HONOREE THINKS BACK
                                                      AT FUTURES DINNER                                                       

            With a warm tribute to a Christian Brother at St. Cecilia’s School in Greenpoint who made mathematics come to life for him concluding his acceptance talk, Wall St. executive Vincent J. Viola received the Futures Scholarship Fund Award at the 14^th annual Futures in Education Foundation dinner, held at the Brooklyn Museum of Art Nov. 8.

            Mr. Viola, the senior strategic advisor of the New York Mercantile Exchange and former NYMEX chairman, also announced that the dinner had raised $1 million to help families of youngsters who attend Catholic elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens meet tuition costs.

            In his brief remarks, the honoree noted that Brother Gerard had recognized his aptitude in math and said that 35 years later he remained grateful for the lengths the teacher went in his free time to show him logical paths to comprehending challenging algebraic formulas and solving geometry problems.

            Mr. Viola, a West Point graduate, indicated that he had lost contact with his former teacher, whom he remembered simply as Brother Gerard. The Christian Brother is believed to be Brother Andrew Gerard Duncanson, now a teacher at LaSalle Academy in Providence, R.I.

            Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio thanked Mr. Viola and the more than 600 dinner attendees for supporting Futures in Education’s efforts to help keep children in parochial schools and praised the work of Futures’ advisory board, chaired by Charles B. McQuade.

 Reiterating statements he has made several times in recent months, the Bishop

said declining enrollment will make school consolidations necessary. He has stressed that “a bold new vision” about parochial schools is needed to preserve Catholic education in as many parts of the Diocese as possible.

            One of Futures’ initiatives is to find donors who will collectively match a grant of $257,000 from the Walton Family Foundation to assist 392 children from low-income families. An appeal made to dinner guests by Clarissa Elgarten of the Futures board resulted in more than $35,000 in contributions.

            Jean O’Shea, Futures’ executive director, said that adding the new funds to $80,000 already raised reduced the amount required for the matching grant to $142,000.

            “We’re almost halfway there,” she said.

            Children from several schools sang at the dinner, and for one of them the evening produced a huge surprise for her and her parents.

            Alessandra Guercio, a nine-year-old fourth-grader at St. Mary Mother of Jesus School in Bensonhurst, sang the National Anthem and another song with such gusto that it prompted Jesuit Father Joseph M. McShane, president of Fordham University, who gave the invocation, to announce that the school will give her a scholarship when she reaches college age.

            Alessandra, who was a winner of a talent competition sponsored by Pax TV, was immediately recruited to sing a concert of holiday music with tenor and former police officer Danny Rodriguez at St. Michael’s Church in Sunset Park on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 28.

            Father Patrick G. Burns, pastor of St. Michael’s, who directed the children’s music segment of the dinner’s program, said he could not pass up the opportunity to invite her to perform at the concert benefiting his parish school.

            Further information about the Walton Family Foundation matching gift program is available from Ms. O’Shea at (718) 965-7340.