Ritual Equipment

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A list of Ritual equipment that needs upgraded is forthcoming.

Once we have that we will figure out how best to get it bought or built. Fergie tells me that there is no such thing as a "package" we can buy from Central Office. That's Nationals, plural, for those of you not up with current college lingo. [Editor's note: I really HATE it when I hear the Undergrads say "nationals." Aarrgh! -- Shawn]

Those not too good with hammers and saws, maybe can buy the materials. Those who can build can donate the time and make something. We don't need any tailors. The guys have new robes.

Rick Neel: DTD at MC #26

Monday, October 30, 2006

Hello everyone (again!)

This is pretty soon to be doing this again, as I don't want to load up anyone's email box and begin to look like the junk mail that we all get in our snail mail box. But I had some questions that I failed to answer the last time, and I want to give you all a list of the bad addresses that I have so you can help me update them before Christmas time falls on the retail world and I don't have time for anything else (that's Wednesday for those of you who aren't retailers!).

The questions that I received are concerning the fund raising drive for new ritual equipment. One of them I can answer, and the other one I will be forwarding on to Hartsy, Fergie, and Craig. Guys please get back to me and/or Chris Kurtz. Preferably both, since I'm sure he isn't the only one with this type of question. Darrell Pritchard is a contractor and may be able to help also, if he had dimensions.

Anyway, here are the questions, in the order I received them:

"Regrettably, I was unable to make this past homecoming (which is the first one I have missed since my days as an undergrad and my recent years as an alumni) due to my obligations to my men's rugby club here in Roanoke, Va. I have a question concerning the ritual equipment. I agree that the chapter is in need of new equipment, and I am all for donating what I can. I was just curious to whether or not there was a set asking level or just donate what you can. I would love to see the chapter in new equipment the next time I am back to Marietta and the Ritual is performed. Through Fraternal Brotherhood,Jeremy 'Jake' Dornon, Class of '02"

Jake, in answer to your question about donating, any amount will be gratefully accepted. I know I'm speaking for the undergrads and alumni with that statement. Think about it, even if the equipment cost $1000 to buy from International (and I don't know that it does, I'm just picking a round number here) with the 100+ alums that are in our address list, it would take a $10 donation from each of us to come up with the necessary amount. Heck, that is the amount of a movie ticket and popcorn. So thanks from all of us for whatever you can help with.

Next is from Chris Kurtz:

"If it would be possible, is there a way someone could send me thedimensions of the items. I have some connections with some prettygood scene shops in the new york area and may be able to come up withsomething really nice. I am talking specifically about the largeritems that Greg referred to.Thanks,Chris Kurtz '93"

Chris, I'm going to have to refer your question to the "big boys - Ferg, Hartsy, and Craig". Simply because I'm not sure if that information can be given out, since the ritual is secret. However, I know that International has it built by someone, so perhaps it can be. Could you guys please get back to me with a ruling on this subject so we can inform the brothers?

I find it very gratifing that so many of the brothers care enough about our ritual to be interested in helping get us new equipment. Thanks! and to everyone else, even if we can have it made, rather than buy it, it still will have a cost that has to be footed though perhaps it will be less that way.

Here is a note from Cory Medina, and he just happened to slip through the cracks somehow, sorry Cory. Make plans off now so you will be able to make it in 2008, or call in sick!!! (Kidding there, sort of :-) )

"Thanks for keeping me updated with all of the EY happenings. I wasnt able to make homecoming this year -- well i havent made one yet -- becuase of the ol' job, but i'll be visiting sometime in December, im sure. It's great to hear the chapter is doing so well -- 55 guys is f-ing awesome! looking forward to your next update.cory medina '04"

Here are the names that I get kicked back to me, and I'm sure that some of them can be found by you guys. Please help out if you can.

