Update: Feb. 14, 2008

I have some wonderful news to share!   Today I attended a meeting of the SJV Board of Trustees.   Hard to believe that geeky high school freshman would many years later be invited to a Trustees meeting!   I was invited by Msgr. Carruthers, SJV's new Rector.  

I was asked to attend to represent this web site as a contact to the early alumni of SJV.   I met with the Development and Public Relations Committee Chaired by Diocese of St. Petersburg Bishop Robert Lynch, a former Rector of SJV.

The great news is that there will be a major celebration of the 50th Anniversary of St. John Vianney in the 2009-2010 school year.  Details are still very much in development.   It will be a combination of events over a few days.  It was very clear to me that this will be a inclusive event and will be a Reunion for ALL Alumni, ordained and lay. 

At this early stage, the further development of the Alumni database will be very important.   As you can see on the rest of this site, I have listed all of the High School Alumni.  With the help of Dan Kroger, many of the Jr. College students are listed also.   Now is the time to fill in the blanks.  If everyone of you would reach out to the others you have stayed in contact with I'm sure we can reach a majority of the Alumni between now and the 50th.   Unfortunately, the school does not have very good records of Alumni.  

Please start with your own class list.   If you've exchanged Christmas cards over the years, please look for addresses.   Even if you have lost contact, think about what you do know about your missing classmates.   Maybe a home town?  College you heard they attended?  Profession?   You knew them the best during their formative years so you will likely know something that will help find them on the internet.  Then please do some Internet searches to tie the information together.   That's exactly how I found many of you.   More unusual last names help, but sometimes you can get lucky with just a name and a city.   Please don't assume that some of your classmates are too old to be into the Internet.   After seeing Bishop Lynch showing off his I-Phone, I've learned not to make assumptions about technology based on age, profession or position!   Your 50+ year old classmate will likely be somewhere on the Internet.  Please help us by taking some time to look for him.

Once you have finished with your class, check some of friends from the years ahead and behind of you.   Since the High School and Jr. College were together for so many years, there's a chance you could have shared the school with people five years older or five years younger than you.

Again, this was just the first meeting to discuss the Alumni involvement in the 50th.  There are still many details to work out.   I will keep this page updated with the latest information.   In the meantime, please start getting ready for the Reunion by spreading the word by email, phone calls, or even letters. 

I would also like to share your ideas about what should make up this celebration.  What type of events would you like to attend?   What would you like to see on campus?   What types of things would make the celebration more memorable for you?  

Please contact me if you have any input or have found any of your classmates.

In your messages to me, and to the Reflections page, many of you expressed an interest in some sort of Reunion for those who attended St. John Vianney.   It will be a great way to renew friendships, talk about the good times, pray for those who have gone ahead of us, and maybe understand more about what effect SJV had on us.  I think it will also help heal pain some felt when they left.  There was a sense of separation that may still linger.   It might help to get some things out in the open, or to explain your feelings to your classmates because you couldn't express them at the time.

From attending the 40th Anniversary, I can say that there's not much mention of the high school era.   I don't mean to imply that I didn't feel welcome, I was.   But the administration of the school changed drastically when they Vincentian Fathers left so much of our history left with them.   There are yearbooks, class photos, but just not the feeling of history you would expect from a school nearly half a century old.  

Unlike traditional high schools, I don't think SJV has formal reunions.   Many who continued on to a religious vocation come back for the yearly school anniversary masses.   I'm not sure if everyone feels comfortable in that sort of situation.   Maybe we need to plan a gathering at about the same time so we can meet and talk before the anniversary mass.   The key to any sort of formal or informal reunion will be that it should be inclusive.   It's not about who failed and who succeeded, who was asked to stay and who was told to leave, it's about the times we shared together.   

At one time, the SJV web site made mention of an Alumni Association.   I hope they will use this web site as a resource to get in contact with those of us who attended SJV during the Vincentian era.   Such a reunion could be an important first step to helping the Association.