Advancement Office Overview

The pile went from a dozen sheets of paper to a heap spilling out of the bin. The emails flew in and the phone rang. “Here I am” they said. It was our alumni. When I accepted the Advancement Director position last year, my goal seemed easy enough to define: build and maintain relationships with the St. Mary School alumni. The actual task however seemed to be more challenging – how was I going to find 46 years of lost alumni? Well it turns out all I had to do was let them know that I was looking for them. Last year’s Alumni Reconnect Campaign reunited St. Mary School with over 700 of her alumni!

To show how thrilled we are to have you back, Principal Barry is inviting each of you to lunch. Please join her for a school lunch in your old cafeteria, a school tour and what we hope will be a wonderful trip down memory lane. Contact me to set up a date at 508-842-1601 or naras@stmarysparish.org.

Our first alumni event was the Alumni Reception held during the St. Mary’s Family Festival. We were happy to visit with alumni and teachers ranging from the Class of 1970 to the Class of 2008. Mary Blute and her sister Kathleen (Blute) Madaus took a school tour where they shared stories of each other and of their siblings Peter, Joe, Carol, Anne Marie, and Paula that both warmed your heart and tickled your funny bone. Former Principal Joanne Gannon, former Librarian Mary Daly and former Vice Principal and math teacher Susan Leahy received their share of great big bear hugs from former students and Mrs. Leahy won the door prize!

We have reviewed the alumni suggestions for future alumni events and are hard at work planning for this school year. In January we are inviting the Classes of 1998 through 2008 to a Battle of the Brains Pizza Night. Register with your friends and former classmates as teams and compete for the Battle of the Brains Cranium Award and be known as St. Mary School’s Reigning “Cranium” Team. It looks like present and former teachers will be on hand as Team Coaches. On January 24, 2009 we are inviting alumni to attend the St. Mary’s Winter Ball. The ball is a wonderful evening of dinner and dancing and our hope is that alumni will reserve tables with their graduating classes. I’d be happy to contact your classmates for you if you’d like to sit together. For the spring we are planning a Wine Tasting which includes a short presentation on the proper tasting, storing and food pairing of wines. There will be plenty of snacks, door prizes and good cheer.

We continue to search for alumni and strategize on how best to serve you. Please share your suggestions with us. Cocktail parties, athletic events, family activities, outdoor adventures, luncheons, lectures, theater and concerts are all options for future activities to bring the alumni together. What type of event would you like to attend? We are excited about the upcoming year and look forward to our alumni events with great anticipation.

I wish you peace and good health.
Sira Naras

Advancement Director
508-842-1601
naras@stmarysparish.org