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| Name: | Carleen Lehouiller |
| E-mail address: | mandclehouiller@pshift.com |
| Comments: | Good Morning,
I'm awake early, my usual pattern, and since the Free Press isn't here yet, I'll "play on my toy", as Mike calls it! First off, a very Happy Mothers Day to all you Mom's out there...hope you get to do something special today with those you love. It's a chilly one here in Vermont, and no sun this early, but I'm always hopeful...the world looks so much cheerier when the sun shines! I've been wanting to send out some thoughts about our reunion on May 1st, but I'm unable to hit "send all classmates" as my computer won't do it. But since John Fisher sent a note about photos, this time I can just hit "reply all". First off, it was FUN! It was so great to see some of you that I'm not sure I've even seen since Nazareth days, and others that I've not seen, perhaps, since High School. And with everyone else, just being able to socialize and renew friendships was great. We ended up 30 people, 18 being classmates. Not bad, but wish even more who live in the area had made the effort...you missed a good time. Carmen Dufresne Cross and Nancy Burdo Canavan each came from Mass. and John Childs came from Glens Falls, N.Y. Other classmates who were there were: Alice Buinisky, Natalie Bove Barber, Pat Bushway Irish, Nancy Dupuis Templeton, M. Joy Hubbard, Mary Ann Quinn Corey, Ken Bissonette, Len Bouchard, Roland Dion, Ed Lavallee, Merrill Masse, Jim Reid, Ted Yandow, and of course John Fisher and myself. There was plenty of food, and several people brought old photos & misc. to share, which was super! Just trying to identify people in some was a challenge to our memory, others really haven't changed much at all. John, thank you for the brainchild, and making all the contacts to see it through! I had been thinking of little things that had happened during our years at Nazareth, but the evening flew by too fast, I never got to share most of them, so here are some school memories, which most of you may easily remember. 1) Holy picture cards were very popular, often a little reward from the Sisters, and we used to "swap" our doubles or just to get a "better" one, the way the kids today swap sports cards. 2) Govt. surplus in the form of peanut butter and honey mixed, and on bread, with the school lunches. ( I still like it every once in a while) 3) On rainy days, when we stayed for lunch, playing "house" under the school stairs, and being chased out by " old" Mr. Medlar, the janitor. 4) John Childs' father leading us in Christmas carols one year. I think it may have been a special occasion sing, does anyone remember? 5) School plays...I had to sing alone in one Christmas play...I think "O Tannembaum". My knees must have been knocking. And another time I was a gypsy. Maybe my love of travel began back then? 6) Our music teacher was Sr. Rita. And we used to occasionally go up into the choir loft at church to sing for a Mass, usually all the hymns then in Latin, as was the entire Mass. We also learned "La Marseille" ( ? spelling) the national anthem of France, 2 verses. I still remember most of it, but not sure of my proper pronunciation. 7) Sixth grade, the entire school finally put boys & girls together. It was about then that I discovered boys were kind of cute, and proceeded to have a crush on many of you, but I only worshipped from afar! I was much too shy back then to do anything more! Who remembers Ralph McSweeney and Andy Stewart? They apparently didn't graduate with us, but were both with me in Sr. Helen's 6th Gr. One day Ralph threw a big night crawler at Andy, and it landed right across his nose! Of course we all cracked up, and no doubt Ralph went to the office...that part I don't recall. ( Selective memory, or "old timers disease" ?) 8) Of course, we had separate playgrounds for boys & girls, too. Wonder if they thought we'd play spin the bottle or something?? 9) We also had to line up for using the bathrooms, and that had to be in silence. A girl named Esther Williams ( not the movie star, for sure) was in my 2nd. grade, and tickled me and made me giggle...her fault, but I got the ruler across my knuckles! 