St. Mary’s High School, the catholic school based in Manhasset, celebrated its 75th anniversary and the alumni over the years who made the school what it is today.
The celebration kicked off with a 75th-anniversary gala on May 3 at Plandome Country Club, where nine members of the school’s community were honored for their accomplishments at St. Mary’s and beyond.
Honorees included Monsignor Frank Caldwell (Class of 1969, 1973) of the Parish Family of Cure of Ars in Merrick, school English department chair Jeanine Buatti (Class of 1981), NBA athlete Danny Green (Class of 2005), fallen NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller (Class of 2010), high school basketball star Mei-Lyn Bautista (Class of 2015), Nancy & Paul Cuneo (Class of 1981), Tim Fulton (Class of 1996) and St. Mary’s hockey coach Joe Trimarchi.
Honorees reflected fondly on their time at St. Mary’s.
“I felt like I did the most growth in my life being at St. Mary’s and being part of the girls basketball team,” Bautista said in a video by St. Mary’s. “…Being in the Immaculatta gym and the locker room, I would say, were some of the most incredible moments in my life.”
Green spoke to the impact St. Mary’s had on his religious faith.
“It came in waves and different phases for me,” Green said in a video by St. Mary’s. “I didn’t have a strong faith before I got here but I learned it and then it got stronger as, obviously, life went on and then as adversity came I started to lean on it more. But this is where I learned it.”
St. Mary’s opened in 1949 as a parish high school for boys and girls. At its inception, the school encompassed just one hall—the Immaculatta Hall, which still stands today.
A decade later in 1959 the school expanded to its second building, Marist Hall. and on the day the hall opened in the middle of the school year, the boys were asked to pick up their desks and walk their belongings to their new classrooms.
With the introduction of the second hall came the separation of boys and girls into separate classrooms. This separation remained until the school reunified as a co-ed institution in 1993.
“In 1949, the IHM sisters and Marist Brothers and St. Mary’s pastor Monsignor Sharp laid the foundation for an institution based upon academic and extracurricular excellence, compassion for tis students and Christ-centered learning,” St. Mary’s principal Gerard Buckley said at the gala. “And it’s the reason why the heart of St. Mary’s beats as strongly today as it did 75 years ago, and will continue to do so.”
More celebrations are set to come, though, including an alumni lacrosse game on June 6 and several more events, including a mass, cocktail parties and reception on June 7.
