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 emailed, 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.), Alumni Profiles (more in-depth
information on certain alumni), Calendar of Events,
and Links to various recent stories about Christendom
College and/or the Alumni of Christendom.
Of
course, all comments, suggestions, and information should
be sent to tmcfadden@christendom.edu.
May
2002 edition of The
Grapevine Online
Class
Notes / Calendar of Events / Links
to Stories / Prior
issues /Old
Editions of The Grapevine Print Edition
Class
notes
Dave
and Joan Marra ('88 & '89) welcomed their 9th child,
Joanne Marie into their family on April 16, 2002.
Dan
Miller (Mid 80's), co-founder and President of Holy Cross
Academy in Central New York, is asking fellow alumni for prayers
and support for the five-year-old junior-senior high school.
They have had one of their best years ever, but they have
just two months to close a $30,000 shortfall in order to purchase
the facility they are currently leasing. After sending your
$20 donation to Tom McFadden for raffle tickets, send whatever
you can to Holy Cross Academy, P.O. Box 240, Durhamville,
NY 13421. (Just 300 donations of $100 will do it!) Also, check
out www.holycrossacademy.com. for info about HCA. Thanks!
Another
strange update from John Kelsey: He wants everyone to
know that his engagement to Francis Milliares is still the
highlight of his life. They look forward to the day when they
will have an army of red-headed Phillipino children who'll
play the bagpipes while piloting small aircraft for the peace
corp in Benin. They plan to live in Manassas with their three
dogs named Dave (shitzu), Phil (poodle), & Fletch (collie)
and their parrot, Maria. They have registered at Jiffy's and
of course everyone is invited to the wedding
Alicia
(Podlinsek) and Ben Laxton
have moved around quite a bit since Alicia graduated a little
over a year ago. They were married in January 2001, and then
moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma so Ben (a Lieutenant in the Marine
Corps) could study at the Artillery school there. He graduated
after six months, and they were stationed out in the desert
at 29 Palms, CA. They went from tornados to earthquakes! Their
first child, Olivia Anne, was born on October 23 in CA. However,
after only 7 months they packed their things away yet again.
She is currently living back home in NY while Ben is on a
six month deployment to Okinawa, Japan. Ben will be back sometime
in late summer. He is doing well and trying to stay busy---he
recently became a Catholic lay minister so that he could perform
a Communion service in the field if the chaplains can't make
it to them on Sunday. Alicia finds it pretty amazing that
her husband is carrying Our Lord with him everywhere! She
is staying busy by taking care of their 6month-old daughter
Olivia, and keeping house for her parents.
Angela
(Strada) Carter and her sister Amy (Strada) Storey are
pregnant. Angie is due with #1 in August (waiting until birth
to find out the sex) and Amy is due with #3 much later - maybe
December? It's an exciting time for the Strada family! Also,
Angie and husband Scott bought a house in Fairfax in January.
(This message comes to us from Meg Parker)
Christendom
Alum Stephen Pilon would like to announce the Third
Annual Corpus Christi Eucharistic Procession at St. John the
Baptist Church. The procession will be held Corpus Christi
Sunday, June 2, after the 11:45 Mass. As in years past, the
faithful will process out of the church and continue down
Main St. to the town gazebo, where an altar will be set up
for benediction. After benediction, the procession will return
to St. John's for final benediction and reposition. Then all
will be invited to the lower level of the church for an Ice
Cream Sundae Social. Donations will be accepted at the social,
with proceeds going toward the new Perpetual Adoration chapel,
to be opened at St. John's this summer. Stephen has chaired
this event, hosted by the Knights of Columbus, since its beginning
as part of the Jubilee Year celebrations of St. John's Church.
Any alumni who will be in the area that weekend are encouraged
to come out and join in the celebration.
Eric
Kingsepp ('98) is an undergraduate instructor for the
Catholic Distance University. He's still working on his MA
from NDGS (about 5 courses left), and he still lives in Front
Royal.
Seminarian
Bjorn Lundberg ('97) will be assigned to a parish in
Arlington in mid-June and will be going with a parish youth
group to Work camp. Near the end of July he will also be going
to World Youth Day in Canada.
Andrew
Youngblood will be wed to Christine Baxter on July 13
of this year. They are both studying at CUA for their PhDs
in Theology.
James
Rice ('00), of Appalachian Trail fame, is marrying Mary
Cammack ('99) this August. Greg Rice ('97) is considering
getting his mountain bike tuned up for the summer. Happy trails!
Here
is the latest from the John and Gretchen Bowes family:
They are expecting their second child early 2003. John
also received a promotion to Captain.
