I don't recall the exact year, but it was around 40 years ago. During the half-time of an Ignatius varsity basketball game, I was walking through what-was-then the commons, and I saw an alumus from a few years earlier standing by himself with a lost look on his face. I said, "You look like you've lost your best friend. What's up?" He said matter of factly, "This isn't my school any more."
I tried to reassure him that sure it was, but even I thought that sounded pretty lame. As I continued on my route, I felt a little bad and thought about the incident. It's not uncommon for deans, principals or presidents during commencement speeches to assure the graduates that they will always be an important part of the school community and the school will always be their "home". I've been to enough graduations to know whereof I speak.
As I thought about this fellow, it occurred to me that "his school" consisted, to a large extent, of his classmates. It was the four years of shared experiences, good and bad, that constituted his school more than the bricks-and-mortar.
That brings me to the real point of this "reminiscence". Three Fridays in a row over the last month, there were gatherings of alumni. Two were "mini-reunions"* with alumni from a couple of different eras, and the third was the induction of four new members into the Athletic Hall-of-Fame. (*By mini-reunions, I mean gatherings of alumni that are not generated by the school, but by one or more of the members of a class or classes.)
The earlier reunion, on Jan. 27, was organized by members the class of '67, but was not restricted to that class. In fact, there was a member of the class of '61 as well as a couple of men from '68. There may have been others, but those are the classes that I am aware of. The other reunion, prompted by Mark Kosiek ('73), centered on the early to mid-70's, although John Reilly ('63) was there in addition to Cas Baczinskas ('68). In fact, Cas came to both reunions. These reunions consisted of a lot of reminiscing and catching up, along with pizza and pop or beer, after which the fellas went over to the basketball game.
Frank Raispis and I were at the reunions as "links", if you will, to the days when these men were students at Saint Ignatius College Prep or High School (depending on the years). I'd like to think that we've helped to fulfill the promise made at graduations. He and I really do care about Ignatians, past, present and future and we enjoy our visits. We have tried to stay as involved in the school as our age and energy...not what it once was...permit.
An important last point is that NO ONE got hit up for contributions. There were just some former classmates with shared experiences renewing there friendships, catching up on each others lives and recreating "their school" for a couple of hours. Oh, ya! A whole lot of laughing.
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