El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 27

TTV OjTI Section (, Saturday, August 5, 1171 Pagel-C THE EL PASO TIMES Loretto Academy Outlasts Rest Sisters Celebrating Order's Texas Centennial Inside Kaleidoscope mhh RABBINICAL Council president Dr. Bernard Rosenweig laments modern attitudes 2C GARNER TED ARMSTRONG, ousted from his father's church, is launching his own crusade 2C THE FIESTA of San Lorenzo in Clint has been in existence since 1914 and is planned Wednesday and Thursday this year 3C MORE THAN 1,000 persons from the United States and Mexico are expected to attend a Catholic Conference in El Paso PRIESTS and sisters working in ministries to Hispanic Catholics will take part in the National Encucntro at Mesilla Park, N.M. ss Tin CD (J qpf T'7 1, so far out in the desert, Sister Adrian said. Sister Rose Clare, who started teaching at age 19, was on the first teaching staff at Loretto. "I taught the babies," she said.

The academy has kindergarten pupils and used to board the youngsters. Besides teaching, Sister Rose Clare was in charge of the young boarding students. "One year I had 16 in bed with the chicken pox. And that was before they had any serum to prevent the itching and scratching," she said. While the academy has many Spanish-speaking students, In those days the sisters weren't allowed to speak to them in Spanish, Sister Rose Clare said.

The idea was to make the students learn English faster. And they did, she added. When Loretto opened its doors Sept. 5, 1923, the campus was far from complete, Sister Adrian said. The present hieh school building and the chapel were shells for several years.

"Mother Praxedes believed if she put up the walls, she'd have to finish it," she said. After much work on the part of Mother Praxedes and the sisters, the site gradually evolved to present the lush landscaped campus. The city not only grew out to meet the academy, but grew past it, putting the school in the geographical center of El Paso. Loretto has managed to thrive here, while other schools were eventually closed. Even the famous Iretto convent In Santa Fe was converted to a hotel.

Santa Fe was the first Southwestern home for the order, which was the first order of Roman Catholic sisters founded in this country without any affiliation with a religious order in Europe. The order was founded in the hills of Kentucky in 1812 by Mary Rhodes, who wanted to educate the children of the colonists in the backwoods. In 1852, four years after the war between the United States and Mexico over the Southwest territory was settled, six Loretto sisters followed the trader's route by paddle wheel steamer and covered wagon to Santa Fe. One sister died of cholera on the river boat and another died of exhaustion and terror after an Indian attack on their wagon train. The sisters opened the Academy of Our Lady of the Light in Santa Fe, and the school and convent grew until the late '60s.

From there, the order established more schools in Taos, Mora, Las Vegas, Bernalillo and Socorro. In 1870 the Loretto Academy was established in Las Cruces. The site is now occupied by the Loretto shopping center. From Las Cruces, the order spread to San Elizario. While it started as a teaching order.

Sisters of Loretto has branched out into many types of social work, Sister Adrian said. About 10 years ago the sisters adopted a system of self government close to a pure democracy. Decisions are made at the annual assemblies, where there are elected representatives, but any sister present is allowed participation, Sister Adrian said. This year Sister Marian McAvory of Denver was named president for a four-year term. She replaces Sister Helen Sanders, who served two terms.

Sister Adrian added that the Loretto alumnae has compiled a cookbook to benefit the order, which was presented to the assembly Friday. By CRAIG PHELON Kilndusrope in II Writer Sister Rose Clare's apple-cheeked face peeks out from her traditional black habit. She chuckles as she talks about her early years at Loretto Academy. She's 75 and less than 5-feet tall, but she bubbles with energy. Sister Mary Gladys Way, 85, looks at the reporter through thick glasses.

She's willing to do her part, as she has been for her 68 years in the order. But in her modesty, she would just as soon the attention was focused on someone else. Sister William Joseph Garcia, "sweet 68 sweet 16 with a few 20s," is poised and proper. A seasoned educator, principal of the former St. Joseph's Academy for eight years, and product on an influential Colorado family, she is ready to handle anything.

