Holy Rosary CYO reunion planned for July

By Natalie De La Garza
Staff Writer
CARIBOU, Maine — Reunion organizer Theresa Dube doesn’t know how many people will be attending the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Reunion for Holy Rosary Church this summer — but she does know that they sent out over 600 postcards reminding people to “save the date.”    The potential scope of the reunion is pretty significant, as the CYO started in November of 1960 and continued right up to the fall of 1987.
“That’s 27 years of people,” Dube said. She’s already received confirmation that former CYO members will be coming from all across Maine and all over the country for the reunion on July 4 and July 5; the Holy Rosy CYO Facebook page alone has over 200 members, and Dube is prepared for any and all CYO members to return home for a great reunion — and it’s not exclusively for Catholics.
“You didn’t have to be Catholic to be part of CYO,” Dube clarified, describing that some of her CYO friends included Methodists, Baptists and Lutherans.
“You started at 13-14 years old, and then you had your whole teenage years with this group of people, and you’re doing all these great activities — basketball, volleyball, cheerleading, Miss CYO pageants,” she recalled. “Going through all those things during your teenage and formative years — you bond with those people.”
That bond lasted for decades.
Dube and a large group of fellow former CYO gathered to remember their childhood friend, Jon Wark, who died in 2012. After the service and the burial, Dube described how all the CYO members gathered at Reno’s, just like they always used to after their CYO meetings.
Shockingly, as they convened around pizza, they realized just how many CYO members came out to remember their deceased CYO comrade.
Dube remembered how after talking and reminiscing for a while, Luke Dyer spoke up and expressed that they should have a reunion — and that Dube should coordinate it.
“I laughed at first and disagreed on that part … but by the end of the meal, I was planning a reunion,” the organizer said.
But planning the reunion wasn’t a matter of just sending out invites and booking a venue; there weren’t any records to be found on former CYO members, so Dube hit the library and starting combing the archives of the Aroostook Republican starting in 1958 to make sure she didn’t miss anyone.
“If there was an article or a picture about CYO, I wrote down the date, page and where to find it on the page,” Dube said, adding that she found over 1,000 names.
She’s still poring over that information to put together scrapbooks reflecting the three decades CYO was active at Holy Rosary — plus scrapbooks about Holy Rosary and its organizations as she came across lots of information during her research.
“Honestly, I spend a couple of hours on (the reunion) every day, if not more,” Dube said. “It’s fun  — like a little mystery trying to find the names and I really, really enjoy it.”
So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive for the reunion.
“The Caribou Inn and Convention Center can hold around 275 people for the banquet … we may exceed that number,” she described; Dube is hesitant to estimate how many people will be coming to the reunion, but she’s prepared in the event that the reunion exceeds 275 people.
“That’s why it’s so important that people get their RSVP’s back by May 30 — so we can figure out if we exceed that number,” she added.
While she’s excited to see so many of her friends and three decades of CYO members, there’s one aspect of the reunion Dube’s particularly looking forward to: the Mass.
“I’m excited for the Mass — I’m excited for the music of the Mass!” she described.
The music group “Serenity” was very popular, and original members will be coming back to sing at the Mass — which will be led by retired Rev. Richard Ouellette, principal celebrant, and Rev. Timothy Nadeau and Rev. Frank Morin who will be co-celebrants.
“Everything involved with the Mass is going to be alumni of some kind; all the ushers, the singers, the offertory people — everyone is going to be CYO,” Dube said.
While Dube has extended many invites to the two-day reunion, it’s open to all former CYO members who wish to attend.
“If you were not in the newspaper in a picture, or named in an article — I may not have your name,” she reminded.
The Holy Rosary CYO page on Facebook is open to all who wish to join, and those who wish to donate to the reunion can make checks payable to “Holy Rosary CYO Reunion” and mail to Holy Rosary Church, 31 Thomas Ave., Caribou ME 04736, with c/o Reunion on the envelope.
“It’s going to be a fantastic reunion,” Dube said.