Nine members of the SBA Class of 1969 joined the sisters for prayer and lunch at the monastery the end of August. Sister Diane Rabe, current administrator of the Benedictine Sisters, is a member of the class and was there to welcome her classmates.
The group meets monthly at local restaurants and, when Michelle Basista, Development Associate for the Benedictine Sisters, joined them for a luncheon, she invited them to consider coming to the monastery for lunch--a suggestion which they quickly embraced. In addition to lunch, the classmates enjoyed a brief tour of the monastery and an opportunity to shop in the monastery gift shop. They also enjoyed reminiscing with two of their teachers, Sister Rosanne Loneck (Home Economics) and Sister Phyllis Schleicher (French)--a couple of the girls actually pulled up a few words from French class decades ago to greet their Sister Phyllis.
An added bonus was a drive across the road to Glinodo Center where they had spent time during their years in high school. They were particularly interested in seeing the invasive-species eating goats who spent a month on the Glinodo property eating their way through plants and vines that are harmful to the woods along the creek.
"We'd love to see more groups of classmates join us at the monastery," said Michelle. "The Class of 1975 will be coming on a Sunday morning after their Saturday evening 50th reunion. Consider joining us for a weekday lunch, an evening meal, or Sunday after liturgy. Call me and let's see what we can work out!" Contact Michelle at the monastery, 914-899-0614 extension 2281.
