Notable
By ANDREW NELSON, Staff Writer | Published September 29, 2011
United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia honored a parishioner at All Saints Church, Dunwoody, for his years of service.
Jay Kapp was named the Volunteer of the Year for his many roles in serving the organization.
The United Cerebral Palsy of Georgia held its annual Community Awards reception on Sept. 20 at the Marriott Atlanta Century Center. It honors individuals and groups making significant contributions to the organization’s mission to support people with disabilities.
Kapp, who graduated from St. Pius X High School, has volunteered for more than 10 years, carrying on a family tradition. His late father was an executive with Miller Brewing Co. when it became a national sponsor of United Cerebral Palsy, according to Joan Rizzo, the director of development.
Kapp had a sister who was born with cerebral palsy and died at a young age, said Rizzo.
Kapp is the vice chairman of the board of directors in Georgia and is a key fundraiser, said Rizzo. In addition, his company, Kapp Koncepts, provides free marketing materials to the organization, she said.
“He is the person who always steps up to the plate, no matter what he is asked to do,” Rizzo said.
Ryan Proctor, a senior at Holy Spirit Preparatory School, Atlanta, has published a textbook for middle and high school students in the study of ancient Greek.
The book’s title “Khairete O Mathetai,” which means “Hello Students,” was published in July.
A news report from the school said Proctor began his personal study of ancient Greek in sixth grade.
His interest in Greek and the classics started when he visited the home of a friend who was a late sleeper. Waiting for the friend to wake up, Proctor found a book in the parent’s library on Julius Caesar. He started reading it, and from that moment he was hooked.
Proctor said that before his sophomore year he wanted to start a Classics Club at the Lower School to encourage the study of classics with the fifth and sixth-grade students. He found that the teaching materials for Greek focused on the secondary and post-secondary students.
“Khairete O Mathetai” is published by CreateSpace, a self-publishing company. It sells for $25.46 on Amazon.com.
Eve Tschirhart, Class of 2015, is the first recipient of the Doll deGolian Sullivan/Class of 1971 Scholarship at St. Pius X High School.
The scholarship was created by the deGolian Sullivan family and the St. Pius X Class of 1971 after deGolian Sulllivan, who graduated in 1971, died due to cancer.
She was one of 10 deGolian children who graduated from the high school.
The goal for the scholarship named in her honor is to assist those families with multiple children enrolled in St. Pius X and other Catholic schools. The donors wish to express their gratitude and recognize the sacrifices made by parents who educate their children in Catholic schools.
Eve is the daughter of Mark and Susan Tschirhart. The family currently has two other sons attending St. Pius X, Allen and Ryan, both members of the Class of 2012, as well as two younger children attending St. Jude the Apostle elementary school.
Monsignor Donovan High School held its first Priest Day Celebration on Thursday, Sept. 21. Priests, deacons and parishioners from various parishes were invited to attend.
The day honored those who guide each of the students through their spiritual journey and celebrate their spirits as a Donovan community.
Students participated in an all-school Mass and were allowed the opportunity to have lunch with their parish representative.
Attending the celebration were: Dr. Paul Grutsch, Msgr. Peter Dora, of St. James Mission, Madison; Sheryl Whitson, of St. Michael Church, Gainesville; Deacon John Burke, of St. Catherine Laboure Church, Jefferson; Deacon Rich Mickle, of St. Matthew Church, Winder; Father David Hyman, of The Catholic Center at the University of Georgia, Athens; and Father Tim Gallagher, of St. Pius X Church, Conyers.
The Salesians of Don Bosco commissioned 14 lay volunteers for mission during 2011-2012. Thirteen will serve as Salesian Lay Missioners in Salesian missions overseas, and one will serve as a Salesian Domestic Volunteer at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, Md. Two of the newly commissioned volunteers are from the Atlanta Archdiocese.
Carmen Hilmes, 50, belongs to St. Jude the Apostle Church in Atlanta. She took a leave from her job as operations manager for the TAS Group in Alpharetta. She will be serving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with the Salesian sisters at Don Bosco Skills Training Center, teaching young girls.
Carmen wishes “to experience service and immersion into another culture” and help others, sharing “her life talents in any way God is willing to use [my] open hands.”
Paul Miller, 59, is a member of Transfiguration Church, Marietta. After retiring from the airline industry, Paul recently completed a certification course in ecclesial ministry at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., and will begin his ministry with the Salesians at Don Bosco Catholic Church in Dilla, Ethiopia. He expects to teach and to help in the health clinic and feeding center there. He wants “to serve youth by my example and to radiate the love of Christ.”
The volunteers received two weeks of orientation at Maryknoll and a Salesian summer day camp in Port Chester, N.Y., followed by a week of retreat with Salesians at Haverstraw-Stony Point, N.Y. The 14 were commissioned during Mass closing out the retreat on Aug. 6.