Alums from 60 years of classes ending in ‘4’ and ‘9’ gathered from all over the country to reconnect with fellow ‘Brothers’ at several events from Friday, June 26th through Sunday, June 28th. The festivities began on Friday night, when classmates from 1989 met at the Library Lounge in the Renaissance Hotel in Syracuse to share some spirits and revisit their days at CBA. Much thanks to Beth Storinge ’89 for arranging this special get-together.
On Saturday evening, over 80 alums and their guests enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner at Drumlins Country Club. CBA-related newspaper clippings, yearbooks, and photos from the past 60 years were available for all in attendance to peruse, which sparked much reminiscing. The Class of 1989 was the largest group represented, with 15 attendees, followed closely by the Class of 1974, with 13.
Alums came from CA, CT, FL, NC, NJ, PA, and VA to attend the banquet, with David Ciabbatoni ’89 traveling the farthest…from San Francisco, CA. Thanks to the extra efforts of Susan Madden, her father, David Madden ’44, was able to join 5 of his fellow classmates for their 65th celebration. Susan, Vice President of Development for the Museum of the City of New York, took a day off from work to fly to Syracuse and accompany her father from Watertown to the banquet at Drumlins. When Principal Br. Thomas Zoppo recounted this story, Susan’s dedication to her father and his ties to CBA was acknowledged by rousing cheers from all in attendance.
The group was treated to a varied assortment of nostalgic music from the ‘40’s to the present by CBA alum and professional DJ, John Dillon ’99. John took only a brief break from his vigilant selection process to dine with his fellow reunion celebrants. After some needling, he was able to coax his classmate, Adam Duerr, onto the dance floor where Adam and his wife, Tracy, shared a romantic slow dance. Towards the end of the evening, Peter Wynyard ’74 and his wife, Debra, demonstrated their very elegant and fluid steps. The couple had met in a dance class years ago and have been ‘cutting a rug’ ever since.
The Class of 1989 revelers (Seated L to R): Lia Schembari Joseph and Beth Storinge. (Front row standing L to R): Fran Stinziano, Marc Chase, Tom Knight, Denise Guinta-Loerzel, John Paul Giamartino. (Back row L to R): Tom Pirro, Arve Wikstrom, Todd Gagne, Tim Finney, Ed Diamantis, Jeff DeFrancisco, Dave Ciabattoni, and Lisa Benz Safft.
Class of 1974 reunion goers: (Seated L to R): Mark Grenga and Mark Carroll. (Standing L to R): Peter Wynyard, Fred Popp, Ed Leone, Joe Kearney, Jon Law, Dan McGraw, Mike Domaratz, Randy Kinn, David Hildenbrand, and John Bahouth
Celebrating their 65th reunion are the members of the Class of 1944: (Seated L to R): Harry Ehle and Ed Madden. (Standing L to R): Dick Long, Dennis Owen, Frank Bersani, and Fran Ostrom.
On Sunday morning, over 50 alums, friends, and family members attended the Alumni Mass in the CBA Chapel. Msgr. Ronald Bill ’49, a reunion class member, was the celebrant. Alumni lectors included Richard Senecal ’49, Michael Kerwin ’69, Adam Duerr ’99, and Beth Storinge ’89. The group joined afterwards in the cafeteria for a lovely breakfast prepared by CBA parent, Claire Downey. Br. Thomas Zoppo offered tours of the CBA campus, as one of his last official acts as principal of the school.
Msgr. Ronald Bill ’49 celebrates Mass with the members of the 2009 reunion classes and their family and friends
Adam Duerr ’99 and his family attend the Alumni Mass
Pete Caroli ’89 organized the first ever Alumni Baseball game on Sunday afternoon. Close to 20 alums assembled on the CBA diamond, along with coaches Kevin Conroy and Tom Dotterer ’53, and Athletic Director, Buddy Wleklinski ’75, to see if they were still ‘in the swing.’ After a grueling 7 innings, the yellow team emerged, victorious. All agreed to make this an annual event, to be held on the last Sunday in June. All alums are invited to play or to root the teams on…so mark your calendars for 6/27/10!
2009 Alumni Baseball players: (Kneeling L to R): Brian Bruno ’95, Nick DiVeronica ’94, Sean Anderson ’97, Fran Stinziano ’89, Tom
Quilter, III ’89, Steve Quilty ’69, Joe Giannuzzi ’98, Mike Stanczyk ’98. (Standing L to R): Patrick Quilty, Kevin Conroy, Tom Quilter, Jr. ’58, Tom “Coach” Dotterer ’53, Marc Taranto ’87, Pete Caroli ’89, John Haas ’89, Marc Chase ’89, Peter Caroli, Buddy Wleklinski ’75.
Coach Dotterer makes a touching speech to the players after the game
Meeting on the mound
Coach Dotterer reviews CBA baseball stats from the past 30 years.
Marc Chase ’89 comes in from a tough inning in left field
CBA adopted the All-Alumni Reunion format 5 years ago, scheduled for the last weekend in June, to coincide with the annual Alumni Golf Scramble. This multi-class format is intended to reduce the redundancy of planning efforts and maximize attendance at the weekend events. As we have completed a ‘cycle’ of 5 years, alums should now be able to anticipate and plan for their upcoming celebrations. We rely on the help of class representatives to elicit excitement and get the word out to fellow alums. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the following individuals for their assistance with the planning of the 2009 All-Alumni Reunion:
Class of 1944: W. Dennis Owen, AFSC
Class of 1949: Msgr. Ronald Bill
Class of 1969: John Barsanti and Mike Kerwin
Class of 1974: Mark Carroll and Mark Grenga
Class of 1989: Beth Storinge and Marc Chase
Heads up Classes ending in ‘05’ and ‘10’!!
Your reunion weekend is scheduled for June 26-27, 2010. If you are interested in helping to plan your upcoming reunion activities please contact Helen Kelley at (315) 446-5960 x1122 or hkelley@cbasyracuse.org.
