Recently, at the Stewardship Weekend, we had on display two binders that contained seventeen years of "Savio Scenes." It was very interesting to look back through those many issues!

For those of you who may not have been in St. Dominic Savio Parish at that time, the idea for a parish newsletter came from Fr. Ed Feuerbacher, our pastor. He wanted to have a publication that would be about parishioners and about the parish. He was delighted when Ron Hartmann stepped up to the plate to serve as editor. Fr. Ed was also one of our best sources for things that parishioners may be willing to share with us. I'm sure that he would be very happy with our selection of the longtime parishioner to be spotlighted this issue, Carl Holtzmann.

Many of you have been greeted by Carl. He is alway s ready to give you a smile and a hello. Typically, there are many friendly faces that we greet each week, but also typically, we most likely do not know much about their lives. Learning that Carl turned 75 this year, we asked if he would be willing to share a little about himself with us, and he agreed.

Carl has been a member of St. Dominic Parish since February 1976. He and his two sisters grew up in South St. Louis. Their family lived in the Carondelet area and the child ren attended St. Stephen ’s grade school. Carl attended St. Louis University High School.

After high school , he attended St. Louis Preparatory Seminary for one and a half years. After he left the seminary, he was drafted for the Korean War and spent 24 months in the Army.

Carl told us many interesting stories about his father during our interview. Carl's father immigrated from Nürnberg, Germany, in the early 1920s at the age of 18. The more we heard about his father, we really admired him! It sounded like he was truly an early entrepreneur.

He worked for The St. Louis Globe-Democrat as a salesman, and that is where he met his future wife. He operated the “Armo,” an open-air show, located at Arsenal and Morganford. He also was involved in a nursery business.

Carl was named for his father, “ Carl August .” His mom decided to be sure wh i ch Carl she was calling, she added “brother ” to his name. Hence, the title of our article. It was quite apparent that Carl admired his mother and father very mu ch. Unfortunately, his father died in April 1942 at a young age. His mother died in 1975. Carl shared many fond memories with us.

Luckily for Carl , he did not get sent to Korea when drafted. The majority of Carl ’s time in the Army was spent in Kassel, near Frankfort, in the then-West Germany. Although a radio operator in a combat engineer outfit with the 1st Infantry Division, he was actually located on an Air Force Base.

During the time he was in Germany, Carl was able to connect with his father's family and visit them. Not only did he visit his relatives, he actually got to sleep in his father's bed. He remembers that it was a very cold room, but that he had a very warm down comforter! It was fortunate for him that he was able to visit his German relatives. He seemed to enjoy it very much. There is still family in Germany, but they have not kept in touch.

After serving in the Army, Carl returned home. He attended summer school at St. Louis University, receiving a bachelor's degree in commerce and finance in 1957.

He has held a variety of jobs over the years. He also found the time to volunteer at Cardinal Glennon Hospital from 1979 through 2003, logging in 16,000 volunteer hours. Carl is very proud of his volunteer work when he brightened many a day. His volunteer work was in medical records, the mail room or wherever he was needed.

Carl, now retired, is enjoying the good life. He continues to visit friends who are in nursing homes. You will also find him often at 6:30 a.m. Mass. Asked what he likes best about retirement , he admitted that he does enjoy the freedom to sleep when he wants to. However, it should be noted that anyone that attends the 6:30 a.m. Mass certainly should be able to enjoy a few extra "z’s" to "catch up."

As Carl might have said at the end of a pleasant interview for this story, he’ll see you in church!

It was 1952 when Jim Siegel went on active duty in the navy. The Korean War had been going on since 1950 and things were hot in Korea. After boot camp training, Jim found himself assigned to the USS Firedrake (AE-14), an ammunition ship operating out of Sasabo, Japan, delivering bombs and ammo to troops fighting in Ko rea.

Jim aboard the USS Firedrake in 1952

He recalls leaving San Francisco by troop ship and the unpleasant results of seasickness! Five days out, the radioman was playing music for those on board when all at once KMOX and the program "All Night Frolic" came on. Jim smiles, recalling the thrill (and a few tears) of hearing a "hometown station" broadcast throughout the ship.