Jason Jianella (seems like I lose him from time to time), Michael Conaty, John McMenamin,Tom Tintera, Ron Rees (he lives in Marietta), Ken Kavula, Rich Hruska, Alan Head, Rich Miller, Ric Gough (Bruce Miller these 2 you should be able to help me with!), Mike Lowe (he lives at 707 Quarry Street, in Marietta, help me undergrads!), Charles Howell, Lance Zant, Mark (Pele) Russell, and Steve Critchlow (if we can find him, I suspect we will be able to find Andy James!).

That's the list. There are still many brothers that I don't have and I want to find them in time to get them back for our 40th anniversary. Oops, I just remembered I got an address at homecoming and I haven't put it in yet. Slap my hand. Sorry to Trent Elliott, I will correct it now! Hops, be sure to include him in your list. ( it is: Telliott@miecorp.com) Thanks.

Have a good week (I'll leave you alone for a while now) and a Happy Halloween. Rick Neel '73

Rick Neel: DTD at MC #25

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Hello everyone,

Hope that you all remembered to change the time on your clocks.

Seems interesting to me that I have been writing these things for a year now. Should I continue to count them up one at a time, or go to Volume 2? Who really cares? I suspect no one. But I find it interesting when I think of how far we have come. Well over 100 names on our list, a blog spot, we have seen the chapter web site rebuilt and improved and an excellent alumni newsletter being put online by the undergrads (not quite as often as hoped, but more often than in the past. It's a start!). Pretty impressive.

As I said I will do, I have sent all of the email addresses I have to Hops. He has said that he is working on them and will get them to me as soon as he can. As soon as that happens, I'll send them to you.

I've had some responses to my plea for funding for new ritual equipment, and I'll post them for you. I thought that Greg Manko's point was very well taken and I forwarded his message to Hartsy and Craig (the chapter president). I haven't gotten a response from Craig yet, when I do you will get it.

Here is Gregs message:
"Thanks so much for keeping this e-newsletter going! For my first contribution, since I've had a little bit of experience with fundraising and a lot with marketing, I have an idea for the donation campaign for new ritual equipment.

Since people generally like to buy things, it might be helpful to list the costs of various items and then allow people to "purchase" them for the chapter. From what I recall, the equipment is made up of many different parts, both small and large, from inexpensive to more costly. This also could be a great way to give donors a more direct sense of "ownership".

Let me know what you think!

Greg"

I think that it is a good idea to let you guys know what the prices are, though Greg followed up with a message that pointed out that we may not be able to do that since our ritual is secret. I'll let you know what the final decision is on this issue.

I also got a message from Fergie suggesting that any donations be sent to him. Due to the times that there is no one at the chapter. Here is his message:

"They can send the checks for Crescent Colony to me because sometimesthere is nobody at the house for extended periods of time. Thanksgivingbreak and Christmas break, Spring break, and summertime. My address is Bob Ferguson, 507 Wooster St. Marietta,Oh 45750. I just thoght this might help out. Thanks for all you do. Fergie"

That's all I have concernig our fund raising effort. As I said, I'll keep you updated as to our progress.

If you haven't checked out our Blog, Hartsy has posted a note. Kind of a introductory one. But he will be posting from time to time.

One piece of down news, as a result of adding all of the new names, I have had a lot of returned mail, so I will be deleting addresses in the next few posts, I'll let you know who's addresses are bad, and hopefully you will be able to help.

A special "thank you" to David Martin for updating his address for me. And while I was looking for him, I found a site featuring him and his band. David is a member of Vinnie and the Lubricators, a Marietta based band that plays throughout the area. The site I found (I googled his name) had a few songs that they do. They sounded pretty good. Those of you in the area, if you need a band might consider his.

Once again, please forward this to the brothers you are in contact with, and if they don't object, send the addresses to me. I haven't heard from anyone with names from the MC email address list. Hope you haven't forgotten to look. Thanks!

Have a good week. Rick Neel '73

This will be the place

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Greetings, Brothers.

Since Rick has built up our e-mail list and Shawn has brought us to this blog, I thought I should use it, so now I'm hooked up to post messages here.

