Oscar Brohm and Karl Schmitt talk Flaget High School and the upcoming Legacy Celebration

Oscar Brohm and Karl Schmitt discuss the legacy Flaget High School has in the city, preview the Flaget Legacy Celebration, and break down their plans for the money donated to the Flaget Alumni Association. Oscar also discussed a little U of L football...

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
When I heard that. It justso happened. I was driving home a
week later and you hadn't come yet, and I saw Terry Miners next to
me in the car, and thenI looked and you were talking to it
looked like Terry Miners. You hadthe big cutout. Oh yeah, Terry
Miners. Next, I went,what's going on here? They make cutouts

(00:22):
of me? All kinds of stuff, Carl, Great, see you too,
Good to see you, Terry.You guys are flag A guys,
flag A boys. Now. WhenI was a senior in Saint X there
were some flag A guys on ourclass who had to come be seniors with
us because the school was closing,and they were great. I felt bad
for him, though, because flagehas got such a rich legacy in this

(00:44):
community, and that's what you guysare here to celebrate. Well, we're
here to talk about we're having alegacy celebration and we've been closed for fifty
years. Uh So we decided,hey, let's let's have a celebration and
celebrate what flage A was and andalso what they're doing now. And you
know, we we've had we probablyforty two hundred graduates over the years.

(01:07):
I think we've got close to eighteenone hundred of them still living and seven
hundred, almost eight hundred of usare still playing dues. So we're having
this celebration. I'm a I'm aco chair and Carl's a col chair and
he's also the event coordinator. Hasdone a heckful lot of work getting things
together, but we think it's gonnabe a great event. And we've got

(01:30):
over We've got about five hundred andtwenty five people signed up to come.
So on June on next this comingSunday, we're going to have a mass
at twelve thirty at Saint Rayfields andimmediately after we're walking across the parking lot
to Assumption's Gym and we'll have alunch in there and we'll have a program.

(01:51):
So, uh, you know,and we've done a lot and I'll
Carl get into this in a minute, but you know, we've given a
lot. We've getten a lot ofmoney to charity over the years. We
actually started to even though we closedin seventy four, Week started the Alumni
Association around ninety five, and sowe've given like seven hundred and fifty thousand

(02:13):
to the Catholic schools, Wow,and over the years, and we give
a four hundred and fifty thousand toother local charities in the West End.
So that's like a million in almosta million two. And then we have
an endowment that we've been putting moneyin. Let Carl talk about that a
little bit, and I think we'reup to almost a million and a half

(02:35):
and hour. You still are anumbers guy, That's true. I gotta
talk. I gotta do that.But I'm gonna tell you what, it's
real exciting. We've been working onit close to a year and it's gonna
happen Sunday. We'll have over fivehundred people there. It's gonna be a
lot of fun, and it's goingto be a real wardy thing for all

(02:58):
the flage a Grads because we're gonnahave people talk about all the things we've
done and how nationwide we're doing thingsand other people don't do. And I'm
gonna let Carl go ahead talk aboutsome of the things. The presentation and
all those please do Carl. Well, you know, the amazing thing is
that we have almost fifty percent ofthe live in living alumni or duce paying

(03:19):
members of the alumni associal. Greatthis endowment that Oscar mentioned is at one
point four million because of bequeathments fromupon death and those types of things.
It'll be two point five million whenwe're all gone, and we will be
giving scholarships to every Catholic high schoolfor kids from underserved neighborhoods. It's usually
ranges from eight to twelve thousand dollarsa year at every school in perpetuity.

(03:45):
Oh man, forever. That's fantastic. How about that. You didn't have
to tell me what perpetuity? Well, yeah, I went to say,
well, I was looking at guysat us a little bit of we want
to point out that Saint X andFlage had the same brothers as Oh yeah,
that's right, Zaverian brothers. Dowe have like a Flage a section
of our school? Now you youused to you were very gracious you for

(04:08):
for twenty years you housed a smallmuseum front. No, we actually were.
The archdioces gave us space in theold Angel Marisi High School which is
now the Flage Retreat Center, nineother square feet of memorabilia, video,
a lot of audio, a lotof photos. There there would be the
video of this luncheon, we'll beon display there. What what's up with

(04:30):
the original flage A buildings still standing? It is still standing forty fourth in
broad forty fourth in River Park,and it is apartments for retired citizens.
And then the flage A practice field, which is at forty fourth in Greenwood,
which both of us put a lotof blood, sweat and tears into
that place is now city owned park. That's pretty close and rams it's pretty

(04:53):
close to Chickasaw Park. If yougo straight down Greenwood about three blocks you're
at Chickasaw Park And on the otherside of Chickasaw Park is the Now we
just we just moved to Paul HorningMemorial to to that area. A plaque
that was about Paul that was atpark is now at and we moved it
there. Yeah and uh uh butuh yeah, you know Schnellenberger's a flag

(05:18):
guy. Yeah, Paul Horning,Howard Stellenberger. Uh, you know,
coach Paul Miller was famous for acorner for many years. Uh. Gus
Spell the baseball player for the CincinnaReads And uh, We've had a lot
of people in the industry and andpolitics. I'll tell you terry for for

(05:38):
probably three decades, part of thebackbone of this community with flager grants,
and that's all the way from factoryworkers, tradesmen, you know, electricians,
uh, plumbers, entrepreneurs, uh, educators and and it's you know,
our day is coming on. Butthe beauty of it is as we
gather in Mass for the last time, because the seventy fifth anniversary, the

