Tarmac Online

By Aidan McGirr’28

Chaminade has a wide variety of clubs, and in this new era of extracurricular activities, they’re ushering in collaborations like never before. In September alone, four different events were joint efforts. The clubs that collaborated were as follows: Friends of St. Dymphna, Culinary Club, Faustino Club, GSO, ETV, SSC, and CROSS. Each event was exceptional—a raving success that showed how creative Chaminade students can be when they work together.

Friends of St. Dymphna and Culinary Club started where they left off last year by making the Grill & Chill a reality, although the title may have been lost in the sands of time. The Grill & Chill, as the name indicates, included grilling headed by Culinary Club pitmasters. The real delicacy of the afternoon was the katsu sauce chicken, with General Tso’s glazed ribs coming in a very close second—if the two can even be compared. But this was not the only Friends of St. Dymphna collaboration; they also joined forces with GSO to bring back Board Game Night, this time with the Friends in the mix. Mr. Pisani ’12 generously lent his board games for the evening, while fan favorites such as Dungeons & Dragons and War of the Ring—the latter supplied and monitored by Mr. Volpe—were brought from home. Pizza followed the spirited games, making for a great night, win or lose.

The second of the joint club events was Celebrating the Canonization of Carlo Acutis: Prayer, Pizza, Pickleball. The PPP (Prayer, Pizza, Pickleball) series began halfway through last year, sparked by the Marianist LIFE Team’s efforts to boost attendance at the monthly adorations offered by the Diocese of Rockville Centre for high school students. This year, it’s taken on a broader reach by extending PPP to Kellenberg as well. CROSS and Marianist LIFE teamed up on the Friday afternoon of September 12 to kick off the year with another PPP, with contestants able to win free Chaminade T-shirts. After backyard games and, of course, the pickleball tournament, students headed to the Ott Field tent where pizza was served. Once everyone had their fair share, it was time for the focal point of the evening: a screening of Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality, a stellar film that illustrated the importance of a saint such as Carlo Acutis in the modern age of technology. Afterwards, Eucharistic Adoration was held, along with the veneration of several relics—a first-class relic of St. Carlo Acutis, and second-class relics of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Jakob Gapp, and Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. Fellowship continued in the cafeteria during and after Adoration, capping off the evening on a reflective note.

Thirdly, an unlikely pairing between ETV and the Social Studies Club (SSC) has resulted in a realistic game setting that players have praised. For instance, Finnegan Trentecoste ’27 said, “Having the Conflict News Network run by ETV added professionalism, and also added a ‘heads up’ for problems.” Even though Conflict has been around and collaborating with ETV for a while, it hasn’t always gotten the spotlight it deserves. Behind the scenes, ETV manages the music, audio, TV displays, and announcements during SSC’s Conflict game. Two-year Conflict player Finnegan ’27 puts it best: “Conflict is a great showing of teamwork in SSC—a great showing between SSC and ETV.”

Altogether, these various collaborations are revitalizing Chaminade’s club and event landscape through both old and new partnerships. Hopefully there will be more to come. As William Duffy ’28, co-president of Friends of St. Dymphna, remarked, “Both clubs that we collaborated with enabled new members to join Friends of St. Dymphna that we could not have reached otherwise.” This statement perfectly encapsulates what these collaborations are all about—being able to join new things and enjoy the experiences thereafter.