Sisters Christine Powers and Mary Beth Hofmeister both talk about the mystique that surrounds their alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.
`It’s a very special place,` said Powers, who followed Hofmeister to Indiana after graduating from Catholic High in Troy. `You could walk into any Notre Dame event and feel welcome.`
Hofmeister remembers visiting the university at the suggestion of a family friend. She felt the energy of the huge crowd at a football game and reveled in the excitement of an overnight stay on campus. Just like that, she was in love.
For both Powers and Hofmeister, that love didn’t end with graduation. They are active members (Hofmeister is president) of the Notre Dame Club of Northeastern New York, which is sponsoring a performance by the university’s chorale at St. Pius X in Loudonville on Friday, Jan. 8.
`Notre Dame meant a lot to those of us who were fortunate enough to go there,` Hofmeister said. `I felt like I wanted to give back.`
The club gives back in a number of ways. It offers a $3,000 scholarship each year to a student from the Capital District who is attending Notre Dame. It sends care packages to local students and holds a send-off party for freshmen each year. There are get-togethers to watch Notre Dame sporting events, including an upcoming trip to Syracuse to see Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team.
About 10 years ago, the club sponsored a local performance by the Notre Dame chorale, which was `kind of a personal mission` for Powers, who belonged to the chorale during her school days.
Last year, the school’s glee club visited the area, and that went so well that someone from the current edition of the chorale contacted Hofmeister to see if the chorale could come to the Albany area during its winter break tour.
`What they like to do is stop where there’s a really robust alumni community,` Powers said. The Notre Dame Club of Northeastern New York fits the bill, with about 400 people on its mailing list.
Both Powers and Hofmeister noted that Notre Dame’s alumni clubs are unusual in that members didn’t have to attend Notre Dame. So-called subway alumni, or `people who just loved the school` are also welcome, Hofmeister said.
The local club was more than happy to have the chorale come. It doesn’t have to cover travel expenses ` the chorale pays for bus transportation ` but club members do give students a place to sleep. Powers said the alumni group has also arranged for the chorale to have a tour of the state Capitol.
Steve Santay, a Notre Dame junior and vice president of the chorale, said staying with alumni is one of the highlights of the annual winter tour, which this year makes stops in Pittsburgh; Washington, D.C.; Basking Ridge, N.J.; New York City; and Framingham, Mass., before hitting Albany. On Saturday, Jan. 9, the tour wraps up with a performance in Cleveland, Ohio.
Santay said the chorale has about 60 students and is open to all fields of study. An engineering major, Santay joined the chorale because `I wanted to do something outside of math and science.`
A Chicago native, Santay said he wanted to attend Notre Dame all his life. The school’s history was a draw, along with the powerful experiences of going to Mass, praying at the Grotto on campus and, of course, he said with a laugh, football games.
Santay figures that when he graduates, he’ll join an alumni club himself, hoping like Powers and Hofmeister for a chance to give back.
Hofmeister said that the alumni club’s mission of giving back extends beyond just Notre Dame students and alumni, since service is one of the hallmarks of the school. Each May, the club holds a service day, doing things like working on a Habitat for Humanity project. It also sends a local educator to a conference at Notre Dame each year, with a principal from Shenendehowa going last year, and it hosts an annual visit to a local college by a Notre Dame professor.
These kind of activities forge the kind of bonds the sisters enjoyed during their time in South Bend.
`The club is a great place to feel like you belong, to get plugged in,` Powers said.
They stressed that the whole community is welcome to share in that feeling at the chorale concert, which is set for 6 p.m. Powers said the program will feature a mix of ancient and classic Christmas carols, and people who attend `can expect chills.`
`They are really superb,` she said of the choir, which is directed by Grammy-nominated Alexander Blachly.
`This is one of those examples where people complain there’s no culture in Albany,` Powers added. `This is a great opportunity to broaden your horizons. It’s just beautiful.`
Admission is free. A goodwill offering will be collected. The church is at 23 Crumitie Road.
For information on the Notre Dame Club of Northeastern New York, visit
ndcofneny.googlepages.com or call 466-4035.
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