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Around The Globe When our students leave St. Pius X, they go on to accomplish some pretty amazing things. Each story becomes a part of the legacy of our beloved Alma Mater and brings our community much pride and happiness. Recently, St. Pius X caught up with several alumni who are living, working and traveling around the globe. They have been kind enough to share with us, in their own words, their experiences after graduating from St. Pius X. We hope you’ll enjoy reading the stories found on the following pages. A Lasting Legacy for Children in Need In Guatemala Mike’s Angels in Action: (Above) While visiting the Hogar de San Jeronimo Emiliani Orphanage in Guatemala City, the volunteers donate some of life’s essentials—toothbrushes, books, and clothing—to help 75 children in the orphanage’s care. At the end of the visit, the volunteers take a moment to pose with some of the children. (Left to right) Anne Glaser, Rita Glaser, Sarah Welton ’00, Jackie Marcucci Price ’86 and Erina Nichols ’83. Mike’s Angels You can’t stop Pi Hi grads when they are on a mission. In this case, Jackie Marcucci Price ’86, Erina Nichols ’83 and Sarah Welton ’00 were on a special mission of service—to help children in need in Guatemala. Earlier this year, Jackie and her sister, Trish Marcucci, launched a new non-profit organization, Mike’s Angels, Inc., in memory of their brother Mike Marcucci ’81 who passed away in 2009. The sisters wanted to honor the special energy Mike brought to their family and to the halls of St. Pius. If you were fortunate enough to know Mike, then you can remember what a charismatic person he was. Whether he was walking with Mrs. Guscio to the cafeteria or pitching in to help his fellow students, he was always enthusiastic about supporting a worthy cause. So with the same giving spirit, 19 Mike’s Angels volunteers boarded a plane on June 27, 2010, unaware of all of the grateful and beautiful children they would meet and unsuspecting of the tremendous success they would have. “I knew the need was great, but experiencing it first hand was eye-opening,” says Jackie. “I learned that every kindness, however large or small, truly makes a difference. I could see the impact in the eyes of the children as their faces lit up during our visits.” Mike’s Angels will be sending relief supplies to orphanages throughout the year and is planning yearly mission trips to Guatemala. If you would like to learn more, visit www.mikesangels.org or call Jackie Marcucci Price at 404.915.7783. 12
Mark McSwain ’83 THE SUBWAY KING I attended the University of Louisville after graduating from St. Pius [and after college I] headed overseas to play basketball in the European leagues. I played professional ball in Finland, Israel, Belgium, Spain, Greece and France. I met the mother of my children during my three years there along with winning a championship. Helsinki awarded me the “Joulu Puuki” or “Santa Claus” for that Christmas. I am still very close with many friends there and visit every few years. Tel Aviv was nice also. I experienced my first Yom Kippur and celebrated by not using any electronics and very little electricity. I also attended a bar mitzvah for my team manager’s son. They let me light one of the candles on his candelabrum which is reserved for family and close friends. Nice country but they still owe me nearly half my salary. Seville, Spain is where they fight the bulls. I regretfully didn’t see it though. I mostly hung out with American college students studying abroad. The words I remember most are “cerveza” - “beer” and “mañana” – “tomorrow,” because I drank a lot of beer and was always told that my salary would be paid tomorrow. I had a tryout in Greece after that. After my tryout I was sent home with out-of-date money. I tried to exchange it at the airport, and they told me that the money couldn’t be exchanged because it was put out of circulation some time ago. I guess the people from the basketball club had a real good laugh with that one. In France I played in a small city named Chalon sur Soane, south of Paris. Paris is a wonderful place to visit and fall in love with someone, but living there is too busy and expensive. You won’t find a more beautiful city. It has a certain magic about it that stays with you. I played four seasons there and my daughter was born in Toulouse, the last city in which I played. After that we moved to Brussels were we live now. I played for seven more years and during that time we had our two sons. My youngest son was born in 2003, my last year playing professionally. This was the start of my career after basketball. Being 38 and playing basketball doesn’t mix too well so I bought into an American Bar/Grill. This lasted for two years. I knew I couldn’t continue living that way, staying out late and dealing with the shady characters that come along with the environment. So, I got out of the bar. I lost a lot of money and was out of work for a year and a half. My wife worked with the European Government, and I stayed at home with the new baby thinking about what to do next. Should we go back to America or make a stand here? I happened to pick up an English friend from the airport and he was carrying a Subway sandwich bag. I asked him where he bought it, and he told me that there are many Subway restaurants in England. I immediately knew what I was going to do. I was going to open the first store in Brussels. I had no money left so I had to find the money somehow. I had to convince someone to loan me more than $125,000. I asked friends and family with no luck. I presented my project to banks, government loan agencies and private investors, all with no luck. One day an investor called and said he knew of someone who might want to help me. I visited with him and presented my ideas in my (at the time) broken French. The next day I had a partner, Chris Beelen. I scraped up $25,000 and he did the same, with the rest coming from a government agency that helps new small businesses. In 2005 we opened the first Subway restaurant in Belgium. Since then I have become the Director of Development for the French-speaking region of Belgium and my partner handles the Flemish-speaking part. We now have 19 open stores countrywide with plans for many more in the coming years. Since Subway is an American company, we have conventions each year somewhere in the United States. So, I get to visit the U.S. twice a year, which allows me and my family to visit home. We also have meetings in different European cities each year, so I get to travel and potentially visit cities I have not seen before. All in all I’m about as happy as legally allowed. “Subway dreams of taking a bite into Belgium.” 13
Page 1 and 2: S T . P I U S X C A T H O L I C H I
Page 3 and 4: From the Alumni Director... I’m s
Page 5 and 6: Branch. She also sits on the Adviso
Page 7 and 8: Alumni Legacies: (Left to right, to
Page 9 and 10: Thank You to All Our Golfers and Vo
Page 11: Service Day PROJECT OPEN HAND *In c
Page 15 and 16: Life in Nicaragua Jon Thompson ’9
Page 17 and 18: Alison Bruckert ’01, Jennifer Baf
Page 19 and 20: Gala 2010 Winning Career Strategies
Page 21 and 22: The 2010-2011 Annual Fund forSt. iu
Page 23 and 24: Annual Fund FAQs: Your guide to the
Page 25 and 26: James and Melanie Bollinger ’69 R
Page 27 and 28: An Interview With Principal Spellma
Page 29 and 30: Honors Assembly Awards Theology Awa
Page 31 and 32: Arts Visual Arts Well, I can’t be
Page 33 and 34: Baseball St. Pius X won the Region
Page 35 and 36: Graduates of Mr. Ruggiero’s Holoc
Page 37 and 38: Lion Lines. . . keeping up with alu
Page 39 and 40: In Memory of James Charles Conrads

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