(06:00):
youngest grad will be ninety two.So as we gather in Mass for the
final time, it's what they're goingto hear that I think is most important
is what's the future. And thefuture is that we'll keep on giving,
which is what was instilled in usby the Zavarian brothers. That's fantastic.
You have the foundation put together.Didn't you get some kind of fancy letters
from the Vatican or somewhere really Yeah, So we were trying to get a

(06:24):
letter from a blessing for the Pope, and the archidise has told us the
only bless is like anniversaries and soforth. But one of our Zavarian brothers,
it's connected to the Apostolic Nunzio inWashington, who's the Pope's representative,
and the Pope has sent his specialblessing with the letter to the Flage Alumni

(06:46):
Association and the Flag Grads, bestowinghis good engraces on us and thanking us
for what we've done. That's sonice. Yeah, it's good to be
close to the Pope. Is it'sthat it can't hurt. We also have
another opponent of saying X that's goingto be on our program. I saw
that Rob Mullen is going to beour keynote speaker, and he's done some

(07:10):
research and he talked to us beforeour organizations. We have a meeting once
a month and where we have aboutone hundred graduates show up, and he's
saying that our organization, there's noother one like this in the country that's
been closed that along and it's doingas many things as right. That's that's
magnificent. He's a longtime principal atTrinity High schooling. Good for you guys.

(07:33):
I'm glad this is all coming together. Yeah. And so it's this
Sunday Mass is at noon. I'mguessing don't be late twelve thirty thirty thirty.
You're welcome if you come to noonMass and you'll be early works.
And if you're a straggler, andyou want to show up at the luncheon,
we might be able to take careof the st rayfield. And the
event is over an Assumption next andyou know how we got the Assumption High

(07:56):
School gym. You know who's aflag grad one Ron Cordy. Yeah,
I worked out pretty good volleyball.I took Ron asked the president of the
school, and she called me andsaid, when Ron Cortys asks, we
listen, you do that, misterBrom, I don't want to be delinquent
in my duties. Are we excitedabout this upcoming football season for the University

(08:16):
of Louis We are really excited,Jeff, No, you I know you
were talking about the portal in aprevious interview here. Now that the portal
is something that all the coaches haveto deal with, and Jeff realized,
Hey, to be good, Ihave to be good in the portal.
And so he used to recruit toomuch out of the year. Now your
recruits every weekend. No, I'mnot exaggerating he does. But I think

(08:41):
he's brought in about twenty five reallygood players. Plus we got a lot
of real good players coming back,all American caliber. Giletto at our defensive
end. They're saying that he's goingto be a first team All American I
think. And the quarterback, Iwent out there and watched. I've watched
some practice, and this quarterback's aboutsix five two thirty five and he can

(09:03):
throw it, I mean, andhe's accurate, and he's got a really
strong arm. And when I lookedat the offensive line when he got behind
it, he's brought in some reallybig guys. Good. The way I
could tell is the sixty five twothirty five guy didn't look that big standing
behind them. That's good. Weneed that protection, that's right. And

(09:24):
he's got a lot of good guyscoming back on defense, so he's real
excited about it. You know.Part of the main thing you have to
do. If you get a lotof good players you want you still you
have to get those that they haveto gel together. They have to work
together without jealousies or anything. Yougot to work. They have to work
together like your son's all working together. That's right. And so so far

(09:46):
they've been able to accomplish that witheach of these classes, and they've got
a real good routine and got areal good setup. The way they do
things so I'm really excited. Doyour son and still gather at your house?
And then they are you talk footballall the time? Yes they do,
Yeah, yes they do. Infact, on Father's Day we were

(10:11):
we had something there. Uh sowe talked football all the time. Well,
I mean they were raised by you, a University of Louisville quarterback,
right, Hey, I tell him, I said, well, you know,
I've coached their whole lives. SoI still tell them what I think,
whether they like to hear it ornot. Good, But the Thanksgiving
Day football game is done. It'sin the rearview mirror. You know.

(10:35):
We played tackle until I was likeforty six years oh my goodness, and
then we played The first year weplayed touch, nobody had gotten hurt.
First year we played touch, oneof my brothers hit me and I had
to go to the hospital with prebrokenribs, had a collapse lung. That
happens. So well, you know, I saw the expectations that were listed

(10:58):
that came out or whatever the bettingnumber whatever on the Louisville schedule for this
year, and I think it's goingto be better than in the projections.
You know, I think it willtoo. I mean there's Hey, ACC
has got a lot of good teams. Yeah, so all those games are
probably going to be close games,right, So that's why you really have

(11:18):
to have your team working together.When they have Louisville losing at Notre Dame.
I went there last time, wewere up a Notre Dame, and
I remember the result. I dotoo, and uh uh, it'll be
it'll be a great game. ButI'm predicted I win me too. And
you know, anymore you win,pretty soon you win nine or ten,
you in the playoffs, and anythingcan happen. It can happen, that's

(11:39):
right. Oscar Brom Great to seeyou again. Good see Carl Schmid,
same goes brother. Great to seeyou guys. Have a great celebration this
Sunday masses at twelve thirty at SaintRaphael and then the event for flage a
High school celebration is at Assumption HighSchool, which is just across the parking
lot. Yes, sadly, KrispyKremes on the other side and they're they're

(12:03):
rebuilding. It's great to see youguys. Good back in a few on
news radio eight forty w h A. S