May has always meant Mother’s Day as well as the May Crowning of Mary, the Blessed Mother. Of course, those feelings are based in memories of how attending St. Anthony’s School shaped me into the man I am today. I am sure the same sentiment can be expressed by many of today’s men and women who had their early childhood’s formed by the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Scalabrinian priests of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in the Kensington/Pullman neighborhood of Chicago’s Roseland community. All the priests left an impression on the nuns as to how our Catholic learning was to proceed. I’d say they all worked quite well in unison to instill a good foundation as the basis for our lives.

Among those who had their early schooling at St. Anthony’s Grade School are Leno and Mary Santacaterina. Their parents, Vincenzo (Cenzo) and Amabile, were very active in our parish community. Both were members of the Chiuppanese Roseland Operetta Club and took part in many of their operas. As a matter of fact, the tall and handsome Cenzo was the director for a number of the ROC productions.