AASH Giving Thanks From the Heart of the Midwest

Friday, October 19th members of AASH .... introductions and later tours 
at the Academy of the Sacred Heart ~ Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 
The highlight was a Mater Play in the school Auditorium!

Giving Thanks From the Heart of the Midwest was the theme for our AASH Central Regional Conference hosted by alums from both Bloomfield Hills and Grosse Pointe.  The following nine RSCJ were in attendance on Friday: Bridget Bearss, Ann Eppig, Meg Canty, Mary Lyman, Martha Curry, Rosemary Roney, Muriel Cameron, Shirley Miller, and Nancy Kehoe.  Our Friday afternoon at Bloomfield Hills started with introductions and a little sharing from alums who came as far away as Jacksonville, Florida!  

At 2:30PM we headed to the auditorium to watch an encore presentation of Mater.  This darling Play was preformed by Ms. Spicer's 2nd grade class.

After the Mater Play we gathered in the Chapel and Sr. Meg Canty led us in a beautiful reflection appropriate for our special day. We received a warm welcome from Sr. Bridget Bearss, Head of School at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, followed by Sr. Shirley Miller, Director of Mission Advancement for the U.S. Province who gave us an update on the campaign.  Sr. Nancy Kehoe concluded with observations and remarks that concluded with her giving thanks to her Sacred Heart sisters and most especially Sr. Miller for the all she has done for the Society.

We then headed to Oakland Hills Country Club for a spectacular evening.  More on our Friday evening in another blog.  Enjoy the video and please take the survey on the right to weigh in on how you celebrate the Feast of Mater!

A special thanks to Virginia Kratage Antakli, BH'56, MC'60
for hosting us at Oakland Hills C. C.  

Heart of the Matter: Living an Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Love...AASH Eastern Regional Meeting in Cape Cod, MA

A spectacular day with Sacred Heart alums discussing the
"Heart of the Matter: Living an Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Love" 

A bit of a delay in writing the blog as life has been extraordinarily busy ....  but, the memories of the recent AASH Eastern Regional meeting still linger in my mind.  What a spectacular day it was to be surrounded by so many Sacred Heart alums and RSCJ in beautiful Cape Cod!  

Our day started off with a warm and loving welcome by Toni Walsh Curry, AASH Past President and Regional Event Chair. Toni explained the significance of the theme and showed us how the darling tote bags that we received folded into a heart shape.  

Sr. Marie Louise Wolfington, RSCJ opened the meeting with a prayer and then AASH Eastern Regional Director, Wendy Buckland summed it up beautifully when she thanked Toni and her committee.  Wendy  stated to the attendees that while many in the room have experienced their school closing, the Sacred Heart experience is not about bricks and mortar, it is about what we hold close to our hearts - the friendships and relationships we hold so near and dear to us.

After a brief update on AASH, I introduced various constituents as our topic was  "Around the Table in Cor Unum".  We heard from June Donovan, AMASC North American Regional Co-Ordinator and Sr. Nancy Kehoe, RSCJ who on behalf of Sr. Shirley Miller, RSCJ was representing the Society of the Sacred Heart and gave us an update on the In Mission for Life Campaign.

We then watched "The Man in the Red Bandanna" produced by Andrew J. Gallagher, Features Manager, ESPN and there were many in the room with not a dry eye!  A very powerful video and I encourage those reading the blog to click on the above link and watch for yourself!

Sr. Gail O'Donnell, RSCJ followed with "Tools for Closing your Mind and Opening Your Heart" - a very rejuvenating experience for all.

Our luncheon was scrumptious... Lobster salad!  Oh for the Lobster lover in me this was the best!  

The afternoon started off with a wonderful presentation by E. Corbett Walsh, SJ - his topic, "Hello Mary, Hello Martha".  Father Walsh is a charming, engaging, humble and very scholarly Jesuit, with a keen sense of humor.  I could have listened to him all afternoon!  He is also the brother of Toni Walsh Curry and Bonnie Walsh Stoloski.

The conclusion of our program was an all star alumnae panel moderated by Toni Walsh Curry - 

"Heart to Heart" by Peggy Brennan Hassett, Newton College

"Come and See" by Linda Hogan O'Connor, Newton Country Day School and Manhattanville

"Dress a Girl Around the World" by Judy Whalen Conley, Prince Street, Manhattanville

We had concluded our day at the Wianno Club with mass celebrated by Rev Mark R. Hession, Pastor, Our Lady of Victory Parish.  The blue sky reflecting into the ocean was a perfect backdrop.  We were very grateful for all those that were able to join us and afterward took group photos to remember the day spent with each other.

Yes, it was a spectacular day and for me it concluded at a home dinner hosted by Karen Murphy Birmingham, Newton College.  We enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres as we watched the sun set into the ocean.  The rest of the evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner, ice cream bars for dessert and great conversation with fellow Sacred Heart alumnae.

There are two more Regional Meetings scheduled and all are welcome - click here for details. 

More photos of our day....

Some of the featured speakers included: E. Corbett Walsh, SJ.,
Peggy Brennan Hassett, Linda Hogan O'Connor, Judy Whalen Conley