PHS Friday-Night Connection

The PHS Class of ’69 kicked off our reunion on Friday evening with a Mass and welcome reception.

Francisca Pook, née Sutherland; Iola Ellis, née Nicholas; Josephine Fraser, née Velásquez; Judith Bodden, née Usher; Manuela Scott, née Hernández; Olga Barber, née McFadzen; Ruth Garbutt-Tillett; Shirley Card, née Waller; Therese Casey, née Engelton; Victoria Codd, née Day; Vincent Neal, née Gill.

Classmates in attendance were accompanied by family and friends. Our special guests were SCA graduate Linda Lewis, née Gongora (sister of Derick Gongora, SJC ’69) and former teacher Father John Short, S.J., who celebrated our Mass. Linda was member of the California Reunion Committee and traveled from California to attend the reunion; she had never experienced a reunion before.

Our only regret was that our Pallotine Sisters and teachers could not be there.

Anticipation

As we went about preparing for the night’s activities, the youthful images of our classmates existed only in our minds. Most sobering was the realization that others were looking at us the same way. We consoled ourselves with the fact that older women have risen to the challenges in life and have grown stronger, wiser, and more self-determined as a result. So, off we went with much anticipation of long-awaited greetings and hugs for all present.

Arrival

The reunion activities were held in the Pallotti High School auditorium. The sign that our class donated to the school on our 25-year reunion welcomed us back for our 30-year reunion.

As we entered the room, the aroma of food caught our nostrils. The cooks for the day were Manuela, Josephine, Iola, Shirley, Francisca, and Therese. The menu consisted of potato salad, baked ham, hot wings, barbecue wings, sandwiches, chips, dip and a delicious potato pudding. We could hardly wait to attack the delicious array of food in front of us.

As we gradually started to assemble, we quickly exchanged greetings and hugs, and we tried to catch up on what had taken place in our lives since our 25-year reunion.

Judith started the activities. She thanked everyone who helped to make the reunion possible and conveyed to those in attendance that it was with regret that Betty Castro had to cancel her trip at the last minute to take care of her ailing mother. During the planning and preparation for the reunion, Betty Castro was an active member of the California Reunion Committee, who helped to raise funds for the reunion T-shirts. She already had bought her airline tickets to attend the reunion when her mother fell ill. Although she could not travel to Belize with her classmates from the Los Angeles area, she gave the four of them T-shirts reading Pallotti Reunion to wear on the plane home.

Juanita (Nena) Beeke, née Rudon sent well wishes to all, but unfortunately, could not attend. As Judith continued with her speech, she became emotional and hurriedly ended with a big thank you and best wishes for a memorable reunion.

Mass

The Mass was celebrated by Father Short, a very familiar face to the class of ’69. We were graced with an attractive program booklet carefully prepared by Judith’s daughter which (thank goodness) had the words of all our familiar Pallotti tunes appropriate for our Mass. They included our school song, You’re Welcome to Pallotti High School and others such as Enter into Jerusalem, Take our Bread, and so on. As the Mass progressed and we were expected to sing, we all found ourselves looking over to Manuela who always was, and still is, expected to start on the right note. It was so comical to us.

Father gave us a very warm sermon, and as the Mass continued, many of us became emotional. The Mass ended with blessings for our classmates present and those who, for unforeseen reasons, could not attend this reunion.

Reception

At the welcome reception, we mingled with each other while stuffing our mouths and reminiscing about our younger years during the ’60s, when students were often receptive to spiritual influences. The impact of Faith on our culture was reflected in the way young people behaved. For example, God’s name was rarely used profanely. Vulgarity, irreverence, drug abuse, promiscuous sexual behaviors, guns and knives at school were not fashionable. Condom was a foreign word. We were not killing ourselves with sexually transmitted diseases. Morality was the ultimate goal for self-gratification. Yes, the world was very different back then, and in many ways, it was better. It was refreshing to note that all our classmates still hold on to all those traditional values.

Father Short’s Recollections

Father Short reminded us of what a challenging class we were for him. He said he still could not believe that he agreed to teach a group of highly spirited teenage girls a religion class on the birds and bees. He said we took him to the limit. He commented that he will never forget and to this day cannot understand what got into him to decide to have a retreat. And of all dates he should pick the weekend when SJC was having a school dance! He said he received so many complaints from the Pallotine Sisters for being awakened during the night. With this comment, we all burst out in laughter; I am sure we could be heard about a mile away. Father Short said that over the years, he has gradually picked up bits and pieces of what took place during the retreat.

Then he started to talk about our religion classes and how we put him to the limit with our questions. He then told that he could never forget a few of our fellow classmates, such as Ruth Lopez, Judith Usher, Juanita Rudon, to name a few, who were the trouble-makers of our class. (Judith tried in vain to clear her name, but no one could convince Father Short that he had the wrong person.) While reminiscing about our retreat, it made us feel like high-schoolers all over again.

Remembering School Days

We talked about the fact that thirty years have burned into history, but we have never forgotten the impression left on us from attending Pallotti High School. Aside from the mandatory academic classes, we acquired skills in self-discipline, library arts, test preparation, social and domestic skills, and a strong sense of moral values. We talked about Sister Lydia’s cooking tips that have made us such good cooks today. Our principal then, Sister Leonardes, was determined to have us speak properly. She was as tough as nails and twice as sharp on the issue. She was determined to teach us principles of grammar. Little did we know we would be doing the same thing to our own children today. It has become imperative for us to speak well. We remembered our next principal, Sister Rosella, so tall and upright, and then last but not least, Sister Benedict, who helped us through our final year at Pallotti.

Our get-together ended with the exchange of hugs and good-byes while looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion activities that lay ahead. To our classmates who could not be there with us this time around, we hope you are all well. We invite you to participate in the next festivities in the year 2004, and we promise it will be an honor to count you among us. To all classmates, for those of you with triumphs, may they continue; for those of you with tragedies, may they be resolved.

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