Monday, July 24, 2023

The 63rd anniversary of our Saints graduation

 The 63rd anniversary of our Saints graduation was celebrated on Thursday, July 20th at the Matunuck Oyster Bar in South Kingston. 

The attendees included (in order in the photo) on the left side of the table, Jim Doane and wife, Bill Murray , Ray Baril and wife, Andy Loughlin and wife , Tom O’Brien and his wife and Tom Raczelowski. On the right side of the table was Dot Murray (unfortunately not in the picture), my wife Jeddy McCarthy, Paul and Maureen Dalpe, Dave Shallcross and his wife, Frank Mooney and his wife and , last but not least, Bill Farley. Click on the photo to see a larger version.

The discussions ranged from talk of old teachers, who was on what team, classmates who were living elsewhere, what we’ve been doing for the last 60 years, old events which should never be put in writing and, of course, the latest health conditions including new joints, stents, operations and accidental falls. 

 We learned of new developments of absent classmates, but thankfully, learned of no recent deaths.

 Fortunately, Andy Loughlin was his usual shy retireing self and only paused in his storytelling long enough to allow his end of the table to come up for air.

   All in all, we throughly enjoyed the day and decided by acclimation to do it again next year, same time same place. So, mark your calendars.

See more pictures at 63th reunion pictures

  Cheers,

  Mike McCarthy 

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

The Summer of '22 - Capsizing, hookers, and a motorcycle gang

When we grew up the ‘Summer of 42’ was our coming-of-age movie, about the dreams and fantasies of 18-year old’s. ‘The Summer of 22’ is also about coming-of-age, a story about the dreams and fantasies of 81-year old’s. It's about capsizing a kayak, meeting with hookers, and rendezvousing with a motorcycle gang. A true story, my version of coming of age.

You’ll enjoy the Impressionistic paintings that narrate our coming-of-age story – I created them with Monet magic, can’t wait for you see my adaptation of the ‘Cigar Woman’. You’ll have to read to the end to understand the Monet magic

Click on the Summer of ’22 page above or clink the link below:


Happy coming-of-age, happy new year,
Tom McCabe

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Three holidays and the Russian/Ukraine War

Today in the US we celebrate Mother's Day. To our mothers, grandmothers, wives, and daughters - who hold our families together – for them, we are blessed.

Today in Europe it's VE Day, a celebration of the end of World War Two. It's a tenuous celebration because of a threatening Russia.

Tomorrow is victory day in Moscow with a big military May Day parade in Red Square. We share their hope and prayer for a victory, a Ukrainian victory.

In that spirit, please read the article about the Russian/Ukrainian war – tap the tab above to the right of Home.

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Lunch on Monday, July 18, 2022, at the Wharf Tavern, Warren, RI

The Class of 1960 R.I. The Lunch Committee has tentatively planned Monday, July 18, 2022, at the Wharf Tavern, Warren, RI as the location and date of our summer get-together.

   The initial group of potential attendees (to include spouses and /or significant others) is,
   Paul Dalpe 
   Jim Doane
   Tom McCabe
   Mike McCarthy
   Ted Mitchell 
   Bill Murray
   Dave Shallcross.
   Ray Basil 

We look forward to others signing up and joining us, we are a diminishing group, playing on the back nine, as they say.

Sincerely,
Mike McCarthy


Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Marty Flaherty -- remembrances from classmates

From Jim Doane: 

Sad news indeed.    In planning our 60th reunion I worked closely with Marty to find a venue for the Saturday night dinner, I used my contacts at

Pawtucket Country Club which we settled on before CV-19 spoiled our in-person reunion.    Being on the ground in RI, he lived in Albion near 

Cumberland, Marty volunteered to visit various restaurants in Pawtucket for a Saturday lunch and a Friday night gathering.    We had settled on

two locations and again the pandemic ruined our plans.     

