AUBURN - “Zelo Zelatus Sum Pro Domino Deo Exercituum” (I am on fire with zeal for the Lord God of hosts).
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Francis Tortorici, center, jokes with fellow alumni of Mount Carmel High School, now Seward Elementary School, during a tour of the school in Auburn Saturday.
Francis Tortorici, center, jokes with fellow alumni of Mount Carmel High School, now Seward Elementary School, during a tour of the school in Auburn Saturday.
So reads the crest with a hand raised clenching a sword at the main entrance of what is now Seward Elementary School.
A crest so many have walked over in the last 50 years, many wondering where it came from or what it might mean.
Saturday, a piece of that meaning was revealed as alumni of Mount Carmel High School gathered for an all-class reunion, beginning with a tour of their alma mater, starting at the crest.
The words and symbols of the crest were created by the Carmelite Order during the time of the Crusades and still stand at Seward Elementary as a reminder of the roots and rich history of the many people the passed through the school's halls.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first graduating class of the school, the class of 1958, and it marks the first time an effort has been made to have an all-class reunion, drawing together members of all the graduating classes of Mt. Carmel from 1958 up to 1973.
Mary Kinsella, of Syracuse and Martha (Scanlan) Petrosino, of Auburn, were among the more than 50 committee members that worked on making the reunion possible.
Plans for this massive undertaking began more than two years ago.
“A class member, Peter Abbott came up with the idea,” Petrosino said. “We were having our reunion and he said wouldn't be great to see everybody together and the idea grew form there.”
Kinsella said that committee members, representing numerous graduating classes, would meet on a monthly basis to discuss plans for this all class reunion, with each class taking different responsibilities in the planning process.
“This started back in September of 2006,” Kinsella said. “Different groups would volunteer to do different things, planning the event, contacting people, those kinds of things.”
With 15 years of graduating classes and people moving away from the area, tracking classmates down was no easy task, but one that was made simpler with a bit of today's technology.
Petrosino and Kinsella said that the Internet helped a great deal, but simply getting people together and talking also helped the process.
“We'd get talking,” Kinsella said. “I'd realize that my brother knew so and so, who was friends with this person's cousin and that helped us find a lot of people.”
More than 1,200 alumni gathered for the weekend celebration that began with many classes having small get-togethers Friday night around town.
“I think it is fabulous they are doing this,” Maureen (McCarthy) Nupp of the class of '65, who now resides in Fairport, said. “It brings back a lot of good memories and it is nice to get to see so many people.”
Nupp quickly ran into a good friend and classmate Kathleen (Burke) Dennison, of Jordan.
“This couldn't be better,” Dennison said. “We've got together a few times over the years. But this is wonderful; it is so nice to see all these people. I'm really enjoying this.”
Saturday afternoon, Sam Giangreco, a member of the class of 1969, led an informal tour through the school to begin the festivities.
Giangreco quipped that he was ideally suited for the tour, having retired several years ago after being the head custodian at Seward Elementary.
“I never thought I would be in charge keeping the building up,” Giangreco said. “After all those years I spent tearing it apart.”
Giangreco led the more than 200 people that gathered at the school, through the halls, pointing out all the little details that have remained the same, from the flag pole outside to the bricks in the walls to the lockers that are the same ones that were there in the days of Mt. Carmel.
“Not a lot has really changed,” Giangreco said. “We have added on to the building a little bit, but it is a lot like it was then.”
For many this was a unique opportunity to walk the halls again.
“My class usually has a reunion every five years,” Anne Schumaker, of the class of 1964, said. “But it has been so long since I've been in here; I really wanted to see the building and what it was like. It brings back a lot of memories.”
After the tour, alumni began making their way to Emerson Park, where the celebration continued with a Mass celebrated by Mt. Carmel graduate the Rev. R. (Ray) Adam Forno, currently serving with the Diocese of Albany.
While Forno said that he knew early on in life that he wanted to pursue a spiritual life, his time at Mt. Carmel did help shape his choice to pursue the priesthood.
It is this common experience and roots that all the alumni gathered share and which, Forno spoke of in the service.
“Where ever we go,” Forno said. “We all have that experience of Mt. Carmel. We all share that experience and that is where the seeds of hope were planted. That hope is born of faith, faith as we all face the years ahead.”
After the service, the evening continued on well into the night, with music and food and reminiscing and renewing old friendships.
“This really is terrific,” Carole (Nagle) Pinkley of the class of 1963 said. “This is a great opportunity to renew friendships that have been temporarily put on hold and to talk and see people and remember our time at this school.”
