Sidney school celebrates 150th anniversary

By David Eck

SIDNEY DEANERY — After months of special events, classroom activities and an open house, Holy Angels School in Sidney concluded its 150th anniversary celebration May 1 with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk.

The date was chosen to represent the original opening the school.

CT/E.L. HUBBARD

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk visited Holy Angels School in Sidney May 1 to celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary Mass.

Holy Angels Church was filled and several of its former pastors returned to concelebrate the Mass with Archbishop Pilarczyk.

In his homily, the archbishop urged the students to share the good news of Christ.

"Every member of the church shares in the task for bringing others into the church," Archbishop Pilarczyk. "We are all called to tell and show other people what it means to live in the Lord, what it means to share the life of Jesus in the Eucharist."

He also explained that sharing the news of the church is one of the reasons for Catholic schools.

"That’s what’s been going on here for 150 years," Archbishop Pilarczyk said. "For all this time teachers and parish priests and parents and parishioners at large have been working together to help the students of this school learn about Jesus and learn about the church so that they, in turn, could bring the word about Jesus and the church to the world around them."

The anniversary was featured throughout the school this year, and the school built its marketing plan around it.

A 150th banner hung on a fence by the church, and signs were placed throughout the school. The 150th day of the school year was recognized with special activities in the classrooms.

"That was our school theme for the year, and it was implemented throughout the year," Deacon Belcher said.

At the start of Catholic Schools Week, students, faculty and staff were part of a regular Sunday Mass at Holy Angels Church to recognize the school. In April, generations of families, and former students and teachers returned for a celebration and open house to share memories of their time at the school.

Some of those comments were collected and printed in a program. Allison Neu, a current 7th grader, wrote that four generations of her family have attended Holy Angels.

"The changes have been many over the years," she wrote. "However, Holy Angels withstood them all, from wars, recessions and nuclear bomb fears, from Holy Angels High School becoming Lehman Catholic High School, to building expansions and countless ways to raise funds."

The school also hosed a local chamber of commerce event to help promote the school in the community, Belcher said.

Father Glen Perin, who grew up in Shelby County and was pastor at Holy Angels from 1987-99, chatted with parishioners and former Holy Angels students, some of whom have children of their own.

"It’s so nice to see so many people grown up," he said. "It’s a lot of different generations."

Father James O’Connor, who was Holy Angels pastor from 1974-85, said the parish has "always been a friendly, family-type parish. Any project that went on in the parish — everybody was behind it."

The anniversary gave the students and the community a sense of the school’s history.

"I don’t think a lot of people realize how long the school’s been here," said Deacon Belcher.