GOLDEN FRIENDSHIP

This is a post that should have been done in November but I am afraid I missed it.  I apologize to Christine Butler and her friends - I must be slipping!  Each and every friendship is precious and deserves celebrating and this is a very special friendship and worthy indeed of celebrating. 

The friendship between this group of St Patrick's girls blossomed in Grade three and it has survived the ups and downs of life ever since.  The ladies regularly get together to celebrate that friendship.  They all graduated from St Patrick's in the School Year of 1973/74. On the 9  November 2023 they gathered at the Royal Yacht Club in Manuels to celebrate the amazing Golden Anniversary of their graduation together. 

Christine and Terri have sent a photo of that happy day  and I am pleased to post it below.

Celebrating a Golden Friendship

Congratulations on such a wonderful occasion and may you continue to enjoy your beautiful friendship for many more healthy and happy years.  God bless you all.

I don't know if it is a St Patrick's thing, a West End thing, or a Newfoundland thing in general but, whatever it is, it is a beautiful thing!

This group of ladies started Kindergarten together many years ago at St Patrick's Convent and they are still friends who meet up several times a year.  Over the years, they have shared life's ups and downs and remained steadfast friends and loyal St Patrick's girls.

This little group is also an important part of St Patrick's history. In 1958, they were part of the last class to complete Grade 11 at St Patrick's Convent School.  (After that, girls moved on to Holy Heart upon  completion of Grade 8.) Joan Fogarty tells me that their Graduation, with white cap and gown, was held at Holy Heart where some of the girls had enrolled in Business Education Classes.  

Joan Reynolds Fogarty has sent a photo of  the group taken a couple of days ago at their Christmas Tea at Joan's house.  The lovely ladies are L-R:  

FRIENDS FOREVER

Joan Ryan Cobb, Joan Connolly Alston. Rosemary Ashley Healy, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Eleanor Sears Vatcher, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Betty Fitzgerald Pye, Catherine Corbett Stanley, Brenda Casey Grouchy and hostess, Joan Reynolds Fogarty.

To each and every one of you I wish a very Merry Christmas and say may you continue for years to come with your celebration of friendship.

Thank you Joan for the photo and the information.  All the very best to you, your family and friends. 

JOAN AND FRIENDS

I am so happy to see that Joan Reynolds Fogarty and her amazing group of school friends are still getting together.  These ladies have been friends since Kindergarten and on 25 May they met for lunch at The Rooms.  Bless you, ladies, and keep on celebrating friendship.  It really is a precious gift.

THE BEAUTIFUL ST PATRICK'S SCHOOL FRIENDS

Thanks, Joan, for the picture and for keeping in touch.  Please keep us up to date with your group.  Stay safe.

ST PATRICK'S CHURCH

http://stpatrickschurch.ca/2.0/news/

HAVE A LOOK AT THE LATEST NEWS FROM ST PATRICK'S PARISH. 

AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS

I think friendship is undefinable but it is  definitely a thing of beauty and a gift to be treasured. It is evident that St Patrick's girls certainly know the value of friendship because they just keep reconnecting with their school friends and the years always seem to melt away.

Some wise words from Charlie Brown

I have had news of another recent get together.  On 5th June 2019, a sizable number turned up at Bally Haly on Logy Bay Road.  This group of friends had graduated from St Patrick's in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  From all reports, it is apparent that a wonderful time was had by all.  We are delighted that Betty Simms and Pat Hurley McDonald have very kindly sent along some pictures of the happy gathering.

Thank you, Pat and Betty, for the pictures and the information.  I don't know if it is true, but I heard a little whisper that there is a BIG 60th reunion in the pipeline for next year.  If you graduated from St Patrick's in 1960, keep your eyes and ears open for news of a reunion.  Be sure to make a big effort to attend - even if you have to trek from far off places like Alberta, Florida, Wales, or anywhere else on planet earth!  If that reunion materializes, it will be well worth attending.

Still close friends

Catching up on the news

Still smiling and looking great!

So great to see you!

Some serious chatting going down here!

Pat and Jackie share some news

I'd rather chat than eat!

Well, Hello!

CELEBRATING FRIENDSHIP

If this group of ladies isn't the best example of enduring friendship, then I don't know who is!   In the 1990s, some years after graduation, this group of school friends began meeting up.  They meet three times a year, May, September and December.  Sadly, some of the classmates have died and their numbers are dwindling.  However, those who remain and are able, still get together in a happy celebration of friendship.

