DTD at MC #56.5

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Here is the story that Rick Dunsker wrote for our 40th booklet. I hope that you enjoy it.

Delta Tau Delta - Epsilon Upsilon
Mid- 1970's


I'd like to thank Dave Broome for his note encouraging us to send in stories about our experiences as Delts at Marietta. I had talked to Rick about this exact thing a number of months ago, but never got my butt in gear to do my part. So Dave (and the Classes of '75 - '79), this is for you.

What made the Delts such a fantastic group to be a part of in those years was that we did everything our own way, which usually put us at odds with the conventions about Greeks of that time. We were by far the newest house on campus, yet we
retired the scholarship cup more than any other house. We were the smallest house on campus, yet the most ethnically diverse (before "diversity" became a buzzword). Our chapter was full of guys who, in their freshman years, swore they would never join a fraternity. Put politely, most other Greeks weren't quite sure we "belonged", and we loved it that way.

Case in point: Our '76 yearbook picture. While all the other houses that year had their pictures taken in or around their houses, we had ours taken... somewhere more interesting (see attached). What a bunch of miscreants.

In this spirit, I offer the following two stories.

The "Greek" Scholarship Bowl

In the Spring of '75 we'd been named a Top 20 Chapter. The following Fall we considered what we our next steps might be. Someone mentioned starting a regional DTD competition like the annual basketball tournament held by the Ohio State (or was it the OU?) Chapter. We wanted it to be something "different", but that would be supported by the administration.

Eventually we settled on a quiz bowl. We wouldn't need to book a heavily used facility like Ban Johnson and our chapter would actually have a shot at being competitive. We knew this would be a huge undertaking and were afraid to just go for it without any practice. We needed a dry run, but with whom? The answer was
obvious.... the Greeks of Marietta. Given our rep at the time, though, our odds of getting more than a few houses to cooperate were nil. If we were going to get our dry run, we were going to have to do it under different auspices.

Luckily alternatives were available. A number of us, including Matt Sutko, Bob Peterson, and I were members of honoraria and Trustee committees, giving us unusual access to faculty and staff who would be crucial to getting rooms and resources. (Ya, we were a regular house full of big shots!) We posed the idea to these contacts, they instantly loved it.

There had been a Quiz bowl on campus 10 years earlier. In fact the Communications Department still had the old buzzers in a closet in case the idea ever made a comeback. They were glad to help. Now how do we get the rest of the Greeks to join in? In the first planning meeting we came upon an idea: What if there was no official
administrative sponsor? What if we somehow got the Greeks to sponsor the bowl themselves?

One of the great things about Marietta College was (and still is) the degree of access students get to faculty and staff. There are very few people whom one couldn't just walk in on if you had an issue or concern. One of the exceptions was the Dean of the College. Few students had ever seen the guy much less talked with him. A few days after our first meeting, the Presidents of each house received a letter from Dean
Bosch, on his stationary, congratulating the Fraternity and Sorority Councils on their idea to hold a Greek Scholarship Bowl. Of course, none of them knew anything about it, and luckily, none thought to ask the administration for fear of appearing out of the loop. The trap was set.

While other Delts worked on logistics with our faculty supporters, Matt Sutko and I took on the task of recruitment. A week after the Dean's note was sent, we visited
all the houses asking their presidents if they had discussed participation with their members yet. After varying degrees of upset and frantic "What's this all about?", folks who normally wouldn't have given Matt or I the time of day, anxiously agreed to do whatever we wanted of them. No one asked who started this "College Bowl" thing or why the only students involved were Delts.

Long story short, both Greek Councils agreed to "sponsor" the event. Every house helped gather prizes from local merchants and fielded a team. The questioning and judging were completely handled by faculty members, and the contest, literally, came down to the last question (I'm not exaggerating). But what made the event Hollywood-perfect was, you guessed it, the Delt team won!

As I understand it, the Greek Councils took control of the College Bowl and held it for a few years after that, but Epsilon Upsilon never did hold a regional Delt event. Oh,
well....


Ed Holmes for President

It was the Spring of '76, and student council elections were only days away. By the
mid-70s the student activism you younger brothers may have heard about was long
over. The U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam had ended, disco music was on the rise, and no one gave a rat's petute about "getting involved" in student government, or any other serious distraction from book and beer.

The part that matters: Only one guy (not person... guy) was running for Student Body President. He was backed by the TEPs and a few other houses, and we Delts didn't particularly like him. So as a number of us partook(?) that evening in the newly completed attic common space (it was fun while it lasted), we complained at one another. "How can we let D.M. run unopposed?!? Someone's GOT to run against him!"

The only guys who were willing were myself and Bob Peterson, both seniors and
ineligible. The group of 6 or 7 of us regarded one another through squinty eyes, and applied our altered consciousnesses to the problem. The answer soon became clear. Well, actually one of us just blurted out a nutty idea for a laugh.

"Why don't we run someone who doesn't exist?"

The idea did get a good laugh, but the more devious of us saw the brilliance of the
proposal:

- D.M. would no longer run unopposed. He would be caught completely off guard and take days to figure out what was going on (Ashton Kutcher would have been proud, if he'd been born yet).
- We could have a great time stringing the campus along for a few days, making fun of an institution that never had a lot of relevance to most students anyway.
- Most importantly, no one had to give speeches, answer questions about his platform, and be humiliated when he lost, or worse yet, have to serve as President if by some chance he actually won.

Perfect!

So who is this mystery guy, what's his name? He had to sound like a good, old Ohio boy... someone with integrity who you could trust... just the sort of straight arrow you'd expect to run for student body president on sheer principles. We settled on "Ed Holmes".

