Welcome
to Christendom's Alumni E-Zine. If you have information that
you would like to share with your fellow alumni, send it to
the Grapevine Editor, Marie Antunes, at marieantunes@christendom.edu.
The editor reserves the right to include or exclude any information
submitted for publication in The Grapevine.
The
Grapevine Online is uploaded on the First Friday of 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.
April
2009 edition of The Grapevine
Online
Class
Notes / Calendar of Events / Links
to Stories / Prior
issues
Class
notes
Adrienne
Smith ('07) was married to Captain Richard Stravitsch
on February 21st, 2009 in Temple, Texas. The Wedding was gorgeous
and she was thrilled to have so many dear friends attend.
The couple took their honeymoon in St. Lucia (which is absolutely
beautiful) and are now residing in Killeen, Texas.
Joannie
Watson ('06) was amongst the new Theology and Philosophy
faculty of Aquinas College to recieve the mandatum from Bishop
Choby of Nashville, TN. It was very exciting to make the oath
of fidelity to the Magisterium, and to think back to her days
at Christendom where she watched all of her professors do
the same.
Michael
and Elizabeth (Ascik) McGuirk ('03, '04) had their second
daughter, Helen Ann, on September 13, 2008. She is now six
months old and already sitting, crawling, and standing! They
think she's just trying to keep up with big sister Gracie,
who is now 2-1/2. Elizabeth has also recently started a frugal
living blog, whose link is found below. It's all about living
the good life on less. She would be thrilled for any Christendom
people to check it out. The McGuirks are still happily living
in Leesburg, VA, and Michael is still working as a programmer
for JK Moving and Storage. Check out "Frugally Blonde"
at http://www.frugallyblonde.blogspot.com!
Mark
('02) and Emily (Syski) Schwerdt ('03) would like
to announce the birth of their first child, a baby boy born
on Wednesday, March 18. They have named him Finnian Bernard
Schwerdt! The happy family are pictured on the left at his
baptism!
Nate
and Jess (Ciesla) Schuetz (both '06) are doing
well! They recently took a trip to Savannah, GA to check out
what people call "one of the prettiest walks in the south."
So far it has lived up to its title in that nothing they have
seen beats how pretty it was. The Spanish moss is what does
it. They would definitely reccomend it as a nice little weekend
get-away if anyone wants to go somewhere just to relax. They
were tempted to check out Paula Deans but did have the time.
Nate and Jess are also busy planning their big return trip
to Rome this April. They are hoping to hit Germany, Rome and
Milan all in a two week period. God willing it all works out!
Thats about all from the Schuetz's. Nate is still working
hard doing things Jess is not allowed to know about and she
is busy with the drama of family life and trying to stay involved
in the arts (in one way or another). They wish you all the
best!
Caitlin
(Turner) Marchand ('06) and
Michael Marchand welcomed their second son, Michael Augustine
on Feb. 9th. Luckily Daddy was given leave from training with
the Air Force to come home for the birth, but please keep
them in your prayers as Caitlin is on her own with little
Michael and his not-so-big brother, 18 month old Jean Damien,
until May. Michael's proud godmother Allana Marchand ('04),
pictured above on the left with young Michael Augustine, was
able to make the trip to Oklahoma for the baptism.
Angela
Von Ehr ('07) is pleased to announce her engagement to
Stephen (Bobby) Murphy. Bobby works as a program coordinator
for the Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood, for the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Angela is currently a teaching
assistant at a Catholic preschool in upstate New York. By
the grace of God, they were blessed to meet online, and eventually
in person. After their wedding in Angela's hometown on August
22, 2009, the feast of the Queenship of Mary, Angela will
be joining Bobby in Philadelphia, where she hopes to assist
him in promotion of priestly vocations.
Abigail
Hope (the virtue, not the political slogan!) was born February
19th to James and Laura (Williams) Ross ('05). Smaller
than either of her siblings, she weighed in at 7lbs 13oz.
Abigail is an absolute delight with her dark curly hair, big
dimples and laughs in her sleep. Siblings Jax (2.5 years old)
and Grace (1 year old) are completely in love with her and
have been wonderful helps in caring for her (even asking to
help change diapers!
Ken
('93)
and Blanca Baltrinic recently moved to the Victory
Lakes sub-division, in Bristow, Virginia. There they are very
happy members of Fr. Fran Peffly's ('89) parish, Holy
Trinity. They here there are lots of CC alumni in the Bristow,
Manassas area so please introduce yourselves at kenneth at
baltrinic dot com. More importantly, the Baltrinic's just
welcomed the arival of their second child, Anna Lucia on February
20th at 5:05 am, weighing in at 8 lb 3 oz an 19 1/2 inches.
Baby is doing well but mom is very anemic and is going to
be several more weeks before she is back on her feet. In the
mean time, they are looking for a Mother's Helper who can
help out, letting Ken get back to work.
Mike
and Colby (Anderson) Storck, and Isabel, Catherine, Joseph
and Zita have moved to Columbus, OH where Mike is teaching
Philosophy at Ohio Dominican University in a tenure track
position. They live in Bexley (Colby got her hopes up that
they could head to Front Royal where her parents are, but
that didn't happen). Thank the Lord for providing Mike with
such a good job at all; the market is not too easy. They are
awaiting a new little 'olive' in August. The name will have
to be Quintus or Quinta, so he or she can have Q for a first
initial.
Francois
and Jennifer (O'Gorman) Flippen ('98, '99) would like
to announce the birth of their fourth child, Beatrice Scholastica,
on February 25th. She weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is getting
plumper as the days go on. Their son Sebastian is now six,
Genevieve is now four and Nadia just turned the big 02 in
January.
Trish
Metzger ('05) took 5 Auburn University young women on
a spring break "Nun Run" which ended up being a
mini-Christendom homecoming on the road. At the first stop,
Casa Maria in Irondale, Alabama, she saw Helen Almeter
('05) and Sister Benedicta Marie (previously
Debbie Hain '06). At the next stop, the Dominican Monastery
of St. Jude in Marbury, Alabama, she saw Sister Mary Jordan
(Ida Friemoth '05). It was much a surprise for both
of them, especially since it is a cloistered community. At
the third stop, the Nashville Dominicans, she saw Maggie
Bolger ('03), Joannie Watson ('06), Marie Miller,
and Sister Mary Lawrence (Elizabeth Wright). The moral
of the story? Go on a nun run and you'll run into old friends.
Below are the pictures from the trip!
Trish
Metzger ('05) and
Helen Almeter ('05)
Marie
Miller,
Trish Metzger ('05), Tina
Miller
Sister Benedicta Marie
Trish Metzger ('05) and Sister Mary
Jordan ('05)
Sister Mary Lawrence and Trish Metzger
('05)
Calendar of events
April
20, 2009: Major Speaker: Father Robert Barron
May
15-16, 2009: Graduation Weekend with Fr. Frank Pavone and
Dr. Jude Dougherty
June 20-27,
2009: Experience Christendom Summer Program Session I
June 26-27,
2009: Summer Institute: St. Paul: His Spiritual and Scriptural
Contributions to the Church
June 28-July
4, 2009: Experience Christendom Summer Program Session II
July 12-24,
2009: Experience Christendom Summer Program Session III (two
weeks)
July 12-18,
2009: Latin Immersion Program Session I
July 19-25,
2009: Latin Immersion Program Session II
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