10) It was a big deal to get chosen to go to all the classes for attendance sheets, and deliver them to the office. Also to stay after class, sweep with little hand brooms under all the desks, and clap the erasers out the windows! usually earned us a holy picture! 11) The nuns in full habits in those years, and they used to tell us not to talk if they were writing on the board, because they could see through the "sideboards" of the habit! Not sure that wasn't a white lie? 12) sitting with our class at 9am Mass each Sunday, and beware of the nun's long arms! 13) The old style desks, bolted to the floor, with the seat attached to the desk behind it. I was privileged to be given one little one when the school replaced them..I have it down in my family room. 14) the rare treat when we got to see an old movie in the gym. I think one was "Pennies from heaven" 15) Being sent to the convent with a message one day, maybe 1st or 2nd. grade. The sister who came to the door kept me talking for a while, asked my name, and then asked if I would sing for her. She wanted to know if I knew any French songs, and I said yes. Did I sing one I'd learned in class? Oh, No, I sang a French drinking song that I'd heard my Dad's side of the family sing at parties! When I told my Mom, she said, "Oh Lord!" 16) Last but definitely not least, our 8th grade graduation dance! At the time, if I'd gone with anyone, I had wanted it to be Roland, and he took Joyce Delaricheliere, broke my poor little fickle heart, so I just went with the girls. As an ice breaker, thy made each girl take off one shoe, put it in the middle of the dance floor, and each boy had to take one from the pile, and look for the girl wearing the other one and dance with her. I honestly don't remember who the poor fellow was who got mine, but I had 2 left feet back then, so poor boy, I'll apologize belatedly if you're reading this now! One poor girl had her shoe left there, and one chicken guy simply didn't want to dance. Not many of us knew much fancy footwork back then, I guess! ( Not that I do now!) My 8th Grade teacher was Sr. Louise du Ste. Esprit, until they reverted to their own names, and then she was Sr. Amelie Rallon. I sent her a Christmas card and received one back, up until she died last yr. at age 100. Her handwriting was always clear and lovely...almost a lost art. ( Remember practicing all that Palmer method ?) She was in Newport R.I. for several years, and we had friends nearby, so twice stopped briefly to see her. She never seemed to change much. I guess I've rambled on here long enough, hope none of you are bored stiff, but you can hit the delete key if you are. But what I HOPE this has accomplished is perhaps to trigger some memories of your own, which maybe you'll take time to put into an e-mail and share with the rest of us. Hugs all around, Carleen ( Gravel) Lehouiller |
| Name: | Merrill Ray Masse |
| E-mail address: | mmasse@gmavt.net |
| Comments: | Hello to all. A brief personal history since I left Nazareth in 1954.
I went to and graduated from Burlington High School, class of 1958 having taken College Preparatory courses. In January of 1959, while in Boston for the start of two years active duty with the Naval Reserves, I joined the regular Navy for 4 years with a guarantee of an electronics school. I attended and graduated from Electricity & Electronics Prep School and then graduated from Electronics Technician "A" school. I was stationed at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine for a year; next I spend a year and a half at Naval Air Station Argentia, New Foundland, Canada and finaly finished my four year hitch, about 11 months on the USS Vulcan AR-5 (a repair ship). During my time on the Vulcan, I got to participate in a Guantonomo Bay training cruise with a liberty stop in Kingston , Jaimaca. We also participated in the Cuban Missle Blockade. I left the US Navy with an Honorable Discharge in January 1963 having attained the rate of Electronics Technician Petty Officer Second Class (E-5). I started work about two weeks later at Simmonds Precision Products, Inc. in Vergennes and remained there until retiring from Simmonds (now Goodrich, Corp.)about a year ago after 40 years of service with them. During that time I held many responsibilities: production test technician, calibration Lab technician, Product Assurance Analyst, Quality Engineer, Test Engineer, Test Engineering Manager with about 12 Test Engineers, 2 Supervisors