Now for the hard part: Marietta is a tiny school. Why are the only people who know this guy in the Delt house, and why are we helping him? Like Occam's Razor, the simplest answer was the best (and the most believable). Ed had just transferred from Denison University, in central Ohio. He was a Delt there and very active in
student government (BTW: There was no Delt chapter at Denison). When he heard that D.M. was running unopposed he said he would give it a shot even though he knew the chances were slim. No one had seen him before because he was living with his aunt and uncle out on Greene Street just past the inte rstate. How could this not be the truth?

Ed needed someone to speak for him during his frequent absences from campus. For that, once again, my little brother Matt Sutko stepped forward. A Poli-Sci major, and excellent debater, Matt had his schpiel/platform together almost before our party (oops, I mean planning session) broke up for the night.

This was Saturday night. The polls would open on Wednesday. We had a candidate, a cover story and a spokesman. It was time for the mighty Delt political machine to swing into action!

On Sunday Matt and crew created a huge banner announcing that Ed Holmes' write-in candidacy for president with Matt as his running mate for V.P. They hung it across the front of Andrews Hall. I'm not sure who they bribed to pull this off, but
it remained there until election day.

On Monday the campaign started in earnest. There was only one hole in our plans that could sink Ed's legitimacy, the student files in the Admin. building. Luckily, another fine brother, Shea McGrew, had some pull with a relevant administrator... his mother, Louise, worked in the Records Department.

That morning Matt and I let her in on the gag. Once she understood that D.M. would win regardless, she put Ed Holmes' name on a manila folder and placed it in the appropriate file drawer. If over the next few days anyone came to inquire whether Ed was a student at the college, she agreed to look in the drawer and respond "Yes, I have a file for him." We Delts could also tell those who challenged us, "If you don't believe me just check the Records Office." We were ready to face the
voting public.

That evening we learned that many other students were unhappy with D.M.'s "inevitability factor". Delta Tau Delta was an exception to numerous rules in those days. One of them was that 507 Putnam didn't house enough people to warrant food service. Those who lived in the house had a choice of cooking their own meals, or making other arrangements. Three of us, Dave Barker, Geoff Dean and I ate dinner at the Tri-Sigma sorority on Fifth Street.

That night, completely unplanned, Geoff and Dave sat at one end of the long dining table and I at opposite end. As the food was being served I casually asked, just loudly enough for the 20 women at the table to hear, "So Dave... you think Ed's
got a chance of winning?" Without missing a beat Dave responded, "I don't know, we don't have much time 'til the election." Of course, everyone wanted to know what we were talking about. When, with unbelievable sincerity, Geoff added, "Ed just doesn't think it's right for D.M. to run unopposed," one of the Tri-Sigs responded, "I don't care who he is, I'll vote for him." The race was on.

By Tuesday evening students still weren't certain whether Ed Holmes was a hoax, but just in case D.M. declared that if he didn't receive a majority of the votes he wouldn't take office. On Wednesday, the people spoke with their ballots, and luckily, he didn't have to keep that promise. D.M. won, but considering he was running against a phantom his majority was less than impressive. In a 3 1/2 day campaign, Ed Holmes got 41% of the votes, on write-ins. Hoo-hooooo!

The incident so angered the student "powers that be" that even though it was one of
the events of the year, the only mention of it in the '76 Mariettana was in the Delta Tau Delta blurb (see attached). The campus was punked and the Greeks were pissed. Mission accomplished!

I encourage other brothers from the mid-70's classes to straighten out the errors in my stories and share their own concerning other memorable happenings.

I also want to give a huge THANK YOU to Rick Neel for all he's doing to pull us back
together. He was one of the first guys I met when first I wandered into 507 Putnam to check out the Delts. His unprovoked and irreverent insults towards a perfect stranger (think small-town Don Rickles) were among the things that convinced me the Delt were worth a second (and a third) look. You're doing a fantastic job!

Regards,
Rick Dunsker, Class of '76

(The Bicentennial Year!)

DTD at MC #56

Hi everyone,

This is going to be a fun email to write, the response to Ted Smith's memories has been tremendous and gotten several new stories. A couple of them were forwarded to about a third of you, so if you have seen some of this, bear with me. I have to explain here, due to the number of us that are now in the email registery I have to send these out in 3 sections. I have found that once a distribution gets to 100 a lot of spam filters will kick the message out. So I have stopped at 99 and begun another folder. I have 2 1/2 folders now. Pretty good I think for the way we are getting them.

At any rate, we are less than a year away from our 40th anniversary and things are beginning to snowball. I have had a couple of brothers volenteer to speak at our banquet. Greg Maloof and Ken Kavula are planning on sharing some experiences with us. Both of them are from our very early years, Greg - our 1st President and Ken graduated in 1969. We would like to have speakers from every generation if possible, so please don't be shy. Ken has said that he was going to set up a power point display, so the computer will be there if anyone else wants to go that way. We'd like to keep the comments in the 10 minute or so range, so we can get as many stories as possible in. If there are any Undergrads that would like to share an experience with us, that would be fine. We have also had several brothers say that they have pictures that they are going to dig out and share with us, and some Delt memorbelia (sp?). So if you have something, make plans to share.

I think that I will continue to share some of the stories that I've gotten since Ted's went over so well. I don't feel that it will distract from our booklet, and it may encourage others. But before I do that, let me share the general comments that I have gotten since the last time.

J.P. Clowes sent me the following note;


Rick,
Hope everyone is doing well. We were in the Marietta area during homecomming, but had to stay away from campus, as we were meeting some close friends who were in from North Carolina.

