Alumni Assoc History

A History of the Association through 1990

-- Journal Tribune May 24, 1990

The year was 1940, frantic year right before the start of the Second World War.

St. Louis High School was barely 10 years old, having graduated its first class in

1934. But the time was not too frantic nor the school too young for a fierce

dedication and pride to be building among the members of St. Joseph parish, and

the parish of boys of St. Louis High School.

As they do everywhere, the men of the parish would congregate and talk about

their high school's sport teams. It didn't take long for these men to realize that,

if they wanted their boys to continue to have pride and respect for themselves,

they would have to do something to help out. So, a group of the men led by

Joseph Gagne and Raymond Ayotte went to the local parish priest to ask for

permission to form a group that would support the school by helping to raise

money to support it.

That priest, Father LaFlamme was on his way to South America for a vacation,

but he told them to pull their ideas together and they would meet when he got

back. The first meetings, which took place in Father LaFlamme's absence and

were therefore unofficial, drew a great deal of interest from the people of the

parish, and packed the parish hall. Ideas were thrown around and included paying

members of the committee for doing work for the school. This wasn't what the

men with the original idea had in mind, however, and the meeting was disbanded

with nothing formalized.

Once Father LaFlamme returned, the organization was finally approved and

established with set guidelines and dedication toward a purpose, that purpose

being to instill a sense of respect and pride in the French heritage of the students

of the school. The founders of this organization wanted their boys to know they

were just as good, if not better that boys at other schools and they were prepared

to do whatever was in their power to help them realize that. And, of course, all

of the work was to be done by the men of this organization on a voluntary basis.

They did it for the love of their church and school, as well as for the pride of their

heritage. They did not, however, do it for themselves, but rather for the

children of the community and that ideal lives on today. Nearly everything the

association does is to help the young.

The pride of their heritage was a significant force in keeping the group together

and was so prevalent among the men of the association that even all the minutes

of all meetings, dating back to the first official one in February of 1940 were in

French. It wasn't until several years later, quite by accident, that English was first

introduced in the minutes. As the story is told, one man was filling in as secretary

and took the notes in English. When the faux pas was discovered there was quite

a row, and a heated discussion ensued. Eventually, the minutes were kept in English,

but it certainly wasn't for any lack of pride of heritage.

Starting with the first meeting, the initial interest in the group was phenomenal.

The original intention was to start it and let the graduating students eventually

take over the group. However this plan was sidetracked early as the war soon

started and the young men were sent away to fight for this country. The group

continued to thrive, however, being held together with members of the parish

who continued to have a desire to support their local school.

An Alumni council was formed after the first official meeting and just five of the

twelve men of this first council were graduates of St. Louis High School. The first

President was Henri Bonneau with Joseph Gagne as First Vice President. Conrad

Rochefort was Second Vice President, while Aime Lambert and George Loignon

rounded out the executive committee as secretary and treasurer. The rest of

the founding council consisted of Paul Petit, John Breault, Joseph Petrin,

Raymond Ayotte, Arthur Pelloquin, Leonel Pomibrant, and Albert Cantara.

The first order of business was to hire the school's first paid coach, and on June 8,

1940, for the mammoth sum of $10 a Mr. Phillip Nadeau was hired as the baseball

coach. The following fall for the princely sum of $250, a football coach was hired.

The council also signed a rental agreement at Prospect Park for $5 a week for the

school to play baseball. All this from an organization that had virtually no money.

The group did everything it could to raise money. They even convinced Father

LaFlamme to allow them to take up a second collection in church on Sunday to help

pay expenses. This lasted just a couple of times, though, before someone put a stop

to it. The group always seemed to come up with ways to get the money they needed

to provide the boys with the best they could offer. But they could not have done so

much without some help from very influential men in the community at that time, men

like Mayor Bill "Papa" Lauzier.

Lauzier, despite the fact he was a Biddeford fan, as he was the city's mayor, wanted

to see St. Louis High School succeed, and he used his power to help the Alumni

Association. The group needed money for one project or another, probably building

of a new baseball diamond, but they lacked the funds. Lauzier called these eight men

together, and asked if each could spare $1,000 each, an incredible sum in the early

1940s. They all said yes. You just didn't say "no" to Papa Lauzier since he knew the

men's finances since he more or less owned Pepperell Trust Bank at this time.

Another staunch Biddeford supporter also came to aid of St. Louis, a man respected

and admired by everyone in the community with a tie to sports, Steve White, who was

then Biddeford's football coach.

White, despite his allegiance, was first and foremost dedicated to helping young people,

and he didn't seem to care what school they came from. It is said he would take his

team and walk past the St. Louis field as practice was just winding up. As White was

friendly with many of the brothers, he would often stop and talk. And, if he happened

to see a St. Louis player without adequate shoes, then the next day he would show

up with a pair of cleats for that player. He would just give them to him and tell him to

try them on. Often these shoes would come from Biddeford supplies, but they were

usually something that Biddeford couldn't use or were getting ready to be thrown out.

But if they could be of use to someone from St. Louis, then White made sure the use

was made.

This man, who was later to become the Athletic Director of Biddeford, would also help

out the St. Louis Alumni Association by ordering their uniforms along with Biddeford's

because, if he bought more of them at one time, he received a greater discount. This

discount was then passed on to St. Louis, who were grateful, despite their fierce

rivalry. White didn't seem to see school colors when it came to helping someone in

need. He is respected to this day because he just did everything for the kids.

