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Chapter Dinners -- A successful page in College's alumni story Alumni Association to be formed; election planned Vol. 3, No. 3 December, 1983 University of St. Jerome's College Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2L 3G3 The story of our College's efforts to establish a formal alumni association is still being written, but the recent reunion dinners in Hamilton and Toronto will no doubt add a colourful page to that narrative. Plans to accomplish this task were announced at the dinners by Robert Donelson, the College's Assistant to the Registrar. They include a call for nominations followed by an election of a slate of candidates. "The idea of an alumni association has been talked about a lot over the years," says Donelson, "but for one reason or another the climate has never been quite right and these efforts have met without success." "I think the climate is different now," he acknowledged. "We now maintain regular contact with our alumni through the pages of Update!, and we are encouraged by the enthusiasm and support for the various events we have sponsored for alumni over the past year. People have expressed enough interest to suggest that the momentum is there," he added. That momentum was in evidence and Donelson's announcement struck a responsive chord with the 40 alumni gathered at Hamilton's Hillcrest Restaurant and the 80 present at Toronto's Captain John's. As the photographs inside show, there was a good cross-section of graduates from all years. At the Toronto dinner, it was an especially pleasant reunion for Norb Casey and Emil Jursa, who hadn't seen one another since their graduation in 1966. It was a night for families, too. Deb Hayes ('78) was there as was her brother Terry ('80) and his wife Susan (Borsellino '80) and their sister Lynne (Cloutier '79). Steve McKernan ('76) and his wife Nora ('76) enjoyed the dinner as did brother Greg ('81). It was good to see Judy Heffer ('78) and her sister Mary-Jo (Grant '77). The Predoviches, Ken and Pat, and Richard and Christine Dominica, all of the class of '69, had fun recalling their days at the College. Paul Rucurean ('79) (sans wife Ella ('78) who had just given birth to twins) was there with his sister Arlene ('81). Many of the St. Jerome's faculty joined in the festivities at both dinners. Among them were Dean Peter Naus, Assistant Dean Ted McGee, Fr. Sudie MacDonald, Mark Kiley, Centre Director Michael Higgins, Fr. Jim Wahl, Doug Letson, John Orlando and Vera Golini. The year 1971 was well represented by George and Lorraine Alles and Sal and Susan Catania. 1972 was not far behind with Ray and Debbie Pecoskie, Antonette Bousquet and Blanche Daley. In Hamilton, Mayor Bob Morrow joined the approximately 40 alumni in attendance and generously brought civic greetings to all St. Jerome's grads in the Steel City. He praised the contribution university graduates make to the well-being of Hamilton and offered his wishes for future success. Morrow remarked that he was familiar with St. Jerome's College having himself been a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University. This fact was met with a friendly chorus of "boos" and "hisses" from assembled alumni and a mischievous grin from the Mayor. Paul Morley ('75) wondered why we hadn't had a dinner like this before and George Luciani ('71), Roy Lance ('73), Laverne Urban ('68) and Richard Startek ('68) recalled their student days over a cigar after dinner. Donelson read a telegram sent that day to Bishop Paul Reding who was in Detroit receiving treatments for cancer. The Hamilton alumni responded warmly to this gesture. Call for nominations Donelson's plans include an election of an executive committee whose role would be to oversee, plan and organize alumni events and projects, and to promote the creative participation of alumni in the life of St. Jerome's College. "To be effective in reaching this goal, we must have ideas which originate with our graduates themselves. If we are to be responsive in serving their needs, we will be serving the College as well." "To that end," stated Donelson, "the December issue of Update! will contain a call for nominations for positions on an alumni executive committee. The March issue of Update! will contain a ballot listing candidates for the various positions. All graduates and past residents of St. Jerome's and Notre Dame Colleges are eligible to stand for nomination. To qualify for the position of regional vice-president, nominees must be residents of the region for which they wish to stand. Nominations close February 17, 1984 at 3:00 p.m. Ken Predovich and wife Pat proudly display a memento (or relic?) of their university years. Ken's 1969 yearbook evoked more than one chortle during the evening!