Welcome
to Christendom's Alumni E-Zine. If you have information that
you would like to share with your fellow alumni, send it to
Tom McFadden at tmcfadden@christendom.edu.
The
Grapevine Online will be uploaded, depending on the amount
of information sent to the editor, every month. It will have
a couple of sections (when information is available), namely,
Class Notes (your basic information on alumni babies,
weddings, jobs, etc.), Calendar of Events, and Links
to various recent stories about Christendom College and/or
the Alumni of Christendom.
November
2004 edition of The
Grapevine Online
Class
Notes / Calendar of Events / Links
to Stories / Prior
issues
Click
here for the
NEW Print Edition - for spouses at home to read
Class
notes
Smile!
You're on the Grapevine! Pictured on the left is a group of
recent Christendom grads and their flock of Christendom babies
enjoy a visit to Cox Farms. It is indeed a Pleasure, not a
Gaggle.
Alumna
Kristy Hibl, class of '97 is taking part in two plays
right now. The first is The Shepherds Play a Christmas
play in the tradition of the Medieval Mystery Plays. It is
being performed at the Ki Theater in Washington, VA (across
from "The Theater" where the Christendom Players
have performed in the past) on December 4th and 5th. Those
interested in buying tickets or purchasing ad space in the
program can e-mail Kristy at genesiuslives@yahoo.com.
The Second is The Civil War: An American Musical by
Frank Wildhorn.This is being performed by the Prince William
Little Theater at Osborne Park High School in Manassas, VA.
Performance Schedule has not been announced but it will be
sometime the end of January and beginning of February 2005.
Ad space will be available for that program as well closer
to the date, if you are interested please e-mail Kristy and
she will get the information to you as soon as it is available
or go to www.pwlt.org.
St. Genesius Pray for us!
Alumnus
Steve Daly married alumna Deanna Quest on September
3, 2004, at St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal.
Dan
Miller (mid-80’s) proudly announces that Holy Cross
Academy has been named one of the top 50 Catholic High Schools
in America by the Catholic
High School Honor Roll, based on demonstrated commitment
to academic excellence, Catholic identity, and civic education.
HCA is one of only five independent schools nationwide to
earn the honor. The Honor Roll is produced in consultation
with a national advisory board comprised of Catholic college
presidents and noted Catholic scholars, including Dr. Timothy
O’Donnell (who we believe did not favor Holy Cross because
it was founded by a Christendom alumnus). See more at www.holycrossacademy.com.
Also, Dan reports that Robert O’Connell (87-88)
recently visited his upstate New York home bringing gifts
of beer and blueberry-whisky cake. They ate, drank and viewed
pictures of Jim Garner’s wedding. They reminisced about
Quad-Wars, Coffee House, Jiffy’s, work crew, Apple Mountain,
the WallStory and Dr. O’Donnell’s demonstration
of the Phalanx (in that order). Bob stayed in the new, still-almost-completed
sparsely furnished addition, which reminded him of the seminary,
only colder and darker. Lunch.
Amy
Quartararo '04 joyfully entered the order of the Dominican
Sisters of Hawthorne in New York, on October 7, the feast
of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Sisters of Hawthorne are a
contemplative/active order whose apostolate is to care for
destitute terminally ill cancer patients. This isn’t
the first time Amy has cared for those dying of cancer. In
the spring of 2002, her sophomore year, Amy’s mother
passed away after fighting cancer. Amy was the best “nurse”
a mother could have. So Amy is now dressed from head to toe
in white. No word yet on any attempted pranks from this former
Christendom prankster, but it shouldn’t be long now….
Amy would love to receive letters and anyone wishing to write
her can send snail mail to: Amy Quartararo, Rosary Hill Home,
600 Linda Ave., Hawthorne, NY, 10532
Another
2004 grad has entered the religious life. Mary Wolpert
joined the Sisters of the Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary. They are an active order whose apostolate is to the
youth and the family. This somewhat sudden, but Spirit filled
and joyous move happened at the beginning of August. Mary
is happy and in “training” at the sisters’
house in Delaware. Anyone wishing to send her a letter can
write to: Mary Wolpert, LIHM Formation House, 207 Northdown
Dr., Dover, DE, 19904
Daniel
"DJ" Corey, Class of '04, has returned from
The
American School in Switzerland to teach at the Avalon
School. The school is independent, all boys, and Catholic.
It opened last year in Rockville, MD with an enrollment of
103 for grades 3-9. This year, it added a 10th grade, and
has an enrollment of 185. They intend to have a full high
school by 2006-2007. DJ is teaching 4th grade boys and
enjoys it very much. If you are interested in the school,
check out the website: www.avalonschools.org. Send any messages
of encouragement, joy, or worldly disillusion to him at
dcorey@avalonschools.org. He resides in Silver Spring,
MD.
Ben
McMahon ('04), Bryan Hadro ('04) and alumnus Mike O'Herron
have moved out to Front Royal and are renting Ken Baltrinic's
old house at 87 Woodward Ct. Stop by if you are in the area,
or make a special trip out to say "hey."
Claire Schafer '04 and Lydia Thigpen '04 want
to share some of the amazing adventures they are experiencing
while doing mission work in the Carribean island of St. Lucia,
West Indies, with the Corpus Christi Carmelite Sisters. They
arrived on the first of September, and have undertaken work
of all kinds and with all ages. Here is their story:
"The
Sisters have three main apostolates: A Daycare/Preschool for
the poor and underpriveleged children of the area; a nursing
home which provides care for 67 aged, sick, and dying; and
a Girls' Vocational School. We spend time working in the nursery,
which cares for about 20 infants, ages 0-2; and also teaching
arts and crafts to 15 of the 65 preschoolers. At the nursery,
some of our duties included feeding, bathing, dressing, and
playing with the babies. We also have spent much time in the
nursing home, which is called the Marian Home for the Elderly.