Joan Reynolds Fogarty is one of the friends and she keeps me up to date with their news, which we share here on the School Blog.  I owe Joan a great debt of gratitude because she helps and supports this Blog in many other ways. 

Here is Joan's news on the latest get together.  Nine of the approximately 15 or 16 who usually meet were able to attend on 15 May.  The venue was Mama Soula's on Torbay Road.  Joan sent along a photo of the party enjoying their meal.

Food and Friendship!

Left, nearest the camera;
Patricia Connolly Leonard, Mary Fitzgerald, Judy Fitzgerald Squires, Catherine Corbett Stanley, Joan Reynolds Fogarty.
Right, nearest the camera;
Eleanor Sears Vatcher, Mary Bulger Corcoran, Rita Kielley, Betty Fitzgerald Pye.

Again, I thank you, Joan.  To all of this amazing group, I wish you many, many more gatherings.  Friendship is such a very precious gift and you ladies certainly know how to preserve and celebrate it.  God bless you all.

THE FRIENDSHIPS ENDURE!

C B C has just given us the very sad news that St Patrick’s Convent will soon be no more.  After 160 years in the West End, the good Sisters will finally close the doors and leave what has long been a beacon of education and good works.  We are very sad at their going and we will remember them for many things.  We owe them a great debt and thank the Presentation Sisters, past and present, who have contributed so much to our community and to our lives. 

BEAUTIFUL ST PATRICK'S CONVENT, CONVENT SQUARE

We have carried through our lives many gifts gained from our days at St Patrick’s.  One of the most beautiful of those gifts is the precious gift of lasting friendships which we still treasure from our school days. 

Joan Reynolds Fogarty has sent us this lovely photograph of five St Patrick’s Convent classmates. The classmates are Yvonne Stephenson Meissner, Margie Miller Ryan, Kathleen Dobbin Benson, Rosemary Ashley Healy and, of course, Joan.

SCHOOL FRIENDS ROSEMARY, YVONNE, MARGIE,
JOAN AND KATHLEEN

Joan informed us that Yvonne lives in Ontario but she and her husband spend several months every year at their beautiful home by the ocean in Pouch Cove.  It is a wonderful opportunity for meeting up with old friends too and every year the friends do just that.  This year the ladies got together for dinner at Joan’s house. 

Joan closed her email with this touching remark, “Still connected after almost 70 years”.  That truly is the beautiful gift of friendship!  Thank you Joan for sharing it with us and may you and your school friends enjoy that special bond for many, many years to come.

RENEWING OLD ACQUAINTANCES

Recently I had the very great privilege of spending a month at home in St John's where I still enjoy the wonderful blessing of devoted family and loyal friends.  On Tuesday, 8th September I was fortunate to get together with a group of school friends for lunch at 'Swiss Chalet'.  (My special thanks go to Doreen and Mary Elizabeth who organised the meeting on very short notice and with the added problem of many friends out of town for the Labour Day Holiday.)

 

I think it accurate to say that everyone had a great time.  I know that for me personally it was just wonderful.  Some of the ladies I am in touch with on a regular basis but it was as much as fifty years since I had seen some of my other school friends.  One of the group, Bernadette, shocked and delighted us all by counting up the years we have been friends - 64 beautiful years!  Isn't that amazing?

 

Here are a few of the photographs I took on that lovely afternoon.  It is evident from the photos that I am not a great photographer so if anyone else took pictures that day, I would be delighted if you would share them with us here on the blog.  Just send them to us at mcallistersmith@gmail.com & I will post them here and on the facebook page.



Maureen Sullivan, Mary Johnson, Doreen Walsh,
Sheila Bulger & Betty Simms

 

Maureen Sullivan, Mary Johnson, Doreen Walsh & Alice Prim

 

 

Beth Anne McAllister, Mary Elizabeth Kennedy
& Edwena Kavanagh

 

Bernadette Grouchy, Cynthia Murphy
& Kathleen Johnson

 



Betty Simms, Mary Elizabeth Kennedy & Edwena Kavanagh

Carol Cromwell, Lila Mercer & Jackie English

It seems that St Patrick's girls have a special knack for maintaining the valuable friendships made in school days and long may it continue to flourish.  However, lest it be thought that she is denying her old school, I must point out that Edwena is a former pupil of Mercy Convent.  She got hooked up with this crazy bunch of St Patrick's girls at Holy Heart of Mary and became a well loved member of the group.  We are all very glad that she did! 

 

Thanks for everything, ladies, and I hope it won't be too long before we can all get together again.