I'm glad you sent the stories from Ted. We work together and hearing him tell some of these stories is great. I'm glad he was able to share them with the rest of the group. The tradition of having a "wake" for an outgoing president was something that survived even into the 1990's, and was a lot of fun. I will have to try to write up some of my memories of how the tradition changed over the years.

My wife Nina is a prolific scrapbooker, and would love to help out Wiona. Please have her contact us and let us know what we can do to help. Also, Duane Stokes was a lost brother from one of your earlier lists, it sounds like Wiona is in contact with his wife? (I know they live here in Columbus, but I don't know where,
sorry.)

Anyway, Please count us in as needing a room for next year. I will be there come Hell or high water.

J.P. Clowes '93
Hear that Wiona? There is some help for you. I'm still not sure how we can work the logistics of this. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Also, since you are in touch with Duane Stokes' wife, could you get me the email address? I haven't been able to get it.

Rich Miller sent me the following. I don't know where he got the idea I as a big mouth though.


Hey Rick,

You were always a noisy SOB and you continue to be. Thank you! Keep blabbing.

What you have been doing for us is fantastic, especially in linking the generations of EU alumni who founded Crescent Colony, our generation of EU and the classes who
have come after us.

As to the thoughts and hopes sent forth by Brother Broome, what a perfect request, search and challenge? The response you have received from Brothers back to the founding of Crescent Colony to the present shows how he has hit the nerve to
release and share the memories and energies of our Chapter. I really look forward to meeting Brother Broome and more of my younger Brothers in October.

While reading of the demise of some early Delt hangouts, I, with you and possibly Joe Matheny, hope that we could educate our current generation of Delts to the skill of locating donuts at 2AM on a Sat. or Sun. morning. Kindly research this before my
arrival .

Thanks for all you do,
Rich Miller

Sorry to tell you this Rich, but Brownie's is gone. 2 floods and a fire were apparently more than he could take.

Lance Koved wrote to say that he has made his hotel reservations already. Great news Lance, I'm looking forward to seeing you also. I spoke to Matt Dole today and he is still working on the block of rooms for us. He promises to let me know soon. Hurry Matt, times a wastin!

Shawn Selby sent this note from Merry Old England:

Hi Rick.
Greetings from Manchester and greetings from the United Kingdom. I have been here two weeks now and it seems both like I have been here just for a couple of days and it also seems like it has been a lifetime.

I just wanted to pop you a note to let you know I made it here OK. I am still living in a hotel, but should be moving into a flat (apartment) as soon as tomorrow. I'll do a post on the Web site with pics in a couple of weeks, assuming our Brothers might be interested in my little life adventure. So far this is everything I expected and, despite being mentally prepared, far more overwhelming than I thought it would be.

The hardest thing has been adapting to the accents here. Manchester is a crossroads in the UK & Ireland, so almost every accent in the British Isles can be found here.
Depending on the person I'm speaking to, it ranges from me not being able to
understand him or her at all to not understanding every fifth or tenth word.

Also, I have experienced something I never thought I would experience: homesickness.

Anyway, I'm glad that there is movement among the alumni to carry on the writing project I had to reluctantly drop. Knowing my Brothers as I do, I know I'm forgiven for walking away from it, but I'm so proud that others are stepping forward. Reminds me of the flag and badge ceremony.

Anyway, as they say here in the Empire, "Cheers!"

Shawn
Duke of Manchester

P.S.: Someone needs to explain to me how Ollie has been allowed to
spawnSEVEN times!


Chuck Robinson wrote with the following;

Hey,
How are things going? Well I hope. If your still or are going to be in Marietta let me know. I'll be there sometime soon.

By the way you seem to have left out our little sister program in your addresses. I'm surprised that you forgot about them.....LOL

Chuck
I haven't forgotten Chuck, I just don't have the names or addresses, if any of you are still in contact with any of our Little Sisters, please let me know so I can include them. When I get moved back to Marietta, I'll get the names and begin to look for them. All help is appreciated.

Chuck also tells me that he is the Athletic Director for Athens High School and that he lives in Zanesville. We are supposed to meet and have dinner in January when he comes to Marietta to play the Tigers. I'm looking forward to that.

Here is an alumni story from Greg Hanson. Congratulations on quitting smoking, I did it in 2000 and am glad that I did. Hope that retirement goes well for you.

Nice to see the memories of our President of a turbulent times. Campus events included the largest hunger strike in the country in reaction to the "Invasion of Cambodia", several brothers participated. 10 days on crackers and water, yum.
Lots of fun memories as well. I cooked a Thanksgiving Turkey one year in the
old chapter house, forget how many it fed, but it was a good sized bird.
Quit smoking 26 years ago, now looking toward retirement as a clinical psychologist in CT, 30 years in the field, clinic, to private practice, to state
consultant.

Greg Hanson (72)
Rick Dunsker sent me a story for the 40th booklet, I think I will include in seprately for you all so I don't make this any longer than it already is.

Here is the list of lost brothers for this week: Joe Baker '67, Dr. Joseph Cohn '69, Franklin Hirsch '69, Doug Shaffer '71, Murray Talasnik '71, Gordon Turner '71, Peter Grob '72, James Meads '72, Mike Stein '72, Paul Craft '73, Scott Elger '74, Neal Mettler '74, Lance Zant '75, David Mogil '77, Greg McComas '77, Richard Hruska '77,Gregory Carriera '78, Peter Denio '78, Steve Dennis '78, and Alan Head '78. That is the 60's and 70's, can you help?

