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2005 Reunion Speeches

Emcee's Remarks

Ed Wilkinson

Welcome everyone. Msgr. Mottet will you please lead us with the blessing.

Welcome again – my name is Ed Wilkinson and my wife Margaret Ann McKillip and I are graduates of the class of 1950. Last Christmas during the exchange of greeting cards – Fran Broich and Jim Murray expressed interest in gathering classes for a reunion. From that beginning we had no idea of the response to a school wide CCHS & OHA reunion. Thank you all for coming.

I would like to acknowledge some of our classmates and teachers with us tonight. Fr. Joe Rogers, Fr. Digger Dawson, Msgr. Marvin Mottet , Msgr. Bobby Schmidt, Fr. Tom Stratman, Fr. Troy Richmond and Fr. Tim Sheedy. Also from the Humility Order Sr. Helen Strohman, Sr. Rosalia Riedel, Sr. Catherine Linnenhamp, Sr. Lucia Kadolph, Sr. Madeline Marie Schmidt, Sr. Marilyn Reyes, Sr. Marcia Eckerman, Sr. Miriam Clare Miller, & Sr. Rachel Beeson., Sister Rose Mary Eich.

Margaret and I looked for a theme for this reunion and have turned to Doris Day and her rendition of "Sentimental Journey", the words of which you will find in your program. We all know Catholics love to sing so help me out here with a couple of verses of "Sentimental Journey."

Some of the songs I recall of my days CCHS was one we sang at the Diocesan Music Festival held here in the Davenport High auditorium. It was "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", and at that festival while walking down the steps Bill Herber dropped a bottle of beer from inside his coat causing Sr. Saint John to yank him out of there denying him his time in the spot light.. Bill could sing very nicely. Other songs I recall portions of – "We’re the fighting Gaels , team that never fails, fight fight we’ll win tonight, that’s what we all say fight!" Another was "Cheer – cheer for the boys who drank the beer in the basement of old Central High. They were brave, they were bold, and the whiskey they could hold is a story that never will die".

When my parents enrolled me in Catholic Central, I was 13 years old and my first date was to the freshman-sophomore mixer held in the basement of St. Marys church and my date was a St. Mary’s red head from up on Fifth Street. I had to catch a bus from the south side, then transfer to the bus up North Court (I’d never transferred before) then we walked to town for the dance. Another memory from my freshman year was Marvin Mottet and Bob Evitts approaching Jack Larkin and I about being cheerleaders. We thought about that and decided we would just go out for the freshman-soph basketball team. Then a couple of days later Jack Carr approached us and said "You guys aren’t good enough to make the team so you can be the cheer leaders." Now I was 13 years old and Jack was like 21 or 22 and I think his girl friend at that time was named Margie Jones and she was a senior cheer leader and we were to go out to the Heights and practice 2 or 3 times a week with some of those senior girls - so we did.

Now I would like to introduce Sr. Catherine Linnenkamp of the Congregation of the Humility of Mary to share some of her memories. Sister.

When getting this put together we had inquires about "what do you do with the Walsh Grads?" so we invited any of those who wished to attend also. Fr. Tim Sheedy from the class of 68 has some words about those memorable years.

Now from the class of ‘53 of the Ottumwa Height Academy, Shirlee Van Scoy Goaley.

And also from the last class at CCHS the class of 53, John Reardon.

For a group of memories from the earlier Heights years, Margaret.

Who would guess could remember more trivia from the glory days of Catholic Central than Bob Tracy.

Closing out our program tonight is the fellow who for the first time didn’t win the golf tourney today – Rev. William Digger Dawson.

At our registration desk is a list of addresses of people with whom contact has been made. We sent out about 250 notices – got a lot back as our sources were about 10 years old. So these people are the addresses we know are correct today. If we didn’t hear from the rest we didn’t guess about them. I’ll be happy to update these if you know of someone to add. Tomorrow morning at 9:00 at the Humility Center on Central Park Ave. Fr. Dawson will celebrate Mass and the sisters invite all to attend, with coffee and rolls to follow. A map is available at the registration desk if you don’t know the way. One more song to sing before Msgr. Schmidt gives us a closing prayer - on the back of your program – both verses please. "The Bells of St. Mary’s". Msgr.Schmidt.

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