Connecting the Dots with Shawn You ng
Alumni Awards - Call for Nominations

Last year, Archbishop McNicholas High School announced our new recognitions for alumni. It is now time to start thinking about deserving alumni for this years awards. In conjunction with these awards, McNicholas also will host a special event on October 8, 2018, in the CafĂ© and Student Union where these new awards will be presented. (Archbishop McNicholas was ordained a Dominican priest on October 10, 1901.) The following day, October 9, the recipients will be introduced to the  students at an all-school assembly.

Selection
The McNicholas community will have the opportunity to nominate for this awards, and the nomination form is now available. If you nominated someone last year, we still have their names on file. All three awards will be selected by a committee of school representatives.  Nominations will be due by June 15, and the committee will announce its selections in July.

Awards
The Distinguished Alumni Award will be presented annually to one male and 
one female McNicholas graduate who have honored McNicholas High School by their outstanding professional achievements, volunteer activities, and community-organization advocacy. These alumni have shared their affection for McNicholas and its community and have been shining examples of high moral and ethical standards and values learned at McNicholas High School.
 
The Full Stature Special Achievement Award will be presented to an alumni who exemplifies the ideals and mission of McNicholas High School and the Sisters of St. Joseph. It is presented to an individual in recognition of his or her accomplishments which bring honor to self and school and whose service, leadership, and concern for McNicholas support, strengthen, and exemplify the school's mission. This award is bestowed as a lifetime recognition and will not necessarily be presented annually.

The McNicholas Outstanding Service Award  will be presented to a member of the McNicholas community who has made, through years of tireless effort, significant contributions of time, talent, and treasure to the growth of McNicholas High School. 

Last years winners:
Distinguished Alumni Award
Anna Herbert '00
Distinguished Alumni Award
Michael Clark '84
Archbishop McNicholas Outstanding Service Award
Sr. Judi Keehnen '59
Full Stature Special Achievement Award
Jeff Osterfeld '78


To nominate someone for the Distinguished Alumni Award please  click here .


Events in the news at McNicholas High School

To learn more about what has been happening on campus this past month, click on any of the stories listed below.

A Message from the Development Office


On Saturday, March 10, nearly 300 members of the McNicholas community came together in celebration at the 2018 McNick at Night Gala at the Norlyn Manor. Even though the results have not been finalized, every part of the evening was a great success. There are many people we need to thank. The event would not be possible without our great sponsors and the support they provide. The attendees, who joined us for the evening, made it into a fun event with their great participation. And of course, our great McNick at Night team who put in so many hours of time and always are the key to making the evening a great event. I want to say a special thank you to the many alumni that joined us to make it a great evening. We will begin work very soon to make next year's McNick at Night the best ever.

Mark Doran
Director of Development

Alumni Career Connection Update

ANNOUNCING our first ever CAREER SKILLS SEMINAR given by alumni of Archbishop McNicholas High School for juniors and seniors! Please consider being a part of this innovative event. Career education per se is accomplished in the school through academic subjects as well as via our Alumni Connectors program. But Alumni can do so much more.

The concept is simple. The Seminar will take place on a Saturday in the fall. Ideas for breakout skill sessions include business etiquette, interviewing, resume building, and career readiness via college opportunities. A keynote speaker could begin the event and a speed-networking activity (a la speed dating) could be a fun end.

Alumni, what are your ideas? What have you learned in your career that you would have loved to have been exposed to earlier? How could you have been better prepared for your "work life?" And what is your area of expertise that you would like to share with McNicholas students?

Patti Benigni Dold '71, will host the planning meeting in the McNicholas Library on Tuesday, May 15 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Please email Patti at padold@aol.com to confirm your attendance at this important meeting, to volunteer to speak or lead a session, or to offer your suggestions for making this a valuable day for students.