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

DTD at MC #55 1/2

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Hi again,
I just had a change of heart. I have decided that it is important to let you all see what Ted Smith wrote for our 40th anniversary booklet. Perhaps it will spark a memory from you and get a note for the booklet.

On a personal note, thanks for the compliment Ted. I don't know how much help I've been to the chapter, but like so many others, I try.

Here are the notes from Ted's memories. I hope you enjoy them.

Thoughts from my memory…

“Johnny’s”:

In 1967, when I was a freshman, I resided (with future-brother Sherm Koons ’71) in the now-defunct PUTNAM Hall, which was at the corner of Putnam & Seventh. Across the street was a dumpy little restaurant named “Johnny’s”. I ate there only
because, as many had told me, THEY will cash your checks. It was a dark, cramped, smokey, dismal place and thinking back, I’m pretty surpised I would have ever eaten anything served in that joint. As I remember, the burgers were good! (Who knows what was in them) I remember as you walked in the door there was a pinball machine off to the right and I spent time some great times with other brothers “flipping the solid metal balls”. I think Johnny’s was ripped down after my first year at MC.

“Burning of The College Bookstore”:

I remember the burning of the college bookstore which used to be directly across from the house @ 507. This was probably the spring of ’69 and it happened at about 4am. After the sirens woke us up, I remember sitting on the front stairs with Ron Rees & Greg Hanson smoking Marlboro reds---(that’s the only Marlboro that existed then) watching the fire, half-awake mumbling phrases of the times like “wow, man…check the flames”.

This was a VietNam War protest. I believe instigated by Dana Hibbard (a female college student ’70???) who, I believe, had founding ties to the college. She and her group took American flags off buildings in downtown soaked them with gas and set the old bookstore on fire. (The old wooden building was going to be torn down, but this fire certainly completed the process). I don’t remember the charges against the parties, but this was one of the many war protests that happened on campuses during VietNam---yes, even at MC. Look closely at composites of the 68-71 years and notice, the headbands, peace buttons, etc….real reflections of what was happening at the time.

"Fifth Street”:

You used to be able to drive right from the house @507 to The Fine Arts Center via Fifth Street…a regular street like any other in Marietta. I remember driving that route in my ’51 Ford while wasted on cheap wine, only to pull up to Fayerweather Hall to pick up a date…only to spill my guts in the parking lot and pass out. She was notified and I think that’s how I made it into her room for the rest of the evening. (NO CO-ED DORMS BACK THEN). The road that was once Fifth Street is now the gorgeous MC campus mallway.

“Cat’s Head”:

I don’t remember the year, but after we had nationalized, some of us had a great idea…let’s freak out the “worst” sorority Alpha Gamma Delta (long gone from campus). I am almost positive this was spearheaded by Joe Doniger ’71…I think he had “ins” at the Bio lab. He went down and got a formaldehyde jar with a cat’s head…with mouth wide open. A group of us got it to our house boxed it, and wrapped it with beautiful paper and ribbons. I think there was a note attached to “The Alpha Gams with love!…please open ASAP”. We set the box on the doorstep, rang their bell and hid in bushes nearby…later you should have heard the screams. We took off.

“507 Putnam Street Sun-Deck”:

They were countless times when we climbed up thru the narrow passage in the attic to get to top sun-deck. What a great place for drinking, and drooling over the Chi Omegas in their 2-piece outfits sun-bathing on their deck. Always a great time!

“The Ted Smith Memorial Mortuary Masquerade”:

All the brothers knew that during the summers I worked for the largest funeral home in Columbus (with thoughts of becoming a mortician). We always needed different concepts for parties…and one time a party theme was lacking and I said hey how about The Ted Smith Memorial Mortuary Masquerade. Obviously this would take some work, but what fun when we pulled it off. I was laid out on the large work table…in the front room @ 507 all overdone with makeup…and just “floured big time”…I was more than ashen. On the walls were pictures of me with black banners & wilted flowers and funerial music playing in the background. My pledge
brother, Steve Fox, was in the front row of seats…just in front of my head and
weeped incessantly until all came to “pay their respects”. Rabbi Joe Doniger
wrote and delivered the fabulous eulogy wh ich included something about each and
every brother. At the conclusion of his “powerfully touching message”…some
brothers slid me head first into a garbage can (at the head of the table) which
had painted on the side in dripping blood red paint “DEP IS DEAD”. (My nickname
in the house was Dep, short for my real first name, Deppen.). At this point, the
party music came on and the beer flowed and flowed. The party had started. This
theme took excellent teamwork to coordinate and all of the brothers made this
come off without a hitch. Speaking of Joe Doniger…he was respsonsible for
attaching “nicknames” to many of the brothers.

I think I have brochures and the eulogy from The Ted Smith Memorial Mortuary Masquerade. I will forward them for the Delt “achives”.

“Steve Fox”:

In 1968, Steve & I were suite-mates in Parsons Hall and became pledge brothers…just the two of us. As our pledge project we created the first wooden active pin to hang on the front of the house at 507 Putnam. Although it was our project, brother Don Wolfe was the guy who really helped us with the design and creation. We were both useless with mechanics and Don was a “wiz” (at almost everything). I
remember when Steve (“Foxy”) broke his leg…I carried his books, got his meals,
etc…as he hobbled around on crutches. It seemed like an eternity until he healed
up and could walk!!!!

Hope this helps,
TED SMITH ‘71

DTD at MC #55

Hi guys,

I'm afraid that this will be a long email. I have received quite a few notes from brothers from my last email, as well as several comments from the email I sent from Dave Broome, so rather than my comments first, let's just get to the notes I've gotten.

