BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Fellowship, celebration and a spirit of thanksgiving filled St. Anthony of Padua Church as Father Hugh Marren celebrated a Nov. 21 Mass in honor of the 85th anniversary of the West End school.

The Mass, planned by St. Anthony's eighth-graders, was originally intended to be a Thanksgiving liturgy until the principal, Dr. John Evers, discovered that Nov. 21 coincided with the school's 85th anniversary.

"I was looking through some odds and ends in some closets and I came across some proclamations from the governor and mayor for the 75th anniversary, 10 years ago on Nov. 21, and I said, 'Let's do it again for the 85th anniversary,'" Evers said.

The principal, who has been at St. Anthony's and Our Lady of Lourdes School since August, said the school hopes to have a larger celebration in the spring for alumni.

"We don't have a good list of alumni right now," Evers said. "One of the things I really hope to do is to work on resurrecting the alumni and developing a solid list of them."

Robert Todd and his wife, Dot, are two St. Anthony's alumni who remain actively involved with the church and school. Todd was in the class of 1936 while his wife was three years behind him. They are also the parents of nine children, all of whom attended St. Anthony's School.

"The people there are just so friendly and so glad to have you there. We just love it," Todd said.

His wife is pleased that children are still receiving a good education at St. Anthony's.

"I'm so happy to see the continuity of Catholic education," she said. "The children are so well-behaved. That's the product of a St. Anthony education."

In his homily, Father Marren, pastor at St. Anthony's, said that students should be thankful to those who paved the way for them throughout the school's 85 years.

"St. Anthony's is here due to the sacrifice and generosity of those involved with the school," Father Marren said. "We need to have that same spirit of sacrifice and generosity that others have shown us in the past. As we celebrate the birthday of our school, let us be thankful for the many blessings we've received."

Father Marren also said that the children are fortunate to attend a Catholic school.

"Some children will never have the privilege to go to school, but you get to go to a school that is here to hand down the faith and teach us about Jesus Christ," Father Marren said.

St. Anthony has about 125 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Many have attended the school since they were toddlers in the day care program.

Eighth-grader Taheedah Davie, 14, who gave the first reading from the Book of Sirach, started in the day care program when she was two. It will be hard when she has to leave next year to attend high school.

"I'm going to miss it. I've been here forever," Davie said.

Bianka Buford, 13, an eighth-grader who performed a dance at the Mass, has been at St. Anthony's since she was three.

"I don't want to leave," Buford said. "I'm going to miss the school picnics and all the students because they all come from different backgrounds."

Gary Shields, 14, who is also in the eighth grade, attended kindergarten at St. Anthony's and then left for a different school. He returned to St. Anthony's in the sixth grade. He said he is going to miss his friends when he goes to high school.

"I'm going to miss how close we are," Shields said.

Shields, who played the piano for the Mass, said the eighth grade did a good job contributing to the celebration of the Mass.

"That was the first dancer we had this year and the eighth grade did a beautiful job singing," Shields said.

The eighth grade led all of the hymns during Mass and presented a song, "My Life Is In Your Hands," after Communion.

Father Marren, who has been St. Anthony's pastor for three years, said the school is instrumental in the children's faith journey.

"While the school is not the only way, it is the best way to hand down the faith," Father Marren said.

Father Marren also said that he is proud of the school and its students.

"The children are great. They are really friendly and outgoing," Father Marren said. "I am glad to be a proud part of the great history."