From the desk of the Prez – Bonds of Brotherhood:

Does it feel like time just slips away? Wasn’t Birthday just last week? Where does the time go? As the months/years fly by it seems the less and less time we have to stay connected with each other. This is no more apparent than the list of lost brothers. We all know we’re a small chapter, yet we have a rich history. Personally, that’s one of the greatest assets of our chapter. We’ve earned 17 Peterson Significant Chapter Awards, 2 Legion of Honor awards, a Public Relations Award, 2 Character in Actions, and countless Grand Consul’s Citations. Eta iota also has produced 2 Significant Sig Awards; Brother John Bailey `75 and most recently Brother Hugh Mills `74, our White Cross has gained new luster by their lives….Not Bad for 38 years.

Despite all of this, as well as an undying devotion to our order we still have almost 100 Eta Iota Sigs: Lost.

Over the past two months Seth Downs, Bill Palmer, Jon Wrightington and others have “Cut Loose” so to speak, implementing new/exciting programs to reconnect our chapter. Communication is the name of the game now, and I’m proud to formally announce our 5 year captains:

`70-`74 Mike Wyble
`75-`79 Dave Fraser
`80-`84
`85-`89 Jeff Penn
`90-`94 Brian Lojko
`95-`99 Curt Kienast
`00-`04 Jason Kreisher
`05-`09 Nick Weiss

These Brothers have volunteered themselves to lead the charge for their respected years, to reconnect the bonds of Brotherhood between all of us. Brothers I thank thee.

We are now looking for pledge class representatives. These Brothers will get updates from our 5 year captains and will relay the information to their class. Of course the House Corporation will continue to inform everyone, just as before, but we want to make sure the message is getting out. But most importantly these representatives will be responsible for finding/reconnecting with our lost Brothers, welcoming them back into our circle.

This has already been evident last month with great success in participation towards the 1855 club. We had our best month of fund raising (May) since the 35th Birthday. For those Brothers that joined and to the Brothers that continue to graciously give what they can, I thank you for your continued predication to Eta Iota. If anyone would like to become/renew their membership to the 1855 club; contact Seth or Rich Schooley. All information can be found at Eta Iota.org.

Speaking of our website; ahs anyone noticed a few changes lately? Thanks to Bill and John Banta the website has gotten a bit of a facelift. New features keep on being rolled out. Keep an eye out at etaiota.org for the latest information and Blogs.

Eta Iota Blog:

That’s right, Eta Iota is now Blogging. No more E-Groups for the alums. We can now make a thread and post comments on our website. Thanks to Bill & John we have the capabilities to instantly inform, ask questions and get opinions on all things Sigma Chi / Eta Iota. The latest tread posted is asking what information you would like answered about the state of our chapter. This will also be where you can find monthly updates. The House Corporation wants to hear your thoughts; How are we doing, what areas need improving? This will also be where undergraduates can go for advice from us. We’ve all “been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” They don’t need to re-invent the wheel every 4 years, just remember how it works. We are bridging the gap between alumni knowledge/experience and the undergrads lack there-of. This will serve as a first step towards a (much needed) Alumni Advisory Board. For now however, this allows for Q/A, a healthy move for the future.

Check it out: A new undergraduate newsletter has also just been posted (in the printed Newsletters section of the News page). : Click here to download a copy of it, but also go to the page and see how all of our newsletters are now posted.

You can also subscribe to the news so that you don’t even have to visit the page. The news and comments are separate RSS Feeds so take one or both.

To subsribe in a news reader (built into most browsers), enter https://www.etaiota.org/news/feed, or https://www.etaiota.org/news/comments/feed

Or even easier! Subscribe by email, by clicking on the desired link(s)

To subscribe to news: Subscribe to Eta Iota News by Email

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Chapter Eternal – Drew Hunter

With all this positive news for our chapter it is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of Brother Drew Hunter from our circle. Drew was a member of pledge class Beta Omicron (Fall 1999), a graduate in aeronautical science (Spring 2003), former Annotator, Historian, Public Relations chair, Captain for Shuttle America and a great friend. Drew died in a kayaking accident in Vail, Colorado on June 4th. He is survived by his father Jeremy, mother Gail, and Fiancée Jenna. There are numerous updates/links to newspaper articles about Drew’s passing on our website. On behalf of Drew’s family I’d like to thank everyone who sent cards, flowers warm wishes, and those who travelled to Marshfield for his memorial. The White Rose was lead by Brother Vomacka, not one eye was dry during this; a Sigma Chi’s unending journey into Chapter Eternal.

