St. Mary's School, R.I.P.

The planned demolition of St. Mary's on Franklin Avenue in Flint has been delayed, but the home of the wildcats will disappear soon, another lost monument to Flint during happier times. 

Sarah Schuch of MLive wrote: "The three-story, 12-classroom school now sits vacant. The gym and locker rooms aren't like they were a decade ago. Cerca Boxing has been using the space. And the inside is deteriorating.

"Alumni wrote messages on the chalkboards during a fundraiser in May. Many messages include 'RIP' and fond memories."

Here's a collection of photos related to St. Mary's that have appeared on Flint Expatriates over the years. Thanks to Kelly O' Connor for the Jet League basketball photos.

Ben Hamper Remembers Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn

Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn at the corner of Pasadena and Lawndale. (All photos by Ben Hamper.)

I just got an email and some photos from Ben Hamper, the bestselling author of Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line, one of my favorite books. Combine Rivethead with Theodore Weesner's The Car Thief, and Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, and you've got an impressive triumvirate of Buick Town literature.
For a few days a week in the seventies, Ben drove a contingent of Civic Parkers across town to St. Mary's for school. I remember me, his brother, sister, and daughter in his AMC Pacer.

"I was raised in the Civic Park area," Ben writes. "Specifically, I grew up on the corner of Dayton and Lawndale. I went to grade school at St. Lukes. Once I hit 9th grade, I also used to catch the bus downtown to go to St. Mike's. I would either grab the Dupont bus, at the corner of Dupont & Dayton, or the Civic Park bus, in front of the laundromat at Dayton & Forest Hill. When Powers opened, I went there -- graduating in 1973.

"At that time, the Civic Park area was a wonderful spot to grow up in. I used to haunt many of the places you or your readers mention — Bassett Park, Haskel , Dayton Pharmacy, Double D Market (my class E baseball team was sponsored one summer by Comber's Market, its original name), the Civic Park library, Balkan Bakery, the barber shop that switched into Ski Haus, and later on, Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn and the Civic Park Lounge. Fine memories, all.

Like many in the neighborhood, Ben spent some time at Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn. My family often went there on Fridays during Lent for fish. I still remember an old guy teetering on his bar stool to give me a quarter one time.

"Ah, good old Jack Gilbert's," Ben writes in his email. "That place was always like a magic mystery land to me while I was a student at St. Luke's. I always craved to know what went on in there. Many of our fathers hung out there but they weren't much on information. Fortunately I got to experience the place for myself a few years later. Great fish & chips! I always ordered the frog legs & battered potatoes. Will include a photo of the place I took a couple years back. I still recall sitting there sucking on a beer on a lazy Saturday afternoon when I got the call to report to GM."

This seems like a perfect time for an excerpt from Rivethead:

I wasn't home the day GM finally called. It was a Saturday and I was planted on a barstool up at Jack Gilbert's Wayside Inn. I didn't expect to get called in on a weekend, so I left the house with no instructions to where anyone could reach me. My little brother, a real wiseacre, told them that I could be reached at any number of North Flint area bars. I'm sure this tickled them pink.

Fortunately, I had given GM my in-laws' number as a backup and my sister-in-law came racing into the Wayside where I was in the process of getting shit-faced with her boyfriend Rick.

"Ben. BEN! GM just called you! They want you to come to work."

"Shit," I hollered, "it's about time those bastards rang me.

On a weekend, no less. That gives me and the old Ricker here time to do some much-deserved celebrating. Did they mention what time they needed me on Monday?"

"No, no, no! They want you to work TODAY! The said to be there at four and to wear some work boots if possible."

"TODAY? Saturday? It is Saturday, isn't it? Four o'clock? WORK BOOTS?"

"Four o'clock," my sister-in-law repeated. "Work boots if possible."

This was some heavy shit. To be called in during the middle of the weekend smelled like an emergency. GM was now in the midst of one of their all-time boom-boom quota years, so I supposed reinforcements were needed on Saturdays, Sundays, Salad days- any time was the right time. This also marked the first time I ever remembered being asked out on a Saturday night by a corporation.

"I better move out," I told Rick. "Musn't keep Papa Jimmy waitin'."

"Wear something sexy, ratboy," Rick laughed. "And don't forget to write."

I hustled home. I didn't have any work boots, so I just threw on a pair of old Converse hightops along with a T-shirt and a pair of filthy jeans. My head was reciting all the advice my distant aunt had filled me with: Keep your guard out for troublemakers. Don't be coerced into drinking. Be on time. Do everything you're told, try to do extra, don't engage in horseplay, address your supervisor as "sir." Check, check, check.

Ben was the host of the radio show "Other Voices" in Flint in the eighties. It later became "Take No Prisoners" and expanded to TV. It was one of the few options for punk, alternative or music you'd never here on Live 105. He still has a show up north on WNMC. You can listen to it on the internet on Fridays from 9-11. Or if you want the classics, Aaron Stengel has an amazing supply of old shows and samples at the Flint Underground Music Archive.

"I curently live in Suttons Bay, 20 miles north of Traverse City," Ben writes. "I go down to Flint every other month or so. I always tour the old neighborhood. It's a dismal cascade of drek, but it's still home."