From Nancy Matheny (Joe's wife) comes the following note concerning our undergrads. Nice news is always welcome!


As Joe(Matheny 75) was working the Ohio High School State Golf tournament as a rules judge, we were not able to attend the Homecoming events, I want to thank the underclass Delts; they are a great group of men and come through for their volunteer time, A very cold morning meet the men this Sat as they arrived on time to wash and wax the vans for O'Neill Senior Center for Make a Difference Day Oct. 27th.
Thanks to all!
Nancy Matheny
Event Planner
for O'Neill Senior Center
333 4th St.
Mairetta, OH 45750
740-373-3914
http://www.oneillcenter.com/
We will be posting the photos on our website soon.
From Peter Weiner, my little brother. Yes Pete, the message did get to me. About a week after this one did. Sorry we couldn't hook up, for sure next year.


Hey Big Bro
Sorry we missed you while my wife (Karen) and I were in the area.
Unfortunately I had just acquired a "new " laptop that I used to travel with. In
refurbishing the laptop I did not have the time to transferee my contact and
other stuff. About the only thing I did get loaded was the GPS software.
I did try to reach you thru the alumni site but I guess the message didn't get
thru to you.
Anyway we saw some great fall leaves and mentally sent our thoughts to you and all the brothers during homecomings. Oh well maybe next year

Petedageek

From Kevin Oliphant, who stopped by the house on Saturday afternoon. I missed him sorry to say, but I have to comment on the 7 kids thing! Wow, what is your food bill? Glad you have raised the next Delt legacy!


For now **removed for privacy reasons** is the best way to contact me but i will get any mail either way. It was good stopping by the house over the weekend. My kids enjoyed seeing my long hair and beard from my freshman year. For the record i am now working for Naitonwide Insurance as a Senior Claims Representative. Im still in Vienna WV and only 15 minutes away from the house. I have 7 (Yes! Seven kids that keep me busy.) One of which cant wait to turn 18 and become a Delt. Life is good here in WV.
Keep me up to date as to whats going on with the house!
Mike Biefus sent this email, it's short and sweet. Welcome home Mike!

Rick,You can remove me from the "lost brothers" list! Mike Beifus

Randy "Awk" Williams sent me the following, thanks for the effort Awk. Don't forget to get his address to me.


Rick, Is Kurt Frank from Marietta? If so, he was a DeMolay and I believe his mother is still living inthe "BIG" city and if so she attends my old church (also Fergie's). If this is right, I will be glad to get his contact info.
Awk
From Jmac McEldowney comes the following announcement. Congratulations! May your life together be long and happy!


Hey Rick. Thanks for including me in your emails. Anyhow, I have some news for you to share with everyone since I didn't make it to homecoming thisyear.Last week I got engaged to my now fiance, Alicia. I popped the big question at dinner last
weekend on a visit to Columbus. It was very nice but we have been trying to plan
this week as our school district gets a fall break. The wedding will be next July
here in Dayton. That's all I have for now. I am hoping to make it to Marietta in
thenext few weeks so maybe we can enjoy some beers at the Townhouse (areyou
living in etta yet??)! Thanks for keeping us up to date. Jonathan "Jmac"

Greg Maloof sent the following message. As you can see, he's planning on attending the 40th, I hope you are too!


Thank you for all you do. Had a great week end - even though the campus has
REALLY changed !! The few Delts I met seem to continue our original
guidelines. From all reports all of us have a lot to be proud of at the MC
Chapter. Looking forward to the 40th !! Take care. Greg Maloof '67

Ashley Wollam, the chapter guide sent me the following note, to those of you who are interested in something to honor EU Chapter Eternal, take note. Ashley is working on it. I'm sure, with how the chapter ritual work is now, it will be something special.

Rick,
Hello! I hope all goes well.
Unfortunately, Delta Tau Delta does
not currently have a ritual for our brothers who have passed to Chapter Eternal.
I believe we had a simple ceremony ages ago, but that in the past half-century
or so it has fallen out of our ritual books.

That being said, I have always wished there were one, and I don’t believe this should stop us from making our own. I’ll get some guys together and write one up for the 40th. I might hold this off until December (I’m caught in ending a busy semester), but we’ll be well situated before the 40th.

Thank you for this suggestion! We’ll have to get together with you to see what you think of the ceremony once it has been drafted.

Cheers, Ashley

It is both of our thoughts that this should be a public ceremony, so your wives, children and significant others will be more than welcome.

Fergie sent me the following note. We now have a place reserved for our 40th anniversary banquet. It should be plenty big enough to hold all of us.

I have reserved the Shrine Club for dinner for October 25,2008 and paid the
deposit to hold it.The Shrine can cater the dinner and I think that is our best
choice. More details to follow.

The following group of messages are responses from Dave Broomes letter. I hope that the rest of you are putting your thoughts together for a letter. And we will, evidently have some memorbellia around to share.

Seth Wolfson has some pictures from the flood that he will share with us. Seth, if you could let me know how I can get ahold of them so I can get them copied.

Bill DeLong sends the thought that our Hugh Shields awards came during the 92/93 and 93/94 school years. Do you have any recollection about how you guys felt at being so honored? That would be interesting reading.

Greg Maloof sent me the following, along with volenteering to speak. That would be nice Greg.