and 10 Technicians working for me, and then i requested to return back to Test Engineer which I realy loved to do, retiring in that position. At Simmonds/Goodrich, a Test Eng. provides the means to test electrical and/or mechanical parts, sub-assemblies, finished products or system. This included selecting commercial test equipment, designing, documentating and overseeing the build of special test equipment, both manual and computer/software controlled automatic test equipment. This work was always very interresting and quite varied in challenge. I was married to Claudia Jay Zak on October 5, 1963 in St Joseph Church by Monsigneur Marcoux (spelling ?). She's still putting up with me after 41 years. We built our home in Bristol, Vt in 1966 and 67 and we moved in in the spring of 67. I say built, meaning that quite literally. We had the foundation and shell errected, but, we built the rest of the house ourselves. When we started, all you saw on the inside was 2 x 4's. We installed everything: insulation, sheetrock, hardwood flooring, electrical system, plumbing system, furnace/heating system, bathroom, kitchen, all woodwork and painting, deck, etc. We still live in the same house. We've been blessed with 5 beautiful children, Carolyn, Timothy, Peter, Kevin and Angela. We lost Peter to Spinal Memingititus at 7 months. But the other 4, we were fortunate enough to grow up with. They have all been to college and three have batchelors degrees. They are all now married and have children. Three of the four live in the general area, within 30 miles of burlington. They have blessed us with 10 grand-children, 5 boys and 5 girls with the 2 youngest being girls. While living here in Bristol, I was the Scoutmaster for the local BSA troop 543 for 5 years; I was a little league baseball coach for 11 years; I obtained my private pilots license down at the Middlebury Flight School; I love to hunt and fish, hike, ski and in general enjoy the out of doors. Claudia and I have a Coleman Pop-Up Camper which we use in the summer. We also have a Hunter-37C cruising sailboat (Persistance) which we keep at Malletts Bay. We spend week-ends on it and usually a week or so sailing around the lake. Claudia's still working, but should retire in a couple of years. When she does, we intend to use the camper to travel around the U.S. and see some of this great country. I'm active in my parish (St. Ambrose)and am serving my second term on the Parish Council and the Buildings and Grounds Committee. For the past couple of years My Brother Del and I have been busy with family geneology and we joined the Vt. French Canadian Geneology Society where a classmate, John Fisher is President. As you can see, I have many interests which should keep me busy in my retirement. I hope I didn't bore you folks with too much info, but as you can see, life is great and I look forward to each day. I hope you all feel the same. Hope to see most if not all of you on May 1st at the reunion. Peace Be With You (PBWY), Merrill |
| Name: | Patricia Irish |
| E-mail address: | patricia.irish@verizon.net |
| Comments: | Hi John,
Not much to tell about me since I left Nazareth in 1954. Went to BHS, graduated in 1958 got married to Douglas L. Irish, June 20, 1959 at St. Josephs Church. We bought a farm in Addison County in 1962, was just beginning to make a go of it and we had a Barn Fire and decided not to rebuild. I had 3 miscarriages and after 10 years of marriage we were able to adopt a beautiful little girl on St. Patricks Day 1969. Doug had his first heart attack when Wendy was 9 years old. We built a house on Allen Road in So. Burlington in 1972 and lived there until after Doug passed away April 4, 2000. He had Open Heart Surgery and was in kidney failure when he passed away. We did dialysis at home. Royce Pollard's sister Debbie is a friend and a nurse, she was very helpful when Doug was not doing well. We were married nearly 41 years. I am a 6 year breast cancer survivor. I have one granddaughter who will be 8 on Leap Day (Feb 29) Jessica is in 2nd grade and would like to be 16! I have been an Office Manager for a contractor, managed a Trade Association and was the first female president of an International Trade Association. Until Doug got very ill I had my own consulting business, but gave it up when he needed more care, so I stayed home to take care of him. I still go to St. Josephs and am a substitute Usher. I live at Apple Island Resort in So Hero from May to October. Love it!! Not sure if this is what you are looking for but this is my life in a nutshell. Wish I had paid more attention to French when I was at Nazareth as I did business in Quebec for a while!! Pat Irish |