And it is just this kind of experience that organizers had in mind when they first proposed the idea, and idea that had truly come to fruition.
“We all have this common bond,” Kinsella said. “We all went to Mt. Carmel. We all came from the same place, and we all have that to bring us together.”
A crest so many have walked over in the last 50 years, many wondering where it came from or what it might mean.
Saturday, a piece of that meaning was revealed as alumni of Mount Carmel High School gathered for an all-class reunion, beginning with a tour of their alma mater, starting at the crest.
The words and symbols of the crest were created by the Carmelite Order during the time of the Crusades and still stand at Seward Elementary as a reminder of the roots and rich history of the many people the passed through the school's halls.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first graduating class of the school, the class of 1958, and it marks the first time an effort has been made to have an all-class reunion, drawing together members of all the graduating classes of Mt. Carmel from 1958 up to 1973.
Mary Kinsella, of Syracuse and Martha (Scanlan) Petrosino, of Auburn, were among the more than 50 committee members that worked on making the reunion possible.
Plans for this massive undertaking began more than two years ago.
“A class member, Peter Abbott came up with the idea,” Petrosino said. “We were having our reunion and he said wouldn't be great to see everybody together and the idea grew form there.”
Kinsella said that committee members, representing numerous graduating classes, would meet on a monthly basis to discuss plans for this all class reunion, with each class taking different responsibilities in the planning process.
“This started back in September of 2006,” Kinsella said. “Different groups would volunteer to do different things, planning the event, contacting people, those kinds of things.”
With 15 years of graduating classes and people moving away from the area, tracking classmates down was no easy task, but one that was made simpler with a bit of today's technology.
Petrosino and Kinsella said that the Internet helped a great deal, but simply getting people together and talking also helped the process.
“We'd get talking,” Kinsella said. “I'd realize that my brother knew so and so, who was friends with this person's cousin and that helped us find a lot of people.”
More than 1,200 alumni gathered for the weekend celebration that began with many classes having small get-togethers Friday night around town.
“I think it is fabulous they are doing this,” Maureen (McCarthy) Nupp of the class of '65, who now resides in Fairport, said. “It brings back a lot of good memories and it is nice to get to see so many people.”
Nupp quickly ran into a good friend and classmate Kathleen (Burke) Dennison, of Jordan.
“This couldn't be better,” Dennison said. “We've got together a few times over the years. But this is wonderful; it is so nice to see all these people. I'm really enjoying this.”
Saturday afternoon, Sam Giangreco, a member of the class of 1969, led an informal tour through the school to begin the festivities.
Giangreco quipped that he was ideally suited for the tour, having retired several years ago after being the head custodian at Seward Elementary.
“I never thought I would be in charge keeping the building up,” Giangreco said. “After all those years I spent tearing it apart.”
Giangreco led the more than 200 people that gathered at the school, through the halls, pointing out all the little details that have remained the same, from the flag pole outside to the bricks in the walls to the lockers that are the same ones that were there in the days of Mt. Carmel.
“Not a lot has really changed,” Giangreco said. “We have added on to the building a little bit, but it is a lot like it was then.”
For many this was a unique opportunity to walk the halls again.
“My class usually has a reunion every five years,” Anne Schumaker, of the class of 1964, said. “But it has been so long since I've been in here; I really wanted to see the building and what it was like. It brings back a lot of memories.”
After the tour, alumni began making their way to Emerson Park, where the celebration continued with a Mass celebrated by Mt. Carmel graduate the Rev. R. (Ray) Adam Forno, currently serving with the Diocese of Albany.
While Forno said that he knew early on in life that he wanted to pursue a spiritual life, his time at Mt. Carmel did help shape his choice to pursue the priesthood.
It is this common experience and roots that all the alumni gathered share and which, Forno spoke of in the service.
“Where ever we go,” Forno said. “We all have that experience of Mt. Carmel. We all share that experience and that is where the seeds of hope were planted. That hope is born of faith, faith as we all face the years ahead.”
After the service, the evening continued on well into the night, with music and food and reminiscing and renewing old friendships.
“This really is terrific,” Carole (Nagle) Pinkley of the class of 1963 said. “This is a great opportunity to renew friendships that have been temporarily put on hold and to talk and see people and remember our time at this school.”
And it is just this kind of experience that organizers had in mind when they first proposed the idea, and idea that had truly come to fruition.
“We all have this common bond,” Kinsella said. “We all went to Mt. Carmel. We all came from the same place, and we all have that to bring us together.”