Hi, Right now I am planning to attend. I would be honored to say a word or two.
Unfortuneately I had a total house fire after graduation & Delt ceremonies.
Nothing was left, but I think we had a historian to keep all news clippings,
pictures, letters, etc. Who are the 4 deceased members ?? Thank you & take
care. Greg

Unfortunately, Greg we have lost more than 4 brothers. My list shows 7 men. They are; William Havens, Tom Robinson, Edward Ives, Kevin Miller, Peter Cartoun, Fritz Absolon, and Kevin Hayes.

Mark Schlickler sent the following note, I hope that you can find them Mark. How about you BAM, do you still have yours?

If I can find them(pictures) I will start sending them. Bruce Miller also took alot of pictures.

Best regards Mark Schickler '69 Beta Delta Epsilon pledge and founding Crescent Colony and Delt Chapter member


Ted Smith sent the following; and included some thoughts for the 40th's booklet which I won't include here, but will forward on to the correct people to get it included.


Rick:
I enjoyed the thoughts that Dave Broome included in his letter.

First of all, Dave’s idea of a recognition for brothers who have passed is important.
Through the years, I believe only a few have passed (Bill Havens, Roger Coffman (?), Ned Ives, Tom Robinson (?) and they should be acknowledged---Whether we knew them or not, they were part of our family and remain in EPSILON UPSILON’S “Chapter Eternal”.

The strength of Epsilon Upsilon has always been in its diversity. We offered
what no one else on campus could offer: we weren’t just jocks…we weren’t just
drinkers…we weren’t just scholars…we were and remain a complete mix of
backgrounds, ideals and philosophies linked by the solidarity of Delt
brotherhood.

In the early years, the Delts were the under-dogs…but we struggled,
strengthened and survived while other houses drifted into oblivion (Sigs, TEPs,
Lambda Chis)
Thoughts from my memory…

I don't have Roger Coffman listed as having passed on. Does anyone know for sure?

Bob and Pat Bayer sent the following. I sure hope that you can find that material Bob. And yes, 2008 will be my 35th. How time flies, the only way I can tell, is my hair! I don't have nearly as much now. See the 2 of you there.

Rick,
We have some things that may be of interest; things that go back to
maybe as early as '66 til '72. As soon as we locate them, probably after
Christmas at the very earliest, we will let you know what we have. Hoping that
we will be able to attend Homecoming as it will be the DTD 40th and my (and
your) 35th.Thanks for all the hours and effort you have contributed on behalf of
the house!Pat & Bob Bayer


I got the following note from Mike Porath's wife, Winona. It sounds like a wonderful idea, a scrapbook. I don't know if that would be something we could get done before the 40th or if it something that would have to be done after. What do you guys think? It is far outside my area of expertise.

Rick,

I love the idea of putting together a 40th booklet. I would be honored to volunteer to put together a permanent scrapbook of these submitted pictures (I would make copies and return the originals) to keep in the house.

I wonder if you would be willing to put out a call to the "Deltwives" Club, to see who might want to help. While we weren't Delts, some of our experiences so overlap with our Delt husbands, that it would be an honor to do something for the chapter.

I know Angie Stokes would help...she is my "Big Sis" from Tri-Sigma...seems like lots of us married Delts...

Do you think anyone would like us to get involved, or would it be better if we just supported :)

Thanks
Wiona
Deltwife of Michael Porath '90

I don't know which would be better, my off the cuff feeling is why not get involved? You were during the undergraduate years. How about the rest of you "Delt wives"?

I have some new, and updated addresses for you. Remember, you can get the whole list at the Chapter website. It is password protected. The password is: **removed, contact Rick Neel or the chapter if you need it**.

Jess Raines, Mike Beifus, Tim Tokarczyk, Lee Boveroux, Tyler Snell, Dan May, and our newest future alumni (otherwise known as our newest pledge) Andrew Norris. Since this email is so long, I won't include a "lost brothers" list this week. That's all I have, hope that everyone has a great weekend! Rick Neel '73

Stories for the 40th

Monday, November 12, 2007

Hello everyone,

A few days ago I got the following note from Dave Broome. It has some suggestions for stories for the 40th booklet that we are going to attempt to put together. I thought it was full of great ideas but it is fairly long so I didn't want to include it in one of my regular emails (which I'm going to try to do today), so here it is, just as Dave sent it to me. Please take some time and write something, send it to me and I'll forward it along to the correct party. Remember, we are less than a year from the weekend.

Have a great week, Rick Neel '73

Hi Rick,
(Be warned, this is a long email)

We spoke briefly at homecoming this year about gathering stories from alumni for the 40th anniversary of the chapter next year. I don't know how much material Sean Selby was able to gather prior to his big move to the UK, but I certainly feel that the 'deadline' for submitting these recollections can be pushed wayout..probably to late summer of next year- that would give people plenty of time to ponder whether or not to submit a story. Also, if they have time to think about writing a little bit about their memories of the chapter... maybe some alums will also give some more thought about actually attending Homecoming 2008.

Regarding the stories that people submit: We all have stories about great times
with 'so-and-so' and 'what's-his-name'... but many guys may not feel like telling them because they don't see the point in telling a story about people that most EY Delts don't know.. and the fact remains that most of us don't know each other. Thats just the way it is.. but I think there is a way to submit stories that all of us - from
undergrads to the oldest alums - can relate to.