We spoke frequently and I was in contact with him the most of any of the committee members with the exception of John Di.  We had planned to meet for Awful Awful's at his favorite Newport Creamery in Barrington, since Jeannine and me had reservations in Newport for a week.   Marty in turn promised to take me to his favorite fried clams spot, which he wanted to keep as a surprise.   Due to the pandemic our vacation in RI was cancelled.    

We were on the swim team together at Saints and lost contact after graduation, but reconnected at our 40th and 50th reunions.  Marty was a dear friend

and will be missed by many including me - - may he Rest in Peace. 

Jim 


From Mike McCarthy: 

  I too had several conversations with Marty since the time of our reunion and we had made tentative plans to go out for lunch last summer.

   As he is no longer with us, I don’t think he’d mind if I told you the name of his favorite place for fried clams; Flo’s Clam Shack in Middletown.

  When we get together this winter, we’ll raise a glass in honor of a great friend and classmate. 

Mike


From Pete Healy: 

    Marty was a good friend of mine during our SRA years. He was one of  5 children. His father, Ambrose, died during our sophomore year, a hard thing for a 15-year-old. His brothers Stephen and Bill - both SRA grads - passed at relatively young ages while his sister, Susan, died two years ago of ALS. I believe he has a surviving older sister, Kathleen Magowan, who resides with her family either in Massachusetts or New Jersey.Marty’s uncle, for whom he was named, was a top aide for many years to Peter Gerry, a prominent member of the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island.

    He graduated from Saint Anselm College a year late due to a serious car accident that left him with a life-long limp. He then joined the Peace Corps serving  2 years in the Philippines, surely one of the high points in his life where he developed many lasting friendships.  After his return to the States, he worked in the resort industry and in retail sales for a number of years in New York City.

    Upon his retirement, he returned to RI and quickly became active with his nephews in RI politics and in running a thrift shop for his  Episcopal parish in Providence. He was also kept busy actively and happily assisting our SRA ‘60 Reunion Committee with a variety of chores.

    Marty was a fine gent and loyal SRA alum.  May God bless him! 

 

From Chuck O’Connor: 

Attached is a picture of Marty, Aimee, and her daughter gathered for lunch while preparing videos for our 60th reunion. You will recall that Marty did an enormous amount of legwork in connection with the reunion, both with the SRA staff (see picture below) including when we thought the reunion would be in-person, with several potential vendors. Sadly, Marty is now added to the class necrology for which he prepared the video.

For those of us who went to St. Joseph's before St. Ray's, we've known Marty for 75 years. During junior year at saints, he and I collaborated on a short-lived school newspaper, a mimeographed sheet you probably don't even recall. If you look at the appendix to our yearbook (3 pages from the end), you will see Marty bringing Class Day to a dramatic close with his unique rendition of winged Mercury.

 Marty was planning to come visit Susan and me in DC after the holidays, a reprise of his memorable stay with us several years ago. He was a wonderful and caring friend to me and many of us. He was active with his Albion community and local Episcopal Church after moving back to Rhode Island several years ago. Marty was one-of-a-kind; as Hamlet remarked of his father, "He was a man; take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again." 

God bless Marty,

Chuck


From Bernie Casey: 

Yes, very sad, John.  Is his nephew making the arrangements? I think Marty was the last of his immediate family. I know he lost an older sister (Catherine?) and his older brother Stephen many years ago. They died young.  His younger sister Susan who many of us knew died 2 or 3 years ago. I’m not sure if his younger brother Billy is alive.   

Like Chuck and Ron Mandolfi, I’ve known Marty since first grade. We lost touch after high school. It was only lately, mostly through our reunion, that we renewed contact. I think he was reaching out to establish a network of friends after moving back from NYC to RI. 

Please let me know if you hear any details on the obituary or services. 

Bernie

 

From Reggie MacAmaux 

So sorry to hear this.  Marty and I were supposed to meet this Saturday in Middleboro, MA for a lunch and get together to rehash old times.  We had been planning this for a few weeks. 

In fact, I had just sent him a message when I received the email below. 

