For men in Glee Club, the summer can be a paradoxical experience of emotions. At first, the relief of having ample free time begs the men into a flurry of binge-watching every available series on Netflix, still not quite believing that they have the freedom to do this from 4:30 to 6:15 PM without having to lie to the Secretary about being sick, having a meeting, or being locked in a battle with a wild animal over by St. Mary’s Lake. As the summer wears on, though, this freedom is soon joined by the sinking feeling that their spirits, and their vocal chords, may never be able to come back from vacation. Thus, it is up to every one of the members to pursue side projects, get an internship, or just learn to enjoy solitude. To air the suspense, the Glee Club Cabinet (of which I am the spokesman) of the 2015-2016 Season would like to share brief accounts of what our men have been up to this glorious summer.
Our fearless (yet fearful) leader, Stuart, has been very busy this summer. He has been enjoying his time off pursuing an internship at Target, where he also spends free time using coupons freshly clipped from the Sunday Times. He still hasn’t heard about the whole “Employee Discount” thing.
Everyone’s favorite tour guide, Pat Lyon, has been busy at work in his garden, listening to recorded Tolkien sagas and tending mostly to the peppers since the rabbit massacre of July 4th weekend.
While Pat tended the peppers, Anthony and Quint flexed their pipes, acting on campus in a rousing, low-budget rendition of Wicked 2. Check them out on PEMCo!
Not to be outdone, Tony Stedge has spent his summer wearing a belt around his big boy pants, working at General Electric on the manufacturing line. He continues to dabble in card-sorcery, entrancing every foreman at GE to distract them while he plots to take over the company.
Recent graduate Jamie Towey has been just hanging around for the summer, enjoying some time off and “waiting around for some top secret government job that just needs to finish his background check.” Yeah, whatever you say, Jamie.
Everyone’s favorite honorary clubber, Bernie Sanders, has been quelling the field of the Democratic Presidential Campaign and consequently picked up a lot of steam. Go, Bernie, go! (Editor’s note: Bernie Sanders is not an honorary clubber—but don’t tell Ollie that or he’ll go nuts!)
Andrew Spitzer, a Tenor and a fan of both friendship and adrenaline, spent a lovely weekend at Kings Island while riding coasters and wheels of various sorts. Neat!
Merrick Topping doesn’t like roller coasters, so he spends most of his time dominating in the carnival games and hustling independent middle-schoolers out of their pocket change. Way to be, Merrick.
Dan Stowe is still working on the cure for being a werewolf. It’s really starting to get in the way of his moonlit composition periods.
John “Spooky” Linczer has been working as a counselor, molding the minds of future Domers with the ND Summer Scholars program.
Rising junior Ricardo Castañeda has been performing stellar waiting duties as a waiter at New Robozo, a hip joint where waiters serve fresh tasty food and also have the option to wear pirate hats.
Rising sophomore Matthew Williams has been tirelessly traveling around the states, seeing friends, posting on Instagram®, and spending a fortune on gasoline.
Rising junior Jack McKeegan swears that he will resolve himself of all [ditzyness] during his semester abroad in Mexico. For real. He told me in between sets at the Rock, bro.
Joseph Ong has been busy himself, doing research in Singapore and remaining relevant to Club by posting on Facebook. Thanks for checking in, Joe!
Carlos Torres has been practicing his Spanish and plans to apply to be an astronaut if his proposal to the Physics Department doesn’t take off in the Fall.
President Emerita Paul Kearney has been vying for the title of World’s Manliest Beard, and, as of August 5, his progress would make the Sox proud.
Complete Boss Andrew Fritz has been working on his Chicken Salad recipe for the summer while pursuing his dream of starting on God’s lacrosse team.
TJ Dean is having a really super time working as an assistant to the regional manager for NetSuite in Chicago. When asked how he came to be so fortunate, he simply responds, “I’m just way up these days. I feel blessed.”
Nicholas Goldsmith had a lovely summer living by the lake, making frequent stops in South Bend as he pursued film production and camera work while hanging out often with friends nearby. What a guy.
Michael “Tupac” Shakour has had a great summer himself, and apparently has a dog named Domer that is almost half as big an ND fan as Shakour himself. Topical and cute!
Zachary “Toaster” Osterholz has been working for his brother in a lab of some sort; I think they do Biology there or something? Yeah, that sounds right. Oh and he likes to hike and garden with cats and stuff.
Rising Junior Erik Klaus has been working as a student on a project with General Electric while vising the tombs of his ancestors in rural China. Safe travels to you, Erik!
Kevin Warten and Merrick Topping are plotting a takeover of RecSports this year, highlighting plans to win both the Ping Pong and Curling titles. Word on the street is that Merrick is using that spare change he stole from middle-schoolers to buy them some sick new jersies!
Rahul Ramani had an enlightening experience volunteering on the East Coast this summer. It was in Jersey, but still very worthwhile.
Frat Star Christian Gorski goes to see films a lot these days. He pays for the tickets by proving various theorems and growth models to the girls at the ticket office.
Chandler Swift shaved his head and attempted to climb the secret mount where the shaolin monks train. He didn’t make it to the top, but the journey taught him much about humility and endurance.
Ryan Wiegand has probably been listening to a lot of Paul Simon while missing co-VP, Ollie Hanes. He also has been traveling around the Midwest and even down the East Coast visiting friends and family.
Future Rookie Chet Manley has been biding his time and secretly planning his rise to power upon being added to the roster this Fall.
Nick Barella and Francesco Tassi can’t wait to use their newly found knowledge of the world to impose themselves as experienced sophomores. They will be nobody’s fool!
Facebook tells us that Kieran Kelly loves to play Wiffleball and has certainly not lost form in the business of freshmen year! He played 6 great innings this summer during the 7th annual Dundee Classic. Way to swing for the fences, Kieran!
Rising sophomore Matt Donahue found a mountain in his backyard this summer and painted a picture of it for his mom. Matthew then painted himself at a 2015 Color Run® 5K race! Inside and out, what a colorful person.
Matthew’s good friend, rising Sophomore Jimmy Capella, has been brushing up on his trombone prowess in preparation to rejoin the ranks of the United States’ oldest and greatest university band!
Brian Richman has been having a great summer with great people, seeing family and catching some precious rays while out on the water.
John McKune has a family of four and plans to send his second daughter to ND this fall. He is doing well with PwC and will be missed as last year’s Wing Commissioner.
Of course, these are just a few accounts of how our brothers in song have been behaving for the summer. Most assuredly, the rest are having similarly excellent summers, going on vacation, having awesome internships, and working hard at their summer jobs. We hope that all alumni are doing well and having great summers too, and we anxiously await all of those coming into town this fall for the Centennial Reunion. Go Irish!