Bone-Breaking Tackles

This picture pretty much sums up my football career in Flint. It was taken in the St. Mary's cafeteria when we celebrated our 6-0 season in 8th grade. (Yes, those are purple converse with gold laces.) Bill Suttles is responsible for the broken arm. And Pat McGinnis did the honors in freshman football the next year at Powers. Same broken arm after the same pathetic arm tackle. Thankfully, soccer was added at Powers, saving me from further injury and humiliation.

When God Calls the Plays

Kurt Warner in one of his humbler moments. Or perhaps he's envisioning what the rush would have been like with the 49ers porous offensive line. (Illustration by Janine Kahn at SF Weekly)

At St. Mary's, the basketball players had a pre-game ritual; the coach would yell "Holy Mary mother of god!" and we'd shout back "Pray for us!" We also paid a visit to the grotto before every football game. Sure, we were calling on a higher power for a little help, but we never claimed to actually talk to god like Cardinals QB Kurt Warner.

Flint Photos: St. Mary's Basketball

A few photos from the Catholic school basketball league. I remember thinking these uniforms and warmups were very cool. This looks like some kind of post-season tournament in the late seventies. It is not the gym at St. Mary's, where all the 5th- and 6th-grade games were played. Coach Don Beauchamp is in the back on the left. Players, from left to right, Matt Porritt, Jason Lince, Bill Suttles, Duane Gilles, and Greg Fay.

Players from left to right, Jason Lince, Greg Fay, Gordie Young, David Bosak. Coach Don Beauchamp is in back on the right.

Players from left to right, Gordie Young and Joe Serna listen to Coach Beauchamp and Assistant Coach Rick Golombeski. Who's number 24?

The fate of Catholic churches

A source familiar with the negotiations on the fate of various Catholic parishes in the Flint area wrote in with this information:

"I have two confirmed reports if you are interested and want to post them on your website. The Diocese of Lansing website should release this information soon.

"In Flint, St. Mary's will cluster with St. Michael's. Both parishes will continue to function as separate parishes, but will employ only one priest, whom I assume to be the priest at St. Mary's, since Father Phil Gallagher, last acting pastor at St. Mike's, has recently retired from active duty.

"Most Blessed Sacrament, Burton, will merge with St. John, Davison, when deemed necessary. Most Blessed Sacrament Church will then become Most Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The church building at MBS will remain open only; all office duties, clubs, CCD, etc. revert to St. John's. When the priest at MBS is reassigned in the future — that is the "deemed necessary part — the parish will then merge with St. John's immediately."

Eastside Memories

I've had a request from an anonymous reader to post something related to the late, great St. Mary's school on Franklin Avenue. This photo is from June 1984. It's all the kids from St. Mary's returning for Mass before they graduated from high school. Sr. Agnes is on the left, Sister Ellen on the right. I distinguished myself at Mass by almost passing out and having to briefly leave the church. Afterwards, Sister Ellen walked over to me. I was wondering if I was still eligible for a swat since I was technically on school grounds. She just winked at me, smiled, and said, "Too much partying last night, Mr. Young?"

(Left to Right) Joe Serna (shaming us with his National Honor Society sash), Robert Hurley, Duane Gilles, Gordie Young (with a horrible "new wave" haircut), and Michael Kennedy.

More on church closings

After a post about possible Catholic church closings in Genesee County, an anonymous reader offered some more information. This is unconfirmed, so take it for what it's worth, but given the realities of certain Flint neighborhoods, it seems like a plausible scenario:

I still live in the Flint area and have connections with St. Mary's. I've been fortunate to be involved with meetings with Diocese of Lansing officials in future of all parishes and it does not look favorable for some.

My personal belief is the diocese has already made the decision, but the confirmed word this person has heard is that St. Mary's and St. Leo's in Flint, and Holy Rosary, and Blessed Sacrament in Burton will form a cluster, with St. Leo's closing immediately, and one of the remaining three will close within two years. No matter what happens, there's going to be some upset people.

Flint Portraits: Sam Isaac

 
Now this is what a football coach should look like. Sam Isaac, front and center, with a leather sport coat, dark glasses and a full beard. Obviously, he was not into wearing athletic gear. A pair of those embarrassing polyester Bike coaching shorts? No way, man. Sam's clothing was suitable for the bar or the sideline. I think he intimidated the opposing team more than the players did at St. Mary's, where he coached for many years.

This is a yellowed photo from the Catholic Weekly in the Fall of 1980. St. Mary's has just lost the championship game to Holy Rosary in the Knights of Columbus football league. The year before, St. Mary's went 6-0. The year before that, we lost every game. As you can imagine, Sam was more fun to be around when we were winning, but he was a great coach who would have done anything for his players.

And you haven't really lived until you've heard one of Sam's pre-game talks. Or was it more of a pre-game yell? The ritual at St. Mary's was to troop over to the convent in full gear, navigate the narrow basement stairs, and circle Sam while he delivered a "colorful" pep talk, lit only by a bare lightbulb that hung from the ceiling. Swearing and wall punching were included, free of charge. Then we'd head out to the grotto near the church, get blessed by Father Berkemeier, and get on the bus. The game itself seemed pretty mild-mannered after you'd been through all that.

Sam Isaac is one of the people that made growing up in Flint so great.

UPDATE: Bill Suttles, captain of the undefeated 1979 St. Mary's team, has reminded me that we not only got blessed in the grotto, we actually helped build and maintain it. The nuns were happy to put the students to work gardening, moving large items and cleaning the church. It was all part of a well-rounded education.