THE 'FIRST GENERATION': There are two items of interest that could be asked of these gentlemen:

These are the first group of Delts at Marietta- the ones who established Beta Delta Epsilon.. the ones who were there for the colonization of the chapter, and the ones who were there when our chapter received its charter on Saturday, November
23rd, 1968. The local history of our chapter is short on details to begin with... and, I think, completely absent of any first-person recollections. Personally, I have never read first-person stories of the early days from anyone- nor even seen a photograph from that period. Therefore- any alum from from that 'first generation' should be encouraged to submit his personal memories (whether or not he is going to attend Homecoming '08). Also, ANY photographs from the years 1966-1969.. and especially from the charter-installation date of Nov 23rd 1968 (not of the ceremony itself,
of course..but there was a formal held afterwards, I believe). Such stories would be of interest to all EY Delts, and hopefully these accounts would be incorporated into the 'permanent record' of our chapter history material. Regarding photographs from the 66-69 period.. of course it is asking quite a lot for people to dig up 40 year-old pictures- if they still exist at all... but someone out there may have a few snapshots which they feel are too amateurish or faded to bother showing. So what? A collection of images (regardless of quality) would be a nice addition to the permanent record referred to previously. Such pictures could be scanned and sent to you (or me), or copies provided- if any alum wishes to make that contribution. It would also be great if people in the photos could be identified individually.

THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE:

For most of us, Marietta College provided our only college experience. There have been some trends and events which occurred during our time on campus that will not be repeated. Those stories would be interesting to hear about. For example:
>Freshmen were once obliged to wear beanies (I think this includes you).
>Some local hangouts where Delts spent their down-time (i.e. Keg Room during the
80s)
>There was a devastating flood in the fall of 2004..surely there have been others.
>The shelter was moved from Putnam St to Fourth St in 1984 (dead of winter, I
believe)
>There was a time when drukenness and/or students 'fooling around' was grounds for expulsion.
>The chapter won its first Hugh Shields award in 1990 or '91..lets hear from those who accepted it.

And not to mention historical events which occured while students were on campus:
>On Monday May 4th, 1970 there were the fatal shootings at Kent State University; presumably the school year was session at Marietta.. although at the end of the spring semester. Campuses nationwide were closed; protests followed. Was Marietta one of them? What did students at Marietta do?
>Thursday November 9, 1989- the fall of the Berlin Wall. Ancient history now, but
even as a recent alum at the time, I was in shock at the very thought of it.. the 'red menace' that I (and you) were always taught to fear was starting to crumble. Some of the more politically minded undergrads must have been following this closely and pondering its significance with each other.
>Tuesday Sept 11th, 2001... not so long ago, but all the Delts who were undergrads then are now alumni. What happened on campus that morning? Were classes cancelled? Were a large number of brothers gathered together in front of a TV all day? There was a need for people to experience their national grief with others..and college students were in a unique position to be among their peers.


Finally, I don't know if the events during the banquet next year have been worked out completely.. But, instead of one or two people doing all the talking, perhaps one (or two-at-a-time) from each era (1960s, early 70s, mid 70s, late 70s...etc., could say a few words about their time on campus and the Delt experience. Some people like to talk (if only to hear their own voice).. and thats OK... and, some guys speak in front of people for a living and are accustomed to it. Certainly, nobody should feel obligated to get up and speak. That's just an idea I'm throwing out there.

Another idea for the banquet is to set aside a table for the display of"Deltabilia"...that is, EY Delt memorabilia from the past 40 years. Do you still have your beanie? I've never seen one. Does anyone from the 'first generation' still have their dog-eared copy of 'The Good Delt'? I still have a couple of silk-screened t-shirts from Delt theme-parties from the 1980s. Items which are unique to our chapter or the Marietta experience might make for some interesting conversation-starters.

Also, this being the 40th anniversary of the chapter, there are still very few of us who have passed away.. the total may only be 4 or 5..., but I don't know if there has ever been a proper recognition of the passing of, or moment of silence for those brothers. A brief moment of remembrance for them (complete with the list of names and a moment of silence.. no commentary at all...just the names) is an idea. Some may find this upsetting or distateful (I didn't know any of the fallen, after all), and if that is the case, then it certainly doesn't have to happen at all. I just think its a thoughtful touch.

That's just a few ideas that I've had for next year. Let me know what you think..and I'll be getting back with you.

Fraternally,
Dave Broome, class of 1988

DTD at MC #54

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Good morning everyone,
Homecoming is over. I had a great time and got to see some people that I haven't seen in a while. I also got to meet Greg Maloof, our 1st president. We got to have a nice visit and then watch him walk in the homecoming parade the next morning. We had a pretty good turnout for homecoming this year, about 25 alums came back. For a list of who was there, check the most recent Protimoi, which was published after homecoming, http://www.marietta.edu/~delts/alumni/protimoi/Protimoi_-_Fall_2007.pdf It has quite a bit of news concerning the chapter. Check it out.

At the House Corp meeting following the parade, we learned something concerning the fate of our chapter house. The college is working on its next "5 year plan" and it has as the centerpiece of it student housing. With the exploding number of undergraduates, both in incoming freshmen and retaining upperclassmen, the college is really feeling a housing pinch. As a chapter, we are working with the college to try to assure that the housing we get in the future (our house, as we have discussed in the past is in serious need of being replaced) is something that we can be proud of and the type of shelter that the chapter wants. The college is planning on making its plan public in February, so then we will have a better idea as to what we can expect. More news will be forthcoming, as we get it.

We have come up with a schedule of events for our 40th anniversary. Times are still up in the air but here is what we have come up with so far. On Friday night, we are planning on a cruise on the river with the Valley Gem. Saturday will be the homecoming parade and football game. Saturday evening will be a banquet. On Sunday there will be the annual undergrad vs. alumni football game. During the weekend we will have a House Corp meeting and a Ritual house meeting. The price tag that we have decided on (since I have asked for input on this issue and gotten none) is no more than $50 for the whole weekend. This doesn't cover hotel or bar costs, of course. We will have a cash bar at both the river cruise and the banquet.