Jim served aboard the USS Firedrake as a store keeper (SK3) and has more than a few stories of his shipboard days. Being a store keeper has its advantages. He recalls one story when a steward from "Officers Country" came to replace coffee cups broken during a storm. He got his cups but it cost him a tin of peanut butter and some crackers, which Jim and his buddies feasted on for a while. As Jim says, "Being a storekeeper had its perks!"

Of course a war was going on, too. Ammunition ships had to tie up "three miles out" at a designated ammo dock, just in case something went wrong.

Jim recalls bringing tons of bombs and ammunition to our troops in Wonson, North Korea but unloading out of range of enemy guns. Ships would come out to be resupplied and they could see splashes in the water as the ships raced out of range of enemy guns. Jim’s ship would spend 10 days out resupplying the troops and then head back to Sasabo to replenish supplies. Then, it was back to Korea.

Jim laughs, saying while he saw the shores of Korea many times while aboard the USS Firedrake, he never actually set foot in Korea. He has fond memories of spending time in Japan between trips to Korea. Jim says his time in the Navy was a good experience for him as a young man.

Thankfully, it was also a safe experience. After serving 22 months in the Navy, he mustered out and reentered civilian life. He met and eventually married Peggy in 1957 and went on to raise six children. He worked in the chemical business for a heat-treating and metal-finishing company.

Last year Jim heard of an opportunity to go back to Korea, the country he only saw from his ship. Korean veterans we reinvited to submit their military service record and to "put their names into the hat" for a drawing. Winners could join in with other veterans and spouses for a free trip (except for air fare) to South Korea. Jim went for it and his name was drawn. Jim was finally "setting foot" on Korea.

Some 150 vets and spouses made the trip, leaving on Sept. 11, 2006 and returning on Sept. 16, which happened to be Jim’s birthday. Thirteen hours after leaving Chicago they landed in Inchon, South Korea. They were then bused to their hotel in nearby Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

The South Korean government hosted the visit; hotel, food, everything was paid for to say "thank you" for helping South Korea in the 1950s.

Jim says it was an absolutely wonderful visit. The group toured Seoul and enjoyed being entertained by a number of cultural dance and acrobatic groups. Everything was so developed and modern and the people were so gracious. Jim’s tour was greeted by the president of South Korea and also the mayor of Seoul. Residents greeted them with polite bows, often thanking them in English for what they had done for their country so many years ago.

War Memorial

Jim was very impressed to visit Seoul’s War Memorial of Korea and its monuments and museum of military equipment from the 1950s. They also visited the Military Armistice Building T2 in Panmunjon, which is located on the border between North and South Korea. This is where even today, talks continue between the governments of the two countries. Visitors are allowed to visit the meeting room but doors, leading to either North or South Korea, are closely guarded by that country ’s military guards. It is serious business!

Ambassador for Peace certificate

Jim has many fond memories of his peacetime visit to Korea. Most definitely it was a more enjoyable visit than it would have been back five or so decades ago. Once back home in St. Louis, Jim was surprised to receive a special gift in the mail, a "Certificate of Ambassador for Peace." What a nice conclusion to an exciting trip! At last, Jim got to “set foot” on the ground in South Korea. Peace and the friendship and gratitude shown to him by the people of Seoul made it a truly memorable visit.

At least one organization at SDS is working to change the impression that today’s teens don’t have the same attitude toward our community as past generations.

Our own Boy Scout Troop 725 has three major focuses that it tries to instill into each and every boy who joins. These are character, citizenship and fitness, which give each of these young men a foundation to grow on. You might question, "What have the Scouts done for me lately?" SDS Scouts have done quite a bit. Here are some of the Eagle Scout projects that have helped the parish and community since the mid-1990s (and the young men who organized them).

