36th & Prospect
James P.M. Walsh, S.J. #119
Twenty-seven years of involvement with The Chimes, a quarter century as the Active Chime who will never graduate… Each group is different and yet somehow the same as all the others. It’s like Commedia dell’arte: the same cast of characters, but played by different actors each year; the same basic script, but with interesting variants. Or maybe it’s more like South Park. As Celestial Chime, it’s been my privilege to preside at Chimes weddings and funerals, and to baptize Chimes children. I seem to have been given this “parish” comprising generations and continents. It’s a pastoral gig I never envisioned when I got ordained in 1970. But half my life as a Jesuit has been with The Chimes. It has been a privilege and, on the whole, joy, Deo gratias. And to think that Frank Jones planned the whole thing, right from the outset!
Tim Naughton #95
Even after 33 years, I have not finished learning about the Chimes. The Chimes share a common love of music and of the group. The tradition is entrusted from one Chime to the next. With singing in harmony as a foundation for their friendship, the Chimes are a community within Georgetown that spans generations, devoted to the University and one another.
Justin Douds #202
60 years is a long time for any organization to last, but considering the wealth and breadth of opportunities for Georgetown students that exists today, the Chimes’ continued success is all the more astounding. What makes the Chimes unique is that its path has been shaped by all two hundred and eleven members, who contribute to its development long after their college days are over. As a recent alum, I aspire to continue my involvement with the Chimes in my new role. While our musical style and song selection has changed over the three generations, it is the basic tenets of song, harmony, fellowship, and brotherhood that ensure the existence of the Chimes sixty years from now.
Mark Rossetti #211
Two hundred and ten Chimes later, it’s all one elaborate story to which we each contribute our own personalities and anecdotes. Sometimes our personalities are the anecdotes. And still it all begins with the music—the group’s history in the Glee Club, learning songs as a neophyte, and quartets at every gathering of Chimes. For me, it is a sort of thread that runs through my life. It defines who I know, how I spend my time at school, and what I do during my summers. I need simply open my wallet to see in my Chaz card a little reminder of friendship, generosity, and music. Over sixty years after it all began, it remains a great thing to be a Chime, and I am confident that the fellowship and harmony will only become richer and fuller as the years pass.
Acknowledgements
Transcribed from the Physical Liner Notes