BJ’s Alumni Board reacted to calls for campus expansion by pushing all their chips into the game.
Members voted to combine all alumni-generated money for the past year into “a building/acquisition fund.”
Adding up golf tournament profits and non-designated donations, the fund starts with a total of $17,000. “That’s a healthy beginning,” said Principal Sr. Cheryl Milner SNJM, “and a much-appreciated one as well. We pray for the well-being of all our supporters, past and future.” She will be pursuing other sources of funds in the coming months.
Sister Cheryl sees two opportunities, as BJ looks to the future. One is the possibility that the school could acquire the adjoining Burbank library property. The other would be adding classrooms to the existing campus.
Additional space will allow an increase in enrollment, which in turn will allow the expansion of extra curricular offerings without raising tuition. “The best high school experience for teens,” Sister says, “ is to be involved in extra curricular activities.” Board member John Gerro (’70) included in his May 28, 2003, motion that non-designated alumni contributions “are to be maintained in a separate account, earmarked for this (building/acquisition) purpose.”
 Golfers John Whittet (’49) and Jimmy Galeota (’04) check out alumni tournament prizes. |
 Jed Scully (’49) and wife Glendalee found a missing BJ film, held here by friend of school Ron Shane |
It sounded like 20 class reunions going on simultaneously in the same room. Good times on the golf course spilled over into the post-party for the 2003 alumni tournament.
Spouses and friends linked up with players to turn St. Eleanor Hall into a social whirlwind May 9. It didn’t take long, after a lively auction hour, for the nostalgia-driven to drift away from their dinner tables and into memory-filled school hallways.
Chairman Tim Doyle says he didn’t expect such a spontaneous good time when the after-tournament dinner switched this year from De Bell’s club house to BJ. But he’s pleased that Principal Sr. Cheryl Milner issued the invitation.
Golfers and party timers, mark your calendars for the next tournament
Friday, May 14, 2004. Steve Potter (’65) will be shooting for his
third straight foursome victory. He and wife Diane (’66) sharpened
their skills in July 2003 by playing the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland.
Hard core? They teed off at 6:50 a.m. and completed the last four holes
in the rain.
 Clockwise from upper left, they included a contingent from the Class of ’87 (front, left to right) Mike Dourisboure, Tom (Ryan) Ressler, Brian Farrell and Gary Johnson, (rear) Pat Hoeschen, James Miljanich and Ron Brabant |
 Theresa Reyes (’03) (one of the students sponsored by Jean Johnson, ’49) |
 Laureen McVicker, Glendale Memorial physical therapist, loosens up Chuck Lamas (’52) |
 Ric Blazon (’70), putting winner |
 (left to right) Jason Stanley (’90), Dan Stanley Jr. (’86), Bill Girard (’72), Tom Stanley (’88) |
Why the BJ golf tournament
May 14, 2004, will use carts instead of caddies
...... Golfer: “That can’t be my ball; it’s too old.” Caddy: “It’s been a long time since we teed off, sir.” |
Buoyed by their golf tournament success (See “18th Hole”, this page), BJ alumni activists won’t let 2003 disappear without another hearty party.
Depending on energy and interest, alums can start their Homecoming celebration on Saturday, October 18, as early as 8:00 a.m. and rumble on, well into the evening.
There’ll be an alumni “float” in the Homecoming Parade down Olive Avenue. Graduates are invited to help with the decorations, starting at 8:00 a.m., then climb aboard or tag along when the parade rolls off campus at 10:00 a.m.
During the football games at John Burroughs High School (junior varsity, 11:00 a.m., and varsity, 2:00 P.M.), alumni will discover that there is indeed a free lunch. Present the coupon below at the Booster food counter under the stands for a soft drink, chips and either a hamburger or famous “Guard Dog”.
Alumni can choose to sit in a special section. Admission to the games
is $5.00.
Following football, it’s back to St. Eleanor Hall for more party
time. Continuing the day’s carefully controlled calorie count, a
$5.00 admission includes food. There will be a no-host bar.
