BOOMTOWN, A NEW FEATURE & THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST

                                                            PART I

Most of the nation does not realize  as I write here on August 1st, that today is Colorado Day – the 133rd anniversary of Colorado becoming a State. Colorado is known as the Centennial State since it was admitted into the Union 100 years after the United States became a nation.  All this is by way of introduction to Seton’s musical this past spring, Boomtown.   The play is loosely based on the history of the building of the Denver Pacific Railroad Line from Denver to Cheyenne.  I wanted to let you know that DVD’s of this year’s spring musical Boomtown are available from Seton.  I think the songs and the singing in this production are particularly good, and not just because the play is about Colorado. The colorful opening number was written by Seton Dad, Mr. Arnold, so the whole cast sings right at the beginning.  Here, in brief, is how Seton came to put on Boomtown.  When Mrs. Carroll matriculated at Loretto Heights College in Denver in 1959, she heard the songs of the previous year’s musical sung by Broadway actress and Loretto Heights alum Mary Jo Catlett.  The songs stuck in her head, and she always had it in mind since the musicals at Seton began in 1993 with Fran and Chrissie Buser and company on stage and Jennifer Gregory Miller providing the accompaniment  in Fiddler on the Roof  that Seton someday could do Boomtown.  The play was written by the music professor Max DeJulio for the 100th Anniversary of the founding of Denver.  So, this seemed the perfect year, the 150th Anniversary of Denver’s founding, for Seton to stage the show.  It took some doing to locate script and score since the musical never had a copyright.  There was also no template for the director, musicians and actors to follow since the play was never videoed, but Seton pulled it off with a great production.  The opening night was exactly 50 years after Loretto Heights’ opening night.  The son and daughters of Max DeJulio were able to come to the final performance – a treat for them and for Seton. The songs are not familiar to us, of course, but when one listens to them  enough times as I have (you see, I really do have little to do) they become familiar and really enjoyable. To order a DVD send $3 to Seton and they will get a copy right out to you.  The taping of the closing night extravaganza was made by alumnus Gabe Duda, and I count about 60 siblings of alumni in the production.  Last names of some of the lead actors that you might recognize:  Akers, Bartnick, Hill, Minarik, Myers, Nagurny and Wykowski.

                                                            PART II

When I first got e-mail, there was something wrong with the server or with me or both and messages were  taking a long time to be transmitted.  For example, I got an e-mail from Mrs. Cooper on Monday that she had sent on Friday.  E-mail has two big advantages:  speed and no stamps.  Mine had only one of those advantages.  I began to think that the “E” in e-mail stood for “eventual” rather than “electronic”.  In that slow delivered e-mail Mrs. Cooper said that she really likes working at Seton because she continues to learn so much about the Faith from Mrs. Carroll.

 

This started me thinking about the people to whom I owe knowledge of the Faith.  Among these have been many students who have made the beauty of the Faith come alive as they have taught primarily by example in consistent daily acts or in some one particular inspiring act.  So I decided that I would periodically feature a noteworthy student here.  I have even come up with a clever name for this feature:  “Student Teachers”.  What do you think?  I have not made up a list, but there is a goodly number that come to mind quickly.  (If you think you should be featured as a “Student Teacher”, please remind me what it is I should have learned from you and I will do my best to lionize you!)  I am sure that each teacher at Seton would be able to come up with a sizeable list and that the lists would vary greatly in names.

 

It seems there would be no better place to start than with an original student.  That eliminates nearly all of you and gets us down to the Sweet 16 finalists as the first “Student Teacher”.  He/She (giving nothing else away) will probably be very surprised to find that he/she (still not giving anything else away) is the first choice here, because this student had the mark of humility while possessing many talents.  And it just so happens that our school colors are the result of this person’s efforts.   It might be fun for you to guess who of the 16 it will be.  To make the guessing easier I will list the first names of the first 16 students in alphabetical order beginning with the boys:  Frankie, Joe, Paul, Tim.  Athena, Debby, Dorothy, Jan, Lang, Liz, Mary, Michelle, Missy, Roberta, Shirley, Teresa.   That’s all on this today.  We will save the first “Student Teacher” for the Assumption.  Don’t forget whom you picked as the 1st Student Teacher. 

 

Wait!  There is more.    

                                   

                                                            PART III

Here is another Year of the Priest story in honor of St. John Vianney whose feast is August 4th.  This one comes from the Denver Catholic Register.

It is written by Msgr. Peter Quang Nguyen whose topic was  the importance of Catholic education.  He was born in Vietnam January 1, 1959, and escaped  from his homeland to the United States.  Archbishop Chaput just recently named him a monsignor.  Here is what he had to say. “In 2000, I had the privilege to offer the Eucharist at the 50-year anniversary of my parent’s wedding and my 10-year anniversary as a priest  After they renewed their vows, I blessed a new set of wedding rings for my mother and father, to replace their original wedding rings which they had sold when I was a child in order to pay my tuition.  They made a tremendous sacrifice for my Catholic education.   At that Mass, I presented them, with tears of joy and thanksgiving, a new set of wedding rings as a token of my appreciation.  Their sacrifice gave me an opportunity to become a witness of Christ Jesus in my daily life.”

 

                                                            PART IV

Thought you might like to know that August 9th is Mrs. Carroll’s birthday.   Nine days after the 200th anniversary of Mother Seton founding the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg.

 

Jezu, ufam Tobie.

 

 

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