| Name: | Joyce Delaricheliere Macnamara |
| E-mail address: | jmacn@videotron.ca |
| Comments: | After leaving Nazareth School, I went to St. Mary's, Trinity, taught in Switzerland (l year), Connecticut (2 years), went to graduate school in Madison, Wisconsin (5 years) and got a graduate degree in Spanish. Worked in Title VII Bilingual Education in Derby, Vt. (2 yrs.) and married John Macnamara, a professor at McGill University in l972, at
which time I moved to Montreal. Since John was Irish (from Ireland), we returned to visit his family every year. We adopted Kieran in l976 when he was three days old. John died 8 years ago and Kieran is still with me. I haven't retired really, since I am doing very much the same things that I've always done. I do private tutoring in English, French and Spanish; lead two Scripture groups, co-lead courses in adult ed; host foreign students (they are the daughters I never had). We have two little black dogs who take us for walks four times a day. I have lived in Montreal for 34 years now. more time outside the US than in it. And of course, living in French...ca change les idees. I feel blessed. Meeting John and being fortunate enough to have been with him for 24 years expanded my world enormously. Ireland, Oxford, France are all "home" to me in some way now. Again, many thanks for what you're doing. all the best, Joyce |
| Name: | Carleen Gravel Lehouiller |
| E-mail address: | MandCLehouiller@pshift.com |
| Comments: | Hi Everyone,
I think this web site, as well as the one John has put together for our High School Class, is such a wonderful way to get back in touch with old friends. ( Oh, no, WE aren't old..just people we haven't been in touch with in ages!!) Can it really be 50 years since our 8th grade graduation? Sometimes it just seems like yesterday. Mike & I live in Burlington's new North end, in a house we bought and moved into right after we were married, 40 yrs. ago last June. We still belong to St. Joseph's Parish, and I have had fun singing with our 9 am folk group there for several years. Our daughter, Lori, is a physical therapist in charge of Kaiser Permanante's Outpatient Clinic in Wailuku, Maui. So we get spoiled by visiting her for about 4 weeks each winter. Our son, Jay, is married to Ellen, and has 2 children, Kesley Lynn, age 7, and Austin Jay, 4....that we just love! Fortunately, they live close by, so we see them often. Jay works at St. Mike's college, buildings & grounds, and is in charge of the athletic fields. Mike and I each retired early, he from IBM, me from pediatric nursing. Mike enjoys working for himself as a handyman, and has a lot of elderly "girlfriends", who just love him, because he does all the small jobs they can't find anyone to do, and charges fairly. I keep busy with misc. volunteer things, and watching our grandkids off & on. Hope to hear from many of you, and learn where you are, and what's happening in your lives. My best to all, Carleen |
| Name: | Royce E. Pollard |
| E-mail address: | mayorroyce@aol.com |
| Comments: | Classmates,
Margaret (many of you remember her as Peggy) and I live at 1717NW Sluman Road, Vancouver, WA 98665 and my Home phone is 360-693-7526, Ofc is 360-696-8913 (ofc is preferred as Margaret is ill and often resting). My son Ed (Royce Jr) runs a hotel in Palm Springs, CA; along with his wife Kenda and my two grandsons, Royce III and TJ. My son Will lives here in Vancouver with his wife Kelsi and 2 daughters, Dori and Libby. Have a Merry Christmas and I send my Warmest Regards to all our old and new-found friends. Royce |
| Name: | ROYCE E. POLLARD |
| E-mail address: | MAYORROYCE@AOL.COM |
| Comments: | THANKS JOHN,,,,,,,,YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME BACK TO THE BEGINING AND I LOOK FWD TO CHATING WITH MY OLD FRIENDS. ROYCE |
| Name: | John Fisher |
| E-mail address: | jrfisher@adelphia.net |
| Comments: | Hello Nazareth Classmates. Please tell us about yourself. Hope you enjoy the website. Any suggestions? John |