• Ramp for disabled by SDS kitchen : Jim Schallom
• Huhn Center ramp for disabled : Joe Gray
• Fence behind Huhn Center: Joe Ebert
• Soccer wall : Dan Buttig
• Benches for T-ball field : Patrick DeBrecht
• Butterfly houses and wild area : Jonathan Kaiser
• Food shelves at St. Cronin : David Buttig
• Storage cabinets/shelves for VIP : Mike Jones
• Bookcases for school : Billy Jones
• Fire pit in grove : Michael Stagg
• Backstop for T-ball field : Brad Quentin
• Portable storage compartments : Brian Eftink
• Trophy cabinet : Kyle Shaver
• Benches at Sokal Camp: Ryan Newcomer
• Storage shelves in Huhn garage : Joe Shaver

These projects cost the parish little to no money. The troop has provided other services unknown to many parishioners , including:

• Put in dry eraser boards in Huhn Center
• Helped with the Infirm Mass
• Set up for the school picnic
• Building the Easter fire
• Clean the property of leaves and trash
• Assisting at large funerals
• Set up for the picnic in the grove
• Installed bug traps at the recycle area
• Set up the Ravioli Dinner and Oktoberfest
• Helped Nurses for Newborns
• Moved the library from St. George to SDS
• Assisted with parking for MCU Flag Day – U. S. flag disposal
• Scouting for food
• Memorial Day Good Turn (placed over 150,000 flags on graves at Jefferson Barracks)
• Color guard for the citizenship ceremony in St. Louis

These young men also have succeeded in school and athletics. Look back into SDS bulletins and see how many are on the honor roll of SDS or their high schools. We have boys ra n ked in the top 10 of their classes. We have boys who became captains of their sports teams and who have been named scholar-athletes. And we have boys who have won the Archbishop May Award.

So next time you hear that today ’s youth don’t get it, tell them to look at the SDS Scout program and the young men within this organization. They do get it and others could learn from their example.

A special thanks goes to all the young men and their adult leadership for their gifts of time and talent to SDS and the community.

Eleanor Schoenig

St. Dominic lost one of its original quilters this year: Eleanor Schoenig (1914- 2007) was the leader of the group for many years until she retired for health reasons. She turned over the group to our late boss, Bertha Behrmann, who took it to the present and kept us going. The quilters remember Bertha fondly.

Eleanor taught me the love of quilting many years ago. I'm the only active member that quilted with both of these ladies. This speaks a lot for these two ladies and many others before us. It is the thread that keeps us together and still quilting for so many years. We are now 16 quilters strong. We feel like we do a lot for the parish and have fun while we work.

We do great work and would love to make quilts or baby quilts for the parish family. Just call Hilda at 832-5680 or Virginia at 352-3855 or come and visit any Monday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. A special thanks to all the past and present quilters of St. Dominic Savio!

Our parish family celebrated Stewardship Weekend on September 15th and 16th. The many activities of the weekend included stewardship themed liturgies with lay witnesses on the importance of living stewardship and a Festival of Ministries. The Festival featured great food, fun and fellowship along with showcasing the many opportunities within our parish to give time and talent.

Chris Merris

Janice Bohnert and Meredith O’Connor

Don Klinger, Ilene Tretter and Lorraine Kinman

What a fun evening: As you looked around at the myriad tables there were games of pinochle, bridge and Aggravation (Fr. Jack and crew). It took them a half hour to find one of their marbles. You saw Dominos, Life, Yatze or whatever your table wanted to play. It was Saturday evening, Oct. 6, and SDS’s inaugural Game Night.

There were tables of four, five, six, seven or eight players. You didn’t need a full table to enjoy the evening. The Shavers, Cronleys, Albes, Wildhabers and their crew did a superb job. They set up appetizers down the center of the hall. They were good enough to substitute for a meal! There was plenty of soda, and wine and beer were available at a reasonable cost.

There were many attendance prizes along with a beautiful quilt made by the SDS Quilters, which they raffled. Dan O’Connor, although not in attendance, won that. There was a “ Pot of Gold” drawing won by yours truly. A game of “heads or tails” was play d halfway through the evening, as has always been played at Trivia Night.

One of the nicest perks of the evening was the camaraderie. A pleasant community feeling permeated the Feuerbacher Hall.

This event was replacing the SDS Oktoberfest, which, after a five years, kind of ran out of steam. It’s nice, too, to try something different.

Turnout for Game Night was probably a little disappointing for the planners. One of the objections heard and may have accounted for the light turnout was that children weren’t included. It was an adult night out. It would be very difficult for parents of young children to keep their attention for four hours with board or card games. But "Trunk or Treat" coming up shortly will make the children happy. They will benefit in the long run because the money raised from Game Night will go to the school and organizations benefiting the children.

Game Night wasn’t the largest fundraiser. But what it lacked financially, it made up for in fun.