Homecoming 2007
a Summery Success

From the pep rally on Friday Oct.5 Homecoming weekend (above) to the lawn display at Illinois Home (right), Mooseheart’s students embraced their 2007 Home-coming theme to “Ransack the Raiders.”

Ramblers cap bright, warm day with 19-0
football win

The Ramblers achieved that goal Oct.6 defeating North Shore Country Day 19-0, thanks, in part, to the superb running of Floyd Mays (center left, 22.)

Gaven Sallie was crowned the Homecoming Queen (escorted by King Donald Niersbach.)

The Mooseheart campus was well-prepared for the visit of Moose members from across North America for the 2007 Homecoming weekend, Oct. 5-6. School windows were decorated and so were many campus buildings, such as the windows at the rear of Pennsylvania Home.

Residents of North Carolina Home proudly posed in front of the 15-passenger van presented by the North Carolina Moose.



Mooseheart Superintendent of Education Gary Urwiler showed off the school’s vintage fire truck.

> For the third straight year, 1977 Mooseheart grad Diana York (second from right) performed a benefit concert to aid the renovation and repair of the House of God pipe organ. This year, York and Mooseheart Alumni Association president Bill Harvey ’65 presented representatives of Higher Degree Council from Florida-Bermuda with a plate for their $2,000 contribution to the campaign. Nearly $20,000 of the needed $51,000 has been raised so far, and the project’s second phase is nearly complete.

’07 Gridders Stay in Postseason Hunt

Speedy Ramblers Lack Size, But Scrape Their Way Above .500 after 7 Games

Jonell Crump breaks off a long gain

> New uniforms weren’t the only thing sparkling about the 2007 Mooseheart football team.

But those uniforms, a gift provided through $15,000 raised by the New Jersey Moose Association, sure did help the Ramblers look good on the field! Mooseheart won its season-opener and raced to a 3-1 record and stood 4-3 after the thrilling Homecoming win. A return trip to the IHSA postseason playoffs was still possible.

Jonell Crump, Floyd Mays and Chris Morones (pictured) were just three of the team’s solid performers this fall.

Another addition to the Ramblers program was alumnus Matt Kitzmiller ’98. Now raising a young family locally, he returned to help coach his alma mater. Some of today’s players, such as quarterback Morones and wingback Donald Niersbach, were gradeschoolers who watched Kitzmiller when he played for the Ramblers in the mid-’90s.

A recap of the end of Mooseheart’s football season will appear in the next issue of Moose Magazine.

Many Positives Seen For Ramblers Volleyball Team

Mooseheart volleyball players discuss tactics during a timeout.

> There have been times this fall when Mooseheart’s volleyball team found itself in a struggle to win. But at times like that, coach Koral Evans was able to pull from its significant resources in the “heart” category.

That trait helped the Ramblers gain victories as well, as they were never short of effort.

With two-thirds of the season complete, the Red Ramblers had a 5-13 record and working their way toward the IHSA tournament, which began at the end of October.

Seniors such as Basheeba Mays and Manseray Abdulahi and Jessica Vazquez combined with a number of younger players, including three freshmen-- Kristen Thornberg, Jessica Perry and Katie Stryker. The Ramblers benefited from solid support from the students on campus whenever they played at home and were difficult to beat.

A recap of the Mooseheart volleyball season will appear in the February issue of Moose Magazine.

Mooseheart students and principal Gary Urwiler (left photo) helped provide manpower. By the end of the day, when Aquascape workers put the final touches on the project (right), a spot that used to be covered only with grass gurgled with the sound of running water.

Namowicz Thrives at Interlochen

Internationally-renowned camp helps Mooseheart junior reach new levels on clarinet

By DARRYL MELLEMA

Marco Namowicz, a Mooseheart High School junior, spent six weeks of his summer at Interlochen Music Camp, studying clarinet at arguably the finest youth music camp in the world.

> There are many sounds of summer at Mooseheart, and many have existed since the campus first took shape some 94 years ago.

