Welcome to the first edition of The
Read-A-Wee. It has lain in hiatus since 1972, when the doors of the
Academy were closed. Yes, the doors may be closed but the Academy lives on
in the hearts and minds of her alum. Recently, some who attended the
Academy from various years decided to meet to see if there were any others
who may want to meet to swap stories and set some goals for the future.
As serendeptious as it may seem, the Notre Dame
Motherhouse asked past alums from Belleville to a luncheon in May. About
100 alums from various years attended. The motherhouse is a fabulous
storehouse of memories of the schools they've served over the years.
There were many pictures of our Academy as well. After a delicious
lunch, the nuns surprised us with a Power Point Presentation that had
many, many old pictures from our Academy days. It was great to meet up
with some of our former teachers. Many thanks to the motherhouse for an
enjoyable daytrip down memory lane.
The first meeting of the AND Alums came to order at
Ray's Restaurant in Belleville on March 26, 2009. Julie Orlet-Schoen
conducted the meeting that started with a rousing rendition of our
school song. Classmates from the 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's were
in attendance. After much laughter about school uniform malfunctions and
AND shenanigans, they got down business. The following items were
discussed
- Claiming naming rights for a new room at Althoff
High School. Since we don't have a school anymore, it seemed like a
good place to call home. It was decided to try hold more all-year
functions to encourage participation.
- The possibility of setting up a scholarship fund.
- Setting up a AND website with its own domain name
and using the webpages that are on this site.
- Setting up a database with as many emails of former
students that wish to be on the list.
Anyone reading this, who would like to have their
email address added to a master list of former AND graduates, please
contact Melanie Grimm (Wondolowski) at
andso72@yahoo.com or me at
markinsella19@hotmail.com Please include your current name, the name
while at AND, and the year you graduated.
For more pictures, click
HERE
Can you name these teachers?
Click HERE for answers
Take a trip down memory lane for all you who
grew up in the St. Louis area:
http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/8572346/1802015935/name/PhotoStoryMemories.wmv
All Facebook users: There is
now an Academy of Notre Dame, Belleville, IL group. Check it out
and join in on the conversation and updates. Just click the group icon at
the bottom of the page to find it.
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The second AND ALUMS Get-together at Tim and Joe's in
Belleville. Close to 100 ANDers came out to toast the coming together of
"the girls." Classes from the 1940s to the 1970s were there to
commiserate and listen to the plans for future projects and events.
(thanks to Mary Brisk pictured
here for these and other snaps)
For more pictures of the event, click
Pics from
Tim and Joes June 2009.html
It was reported that over $12,000.00 has been
ear-marked as a claim to the naming rights for a newly-renovated room at
Althoff. Gift may be made through the
Althoff
High School Vision 2009 But...
Be sure to ask that your
contribution goes to the AND fund. You can make one lump sum or
stretch out your gift over several years.
They would like ideas for future get-togethers.
There was also discussion as to the where-abouts of
the statue of the Blessed Mother that was in the grotto. There may be a
lead on where it is. The group is in hopes of finding it and, perhaps,
relocating it to a grotto on the grounds of Althoff. This is still in the
early "talk" stages. But what a wonderful idea!!
Snips and Snaps
Fellow Grad, Marilyn Avult Stacy, Class of 1954, has a
new book published with her collection of poetry. It is called
Sometimes You Have To
Laugh...a poet's look at cancer. Here is what another AND
ALUM, Shirley Vogler Meister,
had to say about the book:
..."Her words are
perceptive and healing! This collection of poetry is life-affirming and
wonderfully sensitive. ..for women with breast cancer...for anyone
facing any type cancer or medical challenge."
To read some excerpts and more
rave reviews, just click on the title above.
The class of 1954 is planning a 55- year reunion this
year on August 21 and 22nd.
Do you have reunion news? How about some pictures? Do
you have any current news that you would like to share on this
e-newsletter? Do you have some memories/pics of your class that were
unique? Would you share them? This website will grow with your
memories!! Please contact Marilyn Niemann Kinsella (class of 1965) at
markinsella19@hotmail.com
for comments.
My name is Jeanne Cordie Edgar, class of "61. I have
all the info from my class. Our last class reunion was last fall. I
will send you a photo from that reunion when I have time.
A couple notes. The Academy song changed over the
years. I know this because I have written a play that we put on for
classes for their reunions over the past 5 years. Some of them sing
their Academy song and it is different than the one that we sing.
Anyone interested in having us perform at their
reunion can contact me at 618 236 0661 or
hondojean@charter.net. We have 3 original school uniforms and one
gym uniform. I have my original prom dress which I wear in the play.
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