ST. EMYDIUS CLASS OF 1958 : 2021

St. Emydius 2021 Luncheon

October 23, 2021

The St. Emydius class of 1958 held its annual luncheon at Boudin's in San Francisco at the Wharf. We cancelled the 2020 event due to COVID which was raging. In 2020 restaurants and public venues were shutdown. Now they are coming to life with vaccination restrictions for indoor dining. The Wharf was jammed with maskless folks. Joggers swarmed the Embarcadero. The Farmers Market at the Ferry Building Plaza was mobbed. By midday the restaurants were well occupied inside and outside.

We adjourned at 11am at the bar and once again thank Louie Giraudo for our first round of drinks. At noon we moved into the dining room for lunch.

Pat & Bill Duggan

John Fitzgerald sharing ancient photos

Lucky Larry with Catherine and Bernadette (Nikki)

Stella aglow

The crew

Marty provided a special prayer, recalled from Father Motherway, before dessert was served.

Marty waxes

After ample wine and food we gathered for the group shot. Sorry for the lousy lighting.

Left to right bottom row:

Don Haderle, Larry McNeil, Catherine Martin Conway, Marilyn "Cookie" Facciola Tarantino, Graciela Velez Ryder, Stella DuBose Stone, Amy Walsh Hanley, Marty Tierney, Bernadette Dunne, Ann Marie Mayer, Bill Duggan, Pat Duggan

Left to right top row:

Sue Tierney, John Fitzgerald, Paul Mayer

St. Emydius 2019

We, the proud class of St. Emydius 1958, met for lunch at Boudin's on the Wharf in San Francisco.

Amy won't stop gabbing

Amy, control yourself

St. Emydius Class of 1958 with spouses

Top row L2R: Don Haderle, Steve Paris, Dave Breslin's wife (Brown Eyed Beauty), Dave Breslin, Barry McNamara, Stella Du Bose Stone, John Mulhall, Sue Johnson Ahlbach, Gail Haderle, Dan Hallisy, Bernadette Dunne

Bottom row L2R: Suzanne O'Connor O'Shea, Amy Walsh Hanley, Vicki McNamara, Bill Duggan, Grace Velez Ryder, Pat Byrne Duggan, Sue Hallisy, Marilyn ("Cookie") Facciola Tarantino

It was a brilliantly sunny day, marred by the fires in the North Bay (Healdsburg, Windsor, and so many more communities in the North Bay) threatening over 80,000 structures. Several areas have been evacuated and major roads closed. Howling winds have carried the smoke into the entire bay area, provoking a respiratory alert. PG&E shut off power to many areas to prevent fires caused by electrical failures. The conditions prevented several classmates from attending.

We drank, ate, and gabbed. Special thanks to Lou Giraudo, an old friend of many of us and co-chairman of Andre Boudin Bakeries among his many business interests. Lou graciously provided the first round of drinks, which we consumed in his honor.

Those of us who respond to the published schedule arrived at 11am, gathered at the bar and mingled for an hour while consuming alcohol. We then moved to our usual room for lunch. The restaurant (upstairs) was filling up and by the time we departed shortly after 2pm the place was jampacked with 20+ people waiting for seating to open up.

The City is crowded and especially so for the touristed areas, which is where we were. Smart folks (Sue Hallisy, etc.) use Uber or concierge services to get in and out of Fisherman's Wharf, and you don't have to worry about alcohol consumption.

Here's a few shots of the event.

Stella center

Bernadette spins a story

The guys

Safe zone for the spouses

Bill makes a point

Vicki and Sue

Grace with Suzanne

Amy released a dove

Gail with our waiter, Juan

Once again our AVID award goes to John Mulhall who flies in from Washington State for this event annually.

So what did we learn? We discussed our ailments, learned about the latest hearing aids, got advice on digestive disorders, and so many more interesting facts. There was an interesting story about a child born without eyelids and the procedure to create some for him. Barry promises to update us on his progress next time.

No one brought pictures of their grandkids, dogs, horses, or other pets - as they were instructed to do. So this leaves more for us to discuss when we meet again. If you send me one or two digital photos of such, I'll create a montage and challenge everyone to sort out who belongs to whom.

Suzanne O'Connor O'Shea amazed us with her production - 8 childen, a zillion grandchildren. When I get the exact number I'll update this.