Ferris-Metzger and O'Brien inducted into Rocket Hall of Fame

McNicholas_Hall_of_Fame_18.jpg
Archbishop McNicholas High School inducted Pat O'Brien '99 and Ronni Ferris Metzger '08 into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 22.  John Buhr and Dave Krusling were recognized with the Good Fellowship Award for their tireless efforts in maintaining and improving the athletic complex.
Archbishop McNicholas High School celebrated its 26 th  Hall of Fame ceremony on Thurs., Feb. 22, by inducting two outstanding Rocket athletes and two devoted volunteers.
Ronni Ferris-Metzger '08 pitched for the McNicholas softball team for three seasons from 2006 to 2008. In those seasons, she was named 1 st Team GCL, 1 st Team All -City, and GCL Player of the Year for three consecutive years.  During her junior and senior years, the Rocket softball team was undefeated for a two-year 46-0 regular season record. Ferris-Metzger continued her softball career at Birmingham Southern College in the Southern Collegiate Conference where she was named female Athlete of the Year and SCAC All-Tournament Team in 2012. 
Pat O'Brien '99 played football and baseball at McNicholas. In his senior football season, O'Brien was named 1 st Team GCL, 1 st Team All-City, and 2 nd Team All Southwest. He played catcher for the Rocket baseball team for four years, starting as a freshman on the varsity team.  O'Brien was 1 st Team GCL all four years at McNicholas, 1 st Team All-City his junior and senior years, GCL Player of the Year, Enquirer Player of the Year and Under Armour All American and Buckeye Scout 1 st Team All State his senior year. He was part of the 1998 State Championship baseball team during his junior season. Following graduation, O'Brien played at Kent State University and was drafted by the Houston Astros where he played five years of professional baseball.
Athletic Booster Board Members John Buhr and Dave Krusling were also recognized with the Good Fellowship Award for their support of McNicholas athletics. Buhr and Krusling have worked tirelessly maintaining and improving the fields and facilities of the McNicholas athletic complex.
McNicholas crowns annual King and Queen of Mardi Gras
 
On_stage_K_and_Q.JPG On Feb. 11, Archbishop McNicholas High School held its 66 th  Annual Mardi Gras Pageant and Ball. Mardi Gras is the most prestigious student event of the year at McNicholas and honors 40 senior students who have given their time and talents in service to the school and community throughout their high school experience. Membership on the Court is a result of four years of compiled voting from students and faculty. The top four sophomore and junior young men and women constitute the honor guard.
During the ceremonies, a Mardi Gras King and Queen are crowned. The King and Queen are the highest vote getters among the senior class. This year, Mr. Wade Lawrence Brokamp and Miss Lauren Marie Mindrum were crowned the King and Queen of Mardi Gras.
Brokamp is president of National Honor Society and a member of Science National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and Mu Alpha Theta. He has over 200 hours of community service and is a four-year member of both the men's golf and volleyball teams. Brokamp is an altar server, Eucharistic Minister, and Peer Mentor. He is the son of Thomas '81 and Kathryn Brokamp and a member of Guardian Angels parish.
Mindrum has over 630 hours of community service and is president of the McNicholas chapter of the International Thespian Society. She is an officer of National Honor Society and has performed in two plays and four musicals and served on crew for three other shows. Mindrum is a Eucharistic Minister, Kairos leader, and Peer Mentor. She is the daughter of Gregory and Andrea '87 Mindrum and a member of Guardian Angels parish.

Alumni Help needed with Archives

As we continue to grow our alumni association, we find keep finding more opportunities for our alumni to get re-engaged with McNicholas High School.  Sr. Judi Keehnen' 59, has been working tirelessly in the archives trying to make sure our history is preserved and organized.  She now could use your help!  We are trying to go back and identify the people in the pictures.  If you are interested in looking at some old yearbooks, old pictures, and telling stories, then we could use your help.  Sr. Judi volunteers her time in the archives on Thursday afternoons, but is willing to meet with you in the evenings if that works better for you.  Please contact her at (513) 708-8790 to make arrangements.

We have also added another feature to the archives.  We have added a high speed photographic scanner.  This will allow us to add your pictures to our archives.  We are in particular need of photographs from the 50's, 60's , and 70's.  If you have some pictures from "back-in-the-day" and are willing to bring them in, we will be delighted to add them to our official archives. 
Alumni Basketball League

1991 State Finals
The alumni sports group is proud to bring back the alumni basketball league.  We are looking for 8 teams this year. Each team must have at least 3 Rocket alumni, and 2 Rockets must always be on the court.  The league will be played on Sunday nig
hts in the Aux Gym.  Game times will be 5 - 8 p.m.  The cost will be $50 per person. This money will secure your spot, pay for officials, and help support the men's basketball program.  Play will start March 25. For more information or to secure your spot, contact Coach Tim Monahan at  tmonahan@mcnhs.org .
Facebook changes 

Archbishop McNicholas Alumni Association uses Facebook to keep graduates  informed about upcoming events, news, and other information regarding our community. Facebook recently announced major changes to news feeds. The changes mean you will see fewer post from Pages you like, including McNicholas. If you want to continue to see updates regularly, please  visit our page and click  Following  (just under the cover photo), and then choose 
See First. Thank you for your support of McNicholas.

Time to start planning the 2018 Reunion Season


If your graduation year ends in a 3 or 8, you are up for a reunion this year. Many of the reunions are in the planning process at this point.  You can click on the link here to see where your class is in the planning process. 

We still need to hear from the Classes of '53, '73, '93, '03, and '13. If you, or a group of classmates are ready to step up and get the reunion rolling. Please contact Shawn Young if you are interested in helping out.

