Deer Porte 2010

Our panelists, Bro. Rodney Struble, CSC, Fr. Bil Melody, CSC,
and Fr. Rich Bullene, CSC.

On August 10, I left Phoenix for Notre Dame so that I could join my brother seminarians at our annual camp in La Porte, IN, affectionately known as Deer Porte (our previous camp location was called "Deer Park" so we merged the two names).  Camp has been a long and somewhat storied tradition among Holy Cross Seminarians and more about it can be read over at the CSC vocations blog.  Essentially camp is a time for the seminarians to gather before the beginning of each academic year and spend some time together, getting to know the new seminarians and catching up with the other seminarians after a summer apart from each other.  There is a lot of time for recreation: bocce and corn hole tournaments, a fishing derby, just sitting around the pool chatting, but there is also time spent in orientation meetings as each formation program starts its year and also time spent in prayer and reflection. Every camp is given a theme to guide the seminarian's reflection and different speakers and panelists give talks to give us something to chew on over the course of the week.  My classmate, Matt Kuczora, CSC was this year's camp mayor and did a wonderful job.  We had lots of fun, but also fantastic presentations as well by our guest speakers.  However, I have to admit that one of the best parts of camp this year was spent not at camp, but was our free day where a few of the other seminarians and I headed into Chicago to visit the Museum of Science and Industry.  This was the one major Chicago museum that I hadn't been to yet and it was loads of fun.  Where else can you walk through a real life German U-boat one minute and a 727 the next!














We returned from camp on August 18, and for my brother seminarians the time between then and now has been spent preparing for the start of the academic year.  I have been doing my best to get any work for the parish that can be done off site done, but I have also spent much time with many of my friends here at Notre Dame, making sure I see them before I leave for Phoenix again.  I will return to Phoenix on Monday after Paul's profession of perpetual vows.  However more on that as they come.  My next major event is a trip to Lisle, IL, a western suburb of Chicago to visit a benedictine monk, who lived with us at Moreau last year, but was elected abbot of his monastery over the summer.


 Photo Credit: Ryan Pietrocarlo