Rob
Ghering will graduate from Indiana University's School
of Dentistry on May 12th with his Doctorate in Dental Surgery
(D.D.S.). After earning his Associate Degree in Liberal Arts
from Christendom College in 1993 he graduated from George
Mason University with a B.S. in Biology in 1997. Everyone's
very proud of him. He will be practicing in Columbus, Ohio.
Andy
O'Neill ('99) and wife Heather (sister of Rob Gasper '98
and current student Kathy) had their second child, a boy,
on April 22. Ronin Blaise O'Neill was 7lb. 9 oz., 20".
His big sister Oona a little over one year) is still trying
to figure out what to do with him.
Teresa
Selby (A.A., '89) Fink and her husband, Jerry, have four
children together. They happily celebrated their 9th wedding
anniversary on May 1! She is proud to be a stay-at-home mom
for her children who are 7, 5, 3, and 1, with possible upcoming
business ventures from the home. Her husband is a project
engineer with a farm implement company named Krause Corp.
in Hutchinson, KS. Teresa asks for prayers for her one-year-old
who had her adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears on
May 2. She has been on and off antibiotics, anti-histamines,
and nebulizer treatments since she was 9 days old, and they
pray this will take care of the problem.
Anita
Crane recently bought a house and moved into it.
Megan
(Mathewes-Green)(99) and David Parker are expecting their
second child in July, a boy this time. Their first, Hannah,
is 18 mos old. They recently bought a home in Glen Burnie
Maryland.
Amy
(Wright - '01) & Hugh Wingate ('01) had Hugh O'Connor
Wingate on April 9th. He was 7lbs, 10 oz. Amy and Hugh are
living in Fredericksburg while Hugh finishs TBS at Quantico
(he's in the Marines). In June they are moving to Pensacola
where Hugh will begin flight school. Also, although not an
alumna, Mrs. Mary Wright (Mama to Amy, Anna, and Christy)
had #8: Samuel Patrick Wright was born April 6 and he was
7lbs, 5 oz.
Mary
McFadden ('98) is living in Lugano, finishing up the school
year as a math teacher at the American School in Switzerland.
She will be returning to the Northern Virginia area at the
beginning of July.
Chris
Mirus ('97), still at the University of Notre Dame, is
writing his Ph.D. dissertation in History and Philosophy of
Science on "Unity of Substance in Aristotle's Biology."
He is also helping to plan a conference on "The Vision
of Bl. Josemaria Escriva for a Christian Life Lived to the
Full," to be held at Northwestern University on June
29.
Here's
a small update on Beth (Fittin) Wiener class of 90:
She and her husband Chris and their three kids, Rachel (7)
Andrew (6) and Kateri (4) will be moving from Saint Cloud
Minnesota to Superior Wisconsin in a few months. Chris took
a position at Superior Dimension and Doors (they make cabinet
components for stores like Home Depot).
Frank
Nicely, Class of 1986, took a job as dean of studies at
Woodmont Academy, a private Catholic School in Woodstock,
MD. He left the public school system after ten years of adventure
and is feeling quite at home overseeing instruction, curriculum,
and student progress at a fast growing Catholic school.
Ana
(Harbaugh) Koch and husband Sean are pleased to announce
the arrival of their 4th daughter. Sophia Antonia was born
April 14th and joins sisters Mariana, Alexandra and Juliana.
The Kochs live in Dallas, TX and welcome any e-mails at seanana@juno.com.
Calendar
of events
July
21, 2002 Alumni Picnic at Christendom College. Hamburgers
and Hot Dogs (and appropirate condiments) will be provided.
Please bring a dish to share (salads and desserts) and your
own beverages of choice. 12pm-5pm. Pool, volleyball, good
times, fun and friendship. NO COST. FREE. NO MONETARY EXPENSE.
GRATIS. You get the point. RSVP to tmcfadden@christendom.edu
before July 15, 2002.
September
14, 2002 Christendom's 25th Anniversary Dinner Gala at
The Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA. Start Saving Your Money
Today - $250/per person (or maybe even higher)!!!
Saturday,
September 28, 2002 Golf Scramble to benefit the CCAA Scholarship
Fund at Westfields
Golf Club in Clifton, VA.
October
12-13 Homecoming Weekend 2002!
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Press
Releases and Campus News: http://www.christendom.edu/news/releases.shtml
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Stories
Dr.
Carroll Classes Are History
Warren
H. Carroll, Founding and First President of Christendom College,
and Chairman of its History Department for twenty-five years,
has hung up his podium, put down his chalk, taken his final
bow, and retired from active teaching at the College.