Reggie

 

From John DiTomasso

 Dear Friends,

Marty and I were never close friends while at Saints.  The reunions were what brought us closer together.  In recent times he has been battling a number of ailments one of which put him in the hospital for a week or more. Through it all he battled hard and rallied enough to continue his various volunteer efforts. He loved working at The Thrifty Goose, a thrift shop affiliated with St. Martin’s (would you believe) Episcopal Church in Providence.  He recently sent a picture of the men’s department display he had created. 

In September, about the time of our virtual reunion, my wife and I had lunch with Marty at Davenport’s in Cumberland. Afterward, he took us on a tour of some historical spots I never knew existed.  Later we visited his beautiful apartment which was located in an old mill that overlooks the Blackstone River.  Below is a picture of Marty and my wife Joyce outside one of the historical sites we visited. 

While we texted and emailed one another, we both most enjoyed talking on the phone. I’ll miss those conversations. Rest In Peace, Marty.

John

From Dave Shallcross: 

This is really sad news. Marty was more than a classmate to all of us, he was a highly regarded and loyal friend. His contributions to our class reunions were invaluable and he went out of his way to make our reunions successful. Many on the committee made calls and sent emails from the comfort of our homes, Marty got in his car and scouted out locations on our behalf throughout the Blackstone Valley area. To me, that's going the extra mile. 

Marty and I exchanged a few emails over the last couple of months, after our last reunion. Kind of general in nature, although he always had an interest in what you said to him and could add his personal perspective quite easily. He had recently met  Mary Ann Shallcross-Smith (Dr. Daycare around here) at a political event and of course, the Shallcross connection was a topic of interest. Mary Ann had been married to my first cousin, Billy, who passed away in 2005. It was his father, my Uncle Joe, that owned the Davis Drug Store across from St. Joseph's Church. Marty had many recollections to share about his escapades at Davis Drug Store especially around the soda fountain there. We had a lot of laughs just recalling some of them. 

 I think Mary Ann was Marty's representative from Lincoln in the RI Gen Assembly. I recall one conversation when Marty, knowing I had retired from Lincoln Middle School, and being somewhat new to the area after returning from New York, wanted to know about some of the candidates running for office in Lincoln. Both Mary Ann and Jack Lyle were running for the same position, the former as a Democrat and Jack as a Republican. And both had been in the General Assembly in prior years. I didn't take sides since I have great respect for both. But Marty thanked me for what I could provide him. There were other candidates as well but none, in my estimation, matched up well to Mary Ann and Jack. To this day I don't know if he ever called Paul Dalpe who I suggested had a great deal of experience in Lincoln and who was equally versed in the politics there.

 Marty was on the swim team with me and at one point ended up being our only diver.  Few people would dive at the Boy's Club pool because the deepest water in the pool was only 6 feet deep. For someone 5'9" tall, that left a mere 3" of water before your body hit the bottom of the pool. Most teams chose not to contest the diving event. Not Marty. He practiced for hours off that diving board.  Perhaps Jim, Bill, or Mike, will remember how smooth Marty moved through the water. It amazed me that he never made a splash, never created his own resistance to slow him down. When most of us were wailing away creating waves that could slow us down, Marty was smoothly doing his thing as only Marty could. Although we were in most of the same classes over the 3 years at Saints, I suspect that those who knew him from early elementary school at St. Joseph's might tell you that Marty was very comfortable being Marty. He had many, many friends.   

Marty and I were planning to have lunch, 'sometime soon' is how we left it, when the pandemic abated. All we needed to do  was decide on a place and a time. I guess we thought there was still plenty of time. I wish we were right. Let that be a lesson to all of us. 

Marty, may God hold you in the palm of his hand, welcome you home, and reward you for all you did on behalf of so many others. 

 

 

 

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Number 62, by Bernie Casey

 Number 62

Take a minute and once again open up the class yearbook. Flip through the twenty-two pages of our individual pictures. There we are. All 127 of us. Sons of the working class in our rented tuxedos, starched white shirts, stiff-winged collars, identical bow ties, all neatly coiffed, airbrushed faces, all pleasant and responsible. Ideal Brothers’ boys. We know this portrait isn’t real. No photograph, no one moment in time, particularly sixty-one years later, captures the complexity of who we were then or are now.