But this August, a new sound was frequently heard late in the afternoon: Marco Namowicz playing clarinet on the steps of the Antoinette Marinello Home.

In sending sweet music into the air, Namowicz perpetuated the atmosphere he reveled in for six weeks this summer while at the nationally renowned Interlochen Center for the Arts, in the leafy, lake-filled paradise of northwestern Michigan.

“You hear music everywhere,” Namowicz said. “Just walking somewhere, you hear music--and it’s good music.”

Namowicz, a Mooseheart High School junior, became the first Child City resident to attend Interlochen when he traveled to the nation’s premier youth music camp for six weeks this summer. The camp concluded Aug. 5.

“I think this is a really good start, more of a beginning,” Namowicz said. “It’s the beginning of my journey for a career as a musician.”

Namowicz experienced a number of things for the first time at Interlochen. Throughout his time at camp, he worked with Sarah Nowlin, an accomplished band instructor from the Cincinnati area who specializes in the clarinet. The two worked extensively one-on-one, providing Namowicz with his first advanced clarinet studies.

“It’s been a pleasure to teach him,” Nowlin said. “He just wanted to learn and that’s what he was at Interlochen for. He wanted to be part of the group and really excel.”

Namowicz played in a clarinet quartet and the concluding weekend included a recital in which all woodwind chamber music groups performed.

“The chamber music was really healthy,” Namowicz said. “Working in a quartet, you get to know people really well.”

There were performances throughout the summer. Namowicz said playing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” brought tears to his eyes.

“I was scared on the way coming up,” Namowicz said. “I was kind of nervous. I didn’t know if people were going to be friendly. It was also the first time I’ve had independence for this long in my life. I think it’s been a healthy thing and I think I handled it well.”

Nowlin heartily concurred that Namowicz excelled in the Interlochen atmosphere. But when he started to play, Nowlin saw some immediate areas in which to make improvements. A new mouthpiece and new reed paid immediate dividends.

“He blew into his instrument and it was wonderful - a wonderful sound,” Nowlin said. “His face just lit up. From then on, he was like a sponge.”

Nowlin said there are areas in which Namowicz stands apart from many of his peers, and these areas go to the heart of why there has been clarinet music coming from the steps of the Antoinette Marinello Home this August.

“He loves music and he loves the clarinet. He’s very curious about it. He desires to learn. A lot of kids here have had things handed to them,” Nowlin said, meaning that most Interlochen students tend to come from well-to-do families. “Marco’s having to explore and find his way. Marco has learned the ability to explore and figure things out.”

Interlochen arranged scholarship money for Namowicz so Mooseheart only had to provide transportation to and from the camp.

Given his experiences this year, he hopes to return next year. He said he already has the audition pieces for 2008-- and these, among others, are things he has been playing outside his residence home.

But he still misses Interlochen; the camp is never far from his thoughts.

“The friendships you make here, I know they’ll last forever,” Namowicz said. “And if these people stay in music, I know I’ll see them again.”

> The generosity of the men and women of the Moose fraternity continues to show few limits, especially where the boys and girls of Mooseheart are concerned.

That generosity was shown time and again this summer as various state associations came to the Child City for their “Day.”

First came Indiana Day, and over 800 members of the Indiana Moose Association were on-hand to present four vehicles worth $100,000 to Mooseheart.

Eventually, Indiana plans to raise a further $50,000 and donate two more vehicles to the campus -- two 15-passenger vans, a pickup truck and a utility truck.

Next came Wisconsin/Minnesota Day. The Wisconsin Moose presented a 15-passenger van (shown above) while the Minnesota Moose donated software and other needed items to campus residents.

Illinois Day came last in this sequence, and one of the highlights was the presentation of a $3,300 check for computer equipment by the Lockport Lodge 1557 Moose Riders.

The children are thankful for every one of these gifts from the heart of loyal Moose members.

Athens GA Lodge 767 member Paul Miller brought his jet-powered race car to Mooseheart in August and fired up the engine for the students to see and hear. The flames scorched a portion of the field house parking lot!