June 12, 2017

St. Joe alumni share memories, bid farewell at ‘Stairway to Heaven’ event

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Stephen Kiltonic

PITTSFIELD – On June 10, former alumni, coaches, teachers and parents of St. Joseph Central High School gathered in the school gymnasium one last time for a trip down memory lane.

They walked the halls, reminisced, thumbed through memorabilia, posed for pictures and said their farewells before the 120-year-old school closes its doors for good on June 16.

There were many hugs, laughs and tears at the informal, fun-filled event billed as the “Stairway to Heaven,” a take-off on the iconic Led Zeppelin rock song. Admission was a mere dollar although many $10 and $20 dollar bills could be seen stuffed in the glass jars on the entrance tables. All the admission money will go toward the Sisters of St. Joseph Retirement Fund.

Founded in 1897 as St. Joseph Academy, it was staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who maintained a presence at the school up to the present day. 

Mike Messer, Class of ’76, who headed up the alumni committee that organized the four-hour event, said it was a real grassroots effort that was designed to be low key.

“A few of us thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we could get everyone ever associated with the school could come back one night, right here in the school building? Walk the halls. See the memorabilia. It would be sort of the ultimate class reunion,” said Messer. “Then, we thought it would be really nice to combine it to benefit the Sisters of St. Joseph who taught here and meant so much to so many of us.”

“It’s a special place. I spent the better part of my whole lifetime here,” said Gary Bianchi, Class of ’80 and a former football coach at St. Joe’s for 25 years. “St. Joe’s wasn’t just classrooms and books. It cared about people. It cared about kids. It was a big family and everybody kept an eye on everybody else,” added Bianchi. “Some of my best memories are in this building. It changed me as a person. It made me a better person being here and to see all the people coming back, it makes me feel good because it meant the same to all these people and that’s what it’s all about – family and memories now.”

Bianchi’s wife and two children also graduated from the school.

Although there was no official count, attendance was estimated at 1,000 or more as people filtered in throughout the night. Generations of families attended, as well as athletes, some of whom walked in together with their teammates wearing their old jerseys. A cash bar was set up and hit music from various decades could be heard over the loudspeakers courtesy of an alumnus, DJ Rob Dwyer.

The hallways and several rooms were filled with all types of school memorabilia, including hundreds of sports trophies, awards and photos; yearbooks which could be purchased for $20; numerous sports jerseys which went for $10 each; candid yearbook photos; and miscellaneous items like mugs and graduation tassels.

Principal Amy Gelinas collected the money from the sold items, with all proceeds earmarked for the St. Joseph Legacy Fund Scholarship which will be split for the next three years between the students in the three present underclasses.

“Well, everything has to go. Some of the stuff is going to stay in the church. Some of it’s going to the Berkshire Athenaeum and then there’s the trophies and who rightfully should have those,” said Messer who added that names were taken of those interested in the individual memorabilia items. 

Messer said one of his fondest memories was when the St. Joe hockey team won the state championship in 1973. “There was a party in this town like you couldn’t believe. It was a hot hockey town,” said Messer. 

When St. Joe played hockey games at the Boys Club against Pittsfield High or Cathedral, it would be a sellout. “You couldn’t even get into the games. They’d sell tickets here at the school days in advance. You’d have to wait in line,” Messer recalled.

The banner from that championship season can still be seen above the gym floor along with the banners of many other title-winning teams.

Kathleen Quinn, Class of ’73, was the captain of the cheerleading squad that memorable hockey year. She said the squad was called “the team that Jack built,” after legendary coach Jack Charette. She described Pete Drennan, the team captain, as “our Bobby Orr of St Joe.”

Quinn’s five younger siblings all followed her at St. Joe’s. “This was my second family here. The teachers raised us. Sister Julie Sullivan. Father Sniezyk was like a dad. He was amazing and all the coaches treated us really good,” said Quinn who volunteered as a bartender during the night.

“We were always lucky to have religion incorporated into our day, every day and just the memories and the friendships that I still have,” added Quinn. “We were all together. There was never like, just the boys, just the girls. We were one big family,”said Quinn, who waved fondly to a “wonderful” teacher, Sister Margaret Kenney, as she passed by. Quinn’s two sons also graduated and played hockey at St. Joe’s.

As people entered and walked up the stairs past the statue of St. Joseph, the school motto could be seen above the doors to the gym: “To know God. To pursue excellence. To serve others.” One alumnus who exemplified that creed is Paul Perachi, Class of ’57.

Perachi was a teacher, counselor, coach, school board member and athletic director at St. Joe and then a Lenox High principal. He later became an attorney and juvenile court judge in town. “I owe everything that I ever accomplished to my experience here at St. Joe,” said Perachi. “St. Joe is very special. It’s more than just an academic institution. It’s that special small-school Catholic education. That relationship we had with our teachers, the nuns, the priests and each other was very special and you can see that here tonight.

“We developed a great deal of self-esteem and pride in what you do and that certainly helped me in anything and everything that I endeavored to do in later life,” added Perachi.

Both Perachi and Paul Procopia, Class of ’63 and for 24-years the St. Joe boys basketball coach, addressed the crowd later that evening. “Let’s not let the spirit of St. Joe die just because the doors are closing. We’re all St. Joseph alumni and that will be forever and we’ll never forget it,” said Perachi.

In his comments, Procopia praised the Sisters of St. Joseph for their years of service as educators as well as his teams for their accomplishments. “If you look around, you can see all the championships that the teams won and for a small school like St. Joseph, we did pretty well.” Procopia drew loud cheers from the crowd after he concluded saying, “Once you’re a Crusader, you’re always a Crusader.”

The Springfield Diocese announced last October that it was closing the school this June citing changes in demographics and limited financial resources.

For a video version of this story, tune in to the June 17 edition of “Real to Reel,” the Diocese of Springfield’s weekly television news magazine that airs Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-TV22 NEWS.