All Kinds of Memories
by Marie Antignolo Gill
Seeing the web site about St. Pascal's brought back all kinds of memories, so I thought
I would add mine to those already on record.
I was a graduate of SPB grade school in 1963 (see Snapshots section). My teacher was St. Mary
Clara, whom I also had in 7th grade (in the old library classroom on the second floor).
St. Anna Maria was principal and the other two eighth grade teachers were St. Robert
Marita and Sr. Graziella. There were 41 kids in 8-3, can you imagine that! I recently went
through boxes of old things and found my graduation brochure with pictures of the three
sisters mentioned above and all of the names of everyone in the eighth grade. As I ran my
finger down the page, I could just about picture everyone's face even after all of these
years and I wonder where they are and what their lives have been like. I hope many more of
them use this web site.
Here are a few random thoughts about grade school...things that just stand out in my
mind about those eight years. Starting with an event in first grade with St. Marie
Brebeuff. There were a few classrooms in the basement of the school at this time and
that's where I was in first grade. The room was pretty crowded and not a lot of room to
move around. I had this habit of throwing my coat over my head to put it on and on the
first day of school I knocked down a fairly good sized statue of the Blessed Mother while
putting on my coat. This was not a good way to impress Sister.
What about visiting the church on certain days to gain plenary indulgences. It was said
that every time you visited the church and said a certain prayer, you gained a PI. So, we
used to go in and say the prayer, then go out the door and back in and do it again and
again and again. We racked up tons of these things.
Remember the bazaars? They were great. One year, I got a bit too enthusiastic about
wanting to win, and after the roulette wheel stopped spinning, I moved my chip over one
square so that I could win a copy of the hit 45 "Does Your Chewing Gum Loose It's
Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" I still have it? Was this something a good Catholic
girl should have done?
Does anyone remember the 10 block rule? In order to have the privilege of eating lunch
in the cafeteria, you had to live 10 blocks away from school. I lived 9 long blocks on
204th street and ll6th Avenue. We had 30 minutes for lunch. It took 10 minutes to walk
each way and that was going at a slow jog, and the same to return. That left 10 minutes to
get lunch down. Needless to say, I didn't spend much time in the school yard. From what I
hear, I also didn't miss much in the lunchroom.
There was one year when someone found out I played the piano and insisted that I play
the Star Spangled Banner in the auditorium at the beginning of the plays. I can remember
sitting at the piano and absolutely destroying the piece of music and almost passing out
from fright. The only memory I have of the plays was one year having to wear a grass skirt
for a hula number. I sure wish someone had pictures of that!
Another fine memory was in 8th grade, being made to sit on the floor because I did
something wrong. I think I was talking to someone during class. I had to take all of my
belongings, vacate my desk and sit on the floor in front of the classroom. It went on for
several days before Sister allowed me to go back to my desk. Imagine the humiliation of a
13 year old girl in a co-ed classroom. Something tells me this kind of thing couldn't
happen these days.
It saddens me that I had to move from St. Albans. I was accepted into Bishop Reilly
H.S. which was far away, my father died, and I was beaten up by a girl's gang on the
corner of ll3th Avenue and 200th Street, one block away from the convent and my mother was
worried about my safety. Just two years ago, I drove through St. Albans to see my old
house, the school and church. They all looked beautiful. I was so happy to see St.
Pascal's in such great condition. It has been 37 years since I graduated and it amazes me
that these memories are as clear as if they happened yesterday,
I hope some of my classmates are out there and will see my name and get in touch with
me. Too all my old boyfriends .... sorry, I'm married.
October 8, 1999 |