Join us for our PhiladelphiaChristmas Dinner, Saturday December 5th

December 2015

SFSESt. Francis / St. Emma Alumni

Philadelphia Association

In other news, the 2015 Alumni Reunion in Virgina Beach was a success. Folks came from across the country, including some members from our Philadelphia Chapter, to reunite will old friends and classmates and to find out where folks are living and what they’re doing. Some are still working, some are retired, but who cares. It was our time to see each other again.

Think of it as a mini-reunion. Alumni getting together for a wonderful Christmas dinner. The Family Style Menu allows you to choose what you want to eat, and you can eat as much as you want including an appetizer & dessert for around $40. Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant is hosting out Alumni feast because the food and fun were so good last year, we had to do it again. Join us. The restaurant is located at 12th and Filbert Streets across the street from the regional rail train station and the Marriott Hotel.

Let’s Get Together

2014 National Alumni Reunion in Philly Pictures courtesy of William Shearin Jr.

Flashbacks It has been 49 years since the first time I stepped onto the blacktop at St. Emma Military Academy. And to my surprise some of the events are so ever clear in my mind today. I would have some of those deep feelings when from time to time I would open pages in my year book and think of ‘back then’. But when I first stepped back on the campus in 2007 with other visiting cadets, the missing buildings gave me a shadowing effect of what once was.

Each visit back would offers a different flashback like the time I remember we had a big snowstorm and lost power, there were no generators back then. Or when we had just finished classes on a sunny afternoon when all of a sudden the sky turned dark, not because of a cloud but because of a huge swarm of bees that covered the campus.

This flashback came during a relaxing moment at our 2015 ‘Day of Service’ at St. Emma & St. Francis. It was a good dream until, Knock! Knock! Knock! “Calvester, it’s an emergency. Sister Beulah needs our help” Donna’ McLean’s voice was sharp and clear through the door as I jumped up. “We need to get the buckets, trash cans or anything that can catch the water in the library and Sister Maureen’s office.”

Each year Donna McLean along with Eileen Burke and myself and others attend the Day of Service. It puts life into perspective. We spend a day or two helping the nuns keep the properties in check, and we can stare at the buildings and property and relive valuable moments in our young lives that helped form the person we are today. You never can tell what new flashback you will experience when you come home to the Belmead Campus.

Calvester Montgomery ‘69

Another Reunion, But This One is Good for the Tummy The 2015 National Alumni reunion was a success. My wife Brenda and I were looking forward to this reunion. We had a good time at the at the crab-fest and Caribbean /casino night. It was a well attended reunion with a great hotel beach front view.

Organizing these events is not easy. Here in Philadelphia, we started planning last year’s 2014 National Alumni reunion more than a year before the event. Once we got the OK to proceed, the work began.

Visiting numerous hotels, to get the right accommodations with the best price. Picking the right caterer. Picking the appropriate take home gifts. Making fly-ers, sending out newsletters, getting the DJ and the projector to show the videos. Manning the tables for registration, making banners and of course keeping track of the people signing up.

How much should we spend? Do we have enough in reserve in case enough people don’t show. And then arranging the activities so everyone can seamlessly enjoy themselves without ever knowing the 12 months of work to make 100 peo-ple happy for three days.

Although our December Christmas dinner is not as big or fancy as the Na-tional Reunions, it’s a reunion none the less. Join us at our holiday Christmas dinner. We not only break bread together, but we eat it and everything else on the table. Our Alumni Christmas Dinner is on Saturday, December 5th. Call Preckey at 215.200.8322 to reserve your seat at the table.

Maurice Browne ‘69

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

Remembering

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 encourage-ment and we will send them a get well card or a note of inspiration.

We especially want to send our condolences to two Philadelphia Chapter members who lost their spouses this year. Warren Nix lost his wife Jaye and Jesse Dykes lost his wife Rosaline. Also, Eugene Hewlett class of ‘64 passed away this year.

As we move forward for 2016, please select a date from the Upcoming Meetings list found in this newsletter and attend a meeting. Come out and meet with some alumni members and get first-hand information as to what the Philadelphia Alumni Association is all about. We look forward to seeing you in 2016.

Charles ‘Precky’ Madison ‘62215.200.8322 / precky62@yahoo.com

Moving Ahead But Not Forgetting the Past

(from top left) Warren Nix 62’ with wife Jaye, Allen ‘Skip Cobbs 63’ with wife June, Chase Jackson 66’, Donna Mc-Lean 68’ , Charles ‘Precky’ Madison 62’ , Katherine ‘Aisha’ Ford, Calvester Montgomery 69’ with Eileen Burke 68’, Maurice Browne with wife Brenda Nelson Browne both class of 69’

For information about upcoming meetings contact Charles ‘Preckey Madison at 215.200.8322 precky62@yahoo.com

President - Calvester Montgomery

Treasurer - Eileen Burke

Secretary - Donna McLean

Historian - Brenda N. Browne

Alumni Outreach - Charles “Precky” Madison

Editor / Newsletter - Maurice Browne

Past and Present Officers of the St. Francis / St. Emma Alumni Association of Philadelphia

Who is hosting the alumni meetings in 2016

Meeting Schedule for 2016

January 30 - Charles Prekey February 27 - Jesse DykesMarch 26 - Calvester Montgomery

April 30 - Donna McLean May 14 - Day of Service at St. FrancisJune 25 - Warren Nix