Alumni Feature

Night of the Lion: Roaring Into the Twenties

Each year, the Saint Viator community gathers in celebration of our school and in support of our students at the Night of the Lion.

On Saturday, March 7, nearly 300 guests roared into the twenties at Saint Viator’s annual premier fundraising event. Raising more than $200,000 for the Tuition Assistance Fund, the 2020 special event was an evening of camaraderie and fun, in support of student scholarships.

The speaking program began with prayer by Br. John Eustice, CSV, vice president of Viatorian identity and mission, and a warm welcome from President Brian Liedlich. Highlights of the night included entertainment by Exit 147, gourmet food and drinks, a lively auction and paddle raise, and most importantly, remarks by distinguished student guests: Bryce McDonnell ’20 and Erin Aldana ’20.

Both Erin and Bryce humbly reminded us of the value of the Saint Viator experience, and reflected warmly on their time as students, athletes, thespians, volunteers, leaders in their faith, and friends.

While many other charitable organizations were not as lucky, Saint Viator recognizes how blessed we were to have had an opportunity to gather, celebrate and support our community before the COVID-19 pandemic began this spring. We look forward to celebrating alongside you again soon.

In the meantime, please save the date for Night of the Lion 2021 on Saturday, March 6, and join us in thanking this year’s generous sponsors:

Scholar Sponsors

Clerics of St. Viator Grand Victoria Casino

Tradition Sponsors

Cashman Stahler Group The Conneely Family – Kerry ’90, Mark, Fiona ’18, Sarah ’20 and Nora Jack and Beth Klues Brian Liedlich, President Motor Werks Auto Group Nicholas & Associates, Inc. Village Bank & Trust

Loyal Heart Sponsors

Anonymous Capital Point Financial Group/ Dave Hogaboom and Colleen Gaughan Kopon Airdo

Insight Sponsors

Aeroshield All About Kids Dentistry/ Patrick Hoffman and Dr. Victoria Ursitti C. Starr Properties John Fox ’71, Gourmet’s Delight Cheesecakes Holy Family Parish McAndrews, Held & Malloy Thomas ’88 and Danell and John ’21 O’Neill Quest Food Management Services Rooney Landscape, Inc Selden Fox, Ltd.

Innovation Sponsors

Smiles by Smoron The Lakota Group

Friends

Arlington Dermatology Greg ’65 and Laura Carlson DKM&O Attorneys Kelleher & Buckley, LLC

Bears Go Local, Draft TE Cole Kmet ’17 with 43rd Pick

Reprint from Daily Herald , 4/24/2020 By John Radtke, Daily Herald High School Sports Editor

Cole Kmet’s NFL dream came true Friday night.

Kmet, a 2017 Saint Viator graduate who just completed his junior season at Notre Dame, was selected by his hometown Chicago Bears with the 43rd pick.

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end was ecstatic to hear his named called on the NFL Draft show, which was done virtually and aired by ABC.

“This is awesome,” Kmet told the Daily Herald moments after the pick was announced. “This is just great.”

The Bears look to Kmet to help charge up their offense.

Bears tight ends combined for just 395 yards last season and none had more than 91 all year.

They now have 10 on their roster after taking the surehanded Kmet, who started 11 games as a junior last season after missing the first two because of a broken collarbone and caught 43 passes for 515 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Also a standout baseball player who at one time was a top MLB prospect, Kmet was a Daily Herald All-Area baseball captain and athlete of the year in 2017, after leading Saint Viator to the Class 3A state championship.

The White Sox showed interest in drafting him out of high school. He even worked out for them at their ballpark. Almost 40 members of the Saint Viator community were in attendance at the annual Arlington Heights Hearts of Gold Dinner in February to celebrate as Judith Wampach Amberg was given the Young at Heart Award. Judy’s career spans not only her time at Saint Viator as a teacher, administrator, and director of alumni relations, but also her years at Sacred Heart of Mary High School. She served as a religion teacher and assistant principal at Sacred Heart for 14 years, forging lasting relationships with many students. When the two schools merged in the late 1980s, Judy served on the transition team before continuing her career at Saint Viator as the chair of the religion department, working in Campus Ministry and ultimately being named director of alumni relations. Today, she remains involved as director emeritus of alumni relations. “I just feel so blessed to be part of the Saint Viator and Sacred Heart communities and to celebrate here with so many deserving people,” Amberg said during her brief speech. He appeared in 30 games as a relief pitcher at Notre Dame during his freshman year but was limited to eight games his sophomore year due to an elbow injury.

With the Bears, he will get to work with one of this generation’s most accomplished tight ends in Jimmy Graham. Chicago signed the veteran, hoping the five-time Pro Bowl pick can regain the form that made him a star for New Orleans and Seattle before getting released by Green Bay.

Kmet said he models his game after Rob Gronkowski. Either way, the Bears are banking on bigger things.

Kmet was home in Arlington Heights, where he recently moved, with his immediate family and girlfriend, Emily Jarosz ’17, when he got the call. It got disconnected and so did a FaceTime

Judith Amberg Recognized with Young at Heart Award

attempt before coach Matt Nagy gave him the news. 15

In her introduction of Judy, Arlington Heights Special Events Commission Chairperson Laurie Mitchell said, “Judith Wampach Amberg has a long and inspirational history of service to young people and Catholic education. She has worked tirelessly to ensure that the alumni from Sacred Heart never lose their identity and connection to their school and classmates.”

Those on the committee mentioned that Judy received multiple nominations for the Heart of Gold Award this year, and noted that the only difficulty they had was in determining how to fit all of her accomplishments and aspects of her service into a brief introduction.