Right now, I don't have much to report. Rick has done that already. (Thanks)

As things come up, I'll be back to make announcements, ask for help, or just to chat. If anyone has comments or concerns, I want to hear them. Post them here or get in touch with me directly if you do not want a public forum.

The future of the Delts at Marietta wil be brighter if we all work together.

Regards, Hartsy

Jon Hartshorn, '89
President, House Corporation

Rick Neel: DTD at MC - Homecoming 2006 Part 2

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Hello again,

Well to finish off what was a great weekend here is the final installment. First of all, I have to admit being a bit ticked off. I have already done this and mailed it once today. Only to get an error message that I can't send it to more than 159 people...that's pretty good, I'm over 159 addresses now. What happened is that I went to the EY web site and copied the addresses there, what ever ones I didn't have I added. Several of them were underclassmen, but hey, they are alumni of the future, so they deserve to be here. I hope that I got some alums that I have been missing as well. So to all of you - Welcome!

Along that same line, I got a new address a short while ago, for Kevin Oliphant. The notes that I send to him keep getting kicked back because he isn't accepting them. Would somebody that is in touch with him contact him and ask him to allow the messages. Thanks! Also, please, everyone, pass this on to any Delt that you are in contact with. Ask them to get in touch with me so I can add them to my mailing list. As we get closer to the 40th, we want everyone to be kept in the loop.

On the subject of mailing lists, and address books, I sent all of the names that I have to Adam Hopkins, the web master of the chapter. I asked him to put the list together in a way that I could give it to all of you as a link. That way you can print it out and have it for a reference when needed. As soon as he gets it done, I will send it out to you. I also asked him to go to our Blog and make it more "Delt" like. I know that he is pretty busy, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. Thanks for your efforts Hops, we all appreciate it.

Our Blog has had a short note from Hartsy, who posted it as a comment to my last post. Shawn Selby is going to set it up so that he can post himself, as soon as he can. But as everyone is, Shawn is keeping pretty busy. So until that happens, I'll post the notes for you Hartsy!

In my last post, I asked you all to consider a donation to the chapter for new ritual equipment. It occurs to me that I should perhaps be a bit more specific. So here are the specifics: Make the check payable to: Crescent Colony of Marietta, Inc. The chapter address is: 219 4th Street, Marietta, Ohio 45750. Note on the check that it is for the ritual fund. Thank you very much for your consideration. I'm sure that the chapter will keep me informed as to our progress, and I will keep you informed as well.

Due to the state of disrepair of our Chapter House and the financial commitments of the college, it is our desire to have some dialogue with the college as to our desires for housing for our future. We are interested in housing that more resembles a house than a dorm. Therefore we are looking for an alum who has experience in architecture, or is related to someone with that kind of a background. If you are that person, or know that person, please get in touch with me so I can put you in contact with Hartsy. Thanks!

Now on to the homecoming weekend. Unfortunately, MC was defeated by John Carroll during the football game. Our women's soccer team did win but the men lost, so the weekend had some success. But in the IMPORTANT football game of the weekend, the Alumni defeated the Undergraduates by a score of 5 - 2, reversing a trend of the last few years. Congratulations Alums!

One last time, please pass this on to any alums that you are in contact with.

That's all I have this time. Have a good week. Rick Neel '73

Jon Hartshorn -House Corp President


As Rick mentioned, the stage is being set for 2008. Our 40th year as a chapter will be celebrated shortly after the Fraternity celebrates 150!There will be some big things coming for us in the near future. Come back to MC and share in our future successes!
11:13 AM

Rick Neel: DTD at MC - Homecoming 2006

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Jack Decker and Brian Stone and another brother who's email address I got, but no name (jrhoozz@hotmail.com) sorry about that, help me out here, please.

As promised, here I am with what happened over the recent homecoming weekend. I had a great time and got a thrill. During the House Corp meeting, we made some decisions about our 40th anniversary. There were some committees formed and undoubtedly you will all hear from them as we go forward.

