DTD at MC #40

Good evening everybody,

Well here we are, No. 40!

Who would have believed when I started this thing that we would reach 40 of them? I don't think that I did. To think that the primary purpose for doing this was (and still is!) to try to get as many of us back to Marietta as possible for the Chapter’s 40th anniversary. For those of you that have been living in a cave for the past 18 months, it will be in October 2008. Make plans now to get some vacation time then. As soon as Marietta College sets the date (this summer after the Ohio Athletic Conference meeting), Matt Dole will let us know.

For now, the upcoming dates of interest are our Golf Outing, April 28th. By the way, does anyone know the cost yet? It is generally around $50. If you don't play golf, come anyway. Rumor has it that we will be building new ritual equipment that weekend. I have the following message from Fergie about that subject:

We have $360 in our ritual fund. Let me get out of tax season and I will give you a breakdown of all our monies.
Take care,
Fergie

As you can tell, I bugged him during the busiest time of the year for him. I don't dare do it again, but as you see, he will be giving us a financial breakdown in a while. Here is the first message I got from him on this subject:

Ashley (Wollam) is working on this and they are going pricing and completing their list. We have a formal Chapter meeting this week and I will grab Ashley since he is the Guide and get some answers and look closely at the equipment. Also, I received $100 for ritual equipment and $100 for House Corp. general needs.

Hopefully this means that we will get some further information soon. I would like to point out that Fergie got a donation for general House Corp. needs. We can never forget that part of the equation either. I know that I said that I wouldn't talk about this subject until we got some news about what was needed. Well, I lied. Sorry about that. Please consider a donation to our Ritual Equipment fund (and/or the general fund of House Corp.). Send the check, payable to Crescent Colony of Marietta Inc. to Bob Ferguson, 507 Wooster St., Marietta, Ohio 45750. Please note on your check what it is for. Thank you.

My last email got 10 responses. The most ever. I was thrilled. And now you get to see what Brothers sent in to be shared. It was mostly addresses, either new ones or corrections. Keep them coming. Hops and I love it when we can update our email lists. But we got one letter about what is happening in a Brother’s life. So here goes. Enjoy them, and feel free to send in some news as far as what is happening in your life. If you like reading about your Brothers, then it just follows that they will enjoy reading about you.

Scott Heckman sent this address to me:

Rick,
I think that the e-mail for Ben Weaver is [removed for privacy]. I haven't spoken to him in a while but this is the last address I used. Hope this helps.
Scott Heckman '96

Chris Goebel sent this address:

Rick,
I will not be at the golf outing this year but I wanted to pass on Drew Kern's ('87) email: [removed for privacy reasons].

The man is useless and can not help himself!

Thanks again for all the updates. It really makes a difference!!!!
See ya,
Chris

Thanks for the Atta Boy, Chris. I'm also sorry that you won't be able to make the golf outing. I was really looking forward to whipping your behind! (Not likely, as anyone who has seen me play will attest to.

I got the following addresses from Hunter Jonsson, who has a new address himself (which he didn't send me): Seth Pitasky, Seth Wolfson, Josh Harris, William Warner and Dean Didato [all removed for privacy reasons]

Some of those may be bad addresses, so don't be surprised if they come back to you. Hunter's new address is: [removed for privacy reasons].

Hops sent these addresses: Drew Kern and Mike McLaughlin [removed for privacy reasons].

Casey Trail sent the following letter (and two addresses). It is really nice that one of ours can return the favor that other Chapter’s have done for us. Keep up the good work, Casey. Oh, by the way, congrats on the MS!

Rick,
First off: you're the man. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but there's no way that you hear it enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you for keeping this email list and the blog going. I can tell you that this was something we were really missing when I was an undergrad and I am so glad that we have this thing running now that I'm an alumnus.

I guess I can take this opportunity to let you know what I'm up to. I graduated class of 2005 and am now in my last semester getting my MS in mathematics at Miami University.

While I've been at Miami I have been helping with the recolonization of the Miami Chapter of Delta Tau Delta. I've been their recruitment adviser since they started back up (Fall 2005) and a few weeks ago they got word that their petition to be a full Chapter has been accepted by the Central Office. VERY EXCITING!

So that's a little update on a Delt from Marietta and the Delts at Miami. Also, I got Seth Wolfson's and Josh Harris’ email [removed for privacy reasons].
Take care Rick, and thanks again,
Casey

Kurt Kleefeld sent me this letter, thanks Kurt. Note that it was 10 years ago that the wiring was redone. Wow. In answer to your question about Ritual, yes there is generally a formal meeting, or something during homecoming. So please come share that with the undergrads, they REALLY do enjoy it when an alumnus shows up for a meeting.

Rick,
I think this newsletter is just fantastic. I have unfortunately lost touch with every brother from 93-97, my undergrad time. And I have also unfortunately not thought about DTD much since then either. But those were some of the best and most educational times in my life. I'll be back to homecoming this October, and look forward to stirring up some memories, but curious, the Shelter looks excellent the new paint job makes her look great. Is there a Ritual during Homecoming? I would love to experience one again. It's great to see the EU chapter active and prospering, like that GPA, I was in the house as Academics for two years and we stood at a solid 3.2 for both years, so it's nice to hear.

I wonder if we could compile a list of successes among the years, for instance
Homecoming float winners, Greek Week places, and service projects. I bet just through this email tool we would be able to compile something quite formidable.

I'll send a check to Fergie for Ritual stuff because I remember sitting down with Dean Kilton (‘96) one Sunday afternoon and completely re-wiring those guys, and that was 10 years ago.

