A month to remember

May has always been a special month for St. Anthony graduates. I recall when I began writing Petals from Roseland many years ago that my May column struck a chord. The column brought back food memories for many St .Anthony’s parishioners so I’m rerunning it here today.

I asked a few St Anthony’s girls for their memories of the May crowning and all these years later, the event still holds a special place in their hearts. Each recounted the lifelong impression the May Crowning had on them. They also mentioned how their memories have been triggered throughout the years by hearing the song, seeing a statue of the Blessed Mother, or simply being in church during the beautiful month of May.

My sister Tootsie (Augusta) recalled the Maypole, with multi-colored ribbons hanging down, that was carried in the procession. She also recalled being a haloed and winged angel with some of the other girls and riding in a procession on a flatbed truck. Tony Pittacora, class of ’53, our neighbor, recalled that one of my sisters might also have taken part in the St Alexander’s feast that wound its way through Kensington.

Personally, I recall the May crowning procession of 1961 taking place on a beautiful spring evening with all the grade school children marching to the statue in front of the kindergarten building for the actual crowning. That year was also memorable because we were the last class to graduate from St. Anthony’s old church as the new church was dedicated Aug. 20, 1961.

Rose Sartori Malato counts the May Crowning among her fondest memories, along with her desire to be selected to crown Mary. She didn’t get to place the crown on Mary, but Rose did attain the rank of Angel in Mary’s court and is sure that Judy Filzone was chosen to crown Mary in ’63.

Jeanne Nelson Raffin, Brunette Cipriani Arsene and my sister Rosie recalled that Joyce Felicicchia Malito always wanted to be selected to do the crowning. They don’t recall if she ever was selected, or got to be one of the Angels, as Brunetti did one year.

In 1967, the privilege of being Mary went to St. Anthony eighth grader Judy Del Favero who later married Al Toscano, class of ’66, brother of my classmate Jim, ’61. Judy recalled being honored and in disbelief when the sister told her she’d been chosen. Each May she recalls what a terrific evening it had been and to this day, how fond it made her of church traditions. Judy recalled that some of the members of her court were Debbie Basile, Chris Ortigara, and Donna Marie Marengo. Classmate Kathy Carney Lumbrazo recalled that in Mrs. Trivia’s kindergarten classroom, each child had a chance to do the May Crowning during the month of May.

As I was writing this column and thinking of the month of May and the end of the school year, I began to think of the many teachers that we had at St Anthony’s. We had the Sisters of St Joseph, who we could always count on, but we also had a lot of lay teachers that had an outstanding effect on us.

Today, a private school education is very expensive and almost prohibitive for many families because all teachers are being paid what approximates a living wage. The teachers we had were very dedicated and sacrificed monetarily because we all know they were not really paid a living wage. By today’s standards, those teachers sacrificed income to provide Catholic school children with an excellent education.

I’m sure many of us can look back fondly on our grade school education and remember those wonderful nuns and lay teachers that taught us the right way to do things, informed our perception of the world, and taught us as much as possible while showing us a kinder and gentler way to be throughout our lives.

In hindsight, I would personally like to thank all those teachers that we had both the nuns and the lay teachers for the extraordinary effort they put forth in training us for our future lives. They made a difference in our lives that we only came to appreciate as we got older and wiser. Thank you to all who taught us then and all those who teach today!