[sinclairfan]

With the Covid virus stubbornly refusing to let the world get back to normal, and with the continuing unreliability of holiday air travel, our Board of Trustees arranged a 'Battle of the Decades' for our 2022 Feast of St John fundraiser:  two young alumni agreed to return and to catfight each other today, no rules and no surrender.  We salute their service to the school, and the energetic brawl in which they engaged.

Debbie, Class of 2008, graduated Ohio State University in 2012, got a Masters from Carnegie-Mellon in 2015, and has been travelling the world as an online coder since the pandemic started.  Her light brunette hair comes down to her butt.

Isabella, Class on 2019, was a 12-letter (the maximum amount possible) athlete during her time at our school, and is graduating Notre Dame in the spring.  She is considering various MBA programs for the fall.  Her red-brown hair comes down to her belly-brutton.

They agreed to pool their fight fees, winner take all.  Both will use it to go towards student debt, in the event of victory. 

Both women yanked generous chunks of hair throughout the fight, and those who purchase the bout video will note a ring coated with layers of hair post-fight, almost as if the 2 Amazons had been fighting in a haybarn.  But they also exchanged fists and scratches at various points of the fight, and both more than earned their purse through effort, skill, fight duration, and intensity.

It's possible a Battle of the Decades will be a permanent addition to the Feast of St John lineup each year going forward.

Please remember our school in your yearend giving, as well as your estate plans.  Charitable Giving Annuity credited rates are up significantly from just a year ago.  This option allows you to see your gift at work during your active lifetime.

[sinclairfan]

Dear Board:

I purchased the Debbie/Isabella fight, and all I can say is:  Hurrah!!! to the Board!  for the new 'Battle of the Decades' format.

I think we can all agree that even when Covid ends, we're not going back to exclusively in-person learning.  Parent-on-parent rivalries won't develop like they used to.

Black Friday doesn't mean what it used to.  The voting we used to do on 3 fights to see every December 27, with the women getting 4-5 weeks of intensive training, is ..... Kaputt!

Here's to future cross-Decades bouts between distinguished alums!

Anonymous, Class of 1983

[sinclairfan]

Dear Feast of St John '22 Organizing Committee:

Proud alumna (Class of 1996) and active committee member here, just catching up from my holiday whirlwind, which, yes, included disrupted holiday air travel. 

But what wonderful solace to be able to recharge my batteries by viewing the wonderfully-produced Debbie vs Isabella package you've prepared and distributed.  The catfight itself, it goes without saying, was competitive, with the outcome hanging on a knife's edge right up until the conclusion (as is the tradition for most St John's catfights).

But, as a holiday bonus, we also received:
<> 2 alumni fighting each other!  What a great plot twist.
<> ....from different decades, too!  (Without devolving into a freak show:  none of us want to see Class of '73 vs Class of '23.)
<> Pre- and post-fight interviews.  Excellent.  Loved how the girls were able to review each others' bio's pre-fight ..... and couldn't resist getting catty in the pre-fight chats.
<> Also loved how both girls, for different reasons, love to fight.  Debbie is a bit of a Lone Wolf who loves the sense of female empowerment.  Isabella loves to compete and test herself against different women.

I could go on, but ..... I have a catfight I need to (re-)watch.  All this writing about it has me a little, ahem, aroused.  lol

Tricia G.  '96