thursday, August 18, 2011 10:49 PM

Very interesting reading about everyone's St. Michaels school experiences... don't recall the pens, but, I was just a girl.  Anyway, my (exactly the same, but different) parochial school experiences were in California and New Jersey.  Annunciation in Monrovia, California was wonderful.  I'm sure Sister Christina is a saint.  Christ the King in Haddonfield, NJ was the worst! Foreheads colliding with blackboards, desktops & rulers slammed on fingers... Even the nurse was wicked.  Holy Rosary in Ashland, NJ was better until confirmation and that slap from the Bishop!!  He really walloped me.  Years later, I had a chance meeting with my 4th grade teacher, Miss Henzy (from Holy Rosary) when I was about 15.  Apparently, she was cruising up and down the coast with her boyfriend...Yes boyfriend, 'without the benefit of marriage!!  Scandalous!  Certainly not a good example to set for the children'.  I thought she was pretty cool for a Catholic school teacher!

I think what I liked best about St Mikes was the CYO dance when the Left Bank was the band, that was a great time, Just walk away Renee...

Okay, so while I did not attend St Mike's, the school, I did go to CCD there religiously (skipped just once & my Dad caught me).  And...are you ready for this?  I worked for Father Scannell.  For 4 years I ran the Nursery in the church basement.  Every Sunday 8:30, 9:45, 11:15 and 12:30, parents left their children in my care for an hour at a time.  I had help from my younger sisters and some other younger girls who 'just loved babies'.  I will never forget one Easter Sunday when I had to run it solo with 8 infants in 3 cribs (2 each - head to toe and 1 on each hip) and about (a sea of) 34 other kids all under age 6.  And, yes the church basement was pretty creepy...it was a bomb shelter!  We explored closets on either side of the nursery and found crackers and chocolate bars with those nuclear symbols on them.  I'm sure we could have been safe there in case of attack!  Nobody ever looks in the dungeon.

I gave that job up at age 19, and tried to give it to Kathy McClendon, but Father Scannell said she was too young. We were the same age...and I had been running it for 4 years... Actually, I think he was Monsignor Scannell by then.

I was also married at St Mike's (to a Southern Baptist) by Father Leonard.  I really liked him, even though he didn't get my name right during our rehearsal- he said 'Do you David, take Karen...?  I told Fr Leonard he better not ask David to take anyone but Kristin!!  Maybe Fr Leonard was right, David should have taken Karen...Oh, oh, that's right it was annulled...12 years wiped clear away...like it never happened...magic, a mirage, a figment of the imagination, now you see it, now you don't...And those Southern Baptists, they never learn...the reason our marriage was annulled, was so he could marry another Catholic Girl! 

And by the way, my father was one of the Cantors, leading you all in song...

Architecturally, I loved that church, conceptually open and uplifting, light,  airy and drawing you toward the center and up the beautiful stained glass dome and the pipes, the pipes, what an organ...

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Friday, October 7, 2011 12:24 PM

Fellow Christian soldiers:

if you have any photographs from St. Michael's, especially any of the class photographs, try to bring them. Additionally at the reunion, we will try to take a picture of everybody who went to St. Michael's. Maybe if we send it to heaven, they can reserve us some seats. Schulzy

 
Edited 10/07/11 12:25 PM
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2011 09:43 PM

Hi Doug, I am Carol McDermott O'Meara, and went to St. Mike's from K-8, and AHS 9-12. Thanks to Barbara Tatum Kelley, a friend since 4th or 5th grade, +I started looking through all the reunion info for fun, ( am not attending reunion) and started reading your posts. Ialso was in Sr. Mary Carl's class, and after reading your wish to find a photo, started looking through years worth of pics, and what do you know? I found it! Sr. Mary Carl's 6th grade class photo. Contact me at COMGOM@AOL.com to let me know where to send you a copy. That is the only site I check on a regular basis. Looking forward to hearing from you. Carol

 
RE: Who All went to St. Michaels
Posted Tuesday, October 18, 2011 07:31 PM

Hi friends,

Please add me to your St. Michael's list:  Kathleen O'Day LaCross (I switched to Kathy in high school).  I was there all nine years, kindergarten thru 8th grade.

I  recently started reading all these entries and was dying laughing.  I just remember trying to stay under the radar and not bring attention to my presence at St. Mike's.  I didn't fully comprehend at the time how living in that kind of fearful environment could really stifle a person's personality and growth.  But I will say one thing:  I could diagram a sentence like nobody's business.  The rules were strict, and many of the nuns' tactics were harsh, but thankfully not all the teachers bought into it.  I went to school every day with a stomach ache, but came out of it all with a decent education.  That said, I flat out refused to get married at that church because of the memories (I'd discovered how church was supposed to be at the university church in Charlottesville), so had my wedding at St. Anthony's nearby. 

Thanks for the memories.....keep them coming!