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, Tom McGraw, at tmcgraw@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.
November/December
2007 edition of The
Grapevine Online
Class
Notes / Calendar of Events / Links
to Stories / Prior
issues
Class
notes
Michael
Baggot's '07 November adventures began with a trip to
Northern Italy with five students from the Christendom Rome
program. In Venice, he venerated St. Zacharia, St. Athanasius,
and St. Mark, fed the San Marco pigeons, and let the wind
rush through the small bit of hair on his head as he rode
the motorboats. In Bologna, he prayed at the tomb of St. Dominic.
In true Dominican fashion, the Church that houses his body
has an excellent pamphlet that explains the theological significance
of the images on the Preacher of Grace’s tomb. In Padua,
the group went to the tomb of St. Anthony and even saw the
tongue that brought so many souls to Christ (it's nice including
this in a publication with a readership that is more likely
to respond "cool!" to the last sentence rather than
"ew!"). Highlights from his last month in Rome include
a tour of the house of St. Philip Neri lead by Br. Lewis,
a true English gentleman from the Birmingham Oratory. After
the tour, Fr. Jason of the Rome Oratory celebrated a beautiful
Latin Mass atop the tomb of the second Apostle of Rome. Members
of the Christendom choir led the faithful in chanting the
ordinary of the Mass and added a bit of polyphony for good
measure. That same week, Dr. O'Donnell, Mrs. O'Donnell, Fr.
Heisler, Ms. Spitz, and St. Therese paid a visit to Rome.
After the first four members of the previous list joined in
a procession up the Spanish Steps with the relics of the Little
Flower, they spent their last night in the Eternal City with
the Christendom group in song-filled festivities at the Trevi
Fountain. The semester closed with a Mass near the bones of
St. Peter, a trip to the top of the dome, some songs directed
towards the Holy Father's apartment, a last trip to the beloved
Millennium Gelateria, and a mad dash to make the connecting
flight from Paris to the States. Now that Michael is back
in the land of hamburgers, peanut butter, and efficiency,
the job hunt begins anew. Does anyone want to hire him to
travel to the Holy Land?
Michelle
Petersen '07 is now living in Banica, Dominican Republic
with a one-two year committment. She is teaching English,
as well as Catholic Catechism and Mass preparation classes
for the people in surrounding towns. She lives with a local
family and is thouroughly enjoying life there! If anyone is
interested please check out her blog: www.michelleinbanica.blogspot.com.
Daniel
and Marianne (La Palm '98) Niksa would like
to announce the birth of Evelyn Terese Niksa. She was born
on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 - just in time for Thanksgiving!
She weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces and was 20 inches long.
Her big brother Stephen is very excited about his new sister
and loves bringing her stuffed animals and making sure she
has her blankets.
On
October 13, Michele Winslow '06 said "yes"
to Matthew Poynton's proposal on a lovely day at some gardens
in No. Virginia. He works in finance at The Catholic University
of America where she is getting an MA in Theology. Please
pray for them as they prepare for marriage, to be celebrated
in July '08, at Holy Transfiguration (yep, Michele is becoming
Eastern Catholic!).
Jessica
(Ciesla) and Nate Schuetz, '06 are still in awe that over
a year has passed since they graduated. Things in Monterey
are going well. Nate is still working hard learning Arabic
and all your prayers have truely made a difference in his
studies. Keep them coming! As for Jess, she has been very
busy launching her new website and home business. Jessica
started a buisness called "Timeless Memories" where
she draws your favorite snapshots and turns them into a drawn
work of art. She's combined two of her favorite hobbies: drawing
and photography. If you want to check it out the new and improved
site is at: http://snapintoart.googlepages.com
MaryBeth
and Bennett Ellis had their 7th child, Rose Ann Ellis,
on September 26th of this year.
Katy
(Jenkins) Hochschild ('05) has submitted a photo of her
adorable little boy, Maxwell (14 months old). The most exciting
thing going on in the Hochschilds' lives right now is that
Katy just got a Catholic mothers' group started in her area.
Membership includes fellow alumna and St. Louis-an, Mary
(Boever) Blum '02!
Coach
John Archer '07 helped guide the St. Gregory's Academy
soccer team to their first ever district championship, making
them one of the top 12 teams in Pennsylvania. St. Gregory's,
a traditional liberal arts boysboarding high school, consistently
goes up against and defeats opponents ranging from 4 to 100
times their size in both soccer and rugby, including two long-time
undefeated district giants this year.
