November 2004 edition of The Grapevine Online

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.