But in a larger sense we were, and we remain, a fairly homogeneous lot, a composite of our patch-quilt Blackstone Valley soil. Just look at the names. Buzzerio, Cimarusti, La Scola, Clancy, Houlihan, McCarthy, Beauchemin, Cinq-Mars, Langlois, Schwab, Ullrich, Mikucki, Sczepanek, Warchol. White European stock — French-Canadian, Italian, Irish, Polish, German — a medley that worked the mills, made the tools, patrolled the streets, put out the fires, baked the bread, drove the busses, delivered the mail and taught us in school. A diverse ethnicity in a common heritage.

One classmate’s ancestry stands out though. And this is his story. It is as singular and interesting as his heritage. Reggie Macamaux needs no introduction. We remember him as the friendly, quick-with-the-wisecrack guy who turned fearsome, “Savage” as it were, on the gridiron as an All Valley lineman.


“He’s an original.” Most of us can say that about ourselves in one way or another. Reggie takes it a step further. Reggie is an “aboriginal” a certified, card-carrying member of the Confederation of Aboriginal People of Canada, the ancient Abenaki Nation.


The Abenakis

Abenakis have occupied northeastern parts of the US and Canada for millenia. They are recognized in the US as a Native American tribe and in Canada as a First Nation. The Abenaki were an agricultural society who supplemented their subsistence with hunting and trapping. Story-telling was an important feature of Abenaki culture. They were also fierce warriors, defending their territory against the expansionist Iroquois and as loyal Allies of the French in the French and Indian Wars. As we shall see, Reggie absorbed many of these traits and skills.


The Family

Reggie comes from the Macamic family which was part of the Abenaki Bear Clan. When his great grandfather, Atashni Macamic, emigrated from Canada to the US, border guards changed his name to Anselme Macamaux. Atashni, or Anselme, married an Inuit woman with whom he sired six children including Louis who taught his grandson, Reggie, many of the native customs and ways.

Reggie’s dad, Reginald Senior, was a master tool maker, a role model for Reggie and flame-keeper of the Macamaux Native heritage. As a boy, Reggie traveled with his dad and grandfather from one Pow Wow to another in various States and Canada. His mother, Doris, was part of the well-known La France clan, the 19th of 20 siblings. We may remember Reggie’s uncle, August P La France, a stalwart of the Democratic party who, having started out as a barber in the family shop on Main Street, turned to politics and never lost an election in 34 years in elected state office, including 14 years as Secretary of State. But who knew Reggie himself acquired a taste for politics (short lived) as a Page in the RI State House during his years at Bryant University.


Achievements

Many of us first got to know Reggie as Number 62 in the Purple and Gold snapping the ball to Ed McNaught on offense and, on defense, stalking the field for yet another prey to take down. He wasn’t the biggest or fastest player on the team, just fierce. And smart. “Baron” McCabe remembers, “Reggie owned the center position. No one ever thought of challenging him for it. It was a given. McCrystal’s famous tongue lashings never applied to Reggie.” Co-captain Farley remembers there was something about Reggie, some uncommon maturity, that made him the rock solid core of the team, the guy that never panicked and always held things together both on and off the field.

Football wasn’t his only interest as a boy. Early on, Reggie tapped into his ancestral currents as an outdoorsman and to this day he is an avid hunter, fisherman and a trophied competitive archer. He is the first person ever to shoot a perfect 300 on 3-D animal targets in the Northeast, representing the manufacturer, Hoyt Archery, in competition. But his adventures are not limited to the woods, fields and streams. Reggie is a licensed private pilot and at one time owned a Cherokee (of course) 160, a six seat plane as well as a 27 foot Thompson cabin cruiser. No surprise Reggie is an avid outdoorsman and adventurer but he has deep-dived into other areas that might not fit this image at all. Let’s take a look at other steps on his journey since leaving Saints.