On
October 7, 2007, Anna Schmitt, who attended Christendom
from 1993-1995, and Julia Schmitt '92 celebrated the
one-year anniversary of their religious art and article boutique
shop Fra Angelico's. By combining their backgrounds in Art
and Theology, they are working together with the mission of
"Spreading God through Beauty". This mission is
expressed in the store through painting, sculpture, music,
poetry, needlework, and many other forms of art. A number
of Christendom Alumni are also contributors to Fra Angelico's
- Maggie (Echaniz) Elliott, Mary (Echaniz) McMahon and
Olivia Tautkus. The original works of these individuals
can be viewed on Fra Angelico's online catalog www.fraangelicos.com
Reporting
the biggest grapejuice of her life, Monica Briggs was
engaged to Ben Ferri over homecoming weekend!
Craig
and Kerry (Hanisch) Boyne '95 are the new proud parents
of their fourth child, James Andrew, born on October 23 weighing
9lbs. 2oz. Everyone is doing fine.
Mary
Kate '97 and Guy Smith '89 would like to let people
know of a few things going on in the Smith household. First
is the birth of Monica Simone on September 15th. She was joyfully
welcomed by her siblings: Christina, Bernadette, Dominic,
and Damian. Also news is their move to Canberra, Australia!
Anyone who cares to write or send lovely packages can send
them to: Guy Smith, PSC 277, Box 148, APO AP 96549 Their e-mail
addresses are: mksmith00@yahoo.com
and smithg01@gmail.com.
They would love to hear from anyone and of course, look them
up if you head down under!
Mary
Claire (Almeter) Hayes ''97 and husband Michael announce
the birth of their first future Christendom student, Angela
Bernadette. She was born at 5:02am August 31 and weighed in
at 6lbs. 1 oz. She was named for St. Angela Merici, Mary Claire's
favorite saint. They had a difficult time coming up with a
middle name, but when they received a congratulatory email
from a priest friend of theirs who was staying in Lourdes
that he was going to say Mass there for her that morning,
they decided to name her for St. Bernadette as well.
Fr.
Bjorn Lundberg baptized Anna and Greg Polley's
daughter Genevieve Mary Elizabeth at St Andrew's in Clifton,
Virginia. Several alumni joined them for the event. Pictured
In this photo from left to right: Sharon Scanlon, Steven
Storey, Daniel Wright, Mary Katherine Wright (current
student), Fr. Bjorn Lundberg, Anna Polley, Genevieve
Polley, Evelyn Polley, Greg Polley, Sarah Akers, and
Bevlin Lyons.
Alumnus
Dr. Michael J. McFadden ('95-'97) is delighted to announce
that he and University of Dallas Alumna Ms. Katherine "Katie"
Mechler were married before God and Man, in the company of
friends and family, on October 20th at St Joseph's Catholic
Church in Bryan, Texas. The wedding party included 5 Christendom
alumni - George, Tom, Chris, and Joseph McFadden, and Mary
(McFadden) Brand. Alumnus Fr. Michael J. Ruddick
'98 concelebrated, and alumni Steven Storey and Joshua
Peterson (both '00) assisted in their own way by attending
to the doors for the entrance of the radiant bride. Among
the guests were many other alumni including, but not limited
to, Michael's ('99) classmates Anthony Raes, Peter Jensen,
Francis Corey, and Karla (Kuykendall) Hester, as well
as Kate McMahon, John Issigonis, Sharon Scanlon, Mollie
Tschida, and Sara (Runge) McFadden. Alumnus Craig Spiering
was on hand to document the whole event with his skilled lenswork.
After a very joyful wedding and reception, the couple honeymooned
in Italy. While in Rome they did as the Romans and met up
with alumni Ben & Heather (Rankin) Akers ('98)
who are working with the Christendom in Rome program. They
also obtained special "Sposi Noveli" tickets to
a general audience and were able to meet His Holiness Pope
Benedict XVI!
Daniel
and Agnes (Curley) Penny (both class of '97) are happy
to announce the birth of their sixth child, Aquinas Joseph,
on Sept. 23. At birth he weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz, the biggest
baby of the family so far. Pictured with him are his siblings,
ages 7 years to 18 months, all of whom are very excited about
having a new baby brother!
Susan
(Erwin) and Brendan McGuire had a baby boy, Joseph Anthony,
on October 7, 2007, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. He
was born at 3:37am, weighing 7 lbs. 10 oz., and measuring
20.5 inches in length. Dr. Carroll recently stated that he
has very high hopes for this young man!
Calendar
of events
February
8-10, 2008: Discernment Weekend
March
1, 2008: Alumni Career Mentoring Reception
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Press
Releases and Campus News: http://www.christendom.edu/news/releases.shtml
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