St. James, Pray For Us
The following narrative is dedicated to a member of, and a friend from, my longtime class family at St. James School, Sam Pollino, who passed away a few months ago. He loved coming “home” from California and visiting the local Italian Festivals when he came back to Jamestown for summer visits. I remember running into him often and reminiscing about our time on Prospect Street. I know he’s still smiling from up above, probably in a corner talking St. James with other SJ “family” classmates, MaryAnn, Michelle, and Kenny, and making all his new neighbors laugh, as he did those who knew him down here. Forever rest in peace, Sam, MaryAnn, Michelle and Kenny.
Around this time each year, festivals pop up here and there in our community, as there are events that take place in the Jamestown area including downtown Jamestown (the Scandinavian Festival, The Lucy Fest, Cruisin’, etal.) The Yassou Festival recently happened at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and St. James Church will hold its annual summer festival next weekend, featuring, as do most of these festivals, good food, lively music, and a lot of nostalgia and fellowship.
Being a former member of St. James Parish, as growing up that’s where our family worshiped, and, also being a student at St. James Parochial School from Kindergarten through Ninth Grade, I spent many years, months, days, and hours on the block between 27 Allen and 10 Prospect Streets. During all those years, I was able, as were so many who also attended St. James School, and worshiped at St. James Church, to experience so many great things, events, and meet so many great people who have remained friends for many years after the school closed. Though Sally and I are now members of Holy Apostles Parish, we are still connected with St. James, as members of the Catholic Neighbors in Faith, which is the newly formed regional Catholic Church Family of Parishes which includes, Our Lady of the Snows (Panama), St. Patrick’s (Randolph), Our Lady of Loreto (Falconer), Our Lady of Victory (Frewsburg), Sacred Heart (Lakewood), Holy Apostles (St. John and Saints Peter and Paul in Jamestown), and St. James (Jamestown). We are saddened by the announcement that some of those parishes will be merging for the second time in the past dozen years or so, and that a significant number of churches will close their doors one final time. Memories of times at many of those places of worship will never be closed in our hearts or minds though, if we don’t let them.
If you ever sat, or will ever sit, with two or more former attendees of St. James School and/or Church (the places of my growing up years), sometime during the encounter, almost inevitably, there would/will be a sharing of memories of our experiences of “St. James Life,” which are still as vivid in our minds as they ever were, and will ever be, as long as we live.
Most of those memories are triggered by just a word or two, or a name, or an event, and the conversations just take off from there. Many of us who attended St. James, who also attend our High School Reunions, often find a part of that evening gathered at a corner table going down “St. James Memory Lane,” remembering the great times we had in our youth.
Some of those trigger words that spark those conversations from my time and experiences at St. James include: Kindergarten Graduation, Sister Claudia, Derby Street, Monsignor Colagioia, First Confession, May Crowning, and Collection Cans for the Pagan Children. Other story sparkers include Tyro League Football, Green Hornets, St. Joseph Table, Knights of the Altar, Mrs. Rix, Mrs. Cusimano, Mrs. Foti, and Mrs. Alette, First Communion, Passion Play, Father Welker, and Tony Chestnut (the Toes-Knees-Chest and Head touch) exercise invented by, or at least we thought so, our PE Teacher, Mr. Tony Miliotto).
Some other names, phrases, events, etc., that get a great SJ conversation going are, Victoria Avenue, Calanni’s Store, Ash Wednesday, Lenten Masses, the Baltimore Catechism, Confirmation, Fenton Park, Holy Thursday to Good Friday Adorations, rising as one, when a Priest or Nun entered the classroom and welcoming them in a full voice unison, Little Jimmies, Spiritual Bouquets, Polio Vaccine Day (sugar cubes), and Toast and Cocoa.
Green tape crosses on Football helmets, oranges at halftime, Big Jimmies, CYO, the Feast of St. Blaise (with the crossed candles), Midnight Masses, the smell of incense, cassocks and surplices, Sister Mary (insert name), Scapulars, Holy Cards on Desks on Exam Day, and 25 cent home-cooked lunches, add to the long list of memory prodders that spark so many great flashbacks of St. James School and/or Church for so many of us.
I have kept some mementos of my days at St. James. Every now and then I pull them out, to bring them to the reunions that are held from time to time, or just allow me to take my own solo trip back through my experiences on Allen and Prospect Streets. Those memories will stay with me all the remaining days of my life, and I venture a guess that there are many others who can say the same thing.
As we petitioned his intercession in church so often in our school and church days with the words, “St. James, pray for us,” I’m convinced he did that for all of us.