06/16/09

The St. Peter’s Boys High School Class of 1961 Mini Reunion

September 8, 2003

Elm Park Inn

Staten Island, New York

Photo by  Ken Decker

Pictured left to right are:

Dennis Casey, Bob Williams, Joe D’Alessio, Charlie Heffernan, Pete Falloon (holding copy of the 1961 Aquilan yearbook), Tom Grosso,

Ken Decker

The Class of 61 Mini Reunion:

 A Warm and Witty Revisit to Our High School Days

By

Bob Williams

Tom Wolfe, the writer, insists you can’t go home again. He’s wrong! Seven of us – all from the Class of 1961—returned “home” to St. Peter’s High School, so to speak, a few weeks ago when we reassembled for an unofficial reunion.  For the most part, we hadn’t seen one another in 40 or so years! It was billed as a casual dinner.  If you ask me, it was indeed a night to remember!

Here’s how it all came about. You may recall that Charlie Heffernan, social director extraordinaire and the guy responsible for our unique e-mail group, notified us the end of August that Joe D’Alessio would be visiting Staten Island the weekend of Sept. 5.  Joe’s lived in San Francisco for years, but manages a trip to the Island every now and then.  Would anyone be interested in getting together for dinner on such a short notice, Charlie wondered? Dennis Casey, Kenny Decker, Pete Falloon, Tommy Grosso and myself, Bob Williams, all said we’d show.

Charlie set the reunion dinner for Monday, Sept. 8, at the Elm Park Inn, a quiet eatery adjacent to the Bayonne Bridge toll plaza (and in Port Richmond High School territory, I might add).  Assembly time:  8 p.m Sure, I’ve seen Charlie here and there over the years.  And I went to college with a few of the guys.  But would I even recognize anyone?  After all, a lot can change in four decades. I’ll cut right to the chase.  Every one of the guys looked exactly as I remember him.  More or less.  After initial greetings, we moved right to the subject at heart – alma mater.

Kenny whipped out our yearbook – and it was off to the races.

Some observations:

·         We recalled exact times, dates, locations and school incidents – but some of us couldn’t remember what we did last week.

·         While Charlie Heffernan, Kenny Decker, Pete Falloon, Tommy Grosso and I still live on Staten Island, Dennis Casey drove down from Westchester, and drove home to Westchester after dinner.

·         When conversation eventually shifted to girls—and you knew it would—we still referred to them as St. Peter’s girls, or Villa girls, or Hill girls, just as we did back then.

·         When the waitress asked if we were ready to order, we said we hadn’t even opened the menus.  She returned two more times – and we still hadn’t opened the menus!

·         A couple dining at an adjacent table, and overhearing our conversation, proudly told us their son had just started St. Peter’s.  And another family, dining nearby, proudly volunteered that the husband was a St. Peter’s grad – and his wife a St. Peter’s girl.

·         Not wanting to miss seeing the guys, Tommy Grosso dropped in for a few minutes, then left to attend a board meeting in Brooklyn.

·         The name Brother Kevin came up approximately 75 times. Danny Donovan and Mr. Dallapina were bantered about, too (10 extra points if you remember Dellapina’s first name).

·         Eventually, we did order a meal.  We broke up about 11:15 p.m.– the last ones to leave the dining room.

We agreed that:

·         The Christian Brothers had a profound affect on our lives.

·         We wouldn’t mind giving back to St. Peter’s in one way or another.

·         We had such an enjoyable evening that we’d assemble again for dinner. 

Imagine how many guys we’d draw if we plan the dinner with more than a week’s notice, we reasoned! My own personal observation:  Too bad Brother Jerome, or Brother Leo, or Brother Timothy couldn’t have attended the dinner with us.  I think they would have enjoyed the memories even more than we did.