On
May 7, 2002, Timothy T. O'Donnell, College President, made
the announcement to the College community at lunch that Dr.
Carroll would be teaching his last class later that afternoon.
After O'Donnell thanked Carroll for his twenty-five years
of faithful teaching and storytelling, the entire student
body gave him a standing ovation which seemed to last for
a near ten minutes.
For
the majority of students who attended the College over the
past twenty-five years, Carroll was a constant. He was one
of the few teachers that every student had in common. For
most, the memories of hearing Carroll's interpretation and
telling of history during History of Western Civilization
I and II are unforgettable. There were the heroes: Constantine,
Pelayo, Isabel of Spain, Athanasius, Don Juan of Austria,
Philip II, and Charlemagne; and the villians: Thomas Cranmer,
Luther, Cecil, Lenin, Rasputin, Stalin, Mao, Cho Chi Minh,
Queen Elizabeth I, Pope Alexander VI, Arius, Theodora and
Justinian.
His
explanations of the historic D-Day invasions, the complications
of Watergate and the Vietnam War, the Battle of Lepanto, the
Crusades, the Inquisition, Henry II kneeling for three days
in the snow before Gregory VII, the story of Charles the Fat
and Charles the Bald, the missionary work of Matteo Ricci,
and the Robber Council of Ephesus could never be surpassed.
And then there are the memorable phrases: "Truth exists.
The Incarnation happened," "You can never bribe
a pope," "One man can make a difference," and
the great battle over one iota "homoousios vs homoiousios."
Over
the years, Carroll has taught History of Western Civilization
I and II, Classical History, History of Ireland, History of
Britain, Early American History, Middle American History,
Recent American History, History of Hispanic Peoples I and
II, Causes and Effects of the French Revolution, Causes and
Effects of the Communist Revolution, History of the Missions,
and most recently History and Theology of Pope John Paul
II.
His love of teaching history naturally spilled over into writing
history: The Founding of Christendom, The Building of Christendom,
The Glory of Christendom, The Cleaving of Christendom, 1917:
Red Banners White Mantle, Isabel of Spain, Our Lady of Guadalupe,
The Rise and Fall of the Communist Revolution, The Last Crusade,
and The Guillotine and the Cross.
Carroll
will continue his writing of history, particularly, the fifth
and sixth volumes of his series, A History of Christendom.
In addition, he serves as one of EWTN's Catholic Experts and
fields questions for its "Catholic Q & A" section
on ewtn.com.
Thank
you Dr. Carroll!
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Raffle
for 25th Anniversary Dinner Tickets
The
25th Anniversary Gala Dinner Dance will be held on September
14, 2002 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Tysons Corner, Va. It
will be a wonderful event with about 400-500 people in attendance,
including US Ambassador to the Vatican James Nicholson, Jan
Cardinal Schotte, and many others.
The Christendom College Alumni Association will be GIVING
AWAY RAFFLE TICKETS for (2) free seats (minimum of $500 value)
at this once-in-a-lifetime event.
All
alumni (this means anyone who went to Christendom College
for one semester or longer) who send in a donation (to
the attention of Tom McFadden) of $20 between April
10 and May 31, 2002 will receive 5 free tickets for this
drawing. Drawing will be held at the Alumni Picnic on July
21. Please make sure that your memo section of your check
reads "Free Tickets."
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53
+ New Alumni
The
53 undergraduates who will receive B.A. degrees on May 18th
are: Helen Alexander, Catherine Almeter, Elizabeth Almeter,
Guy Amisano, Gerard Anthony, Sarah Aronhime, Jesse Batha,
Maria Bissex, Vivian Bradshaw, Meghan Bratt Doran, Robert
Brown, Kathleen Byrne, Laura Byrne, Ryan Callaghan, Jeffrey
Carr, Timothy Coffey, Matthew Cronkhite, Matthew Dittert,
Alicia Joy Dugas, Dominique Flippen, Maria Gaetano, Alyssa
Gray, Raymond Hain, Joseph Hans, Kristina Hayles, Donald Higby,
Mary Elizabeth Hundt, Marc-Pierre Jansen, Natalie Johnson
Tillotson, Jennie Kacsir, Kathleen Kosten, Kathryn Krieger,
Robyn Lee, Pearse Marschner, Katherine McMahon, Katherine
Mirus, Joseph Mitchell, Therese Peters, Michael Reese, Katherine
Runge, Mark Schwerdt, Sherry Spring, Kristin Starcher, Patrick
Storey, Mark Streiff, Catherine Sullivan, Maryann Sullivan,
Paul Tillotson, Anne Turner, Christopher Vander Woude, Harold
Welch, Peter Whelan, Christine Wright.
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