NORRISTOWN — At the heart of it, it’s a reunion — a chance for classmates to reconnect — for kids once friends to reconnect those bonds as adults. A chance to remember classmates, teachers, nuns, priests and to reminisce about days gone by.
But the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School All-Class Reunion carries a bit more weight than just a typical school reunion. It’s a key event for St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Norristown as one of the parish’s centennial celebrations.
The parish community kicked off the centennial calendar June 2023 with an opening mass and celebration. Each month featured an event, including a potluck picnic, a trip to a Reading Fightins baseball game and various mass celebrations.
The All-Class Reunion, set for April 20, 2024 in the school gym, will begin with a celebration of mass at 4 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner at 5. Attendees must be 21, as it is a BYOB event. Parking is limited. Cost is $35 per person; for information visit the parish website at https://www.sfanorristown.com/reunion.
No doubt the graduates who attend the reunion will spend the evening trading “remember when” stories. But Rev. Richard Smith, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi parish, believes that more than just stories will be brought back into focus.
“My hope is that this reunion will help our alumni see how, at an early age, how much a Catholic education shaped their lives,” Smith said. “Many times we talk about how our high school or college experiences formed us. I would like people to see that it was here at St. Francis that they were already being shaped into the people they are today. It was here at St. Francis that those values and skills were first planted in our hearts and minds. Over time, with the help of other teachers, families and friends, those gifts that were nurtured here truly began to blossom, but it started here.”
Mary (Poliwoda) Anders is most certainly an example of what Father Smith described. Her family’s legacy is strongly tied to the legacy of SFA.
Anders is one of seven very active and athletic Poliwodas to graduate from St. Francis of Assisi school – her siblings are Don, Ann, Beth, Sally, Joe, and Ellie.
“My sister Ellie was the first class to graduate from St. Francis after going from kindergarten to 8th grade (1985),” Anders, a 1985 SFA graduate, said. “My parents were members of the parish since 1959 and my mom was probably on every committee or group you could think of: Christmas bazaar, PTA, Ladies of St. Francis, CYO board, lunch mother, chaperone for dances and trips, SFA Seniors, and Prayer Shawl Group.”
Anders also sent her three children, Ellie, Sam and Brigid, through SFA, and said “and it was such a blessing that I was able to pass on to them the values and spirituality that I was afforded.”
And Anders, Father Smith noted, is not alone in her regard for her parish and her school.
“The (graduates) that I have spoken with think very highly of their school and their roots here,” Smith said. “They still talk about St. Francis being ‘their school.’ Our current school community feels the same way. More and more families are stepping up through our Home and School Board to help improve our school and secure its future. I hope that both communities can see they are one in the same and help make St. Francis of Assisi School even better than what they remember.”
St. Francis All-Class Reunion
At SFA: 601 Buttonwood Street, Norristown
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Mass: 4 pm.
Buffet dinner: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. (BYOB)
Information: https://www.sfanorristown.com/reunion
