Winter 2013

SFSESt. Francis / St. Emma Alumni

Philadelphia Association

National Reunion in Philly for 2014 Greetings! The Philadelphia Chapter of St. Francis-St. Emma Alumni Asso-ciation is hosting the St. Francis-St. Emma High School Reunion from August 14-17, 2014 at the Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District Hotel. There is much to see in our great city and we have planned a fun time for all attendees.

The newly renovated Wyndham Hotel is located at 400 Arch Street and is situated in the celebrated neighbor-hood of Old City Philadelphia. You will be near many landmarks such as Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center and the African American Museum. We hope you will join us for an enjoyable and memorable time. Registration and hotel information will be sent out by February. We look forward to seeing you in August 2014! Brenda N. Browne ‘69

Chance to Reconnect with Alumni

Saturday Night Alumni Dinner Dance!

Newly remodeled Center City hotel with free wi-fi

The African American Museum

Philadelphia Stars Negro League Memorial Park

St. Katherine Drexel Shrine

Historic Mother Bethel AME Church

National Constitution Center & the Liberty Bell

Barnes Museum & Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Franklin Institute

The Sugar House Casino

Historic Museums

Independence Hall &Liberty Bell

Negro League Memorial Park

Sugar House Casino

Constitution Center

Top Reasons to Come to Philly in 2014 forthe St. Francis/St. Emma National Reunion

Let’s Keep in Touch Remembering the Present & Past Our prayers from the Philadelphia Alumni Association go out to all who are sick with hopes that all will have speedy recoveries. Please contact me with the name address and phone number of any St. Francis or St. Emma members who may be sick, shut-in or need a word of encouragement and we will send them a get well card or a note of inspiration.

Since the last newsletter we have had several visitors at our monthly meetings: LaGuardia Summers from Detroit, MI, who is now married to Dena, Warren Nix from St. Croix and Chase Jackson, from Cape May, NJ.

Aisha and I attended the Homegoing Services for LaGuardia’s Mother, on behalf of the Philadelphia Alumni Association. Get Well cards were sent to John Royster, Maxine Wong, Eugene Hewlett, Trina Butler-Harvey and the late Cora Murphy.

We spoke to Bobby Stewart, Millicent Gregory, John Royster, Madeline Arrington, Jesse Dykes, Michael Horton, Maxine Wong, and Trina Butler Harvey.

Trina says hello to everyone and that she is recovering slowly but surely. She wants to be strong enough for the 2014 Re-union, to be held here in Philadelphia.

Select a date from the Upcoming Meetings list found in this newsletter and attend a meeting. Come out and meet with some old and some new alumni members and get first-hand information as to what the Philadelphia Alumni Association is all about. We look forward to seeing you soon. Charles ‘Precky’ Madison ‘62 215.336.3866 / precky62@yahoo.com

The Big House The Belmead Mansion is undergoing an extensive and delicate overhaul. I recall when I first stepped foot on the quad campus in September of 1966, the Belmead Mansion aka “The Big House” was huge to me and it always stood out as we marched pass the structure on a daily basis.

She is still standing after more than 165 years (built in 1845), but now needs a good structural face-lift. The repairing of the roof is costly but it’s necessary to protect the exterior as well as the interior of the house. The seasonal changes thru out the year have taken their toll. The windows are being brought back to their original state by scraping and scaling the surfaces in preparation for resealing to prevent future cracks.

More work has been completed on the first floor in the past year, in between our visits to Belmead. On our visit in April 2013, we did get a chance to see some of the work in progress on the 2nd floor, which was totally closed off while reno-vations are being done. The projected completion date for the second floor is June 2013.

I could not begin to imagine what it would take to do the scraping, sanding, priming and painting of all the rooms on top of refinishing the floors. One of the carpenters explained that when this structure was being built that the beams used to support the roof, the ceiling and the floors came from trees in the area during that time period.

Now those type of sturdy trees are extinct yet because of them the mansion is still standing. It is a meticulous step by step process and hopefully with other resources we can ensure the care of bringing her back to her former glory.

Calvester Montgomery ‘69

St. Francis/St. Emma Alumni Assoc. 426 N. 60th St. Phila. PA 19151

7152 Ogontz Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19138215.276.0170

ALA CARTE MENURSVP by 12/2/13

Brenda Browne - 215.247.4168 or Eileen Burke - 215.472.7481

Cordially Invites You to Join Us for Dinner

St. Francis - St. Emma AlumniPhiladelphia Association

At

Relish

Saturday,December 7, 2013

6:00pm

Memories from SEMAAny Sunday in ‘69

08:00 Rising09:30 Formation For Inspection Raising Flag & Salute10:00 Sunday Morning Mass11:00 Line Up Formation –Breakfast11:15 Breakfast12:30 Preparation For Practice Parade13:00 Practice Parade Formation13:30 Free Time17:30 Lowering Flag & Salute17:45 Evening Mess19:00 Study Hall20:30 Free Time21:00 Line Up Formation For Taps

These memories are still clear in my mind from the first year I attended St. Emma. This was a typical Sunday schedule which was typed up each evening by the Commandant Of Cadets, Father Figaro.

On our last visit on May 18th 2013, I never, in a million years, thought I would be in the archive room bedding down for the night. Before I went to sleep, I recalled all the building locations, the blacktop and other sites on the ground and the surrounding areas.

President - Calvester Montgomery

Treasurer - Eileen Burke

Secretary - Donna McLean

Historian - Brenda Browne

Alumni Outreach - Charles “Precky” Madison

Editor / Newsletter - Maurice Browne

Officers of the St. Francis / St. Emma Alumni Association of Philadelphia

Upcoming Monthly Meetings in 2014Jan. 25th at Charles ‘Precky’ Madison April 26th Maurice & Brenda BrowneFebruary 22nd Donna McLean May 31st Allen ‘Skip’ & June CobbsMarch 29th Eileen Burke June 28th at Warren Nix

Now everything is gone. Morrell Hall, Claver Hall, Ag building the Chapel, the gym, the new and old boys clubs, rifle range, EVERYTHING except the Big House and Band Stand. I remembered how we were instructed to write home to ‘mom’ each and every Sunday. The archive room, formerly known as Father Figaro’s office, was the place where the daily hustle and bustle occurred- reports, visits by parents, staff meetings, the ‘Officer of the Day’ reports as well as individual cadet’s concerns. I must admit the only time I did not want to be in this office was when it was to go before The Military Board.

However, I am glad to have had the experience of working out of that office for the years I attended the school. Once I fell asleep, I didn’t have ‘visions of sugar plums dancing in my head’ but it was more like-hearing the band and seeing the cadets marching in formation. Sweet dreams!!!

Calvester Montgomery ‘69