Be there and share, Saturday, October 18, 2003. For
more information, or to volunteer your help, contact Diana (Zambrano)
Potter, 888-225-3647, ext. 3021; dmpotter@earthlink.net
or Melody (Enciso) Doyle, 818-843-3315; MelodyDoyle@bell-jeff.net
(let us know where you are)
1948—Peter Bardsley, BJ’s first student body major for boys, passed away May 13 in Texas. He had been in ill health for several years. Peter appears prominently in the film “Faith and Freedom”, giving flag salute commands. Following BJ, along with several other alumni, he served with the U. S. Army’s 40th Infantry Division in the Korean War. Survivors include a sister Mary (’49), a wife Nina and nine children.
1950—James Loebs died Feb 24, 2003, one day before his 70th birthday. Death is attributed to ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. After service in the U. S. Marines, Jim had a career in automotive sales.
1951—Once their home kitchen remodel is complete, Carl Nicchitta and wife Maria plan a “mini” class reunion. Meanwhile, the kitchen in their Canyon Country restaurant, Caruso’s II, runs on all burners.
1955—Sounding like a travel editor with one of those neat day-tour ideas, a retired Bob Horton says on occasional mornings, he rides a bicycle from his Burbank home to the Amtrak station at the city’s airport. There, he and bike board the train for Santa Barbara where they wheel around until time for an evening rail return.
1956—Noreen (Kiley) Hosie is retired after raising two sons and working at food marketing and publicity in the Bay area and San Joaquin Valley. ngriffee@aol.com
1961—Ron Klaus sold his San Clemente car repair business, took up flying and now winters in Arizona. He and wife Barbara flew to the Northwest for a July ’03 vacation.
1968—Writing from the Oregon coast, Mary Bane says she would like to hear from other alums at marymbane@hotmail.com She works in the health field.
1969—Lorette (Schirm) Harnsberger teaches art at a Santa Barbara elementary school and keeps a web site of their work. She and husband Fritz met at Cal Poly Pomona. Their children are grown. loretteharnsberger@yahoo.com
1971—In memory of Mary E. Fontanini, Mary (Stevens) Johnson made a donation to BJ. Mary Johnson also invited classmates for a July barbecue when Nancy (Miland) Foss flew in from the East. Perry Christensen writes that he is retired and starting a new business in Truckee, CA. perrymc@usamedia.tv
1974—The address is orca5459@cs.com , and Ivy (Lapenna) Clarizio would love to hear from classmates and friends.
1984—Lisette Ruggiero moved back to L. A. from Florida and works as a county child abuse investigator. la2fla@mindspring.com
1986—Track athletes and coaches congregated to see Chris Morgan become Mrs. Peter Onufrak Feb. 22. Attendees included Noreen (Flynn) Owen (’86), expecting her first child, and Tiffany (Loebs) Hanson (’85), who recently had her second. Chris still holds BJ school records in the 400 meters and three mile; Noreen, the high jump, and Tiffany, the 800.
1987— Donna Siegel parked her watercolors and acrylics and used chalk pastels on a 7’x7’ square of roadway for the Valencia Street Painting Festival last October. mysonnet@pacbell.net
1989—Lisa (Cherubin) Gabhart balances life in San Diego as a wife, mother of two and part time pediatrician. lisagabhart@yahoo.com
Jody Perez “directs” baboons and monkeys in movies and TV commercials. This, after obtaining a degree in Applied Animal Behavior and doing case studies in Africa. hal_rizzo@hotmail.com
1991—Michelle L. Graff lives with her husband and three children in Waterloo, Iowa. MichellGrf@aol.com
1994—Christian “Isa” Arbid and wife Amie are awaiting their first child and the construction of a new home in Palm Springs. TheArbids@aol.com
1996—Gisela Cardines finished her CSUN urban studies and is interning in the L. A. City Planning Dept. She also works at LA Family Housing.
