WWW.QNS.COM THE VILLAGE GAZETTE MAY 18, 2017 7 Most people make small changes in their lives. Not so with the founding members of the Board of Trustees. At a time when the number of Sisters and Brothers was drastically dropping and they could no longer take responsibility for Christ the King High School, the bishop thought that his best option was to close the school. Parents and community leaders met and discussed. They wanted a Catholic High School for their children and for the neighborhood. Their job became to convince themselves and to convince the bishop that they not only wanted the catholic school but also that they could make it work. They did. And it has worked. Christ the King Catholic High school is still here today. Their dedication and hard work have made it so. Maintaining the Catholic identity has not been easy in a rapidly changing world. For many years, some of the Daughters of Wisdom maintained a presence in the school and inspired many young people to follow Jesus Christ. Father John Savage was not only the Athletic director but also the full-time chaplain. Now, there is a much smaller religious presence with a part-time chaplain and a Sister of St Joseph who is the Campus Minister. Today, the challenge is to have a high school that is Catholic, founded on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Our founding Board of Trustees had the courage and the energy to have a Catholic school. I have confidence that Senator Serphin Maltese (a founder and Chairperson) and the present and future members of the Board of Trustees will make it so. BY: BOB NORMANDIA SR. VICE CHAIR OF BOARD AND DIRECTOR OF SPORTS I grew up in Maspeth h during nue ad the 30,s at Eliot Avenue and Fresh Pond Road living on the second floor above our family pharmacy. My early childhood taught us that the family all did their share to keep the family business afloat and going. One must remember that in the United States we had a depression that had started in April of 1929 and lasted till World War II was over. Of course the work factor depended on the action of your parents. Mine were gems and tried to make our childhood as normal as possible. During the in between times things happened as trying to fulfill one’s hopes and dreams. I attended local grade school and high school. I applied for Columbia Pharmacy College as my Dad did. A big but…. Our country was at war in Korea and it was my time to serve as an Army Combat Medic in Korea. I did not mention that my father’s dream had always been that someday we would share the family pharmacy as partners. When Dad opened his pharmacy in 1926 he chose the rural section of Maspeth figuring that the neighborhood would grow for he and his son but as it turned out 50 percent of our Maspeth location was for industry and this does not grow a business. This prompted us to open our second pharmacy in Ridgewood on Fresh Pond Road.. In the meantime my childhood friend Tom Donovan had volunteered to teach basketball to youngsters who had not made a C.Y.O. team from their local parish. Of course the old saying that “All work and no play” was thrown at me for 80 hours a week seemed a bit much . I had asked my young pharmacist friend if he would cover Saturday mornings so I could be of help to Tom at Grover Cleveland Gym. Father Maurer was happy to have an old friend to help. As time passed we had a change at Miraculous Medal Parish “The Father John Savage Era “ One Sunday afternoon as I was coaching, a young priest made his appearance early to see what was in store for him. I could see that this “Wannabee Jock, “was going to run a successful sports program. Father had asked for help from the best with the most time on their hands and they in turn would ask their friends. This was the start of a new era for Miraculous Medal. Father took interest in youth. His dark black sedan was always riding the tough neighborhoods full of boys or girls. On his off time he would offer his services to Christ the King in the Athletic Department. Father found out that our share of students at Christ the King High School would be for 15 boys and 15 girls and the Miraculous Medal Kids were not going to be squeezed out. The parents of the proposed C.K. Students followed Father John until he had quite a gathering of help. When trouble is brewing whom do you ask to help and volunteer their services. Bishop Mugavero, Bishop of Brooklyn and his committee decided to close Christ The King High School to satisfy his financial cutbacks. This was the end result of Council II: fewer religious , a cutback on teaching positions , a changing of money interests for education and all 2800 children with no place to attend Catholic Education. 1000 parents packed the Christ the King lunch room to force the Bishops group to change their minds. Our local assemblywoman, Rosemary Gunning attended and had asked her counsel, Serphin Maltese, a Catholic, young and energetic and as good fortune would have it, one of his daughters, Andrea was a student and another daughter Leslie was to attend in two years, to Chair the committee to “Save Christ The King “. One can say that over the years spending so much time with. Senator Maltese at many ,many business meetings as well as attending many social gatherings , as well as having similar friendships, and of course our children being in the same class at C.K. has brought us close together as dear friends. One can say that being involved with Father John Savage on the aspect of youth involvement and the helping of his sports program has helped nature our friendship. obvious that the Diocese did not want to continue their operation of Christ the King high schools (the management group, the Hald Association included all the Catholic high schools and it was an arm of the Diocese) and obvious that the Diocese did not want to be in a position where they were labeled as anti-union, anti-teacher, and anti-organizing of workers. It reached the point where I made the suggestion that if they didn’t want to continue operating Christ the King, we would put together a lay board of directors with input from Diocese, the clergy, and the sisters. After all, it was religious orders (the Daughters of Wisdom and the Marist brothers) that helped establish Christ the King. The Diocese then began the process of turning Christ the King over to our Board. (Later on Bill Buckley wrote an article that we were the first school in the country to do it.) I began to turn the Save Christ the King Board into a formal board. The Diocesan authorities checked on all of us to ensure there were no ulterior motives. Just about everyone I remember on the Committee to Save Christ the King, with the exception of Rosemary Gunning, who had no children, and Senator Marty Knorre, were parents of children in the school and were very active parishioners in the feeder schools. We agreed that we would undertake all debts and obligations of the school and we gave the DIocese our assurances that we would not see funds or financial aid from the Diocese. We have kept pledge and for the past 36 years have not sought or accepted Diocesan funds. As a Board, we voted that there would be no pay for serving as Board member. I and all the members of the Board still serve Pro Bono. Most of the Board members have been Board Trustees for over 25 years. Bob Normandia and Tom Ognibene came on early as Vice Chairmen when Tom Kane retired. We agreed that the school would be turned over prior to the school year starting in 1976. Before we signed the deed, we submitted to the Board of Regents an application for a charter, which was granted. On August 1, 1976 the Deed and Agreement was signed by the Diocese and I signed as Chairman of the Board and paid $1 and we were the owners of Christ the King Regional High School. We had many difficulties from 1976 to the early 1980s and through the disastrous 1981 strike. Every member of the Christ the King family was hurt and suffered through the strike. Through the grace of God, Christ the King survived and we got through it because of good people, many of who are still here today. A Message From Sr. Elizabeth, C.S.J.—Current Spiritual Director Why Does One Become a Board Member of Christ the King? Robert Normandia Sr. g.h at we partne ph cho of th whoM fo doe This our CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6
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