Page 19 - Priorities #27 2004-July

During a late evening episode, an upper classman set up a barbecue outside his dorm room window then opened his window to check on the progress. However,byopeninghiswindow,he unintentionally sent the aroma of roasting venison permeating throughout the Senior Dorm and eventually got caught.
Even during the school day, there were plenty of laughs. In one particularly boring English literature class, a fellow classmate fell asleep bumping his head on the back wall of the classroom. He was quickly awakened by a monk dusting the top of his head with a chalkboard eraser that sent the rest of the class howling with laughter at the ensuing massive dust cloud and white hair!
In between classes (and throughout the day), the banisters lining the stairs from the library to the classrooms and Red Square to the parking lot were used as a “race track.” (Soon after said tracks were discovered, bolts were inserted into the banisters in an attempt to stop the banister sliding, though one look at the seat of my brother’s pants is a testament to the failure of that attempt).
Kalman Field
Dave was a sophomore when Father Maurus arrived at the Priory and organized the first field trip to the coast to study marine biology, starting
a tradition that remains a much-anticipated event for his biology students to this day. It was also a class project to cut back the apple orchard behind the gym to create a baseball field which Dave, as student body president, dedicated to his schoolmate, Stephen T. Kalman, who lost his battle with cancer in 1970.
At times during our conversation, I wondered if we really attended the same school, but at other times, our experiences couldn’t be more similar. His recollections of the beneficial influence the monks had on him, for instance, and the pride he felt in all members of his class being accepted to four-year universities because of the high quality of their Priory education rings true in virtually every Priory class.
When I heard him rattle off the names of friends he’s stayed in close contact with over all these thirty- plus years, and as he talked about the support they have given each other, I became increasingly sure that our experiences have not been that different.
It is when he pauses and tells me “those of us who have survived, I think we have come through with some pretty amazing families, relations, [and] acquaintances,” that I realize his sentiment mirrors that of many alumni.
I came away from this rewarding conversation with the reassuring feeling that at Priory, the people may come and go, the scenery may change, buildings may be built up or burned down, but the one thing that will never change is the strong foundation.
It was a formative time in WPS’s history and in his own, remembered with gratitude and affection.
Dave and his wife relax on a recent vacation in the Hawiian islands.
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Wife: Priscilla Meyers
Activities: home gardening, viticulture and winemaking, backpacking
Professional field: wine consultant for Windsor Vineyards, adjunct instructor at
Santa Rosa Community College, wine judge