1998—Mullaney Richmond became Mullaney Phelps
when she and Jason married May
3 at St. Robert’s. Family BJ alumni include Mullaney’s mother,
Coleen (’76); aunt Theresa Gaisford (’78) and uncle Stephen
(’84).
mphelps@pacbell.net
1998—Jeramie Schulze joined the L.A.P.D. in June.
1999—Alex “Remy” Alvarez is on a football scholarship and a senior communications major at University at Buffalo (NY). doublea@yahoo.com
2001—After a six-month Navy deployment for “Operation Iraqi Freedom”, Rocio Serrano is back in friendlier waters. serranr@roosevelt.navy.mil
2002— BJ valedictorian Matthew Notarianni
continues to hit the books at Marquette University. A Marketing major,
he maintained at least a 3.5 GPA
to make the Dean’s list both semesters of his freshman year.
Bellarmine-Jefferson thanks the following alumni and friends who have made recent donations to the school.
1949—Mary Bardsley
1951—Carl Nicchitta
1952—Yvette (Dourisboure) Moss and William Stein
1953—Gary Porter
1954—William Clotere
1955—Gloria (Guich) Aaron and Roger Bourdon
1956—Edward Vigil, Harvey Marsh and Rudy Carino
1957—Richard (Skip) Whittet, Elaine (Halbur) Koissian and Dolores (Medina) Marsh
1958—Bernardino (Comanche) Gordon, Francine (Enders) Lee, Mary (Tourney) Hinkle, Bernard Blains, Nancy (Hinkle) Flesh and Dee Johnson
1959—Joseph Utica
1960—Morley Clay don, Joan (Duran) Tessa, Richard Watson
1961—Kathleen (O’Hare) Co it, Kay (Jansen) Eliza
1963—Mary Ann (Sara) Tyler, Gay Maundy
1965—Charles Thomas
1966—Guy Dumont, Vicki (Peterson) Aberrance
1967—Jeannette (Palsy) Long will
1968—Christine (Juan) Foster
1970—Patricia (Hess) Cornier, Robert Alvin, John Gerro
1971—David Betrayer, Mary (Stevens) Johnson
1972—Abating (Saab) Nanette
1975—Michael Chapman , Rita Bush
1986—Christine (Morgan) Onufrak
1987—Tammy (Halley) Crier
1998—Natal ia Mat tan
Friends of BJ
Miriam Pink (in behalf of Marina Pink ‘99)
Charles Park (in memory of Barbara (Park) Berry ’50)
Warren Bowen (in memory of Sr. Barilla, BVM)
Albert Madrid
Why the BJ golf tournament May 14, 2004,
will use carts instead of caddies ..... Golfer: “I think I’am going to drown myself in the lake.” Caddy: “Think you can keep your head down that long?” |
1949—Crossing a classmate’s name off the “deceased” list seemed like a good enough excuse for a reunion. So the 49ers gathered June 23, 2003, to renew acquaintances with long-lost Ear le (Bo) Bradley (Alumni News, Spring, 2003). Jerry Lavingstumbled upon him during preparations for their Loyola University (now LMU) reunion. In more than one way, it was a nostalgia-filled evening. (See “BJ Nugget”, Page 7)
1960—An informal class luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3. Tom Kept will be visiting Burbank and Peggy (Nobile) Erickson has arranged a gathering. To make reservations, Peggy can be reached at 661-296-2666.
1963—Heeding calls from classmates, Carol (Bold) Mahone says she’ll do her best long-distance, if others will help out with reunion arrangements. She’s reachable at 707-570-0303 or cruisincarol@netscape.net
1975—Expressions of interest for a reunion continue to trickle in: Father Lawrence Christian (Frchristian@msn.com); Tammy (Bartolacci) Winstead (karyokigrl@earthlink.net) and Mike Chapman (chapmanMRB@cox.net).
1983—Frank and Patti (Mattera) Saraceno pulled
together a “Class of ’83 Rocks” weekend that drew classmates
to Burbank from as far as Ecuador and Hawaii. Graduates, spouses and friends
shuttled to the top of the Holiday Inn on May 24, then the next day trundled
in the younger generation for a McCambridge Park outing. Cesar and Kat
Loera won the prize for the family with the most legs, pets included,
24.
