Members of the Sisters of Mercy gather in St. Paul's School cafeteria for the blessing and dedication of their new convent in Butler in 1951. At least 11 sisters from the Sisters of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities will attend the Butler Catholic School alumni dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Michael?s School Hall, 432 Center Ave.

Butler Catholic School Alumni Association will give its first Distinguished Alumni Award Saturday to the three founding sister congregations.

“They've been very supportive of us and what we are continuing to try to do, and I'm looking forward to saying, 'Thank you' for how inspirational they've been,” said Kathy Frederick.

Frederick is a seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher at Butler Catholic and an alumna of the school, graduating in 1963.

“I'm proud of what we have here based on having been here, then watching my brother and sister come here and also sending my daughter here,” Frederick said.

At least 11 sisters from the Sisters of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of Mercy and the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, formerly the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale, will attend the alumni dinner at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Michael's School Hall, 432 Center Ave., to share their stories.

“My kids are going to grow up and they are going to hear these inspiring stores of people who went out and did good,” said Diana Foehringer, Alumni Relations for Butler Catholic.

Foehringer is not an alumna of Butler Catholic, but her two daughters attend the school.

“I wanted them to have a strong Catholic faith, and I believe our Catholic faith is in everything you do, not just Sunday school or Sunday Mass,” said Foehringer.

The dinner is part of the third annual alumni weekend for Butler Catholic School.

“We started the alumni association three years ago just because there was a lot of people who wanted to come back,” Foehringer said.

The sisters began working and teaching at three separate schools.

“St. Peter's School opened in 1858 just through the church, and the sisters came in 1931 and took over and filled it up for the St. Peter's School, that was the Sisters of St. Francis.”

“St. Paul's, which was the Sisters of Mercy, started in 1888 and St. Michael's, which was the Sisters of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart started in 1937,” Foehringer said.

Lois Gianneschi of Doylestown graduated in 1970 from Butler Catholic and is a member of the alumni reunion committee. She has been working on a presentation about the sisters for the dinner.“There were three independent schools running for quite a few years,” said Gianneschi. “In 1969 they merged to form Butler Catholic.”While much of Butler Catholic School's history was not recorded, it is believed the three schools decided to form one school because of their close proximity to one another, declining attendance as baby boomers graduated and financial obligations.“Apostles of the Scared Heart withdrew from the area in 1990, but I'm not sure as far as when the Sisters of St. Francis or Sisters of Mercy left,” said Gianneschi.The school, which teaches prekindergarten through eighth grade, has about 250 current students, many of which are children of alumni.“I went to school here, and my whole family went to school here, so I felt a real strong tie to Butler Catholic,” said Donna Preston, who teaches second grade and graduated in 1980.Preston sent all five of her children to Butler Catholic.“I love the fact that I can send my children to school here and we can talk about religion, we can talk about our faith and our values and it's part of every day,” Preston said.

The following are events happening as part of the Butler Catholic Alumni Weekend.<b>Morning of Service </b><b>WHEN: </b>9 to 11 a.m. Saturday<b>WHERE: </b>Butler Catholic School<b>Under 21 Alumni Ice Cream Social </b><b>WHEN:</b> 10 a.m. to noon Saturday<b>WHERE:</b> Butler Catholic School Cafeteria<b>COST: </b>$1<b>Alumni Mass </b><b>WHEN:</b> 6 p.m. Saturday<b>WHERE: </b>St. Michael the Archangel Church<b>Alumni Adult Dinner </b><b>WHEN: </b>6:30 p.m. doors open, dinner at 7:30 p.m.<b>WHERE: </b>St. Michael's School Hall<b>COST: </b>$17.50; make reservations as soon as possible to Diana Foehringer, alumni relations at 724-285-4276.<b>Butler Catholic School Open House </b><b>WHEN: </b>12:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday

From left, Ryan Truax, Sarah Preston, the Rev. James Murphy, Bridget Preston, Troy Ritson, Grace Foehringer, the Rev. Henry Bielewicz, Gretchen Foehringer and Thomas Preston hold a banner welcoming alumni to Butler Catholic School. The school's alumni association will give its first Distinguished Alumni Award Saturday to its founding three sister congregations.