Drew; you will Always be with us, Always our Brother, Always a Sigma Chi. You have fought the good fight and finished your work. I bid you fresh powder and tailwinds my Brother….In Hoc Signo Vinces.

520 South Ridgewood:

The House has received some much need T.L.C. over the last days. Alumni and undergraduates have worked independently as well as jointly to improve the conditions at our House. A lot of what was fixed might seem like cosmetic repairs as oppose to overhauls, but these are the repairs necessary to maintain our heritage. The majority if not all of the stucco damage over the years has now been fixed. The undergrads are slowly but steadily painting the exterior. We’ve had a few electrical and plumbing issues that have been addressed. A few rooms have gotten bathroom overhauls (everything but the shower itself). Thanks to Brad Vomacka and especially Derek Pizzo our security has improved dramatically. After one of our test cameras positively identified the perpetrator stealing then returning an Eta Iota alumnus personal articles & laptop, we invested in more/improved cameras. We now have 8 working cameras covering our community areas in front, back and inside of the property. Most of the cameras are so low profile; you’re already recorded by the system before you noticed they are there.

We’ve had to do a bit of a repair to the roof after a few heavy down-pours revealed leaks. Our rodent problem has also finally come to an end. Animal Control Management has been true to their word to flush the problem out and to guarantee it for three years. Both times we’ve had problems after their initial work was completed; they have come back out and “removed” more of the problem. The actives are placing bets on the size of the “problem” being caught; in a way its now comical.

The actives have also begun to plan some landscaping for August, just before Rush. They are also going to be doing some significant painting and giving the chapter room a new look. They have asked for our help with these and other projects. So on August 15th & 16th we will be hosting an alumni/undergraduate work weekend. The more Help, labor, moral and/or financial support we can get, the better. Even if you’d like to just come down to escape for a weekend, we’d love to have you. Lunch, most materials and some beverages will be provided.

Finally I’d like to ask a favor of everyone. The undergraduates have gone to great lengths to improve the look and “feel” our House. I know this sounds like B.S. but its true. Even though it IS our House this is their current residents. Please respect this. Please refrain from making a huge mess out back, or throwing trash or chapter articles around or spray painting doors, etc. during your visits. It might be cute when your 18/19 years old, but it’s down-right disrespectful as an alumni. To most of you reading this I apologize and this does not pertain to you. But to those who insist “This is the way it’s always been, This is the way it will always be, Don’t tell me what to do, Blah, Blah, Blah”. Do me a big favor and try and control yourself. After you leave the actives are stuck repainting, patching holes in walls, trying to get paint out of concrete. Believe me, I give them enough work without you creating more……Okay, I’m off my soapbox.

Programming – New Facility

The New House Committee Design team met with our architecture firm in Atlanta recently. We discussed a wide range of topics; focusing on a substantial renovation of our current facility or a new structure on our current property. We outlined a “dream” house with the complete understanding it would never come to fruition. However we use this outline; “Programming” to narrow the scope of the project to a working plan – something we can afford without compromising our unique chapter facilities.

From our current property; we said we Must (and I can’t emphasize this enough) keep the pool. Also the front walk with Smokey & Ford’s memorials must be undisturbed and must be visible in some way. Beyond that we requested a majority of the rooms be single occupancy while sharing a bathroom with one other room, also a few suites with private baths, and one house parent suite. Improved security for the bedrooms would come from interior common hallways. A larger (then our current) common/entertainment room was request. Also from multiple suggestions from undergrads and alumni alike; a dedicated chapter room. Our last request was for a commercial kitchen. We expressed the importance of our deck/backyard capabilities for entertainment, social and “other” events. Besides that, we left the rest up to the interpretation of the architects.

