Fifty years have passed since the young men from the Christian Brothers Academy Class of 1960 received their diplomas, but it felt like just yesterday for the more than 2 dozen classmates who gathered for the Jubilee Reunion weekend from Friday, May 21st- Sunday, May 23rd to celebrate this impressive milestone anniversary.

The Jubilee Reunion Planning Committee, consisting of: Paul Brooks; George Deptula; Patrick Farone; Paul Finochio; Barry Maloney; Neal McLane; and David Sullivan, worked tirelessly for over 8 months to find ‘missing’ classmates; reach out to fellow Jubilarians to garner excitement for the reunion; and plan every detail of the weekend’s events from menu selection to hotel accommodations.

Dave Sullivan utilized his technical savvy by creating and maintaining a dedicated website for the class (www.cba1960.com), where individuals registered their contact information, chatted via a forum, posted photographs, completed profile forms, and generally, reconnected. The committee’s efforts, commitment, and tenacity paved the way for a hugely successful reunion, characterized by classmate, Denny Ragan as, “elegant, touching, and memorable.”

The weekend’s festivities were kicked off with a catered sit-down dinner in the
W. Dennis Owen, AFSC ’44 Fine Arts Wing reception area. Close to 50 Jubilarians, their guests, CBA Development staff members, and Brothers joined together to reminisce and catch up. School memorabilia including, newspaper clippings, photos, musicales, and band uniforms were on display. Thanks to Barry Maloney’s creativity, persistence, data collection, and meticulous research, copies of a special edition of the Purple and Gold school newspaper were available for all attendees highlighting stories and photos from the old Willow St. school days to the present.

As is the tradition at the Jubilee Reunion, each classmate was called upon after the meal to speak about their memories from their school days and the highlights of their lives since graduation. Those gathered were treated to a succession of spirited, amusing anecdotes and heartfelt tributes. Dave Miller led the group in a rousing chorus of the CBA Willow St. Fight Song. The evening concluded with a tour of the ‘new’ CBA, conducted by Director of Development, Patti Callahan, and Br. Gabriel Fiumano, FSC ’47.

Dave Sullivan and Barry Maloney serve as emcees at the Jubilee Reunion dinner on Friday night.	Jubilee dinner guests peruse the special edition of the Purple and Gold newspaper created by Barry Maloney.
Dave Miller, Dave Sullivan, and Jim Ashe lead the group in the CBA Willow St. Fight Song.	Terry Riley tickled the ivories during the Jubilee dinner
Members of the CBA Class of 1960 reunite to celebrate their 50th Golden Jubilee Anniversary. Seated (L-R): Jim Ashe, Tom Cooney, Duke Kerr, Terry Riley, Pat Farone, Dave Sullivan, Paul Brooks, Dick Deneve, Rev. Louis Canino, Rev. Joseph Phillips. Standing (L-R): Paul Finochio, Jack Clinton, Bud Pare, George Deptula, Denny Ragan, Bill Speno, Paul Premo, Dave Miller, Barry Maloney, Fred Neimeier, Neal McLane, Ray Lovett, Dick Sparrow.

The next two days offered a whirlwind of activities for the reunion-goers. Saturday’s activities included a breakfast at the Genesee Grande Hotel (temporary home of several of the out-of -town revelers); a tour of St. Charles School and old Syracuse ‘haunts;’ and a Happy Hour at Riley’s, hosted by classmate, Terry Riley. Saturday evening, several Jubilarians and their wives attended the Baccalaureate Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville, along with the Class of 2010 and their families. After Mass, a handful of revelers joined for a late dinner at the hotel.

On Sunday morning, 12 members of the Jubilee class processed before the Class of 2010 graduates at Temple Adath Yeshurun for the 109th Christian Brothers Academy Commencement. Those in attendance were individually called to the stage to receive a gift from the Most Reverend Robert J. Cunningham, Bishop of Syracuse. Barry Maloney and Dave Sullivan, acting as representatives of Class of 1960, presented a check to Principal Br. Joseph Jozwiak, FSC for over $9000 in donations from class members in honor of their reunion.

(L-R): Dick Sparrow, Paul Brooks, Dave Sullivan, Paul Premo, Neal McLane, Barry Maloney (partially obscured), and Board of Trustee member, W. Dennis Owen, AFSC ’44 share stories before the graduation ceremony

Members of the Class of 1960 Jubilee Reunion attendees pose for a photo after receiving a gift from Bishop Cunningham during the Commencement exercises (on floor L-R): Barry Maloney, Pat Farone, George Deptula, Rev. Louis Canino, Paul Brooks, Jim Ashe (on stage L-R): Neal McLane, Dave Miller, Paul Premo, Denny Ragan, Dick Sparrow, and Dave Sullivan.

Barry Maloney and Dave Sullivan present a check to Principal, Br. Joseph Jozwiak, FSC for over $9000 from the Class of 1960.

The Class of 1960 Golden Jubilee Reunion concluded with much “Pomp and circumstance,” as had the Jubilarians’ tenure at the Willow St. school. But the weekend’s activities and encounters, filled with fondness, laughter, camaraderie, and brotherhood, best characterized their CBA experience.

Golden Jubilee Archives Class of 1960 Golden Jubilee Class of 1959 Golden Jubilee Class of 1958 Golden Jubilee Class of 1957 Golden Jubilee

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