Thanks again for putting this together, it's a treat to receive.
Kurt "Chi-Chi" Kleefeld (97)

Rich Miller sent the following update. Sounds as if things are starting to look up for him. Good health and a new son-in-law to do all the work! Great news Rich. I'm not sure about the "responsible adult" stuff though. Eric Dunsker is the Little Brother that he is referring to:

While he was lost (for a while), I'm glad he is found. Happy to see my Little Brother's name at the top of the e-mail list of No. 39 (sorry, if he was there before I didn't see it. Knowing him then, I wasn't sure he was still alive). Help for Ritual equipment on the way, aside from the Brotherhood, the most meaningful part of being the Delt experience for me

FYI: After spending a most shitty last year that included both radiation and a nephrectomy, I am happy to report that I will be a Grandpa again in the fall (thanks to my eldest and the earnest efforts of a great son-in-law) and that one of my twins will be giving me a new Pittsburgh-born son-in-law in June.

Thanks Rick for all you have doing. Nice to see you've become a responsible adult!
Rich Miller

Drew Kern (one of our new contacts) sent this note. Drew and everyone else, please make note of the password to access the address book at the site. It is: [you guess it, removed for privacy reasons]. Please make use of it to get back in touch with those Brothers that you have lost contact with. And if you have any addresses that we are missing, let us know. Thanks!

Rick,
Talked to Fergie last night and Chris had sent this to me on Friday … please add me to your distribution. The site looks awesome!!!
Drew Kern ’87

Paul Giannotti posted an article in the Marietta College Trailblazer (I will post that, and several others by Delts next time — getting to long this post). As a result I got his address and sent him a note, here is his response.

Rick:
You got me! thanks for the efforts on the directory. I did visit the Web site the other day after the e-blast.

Best of luck on the plans for the 40th. Homecoming is not a good time for me to get away from work, but maybe something will work out. We'll see.
Thanks,
Paul

Bob Kavula sent me the following email with a problem. Hops gave the answer about the same time, so I'll post the two together. As far as the address book goes, it is at the Delt Web site: http://www.marietta.edu/~delts/ in the Alumni section, on the right side of the page. You'll see the gold “@” sign with the Delt email list. Click there. I gave the password earlier in this email.

Rick,

I went to the Web site indicated below. I tried to fill in my information and got "Request sent. Cannot open db file for save." Also, I don't see an address book anywhere on the site. If it's there it's not popping out.

Hops explanation of this problem is:

Hey Rick,

I've been meaning to email you about the redesign and to point out the database (but you already did, which I appreciate). The reason I had not emailed you yet was that the database does not currently work. I realize I should have contacted you earlier about this to let you know and for this I apologize.

The gist of it not working is as follows. In order for the form to work I need to get permission from the IT at Marietta, which I did. However, the permission somehow was overridden (I still don't know how this happened). Anyways, I have already sent two emails asking IT to fix it, but still they have not. I hope that it will be completely functioning by tomorrow.

Nevertheless, since it does not function properly, I ask that in your next email you could ask anyone who has already filled the form out to fill it out again. I am sorry for this hassle and that people will need to fill the form out for a second time in such a short period. I will email you once I find out that the form is working properly.

Again, I am sorry for the trouble and not filling you in about this problem.
Hops

So you see, it has been taken care of. The downside of it is that those of you who entered data in the first day or so, didn't get accepted. Please go back and do it again. The database is working now.

Alex Kalkhfer sent me the following note, if you are the person that he is talking about, please let him (or me) know, it would be nice to have new signage out front for our 40th.

Hey Rick,
I have been appointed the new House and Grounds Chair, surprise! Anyway I repainted the letters last fall and have felt semi-satisfied with the looks of them. However, if you know of any alumnus who is good with wood (I know for a fact there are a few, looking at some of these pledge paddles) let me know or let them know. I think it is about time to move away from these plywood letters in front of the shelter to some thing a lot nicer looking (no offense to the fellows who made them) it is time for an upgrade!
Thanks Rick!

Eric Dunsker sent me the following email and I saved it for last for a couple of reasons. Number one, Shawn Selby will be working on updating the official history of the Chapter from the one that he did for our 30th. So all of you history buffs send him the information that you have. He is also interested in doing something that is a bit less official but maybe more fun. Like the story that Eric posts below. If you know any stories that should be included, let Shawn know. Like the time my brother (and Delt legacy) jumped over the side of the Washington Street bridge, in the middlle of the winter to keep from getting hit with a water balloon. Or Joe Vogel going to the emergency room because he had torn up his knee while "High Stepping" around campus. Or Randy "Awk" Williams famous (or infamous) study table lectures. I'm sure that there are many stories out there that need to be share d.

Rick,
Great to see you're still working with good (getting to be) old EU.

Question: In terms of activities for the anniversary, will there be any facility to collect stories about significant events and shenanigans that occurred over the years. I'm thinking of things like the College Bowl we pulled off with no official sanction from the administration, or running "Ed Holmes" (a guy who didn't exist) for student body president and almost winning (41% of the vote in a four day campaign).

One other request. At the anniversary you get to call me "Hebe" once to get it our of your system ... But just once, OK?

The most important reason that I waited to post this is so that I could apologize to Eric and everyone else that might be affected. I was dead wrong to refer to Eric as "Hebe." I didn't mean anything offensive when I wrote it, but that is no excuse. I'm sorry, Eric. I pray that I never make that mistake again.

That's all I have this week, I'm going to take a week off on asking for help with missing Brothers. You guys did a GREAT job last week. Have a good week.

Rick Neel '73