The programming should be done within days of this update. We will then continue to work with the architects to narrow our scope. Once the programming has been shaped we will post the programming documents at etaiota.org. It will then take approximately 6-8 weeks to get conceptual floor plans and elevation (what the House will look like from the front, back, etc). I challenge us to raise the money for these concepts in that time frame. We have pledges for $1500 towards our Goal of $8500 for these drawings. I know we can get the rest. Lets see if we can’t have these designs by the end of October (at the latest). You can send money to Seth or Rich, and watch our progress at etaiota.org.

Announcements:

We will be having a House Corporation Teleconference on July 11 @ 12:00 noon. This is the first of the quarterly meetings (Birthday was the first Saturday in April, normally I’d try and make the call on the first Saturday 3 months later, But this year that’s July 4th, so we’ll have it a week later), look for details at etaiota.org

June Birthdays

Happy Birthday to those Brothers celebrating this month:

06/01 Dave Fraser ’77 06/01 Herb Huston ’78 06/01 John Wrightington ’79 06/01 Shawn Williams “Yankee ” ’00 06/02 Bill Lark ’86 06/02 Jeffrey B. Penn “Jeff ” ’90 06/02 Matt Catalanotto ’96 06/03 Dave Elert “Big Dick or Farmer Fran ” ’06 06/03 Larry Sweeney ’72 06/03 Kevin Lupinacci ’93 06/03 Graham Smith “Hank Hill ” ’01 06/04 Dennis Miller ’73 06/04 Gary Dyer ’74 06/04 Kurt Routenburg ’94 06/04 Ryan Collins “Saber ” ’04 06/05 Robert Burgio “Bob ” ’80 06/05 Russ Bucklew “Grape Ape ” ’99 06/06 Akeary Vick ’72 06/07 Ronald Bates ’04 06/09 D. Windsor Barringer ’88 06/10 Brian Frost “Jack ” ’93 06/10 Derek DeBolt ’96 06/11 Benjamin Brandt “Opie ” ’98 06/12 Adam Gunter “FNG ” ’08 06/12 Craig Borger ’75 06/13 Chris Chapman ’07 06/13 Mark Milham ’79 06/14 Bob Matthews ’90 06/15 Robert Weikel ’73 06/15 Rodney George ’72 06/15 Bruce Balensiefer “Sief ” ’78 06/15 Jim Vittetow ’81

06/15 Howard Hamilton ’90 06/15 Tony Kalka ’99 06/16 Chris Edmondson ’95 06/17 Bill Wood ’78 06/17 Jon St. Louis “Durdin ” ’06 06/18 Ken Bording CSP, OHST ’71 06/18 Matthew Sorensen ’96 06/20 Larry A. Hesterberg “Big Lar ” ’96 06/21 Spencer K Smith II ’93 06/22 Claude Franco “C. Francs ” ’86 06/23 Ken Dolan ’73 06/23 Robert D. Jordan “Rob ” ’90 06/23 Richard Haberman “Elvis ” ’92 06/23 Keith W. Harrison ’94 06/24 Doug Bloch ’93 06/26 R.Mike Busch ’71 06/26 Robert Busch ’71 06/26 Gary Schroeder ’82 06/27 Joseph Adkins Jr “Joe ” ’92 06/27 Dan Ruth ’91 06/28 Gary Marville ’74 06/29 Steve Boyd ’79 06/29 Joe Bilotti ’89 06/29 Michael Chad Bright “BUS ” ’01 06/30 Cameron Lee Radford ’10 06/30 Harry Wilkes ’71 06/30 John Hillman ’74 06/30 Pete Eggler ’79 06/30 Kevin Meeder ’83

Grand Chapter

If you have nothing else to do on July 4th weekend; Grand Chapter is being hosted in Charleston, South Carolina. This will be a great time to reconnect to your Eta Iota family & Sigma Chi. There is registration at the door, so don’t feel that if you missed pre-registration that you can’t go.

Hope to see everyone at Grand Chapter. Remember to keep an eye on the website and like always please give to the 1955 club or the New House Project.

Guard Well,

Brett Miller