The Early Years

First Communion

In 2025 I’ll be turning 70 years old. With inflation that’ll be 74. It’s not that far away. So as one does when you keep on living, I find myself reflecting on my life. Adding to that reflection were some photos Maxine Tedesco sent to me recently. Maxine lived across the street from me and we were classmates from Grade 1 to Grade 12. She found some of our class photos over the years and it was a nostalgic look into hairstyles and fashion choices. It sparked a few memories.

It started with our First Holy Communion. I was pretty much a brush-cut kind of kid in my youth. There was a barbershop a couple of blocks away from our house. It was on 6^th Avenue where The Jasmine Room is today. The barber’s name was Burns Little, a kindly older gentleman with a great sense of humor. He’d tell us to get into his chair and he’d tie an apron around our neck. I usually needed the booster chair. He would then take out his barber shears and I’d get buzzed like a new recruit into the army. That probably took 2 minutes. And then he’d apply some kind of hair tonic onto my scalp and we’d be off. Of course there was that ever-present blue bottle of barbicide. I don’t think the smell of hair salons has ever changed.

Going to your first Holy Communion was a big day in the Catholic Church. We all were in our Sunday best-the boys wore a suit, the girls wore a Communion dress. If I recall it was a full ceremony involving a big procession. When I first started going to mass it was always in Latin. When the priest gave you the Communion wafer he said, “Corpus Christi.” (Body of Christ.) The response was “Amen.” The priest would place the wafer on your tongue. In retrospect I wonder if that was the most hygienic thing to do. When I later became an Altar boy, before you could serve mass you had to learn the Latin response to all of the prayers said during Mass. I still remember a lot of it. I don’t remember my current passwords unless I write them down.

See if you recognize former Allied Arts Executive director, Suzanne Lint in the photo.

Grade 3

This was our Grade 3 photo. Our teacher was Mrs. Reardon who I had a huge crush on. I remember seeing her going into the school and saying goodbye to her husband on the steps of St. Mary’s. He gave her a big kiss. I was so disappointed. How dare she?

Being among the shortest kid in the class I was obligated to sitting in the front. The brush-cut is still in play. Mrs. Reardon, where are you?

Grade 5

This is Grade 5 with Mrs. O’Connell. She was a real disciplinarian but I remember her getting a lot of respect from us for her ability to keep us in check. Notice I’m still in the front where all the short people are and I’m starting to show my potato chip body. I used to come home after school to watch Razzle Dazzle and have an entire bag of Old Dutch Potato Chips that came from the 3-pack box. We’d then save the box tops so we could go on Kid’s Bids with “Uncle Bob Lang” to bid on toys. I remember scoring a GI Joe Action Figure. Yes, it was an action figure, not a DOLL!!!

Grade 6

I don’t know what happened in Grade 6. The photographer put me in the back row for the first time. I’ve still got my timeless brush cut but I was still short. Our teacher for Grade 6 was Sister Louise. I loved her. (Not in the same way I loved Mrs. Reardon.) I remember her as being such a kind-hearted person. She taught some very rudimentary French before we got into the Madame & Monsieur Thibeault Film Strips. Those who took it would know what I’m talking about.  I remember we played the game La tete en bas, las pouuse en aire. You put your head down and put your thumb up in the air. Someone would come around and touch your thumb and you’d put it down. I think you had to guess who touched your thumb or something like that. I’m not sure it had any application to my life, but it was fun.

Grade 6 was when I got fully dedicated to being an Altar Boy. I actually ended up serving mass almost every day for a year. I was given a religious action award at the end of the year. I don’t know how spiritual I was during this time.  I think being an altar boy was kind of my first foray into being on stage. You were, after all in front of an audience on that altar.

I don’t know if it’s true but I heard that Sister Louise ended up getting married. Good for her if she did. She was like a Maria von Trapp to me.

It’s been a fun retrospective looking back at my formative years and seeing some of the people I grew up with. I’m happy to say I’m still friends with many of them today.

Here’s a shot of Paul Zook, Peter Sikora, Curt Lizzi, Greg Rohovie, Me, Pat Slemko and Maxine Tedesco taken last summer. All of us were together at that first Communion. I’m thinking of going back to the brush cut.

Thanks Maxine.