There, our duties consist of feeding, dressing, changing diapers,
bathing, and visiting with the patients, as well as general
cleaning of the facility. The work is very hard, but also
very rewarding. As of September 27th, the Girls Vocational
School re-opened its doors (which had been closed due to financial
difficulties) to a group of 13 young women, ages 13-19. The
circumstances surrounding the re-opening of the School are
rather humorous, as we found out only the day before it opened
that we were not only to comprise half of the teaching faculty,
but also that we were beginning the school year with no textbooks,
no syllabi, and no lesson plans. We survived, though. Claire
is teaching Social Studies/Ethics, as well as English and
P.E. Lydia is teaching Religion and Special Ed. English. Our
work is really cut out for us. The School's mission is to
the extremely under-educated, poor, and needy girls of the
area, and the cultural and linguistic barriers are hard to
penetrate. It is a definite challenge to teach them. Needless
to say, the Holy Spirit is fervently invoked at the beginning
of every class. The girls are not academically inclined, so
as a result, the emphasis of the School is on vocational skills
rather than academics. Some of the classes include sewing,
cooking, hairdressing, typing, office procedures. The School
also hopes in the future to be a real center for the Arts,
and has added classes such as drama, music, and dance. Happily,
we are sustained by several hours of prayer a day, including
morning Mass, and the chanting of Evening and Night Prayer
with the Sisters. We could not survive without the Sacraments.
There are no adjectives to fully describe the experiences
we have had (and will have), no words to convey our firm conviction
that this is both the best and the hardest thing that we have
ever done. Please pray that the work we are doing will bear
fruit. We miss you all! If you would like to contact us with
any words of wisdom and encouragement (or if you would like
to send us some sustinance, like chocolate), address all labels
to: Lydia Thigpen and Claire Schafer/Corpus Christi Carmelites/
PO Box 209/Castries, St. Lucia/West Indies. Also, you can
email us at: cecilia726@hotmail.com
(Claire) or liddy_in_stlucia@yahoo.com
(lydia). We return to the States on Dec. 4th."
Mary
(McFadden) Brand ('98) traveled to Rome with her husband
Jonathan and 16 students from TASIS for a school trip last
week. While there she visited with Ben and Heather (Rankin)
Akers ('98). They were having coffee at a cafe near the
Pantheon and John Gordon ('97) happened to walk by
on his way home from getting a haircut. They also saw seminarian
Dave Brown '91 for a short visit near the Trevi Fountain
and Ben and Heather joined the TASIS group for a fascinating
tour of St. Peter's Basilica given by international man of
mystery Alphonse Pinto ('99).
Ted
and Emily Foushee Eidem ('00) are expecting their third
baby in May, joining big sisters Mary (3) and Laura (21 months).
Dan
Fier '03 and Colleen McMahon '03
were married at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Front
Royal, VA, on October 16. They had a beautiful reception under
a tent outside Rivendell.
Shaun
Whittington (class of 2001) was ordained to the Order
of Deacons on October 30, 2004 at Mundelein Seminary/University
of St. Mary of the Lake for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis
(Indiana). The ordaining bishop was The Most Reverend Francis
Cardinal George. Mark your calendars now for priesthood ordination
on June 4, 2005 in Indianapolis! His apologies go out to anyone
else who wanted to come to Chicago for the deacon ordination:
the seminary severely limited tickets to the ordination. There
is no limit on attendance for the priesthood ordination: so,
come one, come all!
Brigid
Therese Wassell was born to Jeanette (Fischer '91)
and Ed Wassell October 2nd. She is welcomed by her two brothers
and sister. And by the way, if anyone would like to visit
southern Californ-i-a (says Ahnold), give them a call.
According
to well-known and reliable sources, Jen Gordon '98
is finally dating, and a Marine for that matter. She is following
in the footsteps of her sister Jessie.
The
Ellis Clan has its newest member: Brendan Padraic Ellis who
arrived Oct. 18, Feast of St. Mark. He weighed in at 9lbs,
9oz.; 21 3/4" long. His sisters, Clare and Nora, continue
to fuss over him and his brother, Benet, thinks he's pretty
cool and glad to have the playing field now even. His parents,
Louis and Suzanne (Kauphusman) Ellis love him regardless.
The
International Man of Leisure has given up on his former
way of life and has become part of the normal society, working
for a living, earning a wage, and being a responsible adult.
Is this the last we hear of the so-called IML? Stay tuned.
Our bet is he will be actively pursuing the leisurely life
in the near future.
As
we had last been informed by the Grapevine Online,
Jaime Berger '03 was going to North Dakota to work
with the Native Americans. This never happened. She is currently
working for Thomas Hall Sayre, esq., in Village Royale, but
the word out on the street is that in January '05, she will
be working for olympic rider/international equine & equestrian
trainer Marina Genn, originally from Germany. Considering
her current record, though, don't hold your breath. All information
due to change without prior notice at any given moment.
And
as is our custom, we conclude with the news and shenanigans
of alumnus Pearse Marschner who has fled to the Shiite
Holy City of Najaf. He had grown his beard out for Ramadan
until the soldiers started harassing him on the streets of
the green zone and asking him for his Iraqi identification
which he couldn't produce. Rather than pay 2 dollars to get
one made up, he has made a haaj to the shrine of Imam Ali
to escape the rush.
Calendar
of events
October
7-9, 2005: Homecoming Weekend
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Press
Releases and Campus News: http://www.christendom.edu/news/releases.shtml
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