The thrill I got was getting to give the charge to the new initiates during the activation ceremony. As Shawn Selby said in the spring, it was really awesome. I hope that the rest of you get the opportunity sometime. We activated 3 men during the weekend.

The chapter has taken 17 pledges this fall and is now 55 men strong. I believe that is as big as we have ever been. And they all seem to be quality men, while I was talking to the upperclassmen, they all told me that should it be necessary, they would feel comfortable with the freshmen leading the chapter. Fortunately, that isn't going to be necessary, but it sure is nice to have that feeling.

During the House Corp meeting, it was decided that the President of the House Corp should have access to our Blog (http://mcdeltalumni.blogspot.com/), so check it from time to time for any announcements that Hartsy might have.

We also decided that we would hold our 40th anniversary during the homecoming weekend in 2008. The undergrads are trying to find out if that date has been set yet, I will post it as soon as I find it out. We need help here from you guys, please send me any email address that you have for EY Delts. If you aren't sure if I have it or not, that's OK, if I do, I will discard it, if not it will sure help getting the word out.

One other thing I would like for each of you to do, is go to the Marietta College web site (http://www.marietta.edu/) and look at the alumni email addresses. Check out the few years around your graduation year. If you should see any Delts listed, send me the name. I can go look the address up. That is how I found Jack Decker. It may feel like 2008 is a long way away, but it will be here before you know it, and I would like to contact everybody.

The undergrads tell me that they can get us discounts on hotel rooms in Marietta, but they need to know how many are coming. They also need to know how many are going to attend so they know how big of a hall to reserve for us. A lot of them are booked over a year in advance, so please email me and give me some idea if you are going to be there, how many will be attending and if you will need a room or not.

We need some volenteers from all the year groups, to contact brothers from your era and encourage them to come. This means phone calls and/or other personal contact, let me know if you are willing. How about you Joe Mester?

The undergrads haven't asked us for money for quite awhile now, but during the ritual meeting we discussed the need for new ritual equipment, and decided to ask the Alums to help with the cost. So I'm asking you to consider giving so the chapter can replace the equipment, it is the original set so that makes it 38 years old. Time to be replaced I think, and it would be nice to have new equipment for our 40th! Please consider a gift to House Corp for this purpose, thank you.

One last thing, 2008 is a big year for DTD, it is the 150th anniversary of the Fraternity and Karnea will be in Pittsburg and a trip will be made to Bethany, and the original home of the Fraternity (the remodeling is going on right now on the original house).

I have more, but have to go to work. I'll finish when I get a little more time. Have a good week!

Rick Neel '73

Rick Neel: DTD at MC #24

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Hi Guys,

Just a short quick note today, as I begin my packing for my trip back home for the weekend festivities (and the weather report calls for cold, rainy weather. Highs are supposed to be in the 50's most of the time. That is cold for this transplanted southern boy! Ah well, thank goodness for inside places (like the Town House!)

I got a note from Joe Matheny, who had a request for help. I forwarded it on to the undergrads, but any alumni in the Marietta area might be interested as well. Here is his note.

Rick and all brothers,

My wife and I have had a rather worrisome summer and continues into this fall season, Our son is serving the US Army 4th Infantry as a 2nd Lt. in Bagdad, Iraq.

He is due to return to the states early Dec. He graduated from University of Cincinnati 2005. We have joined with the VFW #5108 to bring the Ohio Flags of Honor to Marietta the weekend of Nov 3rd, 4th & 5th. The opening ceremony will be at 5:30pm Friday the 3rd. We could use many more people to carry and Post the flags during the roll call of fallen soldiers from Ohio.

This will be an memorial serivce and tribute to the men and women that have lost their lives since 2003 in Iraq and Afghanitsan. This would be a great service to the community if Marietta College could be represented by Delts.

You can easily reach my wife at her work place O'Neill Senior Center 373-3914 if this is something anyone would be interested in doing. Thanks. I am currently the VP of Ohio High School Golf Coaches Assoc. and am working the state golf tournament Thurs, Fri & Sat in Columbus, Ohio as a rules judge, so will not be able to be around the house on Sat.