The three are part of the past and present of Loretto Academy, where the Loretto sisters this week opened their centennial observance of the order's arrival in Texas. Sister Adrian Corley, who handles media relations for the academy, wears secular clothes in contrast to the habits worn by many of the older sisters. The choice of clothing is left up to the individual. Sister Ann Greenslade is administrator of the convent. It's been almost 100 years since the small group of sisters bounced across the desert in wagons to nearby San Elizario to establish another of their several schools.

Now, Loretto stands as the order's only surviving school in the Southwest, But the academy is flourishing, Sister Adrian said. The campus, which was opened in 1923, covers a 19 Vi-acre site at 1300 Hardaway. The private secondary school for girls and elementary school for both boys and girls had 860 students last year. The sisters didn't arrive here until 1879, but the academy is using the order's annual general assembly convening there this week as the official start of centennial observances. About 345 sisters from throughout the United States will end the week-long business session Saturday.

On Thursday the delegates joined in a dinner and fiesta at San Elizario Mission. The Most Rev. Patrick Flores, bishop of El Paso, was celebrant at a special centennial service. The order decided to move its school from San Elizario to El Paso in 1892. The San Elizario area was more densely populated than El Paso at that time, but the sisters saw that the center of growth would soon switch to El Paso, since the Southern Pacific Railroad bypassed their lower valley site.

The sisters founded St. Joseph's Academy at 704 N. El Paso St. and ran that school for girls until 1955, when operations were transferred to the newer Loretto Academy. Sister Wiliam Joseph was principal at St.

Joseph's from 1943 to 3952 and has been a teacher 35 years. She said the academy had to be closed because the building was condemned by the city as a fire hazard. It also lacked facilities, such as science labs required by the state. The expressway now covers St. Joseph's former site.

Sorting out her memories, Sister William Joseph told about the time a group of young Mexicans celebrating their Independence Day pretended to take charge of the school. She had given 16 Mexican girls permission to leave school to join in the LAUGHTER is the main attraction every day on The Times' comic page 5C umbers The telephone numbers of the Kaleidoscope Department of the El Paso Times: General News 747-6761 Fine Arts 747-6765 Entertainment 747-6766 I 1 lllit'b Ulf plidtu b) Jutlll t. uUi'lluf SISTER ENGELBERT MEDITATES IN LORETTO ACADEMY'S NAZARETH CHAPEL she said. The school was five miles from Downtown in those days, and the sisters traveled back and forth from the center of El Paso by streetcar, she said. The academy was a first called "Praxedes Folly," after the first superior, Mother Praxedes Carty, who oversaw the building of Loretto.

Many residents thought parents wouldn't be willing to send their children to school building. Finally they acknowledged the joke and backed out of the takeover, she said. Sister Mary Gladys also taught at St. Joseph's, as well as St. Mary's and St.

Patrick's parochial schools. She remembers the early days at Loretto Academy, when the area was little more then open desert. "When we came out here, the only thing beyond us was this refinery." 16th of September celebration. Soon they came back to this side of the border with a horseback procession of merrymakers in colorful costumes. The group stopped in front of the school and one of the young men claimed he was taking possession of the building for Mexico.

Sister William Joseph, who speaks fluent Spanish, went along with the gag by outlining the procedures the youths would have to go through to acquire the 'Embraceable Ewes 1 Ring Melodic Bell El Paso has a multitude of organizations to help you and the community. Here are a few numbers to call for help and information: Request-A-Prayer 859-6592 Chancery Office Diocese 533-5549 El Paso Baptist Association 544-8671 Salvation Army 542-1648 Rescue Mission 532-2575 Drug, Crisis Hotlines: Crossroads 747-2096 Teen Challenge 5654300 Aliviane 7794669 Drug Abuse Service Center 533-8403 Teen Hotline 566-8161 Catholic Counseling Services 532-6521 Catholic Youth Department 584-5512 United Way 533-2434 Volunteer Bureau 532-4919 Red Cross 544-8110 Chamber Of Commerce 544-7880 Goodwill 7784241 Salvation Army 533-6241 Mental Health, Retardation: Main Center 532-6203 Civic Center 544-7660 Coliseum 543-2961 UTEP Tickets 747-5234 NMSU Theater 505446-4517 Pan American Center 505-646-1420 Ticketmaster 532-4661 Dept. Of Human Resources 779-7790 Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-292-5400 Neighborhood Outreach Center 544-0211 Planned Parenthood 542-1919 Child Find 7794295 Alcoholics Anonymous. 533-5559 West Texas Council On Alcoholism 533-7798, 533-1468 YMCA 533-3941 YWCA. 533-7475 City Recreation 5434754 Fashion Coordinators-: Montgomery Ward 7794699 Liberty House 779-1313 Popular 778-5222 White House 779-5411 Index Calendar 2C This Week 2C Over The 2nd Cup 4C Comics 5C aleidoscope reflections ly louite Ma nor Rea Down from Denver for a midsummer vacation with their grandparents, Jim and Marie Foster, were Cathy and Lori Buscemi, daughters of Dr.

