REMEMBERING ED HOGAN

The Father Barry  CYO  on Denver Street in Pawtucket

Everything seemed to change in 1949-50 but it wasn't all bad.  Disaster would  wait until 1953 to strike.
But something new came into our lives when my mother became aware of the CYO Center on Denver St near the  convents of the Sisters of Mercy and the White sisters--both now obliterated.

I don't know the extent of their programs now but I think  the CYO building is still there.  
No it is not --I just  drove by to check and it  has been torn down also to make way for what looks like a new gym building for Saint Raphael Academy.

But in 1950 -52  I do know that under the direction of Mr Ed Hogan they ran a day camp at Goddard Park in the Summer months.  AND that he added a special two week camp for handicapped children--and he decided that could include my two sisters Janie and Sheila.
I do not know how  my mother applied or even learned of this camp--it must have been someone in the parish or  maybe through the good offices of JENARITA FOX, a Special Ed teacher  of a class at Grove St School that my sisters attended.

My mother took it all a step further and brought me to  meet Ed Hogan and asked if I could also attend the camp--that I loved to swim and had never been to a camp-- and that at home I was in charge of my  two sisters. So he made me a "Junior Counselor" for two weeks and I was allowed to  attend the camp  free of charge and to help with the handicapped campers. 

We were so happy to see a CYO bus pull up at our front door and  we would all three run down the stairs and get on the bus. We carried little bags that held our towels and bathing suits and swim caps. And each of us had a lunch box. 
 I was beginning one of the greatest living and learning experiences of my 7 years,  My sisters were with other children who had difficulties--not just Down Syndrome but some were deaf and dumb and some were autistic, and some simply refused to speak.

My job was to  help with lunch, to step in if there were any fights, and to help the campers get into their swim suits and  shower and change back into clothes after the swim.  I also helped with ARTS AND CRAFTS.  I learned a few new things like knitting, clay work and  advanced Gimp.

The Camp operated with a BUDDY SYSTEM and it was my job each  hour to blow my whistle--YES I HAD A WHISTLE!-- and to do a Buddy Check.  This was especially crucial if we were in the water.  If anyone was not near  his buddy, we would take both children out of the water. That worked well and most were always close to their BUDDIES.

Will it surprise anyone if I say that my sisters loved it-- especially Janie.  She loved company and she loved to talk--like me.
So she would babble without let up to the children who would not talk.  NO INTERRUPTIONS!
There was one  silent  little boy who was fearful of just about everything.  Janie would lead him everywhere and never stop talking about what was going on.
One day in the locker room after the swim a little miracle happened-- I was helping Janie and Sheila get dressed and I was buttoning their pinafores.  And the boy was struggling nearby to get out of his wet t-shirt, with it over his head, he yelled out  the first words he had spoken in years  HELP ME, JANIE.

WE all heard it and someone ran out to get a  Senior Counselor--
but that day he said no more.  In fact he started to cry  as we all crowded around, and Janie said  "Leave him alone."  And we  did and Janie took up her usual tasks: Drying him off, adjusting his clothes and babbling about the day. When  he came  back the next day, he still would not speak when prompted, but with Janie  he would repeat some of her words or just laugh along.
That Camp ended too soon for all of us.
I, who was so busy trying to hide my shameful stuttering, came to wonder if that Boy's silence was not just an extreme form of  STUTTERING FEAR --he avoided all speech.
And I vowed  not to  avoid speech, but  the big lesson that I learned was how much anyone hates to be always on the receiving end of HELP and CARE.  
Each of  us longs to be  useful and to help. The  BUDDY SYSTEM is a brilliant  antidote to  pity and self pity. Everyone is helping someone else.
The CYO CAMP was  Ed Hogan's  way to help my family and so many people in Pawtucket  to learn how to help themselves by helping others.