I got the following note from Matt Dole concerning a block of rooms for next year, as well as some volenteers to edit our reunion booklet that Shawn Selby has had to relinquish due to his moving to England. So please continue to write a story for us and send it to me. I will get it forwarded to the correct person for editing and inclusion in the booklet.


Hey Rick - I'll go ahead and work on lining up a block of hotel rooms this
week. I was going to try to comfort Inn, but Andy stayed there and said
the rooms were sort of ratty, so I'm thinking of going with either the Hampton
Inn or the Holiday Inn. Not sure what kind of rate we can get since they
probably already sell a bunch for homecoming, but at least we'll have a block of
rooms to choose from. I'll have an update shortly.

Also, late Saturday afternoon Kevin Oliphant stopped by the house. He has a new email address. It's *removed due to privacy issues*

Finally, I am going to email David Broome, Eric Gustafson and Brian Rothenberg about keeping the "stories of DTD" going, and will hopefully have a new deadline and instructions by the time you send out your next update.

Could you provide me a list of the class/era agents you have so far? I think we might be able to work through them to get something to us.

I'll be glad to help fill in any gaps left by Shawn after his move - I know he was helping out quite a bit on different things.

Thanks
msd

Unfortunately, the undergrads managed to break the alums winning streak in our annual football game. It was a pretty physical game with quite a few sore guys on both sides of the ball. Wait until next year, we'll take the trophy back. (Oh wait, there isn't a trophy. Damn!, there should be.)

Here are some notes that I have received from the guys since the last email. They sent me several new addresses. As you find some of the missing brothers, please let me know. Also, with this email I have included the new members, our newest "prealums." Welcome guys.

From Trent Elliott, an announcement on his newest daughter. Congratulations Trent! What did you name her?


Rick,

I have news on a couple of the names on your list. Seth Pitasky's mother and my mother are friends, so I was able to track down his email. It is *removed*.

As far as Todd Myers, he will be delivering my second daughter some time in the next two weeks. My wife had a checkup yesterday, in which she told him that the MC Delts are looking for him. He said that he would get his contact information to Fergie so that you can add him to your list.

Trent Elliott
'01

Trent and Fergie, don't forget to get in touch with Todd and get me his address. Thanks!

Hops sent me the following note, and I'd like to mention that the picture he mentions is Andy Byers new son. He did get it posted, in email #51 I think. Also, he mentioned that Tom Gray will be the homecoming King candidate. He won. Congratulations Tom.


Hey Rick,
I will be sending out a Protimoi shortly after Homecoming week with
all the events that havetaken place this semster. In the meantime, our
fall rush went really well, we have 9 new pledges that have started going
through their pledge education period. There are still a few guys that we
feel will join, but they will probably wait until the spring semester due to
personal reasons. I will be adding there names to the email list and hope
to have an updated one up tonight (tomorrow, at the latest).


Our fall break begins this Saturday and goes until Tuesday. We will be coming back
right into Homecoming week and all the activities that go with that, as well as
preparing you and the other alumni who are coming in. Our Homecoming
candidate this year is Tom Gray and he will be representing the House in all of
the activities.


I will try to get that picture up soon. It shouldn't take too long to do.


Other than that, I will see you in alittle over a week. Are you coming in Thursday or Friday next week?
Hops

Dean Didato sent me the following new addresses, thanks Dean and welcome guys. Hope to hear from you in the future. Hope that you had a good time at the baseball game. I'd like to see a game in Fenway sometime.

Rick:
Bill Ludington (84’) has been sighted. He is living in Weston,
Florida and can be reached *removed* . I am certain that he would like to hear
from a couple of Delts.

James Mason (84’) and I attended a Boston Red Sox
game against the Blue Jays last month and had a great time. Jim can be
reached at *removed* .

Keep the news coming!
Best regards,
Dean Didato – Germantown, TN

Hops sent me the following email addresses that he picked up from the database at the website. If you haven't checked that out and filled it in, please take a minute and do so, so we can have accurate up to date information. The link to the site is: http://www.marietta.edu/~delts/ You can also check the photos from the football game on Sunday and Delt Dah Day earlier in the semester. Kevin, I have 2 new addresses for you in this email, which one do you want me to use? Let me know please.

Kevin Oliphant - *removed* Jonathan McEldowney - *removed*

We are now up to 250 addresses, so we are getting closer to 100%. Thanks to everyone for the help.

I need some volenteers to call all of the brothers in your era to try to get them to come to our 40th anniversary, if you are interested (or willing) let me know, please. I have several, but need more.

Here are some brothers that I need help finding this week. Steve Newton '66, Peter Ross '67, Joe Farrell '68, Roger Coffman '69, Paul Schoenfeld '70. Thomas Lindvail '71, Mark Ewald '72, John Alligood '73, Lawrence Brown '74, G. Curtis Brown '75, Rodney Stoltz '76, Michael Beifus '77, Gregory Carriera '78, Scott Gilmore '79, Steven Blumenfeld '80, Kurt Frank '81, Brett Burkey '82, Bruce Goldfarb '83, Steven Bennett '84, Paul Kelly '85, John Baxley '86, David Caldwell '87, Jim Bailey '88, Mike Conty '89, Doug Stewart '90, John Morein '91, Dan Moorman '92, Brian Clark '93, David Faunce '94, Dean Kilton '96, Brent Blackburn '97, Shawn Spence '98, Colin Orsini '02, Leonard Labriola '03, Tim Tokarczyk '04, Charlie Wachunas '06.

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