and Mrs. Jon Buscemi. Cathy and Lori went with the Fosters to Mexico City last year on an Empire Club trip. Highlight of their visit here was a farewell dinner in the club. Cathy will be entering the ninth grade and Lori the seventh this school year.

and I always watch and have a good time with a bowl of popcorn and iced tea. Johnny Whitaker, whatever age he may be now, was a believable Tom Sawyer, for Instance. Wasn't that fun for everyone? show in the fall. A former Miss America, Phyllis appeared here in several Miss El Paso contests, as judge, special entertainer and otherwise, always enchanting guests and viewers with her personality and charm. Vivacious and friendly, unaffected, with that air of the girl-next-door, she made many friends during her visits here, and it has always been a thrill to see her progress in television.

Formerly a regular on the "NFL Today" sports program with Brent Musbcrger and Irv Cross, she enhanced the program with her sparkling personality and beauty. If the format of this program does justice to her special attributes, she should be one of the hits of the new season. Watch for her. A cheery note from Esther Russell Brown from Houston says she's settled in her new home in Houston. She says she reads poetry aloud every day and also enjoys television.

Miss Brown appreciates all the clippings from El Paso papers and loves hearing from old friends here. She is a great lady, and we will miss her here. Name of the Los Angeles Rams professional football team's new cheerleaders, "Embraceable Ewes," brings back a whole era of singable, danceable music by two of the musical masters of the Golden Age of music in the United States, the '20s. Musical genius Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart composed "Embraceable You," still a standard in lounges and restaurants where deft pianists play a soft accompaniment to the shrill or muted voices and the clatter or lack of it of dishes and cutlery. Poring through a book on the history of American musical theater, "Better Foot Forward," by Ethan Mordden, I found some fascinating glimpses into various ventures into musical comedies, revues, and the like, with only a few mentions of this talented pair of man.

So I am relying, perhaps wrongly, as I often do, on my memory that these two indeed, did write this song, and another of my favorites of that time, "Funny Valentine." In defense of my rather clouded memory of the '20s, let it be noted that I was in grammar school then, so I have no real recollection of such songs except in retrospect, hearing them later and appreciating the unlikely combinations of words to make unusual rhymes, with the smooth flow of the music. Devotees of Guyrex Associates Miss El Paso and Miss Texas contests, or just girl watchers, or sports fans, who may know Phyllis George, will be glad, as I am, that she will be hostess of CBS' new "People" Empire Club members have returned form an exciting trip to Alaska, with stories to tell of the wonders of nature in the Last Frontier State, and seeing Mount McKinley on one of the few days of the year that this tallest mountain in the North American continent is visible. The Columbia Glacier was another spectacle the group enjoyed, as much as the mild 50-to40 degree weather. Karl and Dixie Horst and Irene and Keith Futrell stayed behind in Anchorage to visit Karl's brother Herman and his wife when the Empire Club group left. The EI Paso quartet, with the help of Herman Horst, caught over 100 king crab and more than 400 shrimp.

Herman is in the construction business and has lived in Alaska for 28 years. Another thrill, in addition to getting the crab and shrimp, was panning for gold, and actually finding some! Kathleen B. Adams sent in an amusing comment on a radio program she heard recently. A famous New hostess was being interviewed and said one must always be at ease and rested when guests arrive, and recommended a tepid bath taken while sipping sherry. Her comment was "What fun to have your hostess meet you at the door, sloshed, but at ease and rested, oh yes, And just a word for the series of programs CBS is showing especially directed for family viewing.

The family classics being aired should be a boon to families who care about what their children watch on television. The programs are absorbing, fun, and good clean entertainment the whole family can enjoy. I must confess that this is the type of show Joe.