Best of Luck for a great Homecoming weekend full of events.

Joe Matheny '75


It was really nice to hear from Joe, I've been trying to touch base with him during my trips for the last couple of years and have just missed on several occasions. Hope to catch up with him soon though.

Next is something that is bad news for the Greek movement at MC. I got this from the Marietta Times today, so I'll attach a link for you. It seems that the DU's have been indefinately suspended from the campus and will have to vacate thier house. They have been accused of having an alcohol rush party (off campus) and allegedly hazing pledges. There is a fear on some DU's that they may lose thier charter. While I know that the Delts don't haze, and never have, this gives the fraternity world another black eye. And hopefully will serve as a reminder to all groups to be careful in what you do. Here is the link:
http://mariettatimes.com/news/story/new32_1010200684105.asp
Sure is bad timing for them with Homecoming right around the corner.

To close this email, and finish getting ready. I have to say that I have to remove a few of names from my mailing list, due to consistently getting them returned as undeliverable. If any of you have correct addresses for these brothers, please forward this to them and send me the updated address. Thanks!

John McMenamin, Michael Contay, Matt Joy (and he only lives across the river!!!), and Jason Jianella.

Have to go, hope all of you have a good week.
Rick Neel '73

Rick Neel: DTD at MC #23

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Hello everyone,

Here we are with just a week to go until Homecoming. I will be getting on a plane on Thursday morning and hitting Marietta on Thursday night. Should hit campus on Friday sometime, hope to see a bunch of you.

I was very pleased with the result of our last email. We must have had 6 or 7 responses to it. Very nice. I wish that there had been more saying that the brother was going to be there, but what the heck! It shows that guys are reading and communicating with each other, and I think that is GREAT!!! Keep it up.

The poll that I presented last time about continuing the emails or just posting on the Blog site has been overwhelming in support of the email. So be it! I will continue to do it this way and then post on the Blog site. Please, if you come in contact with any Delts that haven't been getting this, ask them to contact me and direct them to the Blog. Thanks.

Speaking of contacting me, I have a couple of corrected email addresses: Chris Kurtz cqkurtz@gmail.com and David Frick frickent@columbus.rr.com. Thanks for updating with me guys. Have you corrected with the EU website?

Let's see what is happening this week. Goose Kitson is the chapter candidate for Homecoming King, EU has won the last 3 years, so Goose is going for #4. Good luck Goose!

In the most recent issue of the Rainbow, on the inside back cover, there is a picture and short article on Fergie. He received the Alfred P. Sheriff III Award for being an Outstanding Chapter Advisor. I wrote Fergie and wished him my congratulations, to which he responded that his friends have told him that they were going to use the picture to keep varmits out of the basement. So I suspect that is an acceptable use! Seriously, from all of us, Ferg. Thanks! You have been a guiding light for a whole lot of Marietta Delts, and we all appreciate it. Keep up the good work.

Also, in the same issue of the Rainbow, Jeffrey Houston was initiated into the Order of Omega. Congratulations Jeff! I asked Fergie what that was, and found that several of our brothers have been initiated. Here is what he told me: " Order of the Omega is a greek honorary for people that maintain a certain point average and are very active in the Greek world. We have had probably 15 or so initiated into it. Also, alumni can get into it. I was tapped at Marietta College. If it existed in Cincy, I was not aware of it. "

Fergie also gave me this information about rush, and it sounds like the guys have done a good job.

"By the way,we now have 15 pledges. One is from Marietta and used to hang around my house last year. My son who goes to UC always had a bunch of guys visiting and just having fun hanging out. They seem like a really goodbunch again. For the second semester, I think we may get 4 or more. Other chapters are not doing the job and are having problems."

That is all that I have this time, when I get home I'll let you all know what you missed. I'll take some pictures if I remember my camera and then let someone post a link to them. To those of you that are planning on going to Marietta, look me up, I'd like to meet you.

Have a good week. Rick Neel '73