 Longtime BJ faculty member, Sr. Euphemia O’Connor, PBVM, (back to camera) receives plenty of attention at the 1983 class reunion over the Memorial Day weekend. Alumni are (from left) Frank Spadafora, Terri (Cutler) Peters and Ann Mary (De Medio) Manent |
A BJ 49er discovered a school treasure, not far from Sutter’s Mill in Northern California. And classmates are making sure it will survive as part of the school’s history.
Sorting through his late father’s possessions, Jed Scully came upon a film copy of “Faith and Freedom”. Jed (“Tom” when he served as student body major in the class of 1949) recalled an Alumni News request. The school had only a marginal quality videotape and sought an original film version.
Jed and his wife Glendalee are both faculty members at McGeorge School
of Law in Sacramento. They bundled up their find, and took it along with
a projector, to a class reunion at Genio’s Restaurant in Burbank,
June 23, 2003.
True to their hopes, the screening showed that the film had survived in
good condition for more than half a century. Inspired classmates and friends
pitched in money and media contacts to make a digital master.
Videotape (VHS) copies are available through the BJ alumni office for
$25.00. Be sure to write “Faith and Freedom” on the lower
left of your check.
The film, produced by MGM’s Louis B. Mayer, runs 22 minutes. It
was shot sometime between 1946 and 1948. Coverage of the high school dominates.
But for elementary students of that period, there are three minutes of
a St. Robert’s
flag salute, with some cute
closeups. Historic points in St. Robert’s church are also shown
and explained
Jed Scully’s father, Frank, was an author, columnist for Weekly
Variety and a friend of the school’s founder, Msgr. Martin C. Keating.
 Was it an indicator that Burbank’s two Catholic high schools had merged? Well, not really. Producers of the “Dumb and Dumberer” movie decided they needed a quick re-shoot of their closing scene. Instead of returning to the original red brick school on the East Coast in Spring 2003, they hung “Providence” banners on BJ’s 5th St. wing and the parish rectory. |
Robin De Leonardis files away her 2004 valedictory speech this summer and heads for U.C. Berkley. The BJ grad will have eight scholarships to help smooth financial bumps in her academic path. Robin plans to major in English. Her cousin Leslie De Leonardis, BJ's 200 valedictorian, is a UCLA psychology major
**************
Faculty member Traci Wargo hands one of her hats to art teacher Bridget McGrath for 2003-04. In addition to classroom work, Bridget will moderate BJ's Academic Decathlon taem.
One of Traci's favorite Decathlon memories, after the 2003 competition, is junior Augen Batou wearing his third-place brinze medal all day on campus, the Monday after he recieved it. It was his first medal in three years on the team. As a senior, Augen is serving as student body president. Traci continues as director of admissions, and an English teacher.
**************
Three 2003 graduates join a parent as BJ alumni: Richard Smith (Consuelo Santa Cruz Smith '64), Micheal Gerro (John Gerro '70) and Sara Burrola (Steven Burrola '82)
BJ alums virtually took over the school's 2004 Career Day for current students. Faculty moderator Bud Phillips cited "the temendous genrosity" of alumni who gave up part of their day March 14 to participate. "The students were so inspired," Phillips said. The returnee graduates included:
1960—John Caven and Michael Mucciolo (accounting)
1970—Tim Doyle, water/power management
John Gerro, law
Pat (Natalizia) Healy, counseling
Lee Tomlinson, business owner
Jim Schoengarth, law enforcement1972—Margarita (Mola) Campos, city government
1989—John Fowler, homeland security
"I hope we can get them back next year," said Phillips. He urges other alumni to contact him regarding participation in Career Day March 2004
Why the BJ golf tournament
May 14, 2004, will use carts instead of caddies
...... |
Please Email the information with your name, maiden name, graduation year, phone number to johnflynn@bell-jeff.net.
You can also mail all this information including your email address to BJHS Alumni Assn. 465 E. Olive Ave. Burbank, CA 91501