First, the basics: Foremost among Reggie’s many successes in life is his 55 year marriage to the beautiful Annette whom he met during his two years at Bryant College. They have one son, Sean, a successful financial analyst in Boston.


Reggie earned an Associates Degree in Accounting from Northeastern University and applied this background to his business career first as Regional Sales Manager for Burroughs Corporation then as proprietor of his own enterprises selling business machines and copier supplies to financial institutions, hospitals and other large businesses.

But there are other paths in his life, perhaps surprising to us, which might be seen to have merged into a single road leading back to the Native traditions of his heritage. It might also be true that one particular chapter in Reggie’s life was the springboard for that convergence. Let me explain:

Reggie’s service in the US Army in 1961-63 is a literal reflection of the Abenaki warrior. The full story of Reggie’s perilous overseas assignments cannot be told herein. Suffice it to say, employing stealth and courage Reggie experienced close personal encounters with enemy forces that left an indelible mark, both painful and contemplative. In his own recent words speaking of his one-time enemy: “I want to extend a hand of friendship which would bring peace and release.”

It is, I think, fair to consider whether the scars of battle catalyzed and brought to the surface a latent reflective side, one that is visible in Reggie’s post-war activities that meld aspects of his ancestral culture beyond, and sometimes opposing, that of a warrior.

Consider for example tai chi. Reggie has long been involved with the martial arts. After returning from the war he concentrated on tai chi, an ancient Chinese martial art that has a large meditative component. The focus and calm of meditation is thought to be vital to its technique of yielding to and engaging an attack rather than meeting it head-on with direct opposing force. It is widely taught not only for self-defense but as a therapeutic and prophylactic form of exercise to cultivate grace and balance in movements and in life.

Reggie didn’t just dabble in tai chi, he mastered it on a global scale. He is a six time Gold Medal Winner at the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship competition, a Gold Medal winner at the 2014 Tai Chi World Cup Championship in Taipei, and a still active professional instructor certified by the World Tai Chi Association. Check out his website at www.taichiqigong.net.

The peace-making and story-telling sides of Native culture are less known than the warrior side, but no less real and historically important. The romance of ancient Native lore has survived over the millennia only through stories and poetry. The immortalized cri de couer of Nez Perce warrior and peacemaker Chief Joseph is illustrative: “Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

Would any of us, sixty-plus years ago, have associated Reggie with the rhythms and sentiments of poetry? Unlikely. But listen to his words now:


My Mother

I went to see my Mom today, but she now lives too far away

So, I told her how much I loved her and how I missed her so, I blew a kiss toward heaven, that is where she lives you know. And when she said I love you too, the clouds I swear did part

When she smiled down upon me there was thunder in my heart. She said don't worry son just continue doing what you do,

And when God decides to bring you home, I'll be here to welcome you. Love you Mom


My Father

My father was a rough and tumble guy, a very handsome man, who often spent

his time afield to hunt and catch some fish. He always took me with him, and taught me all I know. Like where I should put my arrow when it was time to shoot my bow.

I always know when he is here because the soft wind blowing on my back tells me when he’s near


Foot Prints

This night I sit alone here by the sea And wish that you were here with me. We would sit and gaze upon the stars And wonder of this world that is ours.

As we walked upon the beach I'd take you by hand Together we would leave our footprints in the sand. One day when we walk in heaven hand and hand Other lovers will come to walk here and still find Our footprints in the sand.


All of us will be staying tuned to watch what new paths will be taken, what new personal dimensions will unfold, as our most interesting classmate, Number 62, continues to make footprints in the sands of time.


Bernie Casey, SRA 1960 October 30, 2021

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Honoring our vets, from Reggie Macamaux

To our vets, many of whom served during the Vietnam war. Many of our classmates chose to serve our country as we grew up during a formative time right in the middle of the Vietnam War. Here are two songs that honor our vets along with a toast from all of us to the people who stepped up and served our country with military duty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42dXJmJUFJU&list=RDMM&index=2

Jimmy Fortune - Meet Me At Arlington (Live In Columbia, TN/2019) - YouTube