Despite the help of men like Father LaFlamme, Papa Lauzier, and Steve White, the

St. Louis Alumni Association still never seemed to have any money in the bank. But

they always were trying and the lack of funds never stopped them from acquiring

the best of everything for their boys. For example, St. Louis was the first high school

in the state to have permanent lights on its football field. They were originally

bought from the city of Portland, which was replacing the lights at Portland Stadium.

St. Louis bought the old lights and then coupled them with a big scoreboard and loud

speaker system, both area firsts.

And all this was accomplished without any money in the bank. Some of the ways

money was raised, other that through Lauzier or the weekly collection, was through

bean suppers, beanos, and charging to use the Westbrook skating rink, which was

popular in the 1960s. And of course, the Association was frugal. They knew the

interest that surrounded the sports teams and made sure to take advantage of that

interest. Not only did they charge fans to get into the games, but they also covered

the fences surrounding the fields with sheeting so that no one outside the fence

would be able to watch for nothing. Everyone wanted to see the team play had to pay.

Radio broadcasts of the games were even prohibited for years for fear that the fans

would listen to the games rather attend in person thereby paying admission.

The gate from these sporting events raised significant money for the time. For example,

St. Louis and Biddeford split the gate for one football game in the early 1940s with

the St. Louis portion coming out to more than $96.

All the money that was raised was put to good use, and never sat around collecting

interest in the bank. When looking at the bank accounts from the 1940s you have

to wonder what magical strings were pulled because, for most of the year, the

Association had no money. Yet they still managed to spend over $35,000 on

projects supporting St. Louis High School.

Lauzier continued to be a force in helping the Alumni Association attain its goals as

the years went by. It wasn't too long before St. Louis was ready to buy its own fields

and the perfect spot was the potato field next to the school. Well, some local doctors

had already targeted the area for a new hospital, the Notre Dame hospital and had

started working out the details for the purchase. Lauzier got wind of the intended

purchase and not only did he advise them to build their hospital on the Pool Road,

but he also hit them up for a $1,000 each to benefit St. Louis High School. The school

really benefited in the deal.

Father LaFlamme was also very important in the acquisition of the new fields, for he

bought the first field with money from his own pocket, and it wasn't until years later

that the Association purchased the field from him at a terrific rate.

Despite their diehard interest in the sports teams at St. Louis, the Alumni Association

also sponsored other events like the band, cheerleaders and even a local Boy Scout

troop. The group even paid to have a telephone installed at the school and assumed

responsibility for the monthly bill. And although everyone naturally would rather win

than lose, the emphasis was not place on winning but rather presenting yourself with

pride and respect.

To show just how much conviction and faith many of the St. Louis followers had, you

only have to look at a record of the church mass in 1946. For, at the end of football

season, a Mass of Thanksgiving was said, not to thank God for a winning season, but

rather to thank Him for the few injuries suffered by the football team during the

season.

Without many, many people from the community to help out, though, the Association

would not have been successful as it was, and continues to be. There are many

examples of the community's dedication to help the cause. One the best is of Mrs.

Potvin, who had two sons attending St. Louis. She would always take pains to make

sure her sons' uniforms were cleaned after each game and they didn't have any

holes in them. The Potvin boys' uniforms looked so good that other team members

asked if she would wash their uniforms. By the next year, St. Louis had made a deal

with Mrs. Potvin to clean and sew all the team's uniforms, which she did for $300

and two passes to the games. When she couldn't sew the shreds of a jersey any

longer, she would call the school and tell them, they would tell her to save it and use

it for patches.

This continued for a couple of years until the school decided they were paying her

too much money and took away her passes. Mr. Potvin didn't like this idea and put

an end to the whole business, but the Potvins continued to be fans even though

Mrs. Potvin's feelings were hurt because her season passes were taken away.

Not everything was given to the boys. Although they had the best fields, and as

good if not better uniforms than any other teams, some alumni like to tell tall tales

of hard times beset them during their school days. One of these fictitious stories

says that because the team could not afford to eat oranges at half time, they

ate raw potatoes instead. An even more interesting fable says that the basketball

team could only afford five athletic supporters so, on every substitution, there had

to be a huddle to get everything "straightened out". St. Louis grads would like to

have you believe everything they tell you, but some stories are just a lot of fun.

One story that is true however, is the story of Dr. Alfred Demaris, "the great imposter,"

who posed as a physician and became the team's doctor, taping players' ankles,

and giving advice on potentially serious injuries. This infamous man made a living

traveling from one place to another under aliases, always disappearing just when

he was on the verge of being caught. A motion picture was made of his exploits

entitled, "The Great Imposter", and this story does actually have authentic roots.

The sense of community spirit that surrounds the association still abounds as it

did when the school was still open when, it is said that some parents of students

became as, if not more, proud of the school than the kids. With the closing of the

school, the St. Louis Alumni Association has become more or less a community

organization that through 1990 donated over $1,300,000 to youth and civic

programs. In addition through 1990, $45,000 in scholarships have been awarded

to graduating seniors for college expenses.

Steps have been taken to ensure that the group will always be known as St. Louis

Alumni Association. The original athletic field on West Street which Biddeford schools

now use will forever be known as "St. Louis Field", which according to the deed

given to the city upon sale of the field to the city. It will state the tradition that

St. Louis High School stood for and will be carried far into the future. The name

that stands for community involvement, pride and respect. And, more than anything,

it's the dedication to the youth of our society. It's for the kids that the Association

continues to thrive.