Barry McNamara has been given membership to the secular Franciscan order. For more details see

https://catholic-sf.org/news/secular-franciscans-bring-faith-into-the-heart-and-the-world

Bernadette Dunne finally retired, enjoying every moment.

And, and, and.

Everyone left with loaves of Boudin bread. I heard from several that the bread was the staple of the evening meal.

Until next year! Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.

St. Emydius 2018

October 27, 2018

St. Emydius Class of 1958 Annual luncheon at Boudin's at the Wharf in San Francisco

Left to right:
Dan Hallisy, Don Haderle, Gracie Velez Ryder, Gail Haderle, Marty Tierney, Barry McNamara, Sue Tierney, Vicki McNamara, Stephen Paris, Stella DuBose Stone, Mary Paris, Bernadette Dunne (hiding), Clair Steach Poulsen, John Mulhall, John Fitzgerald, and Bill Duggan.

On a brilliant Saturday we gathered to celebrate 60 years since our graduation from St. Emydius. The restaurant opens to the public at 11:30, but the bar was open to us at 11am and we enjoyed champagne, cocktails, and beer as a warmup for lunch. The food, wine, and service at Boudin's was great.

Tierney takes the floor

As promised, Marty Tierney reprised his role in our 8th grade blockbuster, "Vacation Daze," with a recitation of "A Little Bit of Heaven." Given that his voice has matured, he chose to recite the lyrics rather than sing them.

Dan Hallisy and Stephen Paris in rapt attention for Marty's recitation

John Mulhall is a devoted to these get togethers. He flew from his home in Washington state for the day just to join us. Our second place devotee award goes to Stella DuBose Stone, who motored from Yuba City for this event.

Most of us are retired or semi-retired. We extend warm wishes to Bernadette Dunne who will join the retirement ranks at the end of the year.

Bernadette Dunne

Hope to see you all next year for #61.

St. Emydius 2017

St. Emydius Elementary School, San Francisco Class of 1958

On Saturday October 21, 2017 we gathered at Boudin's on the Wharf for our annual luncheon. This was our 59 year anniversary. The weather was perfect. Fisherman's Wharf was swarming with people enjoying the weekend and the Wharf Fest Chowder Competition and Street Fair.

As promised we started off with mimosas and straight up champagne. The meal was delicious, the conversation spectacular, and Yikes we all learned the latest dance craze. Here's the crew:

From left to right:

Sue Hallisy, Don Haderle, Stella DuBose Stone, Barry McNamara, Gail Haderle, Graciela Velez Ryder, Amy Walsh Hanley, Marilyn (Cookie) Facciola Tarantino, Vicki McNamara, Bernadette Dunne, Sue Johnson Ahlbach, Dan Hallisy, Clair Steach Poulsen, Mary Paris, Louise Bachman Hale, Catherine Martin Conway, Steve Paris, Larry Conway

Cookie is hiding behind Vicki, so she gets a special picture.

Cookie in 2015 unchanged in 2017

And Bill Duggan skipped out and missed the group picture. So here he is.

Catherine & Bill

Here's a few news bites:

Michael Doody has moved to Tennessee to join his daughter and family.
Terry O'Day McCabe who lives in Virginia was recovering from caring for her grandchild in North Carolina while her daughter had her second child.
Maureen McTernan Sinclair has moved to Renton, Washington to be with her daughter and family.
Michael Carroll sends his best from London, Ontario, Canada where he lives and works.
Marty Tierney totally forgot about this important event and scheduled a trip - he shifted the blame to Sue.
John Mulhall also erred in his scheduling.

Hope to see you all for our 60th next year.

St. Emydius 2015

On October 17, 2015 the St. Emydius class of 1958 met at Boudin's at the Wharf for our annual luncheon. The weather was warm and moist. The wharf was mobbed with tourists standing shoulder to shoulder. A Princess cruise ship arrived around 11am jamming the Embarcadero with taxis and pickup cars, reducing traffic to a crawl, so we barely made it to Boudin's for our 11:30 start.

Boudin's was jam-packed. But our room overlooking the wharf was a quiet oasis.

It's always a great time when we get together. There's something special about childhood friendships, so it's great to renew them again. The conversation picked up where we left off last year.

Here's some pictures of the crew.