Submitted Photo Roz Smith is shown at her induction into St. Mary’s High School Performing Arts Hall of Fame on June 25

Roz Smith has lived a fulfilling life. At 95 years old, the Sunset Bay resident has been able to accomplish a lot as a teacher and musical director, and in late June, Smith received one more accolade.

Smith was honored at St. Mary’s High School’s Performing Arts Hall of Fame. She served as the school’s music director in 1963, and with her in charge, the school was pioneering performances, namely, the performance of West Side Story. The Catholic school is located in Lancaster.

“We were the first ones in the whole country to do West Side Story outside of New York City,” Smith said.

In doing this performance of West Side Story, Smith was able to form a friendship with the musical’s composer, Leonard Bernstein. It began with a telegram sent to ensure they had the rights to perform the musical, and when Bernstein found out Smith was directing it, they began a bit of a friendship.

“We got to know one another,” Smith said. “We spoke together and when I moved to New York, I saw him quite a few times. He was a very fine gentleman.”

On her placard she received for being inducted into the Hall of Fame, the telegram that Bernstein sent to her is featured prominently on it.

Smith did more than just that performance of West Side Story. She spent the late 1950s and early 1960s at St. Mary’s, and also taught in the Commack School District on Long Island, and was one of the first women conductors in the Orchestra da Camera. But in 1986, Smith decided to return to where she grew up in Western New York.

“I’ve lived in Sunset Bay since 1986,” Smith said. “Years ago, Sunset Bay had the reputation of being one of the nicest beaches on Lake Erie, but that’s not why I came back. This is just home. Long Island and New York City were wonderful, but your roots grow you back.”

At her induction, Smith was able to reconnect with members of the cast and crew from that production of West Side Story in 1963, which left Smith feeling humbled and overwhelmed because of the reception she got from her former students.

“It was my first time seeing them since way back when they were students,” Smith said. “Those students are in their 60s and 70s and they look all grown up.”

Now that they’ve reconnected, Smith is now getting together with a few of her old students regularly, including luncheons and birthday parties. The recognition she received from the Hall of Fame induction did more than just honor her, it reconnected her with people from that period. Smith quipped that she has run out of places to stow away.

“I can’t hide anymore,” she said.