Stephanie celebrates HS graduation

Stephanie graduated from Hilliard Darby High School in an evening ceremony on Thursday, May 24, and spent the following weekend celebrating.

On Saturday, she and a close friend had their own party, where the crowd included her mother, Cathy, her grandparents Hugh and Dolores and her Aunt Julie (see photo). Stephanie then attended a series of other friends' parties through the weekend.

In addition to honors Stephanie received at the school's Academic Awards ceremony, she was recognized at the Senior Awards ceremony as Outstanding Senior in English and the Outstanding Senior in Band.

After a well-earned vacation, Stephanie will start college in the fall at Towson State University.

Eventful season for senior Stephanie

It's been a very busy spring for Stephanie as she wraps up her senior year at Hilliard Darby High School. We've fallen behind on the news, but here are photos from three events in April.


At her school's Academic Awards ceremony, Stephanie received an academic honors award, a certificate for outstanding academic achievement and a presidential award for educational excellence.

Here we see Stephanie and a group of friends about to head to the school's Senior Prom.

See more photos of the group here.

Also in April, Stephanie performed again with the Columbus Youth Symphonic Band at its spring concert.

"Stephanie enjoyed performing with them this year at Capital University," Cathy writes. "It was a great opportunity to work with a new conductor and make new friends from other high schools."

Click the image at right to see videos and more photos from the concert.

Stephanie chooses Towson University

Stephanie has decided to attend Towson University -- her mom's alma mater -- starting in the fall.

After weighing offers from several other schools, and paying a second visit to the campus last weekend, Stephanie decided on Towson, where she intends to study English and music.

Proud mom Cathy shared the "exciting news" and noted that Stephanie "is planning to join the marching band, so I will have another opportunity to be a 'band mom!'

"This will, no doubt, be an exciting year," Cathy wrote. Stephanie, a senior at Hilliard Darby High School in Ohio, is less than two months away from graduation.

Towson University is part of the University System of Maryland. It has some 20,000 undergraduates and a few thousand graduate students enrolled in seven colleges on its 329-acre campus, less than 10 miles north of downtown Baltimore.

The U.S. News & World Report 2018 America’s Best Colleges guide ranked Towson 10th among public regional universities in the North.

Three generations and a clarinet

While her daughter Cathy and granddaughter Stephanie were visiting on Easter weekend, Dolores brought out the clarinet she had played in high school.

Stephanie, who plays clarinet in various high school and regional ensembles at home in Ohio, had just purchased a new instrument for herself. But she was also eager to see the one that both her grandmother and, for a time, her mother had played.

Although it's in need of some refurbishment, Stephanie managed to coax a bit of music out of the clarinet, and Dolores handed it off to her for safekeeping.

Spending Easter weekend with Hugh and Dolores

At Dolores' and Hugh's apartment

Dolores and Hugh played host to daughter Julie, her husband, Dan, and daughter Cathy and her daughter, Stephanie, on Easter weekend in Maryland.

Stephanie and Cathy spent part of Friday touring Towson State University, one of several colleges Stephanie is considering as she nears her high school graduation. Later Friday, the six went to dinner at the Hopkins Club.

It was a productive trip for Stephanie, who also went shopping in Delaware and bought a clarinet -- a significant upgrade from the instrument she has used up to now in all her high school music performances.

The group went to Easter Vigil service Saturday evening at Trinity Church in Towson, the long-time parish of Hugh, Dolores and their children. The weekend concluded with Sunday brunch at the Oakcrest community where Hugh and Dolores reside.

New York finishes 4th in curling Mixed Nationals

After advancing to the playoffs in the USA Curling Mixed Nationals Championship competition, Rebecca's Rochester, N.Y.-based team ran up against stiff competition and finished in fourth place.

"Pretty darn good week at the Mixed Nationals, but unfortunately Team NY finished just out of the medals," Rebecca posted. "So lucky to have amazingly supportive and fun teammates, and thrilled my parents came out for the playoff weekend!"

Lisa and Doug surprised Rebecca by flying in to see the final games at Lakeville, Minn., just outside Minneapolis.

The New York team placed third in the round-robin portion of the tournament, with a 6-3 record. As it happened, it had to face the top two teams in the playoffs. The second-seed team, from North Dakota, prevailed over New York in the semifinal, while top seed Michigan was upset by the fourth-place team, from Seattle, Washington. That pitted New York against Michigan in the game for third place, and Michigan won the bronze medals.

March was a busy curling month for Rebecca, who was also a member of a women's team in the USA Curling 2018 Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D. Her team finished fourth in that tournament -- and Rebecca was chosen the winner of the Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award. The award is "presented annually at the National Championships to one male and one female athlete who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers," according to USA Curling.

Rebecca's team reaches finals at Mixed Nationals

Rochester, N.Y.-based Team Maroldo, with Rebecca playing second position, has won a berth in the playoff round at the USA Curling Mixed Nationals Championship in Lakeville, Minn.

The team finished third in the round-robin portion of the tournament, with a record of 6-3.

The semi-final games take place Friday evening (3/30) at 7 p.m. CDT/8 p.m. EDT. Rebecca's team, representing New York, plays North Dakota, with the winner advancing to the final "gold medal" game Saturday at 1 p.m. CDT/2 p.m. EDT. The losing teams from the semi-finals will play at the same time Saturday for bronze.

You can follow the results here - and watch live video here.

It's been a busy curling month for Rebecca, who was also a member of a women's team in the USA Curling 2018 Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D. Her team finished fourth in that tournament -- and Rebecca was chosen the winner of the Ann Brown Sportsmanship Award. The award is "presented annually at the National Championships to one male and one female athlete who are judged to best embody the USCA Spirit of Curling as voted on by their peers," according to USA Curling.

Brien hosts St. Patrick's parade-watch party

For the sixth year in a row, family members gathered at Brien's apartment to enjoy an unbeatable view of the Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade, held Saturday, March 24.

Joining in the festivities this year were Dan and Julie, Kathy and Robert, Kevin and Kathy, Genevieve and John and Bea, Shanna and Rick, Vivien and CJ, Kevin, Patrick and Owen, along with Patrick's friend Kelsey and Owen's friend Ellen.

The weather was cool but sunny for the parade, a pleasant contrast to last year's chill and flurries.

The party featured plenty of food and drink, including two home-baked loaves of Irish soda bread - and a cake for celebrating three March birthdays: Vivien, Kevin and Bea.

Here's a batch of additional photos by Dan and Brien. Click any image for an enlarged view.