Dedicated To The Glory of God

At last the big day comes--August 23, 2009: Dedication of NDA's Fine Arts Center and Fitness Center. While much went into the preparation of the event (a later posting), let's look at the event itself. The weather was amazingly cooperative, given its recent disposition. The principle actors were in good form. The supporting cast was very supportive. The crowd was large and enthusiastic. What more could we ask?

Principal actors: Bishop Foys, Ordinary of the Diocese of Covington; Sr. M. Shauna, President; Sr. Marla, Provincial of the Sisters of Notre Dame; Sr. Elaine Marie, Principal; Fran Carlisle, major donor, and Ann Buenger, another major donor, represented by Mike Keating. Board members, department chairpersons and support staff of the school, and Student Council representatives were also on stage, as God's favors were reviewed, the benefactors thanked, the contractors commended, the Sisters of Notre Dame along with the faculty and staff praised, and finally God's blessing on the new facilities invoked. It was a heady hour, but a glorious one for all who have worked so hard in the past few years to see these facilities realized. All this was graced by the NDA-CCH band performance and the choral renditions by the Singing Dames, as well as the display of art works by alums seen in the Alumnae Hall.

PRAISE TO OUR GOOD AND PROVIDENT GOD!

Formidale Partnership

Our newest completed feature on the NDA campus is the fountain garden dedicated to St. Francis in honor of Frances Catherine Carlisle, a great friend of Notre Dame. The "formidable partnership"? Why St. Francis, of course, with his partner--Mother Nature!

The development of the garden is shown here in photos. In the last posting you can see a very early stage with the construction of the fountain. Here we pick up with the delivery and planting of trees. Next comes the planting of flowers. On the very day this last operation is completed, the saint arrives and advances to his new station. Talk about timing! He's rather stern looking, signaling that he takes his mission of supporting Mother N. very seriously. With these two we're holding an insurance policy in effect. Now if we just had a little more control over the Mother.... (By the way, St. Francis is just to the left of the fountain in the photo of the finished garden.)

What Is In A Name...?

Plenty, if one traveling I75 has been wondering what the school is that's been so clearly visible on the expressway for the last several months. Of course, there have been signs for those who can read quickly, but the "real thing" is in place now adding a new polish to the theater and the school. The first photo shows a worker drilling holes in the brick using a paper template as a guide. The second, of course, shows the finished sign.

One would have to come onto the campus and drive close to the theater to really appreciate the new feature in the theater yard--a fountain. Life-giving water has become a repeated aspect of the academy expansion, evidenced in the retention pond being developed near the Sisters' cemetery, the rain garden off the parking lot, the soon to be developed larger rain garden in the depression near the theater. Aside from greatly pleasing the Water District, these areas will serve to educate our students in wet-land value, and as a laboratory for the sciences. In addition, they can remind us that just as water provides physical life, learning provides life for the the heart and mind. Nature is ever a master teacher.