Alumni Updates

Career Connector Program
If you are interested in getting involved at McNicholas, as a mentor, class room speaker, career day speaker, or many other opportunities-  please know that we will appreciate any help that you can give us in this mission. We have a lot of great alumni already on board.  To get started you can click on this link

Any news?
Do you have news to share? Let us know what you've been doing since graduation! Update your information by completing our alumni update form on the McNicholas webpage or call the Alumni Office at 513.231.3500. ext. 5850

Joseph Lacinak '65 and his wife Barb have eight children, conveniently 4 sons and 4 daughters, 5 grandchildren and more expected. They lost thier oldest son 1 day shy of his 40th birthday to drug overdose. The opioid epidemic has no boundaries and its horror grows and knows no limitations. They wanted to remind everyone. 

Dave Wallace '65 was able to create a new fund raiser for the Knights of Columbus in Louisville, this year.  He has created a "Donuts with Dad" initiative.  The goal will be to encourage father and sons to purchase donuts after Masses in Louisville Father's Day Weekend.  The goal is to promote spending quality time together, and to raise funds for pregnancy centers so that can supply infant formula to those in need. He hopes this will become a nationwide event for the Knights of Columbus.

Darlene Jayne McPherson '74 has published her first book of poetry, Orphan At The Well (Visigraf, San Rafael). This includes some poetry from her chapbook, Afterbeats (Norton Coker Press, Berkeley).

Ann Brock Fluegeman '83 was medically retired from City of Monroe Fire Department after 24 years of service, in April of last year.

Nick Fucito '96  was honored by the LaRosa's organization with its 2017 TD Hughes Leadership Award.

Willie Babani, '08 was awarded the Teacher of the Week by the MOM Team!  -  WLWT, Warm 98.5, NOWWestshore Pizza Mason, and H.J. Benken Florist & Garden Center. 

Alysha Feldkamp '08 will be getting married this August.

Katie Losekamp Frye '08 was married in 2012 to Matt Frye, and their son Aaron Frye was born in 2016. She was employed as a soil conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service before becoming a stay-at-home mom and taking care of additional children when her son was born.

Andrew and Amanda Klump Thole '08 had their first child May 15, 2017 - a beautiful daughter Audrey.

Austin Ernst, '13 was honored by the National Football Foundation, February 12 , 2018 at Ohio State University as a Scholar Athlete Award Winner for his 2017/18 on field, academic and service achievements as a student athlete for Ohio Dominican University, Columbus, Ohio.  Ernst has a 4.0 grade average in his masters  studies and will graduate in May.

Lauren Fisher '15  former McNicholas MIlestone editor, has just been named editor in chief of The Post at Ohio University for the 2018-2019. 

In Memoriam

This list is generated from local obituaries and information received from the family and friends of our alumni and current students. Please contact the alumni office  if there is incorrect or missing information. 

Alumni

Anne Lorraine Cappel Holtel '50; Sister of Marilyn Cappel Ruthman '49, Dolores Cappel Hoffer '52, the late Alice Cappel Savage '55, Janet Cappel Parrott '61, and Robert '67.

Edward L. Ivers '61; Brother of Gail Ivers Haufler '58, and Judy Ivers Johnson '65. 

Mary Joan Harmeier Roberts '79; Sister of Ruth '77, Hope '81, Jodi '82, and Carol Harmeier Kurila '85. 


Distinguished Family and Friends

Elizabeth G. Andreyko; Mother of Michele  '77, Michael '78, John '85, and Andrew '94. 

Alice M. Biederman; Mother of Sandra Biederman McGlasson '61. 

Violet M. Carroll; Mother of Mike '68, Bill '71, Deb Carroll Glutz '74, Terry Carroll Bonnell '77, and Cyndy '80. 

Richard S. Cmar; Father of Emily '09, Richard '10. 

Karen S. Heskamp; Mother of Stacy '94. 

Jane L. Mischler; Mother of Joe '83, and the late Jill '85. 

Carla Mueller;   Mother of  Kim Whittle Houk '92. 

Gordon C. Nead; Husband of Jacqueline Yerke Nead '61, Father of Jennifer Nead Willis '86, Mark '88, and Michele Nead DiCristoforo '90. 

Robert Ober; Father of Robert '68, Charles '70, and Carol Ober Trimbath '73. 

Carol A. Rhoney; Mother of Mary Carol Rhoney Dowdy '76, and Beth Rhoney Gaddis '77. 

Alba Rita Santoro; Mother of Angela Santoro Conners '81, Laura Santoro Woltermann '85, and Louis '87 Mother-in-law of Bill Woltermann '85. 

Marjory W. Stowe;  Former McNicholas photography teacher.

Betsy Turner; Mother of Mark '73, and Garth '80, Grandmother of Grace '18. 

Quick Links for Alumni