New Turf Field Awaits Cardinals - St. Charles Preparatory School

Development Update
Development Update
Legacy of service recalled
This June marks
my fifth full year
heading up the
Development &
Alumni Office at
St. Charles. Our
little staff of three
– myself, Louis
Fabro, and Cherri
Taynor – occupies
the former living
quarters and work
Douglas H. Stein ’78
space of the Sisters
of Saint Francis of
Penance & Christian Charity, who served
the St. Charles faculty, college students
and seminarians, and prep school
students from 1925 to 1976.
When I was a student here in the mid-
1970s, this area that we now call the
Development Office was totally off limits
to students. During my sophomore year,
the sisters were called back with little
fanfare to their Motherhouse in Stella
Niagara, New York. What remains are
the sisters’ residence rooms, a kitchenette,
a small bathroom (that we renovated a
couple years ago), and the “Nuns’ Chapel”
on the third level directly above our suite
of offices and across the hall from Holy
Angels Library.
I recall these sisters because of their
legacy of service to mankind and St.
Charles that begs to be emulated.
The sisters’ order mandated them
to “Christian Charity.” While those
two words together are easily enough
pronounced, putting those words into
action is another story altogether. Many
wonderful people – over a thousand in fact
– found a way to do something charitable
for St. Charles throughout this past year.
We who occupy what I regard as hallowed
ground devote part of every day to work
just a little harder for St. Charles because
it might be pleasing to those who occupied
this space before us.
As the curtain falls on the current
academic calendar, I want you to know
how good it makes everyone at SC feel
that we have a network of supporters
whose constant love and care for St.
Charles is a cut above the rest. No one
here will ever tire of SC moms and dads
who drop what they do at home (and
sometimes the corporate office!) to be here
at 2010 to serve a hot meal, clean up the
steam table, and wipe down the tables in
the Commons.
The Distinctive Leader in Catholic Education
For six weeks this past spring there
also were many SC dads whose schedules
were flexible enough that they helped
us build a remarkable new athletic field.
And that work will continue well into the
summer months. You know who you are
and SC salutes you. To the hundreds of
alumni who opened their checkbooks so
St. Charles kids who need some tuition
money could reach that bar – “thank you.”
You know who you are. We need to be
grateful that the job not only was done,
but was done The Saint Charles Way.
Douglas H. Stein ’78
Senior Director of Development & Alumni
Walt Plank Field honors Columbus
legend
St. Charles
principal Dominic
J. Cavello has
announced the
school’s new
athletic field, which
promises to be one
of the finest in
Central Ohio, has
been named “Walt
Walter H. Plank ’41
Plank Field” in
honor of the late
great Walt Plank, a member of the Class
of 1941 and one of Columbus’s truly great
sportsmen.
“The St. Charles community is excited
about the new opportunities this field will
create here for the students, both present
and future; we expect all will aspire to
Walt’s sportsmanship and love of the
game,” Cavello said.
“We hope our students will gain fresh
appreciation of Walt’s care and concern
for his fellow man, and for his love of
alma mater,” Cavello said. “Walt paid
forward countless times and that is
why St. Charles is proud to promote
his wonderful legacy. His story is one of
which all of us can be proud,” he said.
As this magazine went to press,
installation of the new field and the two
new dugouts and storage units were
complete, and fencing was being installed.
Later this summer, construction on
the new stadium entryway will begin.
A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new
athletic field will take place later in the
year and alumni, parents and friends will
be invited.
Sports star
Walter Plank ’41 was an outstanding athlete who
captained both the basketball and baseball team his
senior year. His senior year Plank played shortstop and
led the Cardinals that year with a blistering .480 batting
average.
New athletic field takes shape
Several St. Charles advocates generously
provided the planning and labor for
the new athletic field and stadium
improvements. Early in the planning
stages, Dominic Cavello and Jim
Lower called upon Hank Sherowski
for help, father of 1991 S.C. graduate
Steve Sherowski. For Hank this was
his second field installation project at St.
Charles; he also was heavily involved in
construction of the first multi-sport field
in 1994.
Site preparation of Walt Plank Field
was performed by Team Savko, formally
known as Nick Savko & Sons, led by
brothers Steve and Marty Savko. The
Savko work crew of bulldozers, backhoes,
graders, and steamrollers was supervised
by 1979 St. Charles alumnus Ralph
Polletta, who spent many hours working
on St. Charles expansion projects as a
student and as an employee of his father
when the school’s original Walk of Honor
was installed in the early 1990s. Also
giving a major assist to the project was
Savko veteran planner, Ed Carlson,
who worked on planning and zoning
documents.
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