Sigma Chapter House to Open for 2013-14 Academic Year on August 16th

Sigma Chapter's house will open for the 2013-14 academic year at Noon on Friday, August 16th.  Final preparations to get the house ready include professionally cleaning all carpeting, repairing the dishwasher, testing the fire alarm system, and waxing the Back Lounge floor.  See the photos below on how the Back Lounge looks before the Brothers return!

 

 

Summer 2013 Cleanup Session a Success!

My sincere thanks to over a dozen Graduate and Undergraduate Sigma Brothers who gathered at 20 West Ferncliff on Saturday, June 29th, to clean up the outside of the house and perform some needed landscaping!  It was hot and humid, but we got a LOT done!

 

The Graduate Brothers who helped out were: Dale Finley, Joe Angle, Chad Downing, and Skip Buckley.  Phil Downing, father of Chad & Bill Downing, isn't a Fiji, but he helped out and did a great job!  Dick Rice (injured reserve) stopped by to lend support, and Dave Hickinbotham (injured reserve) did the same (and to grab a Schuler's donut).  The Undergraduate Brothers present were: Bill Downing, Derek Walro, Lukas Bohlander, Adam Kapuscinski, Justin Yates, and Drew Klamar.

 

See the photos below -- the house and grounds look great, and this helps with any college-tour, drive-bys for prospective students this summer!  (The FIRST person to write and complain that the hedges were NOT cut evenly has to pay DOUBLE for next year's Pig Dinner registration!)

 

 

Thanks, Brothers - GREAT JOB!

Fraternally,

Skip Buckley '80

Perge!

 

Dale Finley (Sigma '58) Will Keynote Pig Dinner on April 20, 2013

Sigma Chapter at Wittenberg's 129th Anniversary Norris Pig Dinner details:

 

What:              Norris Pig Dinner

When:             Saturday, April 20, 2013

                        6:30 pm - Brotherhood Reception (Cash Bar)

                        7:30 pm - Pig Dinner

Where:            Sigma Chapter House, 20 West Ferncliff Place, Springfield

Also:                Annual Golf Outing

                        Windy Knoll Golf Club

                        1:30 pm - Shotgun Start

Fee:                $100 - Golf AND Pig Dinner (discount if both)

                       $75 - Golf ONLY

                       $35 - Pig Dinner ONLY

Charity:           Net proceeds from the entire day will go to The USO

Donation:       THANK YOU to our caterer, Campus Cooks, for donating

                       the majority of the cost of the Pig Dinner

RSVP:            Complete and return the registration form:

                         https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwImNLvWpcx_Q0I0eVQ2YXdfSzg/edit

 

Symposiarch: Marcus Hitt '05

Keynote Speaker: Dale Finley '58 - Dale has a resume we'd all wish for, and too long to list here, but note: Mayor of Strongsville, Ohio, for 7 years; President of the Greater Cleveland Convention & Visitors Bureau for 15 years; Sig Fiji Alumni Association Trustee; and, multiple honors and awards.  He has an amazing life story to tell, and lessons for Graduate and Undergraduate Brothers alike.  His love for Phi Gamma Delta and Sigma Chapter is impenetrable and inspiring.

 

Please join us on April 20th!

 

Fraternally,

 

Skip Buckley '80

 

Perge!

 

 

 

Sigma Pledge Brother Spends Spring Break with Habitat for Humanity

 

So, where did YOU spend your spring break when you were in college?  Florida?  Mexico?  Texas?

 

For Matt Miely '16, a current pledge at Sigma Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta at Wittenberg University, he opted for a road less traveled.   "I actually don't think I'm going to make it home over spring break. I will be in North Carolina building houses with Habitat for Humanity. So it should be a bit of a working spring break, but it should be worthwhile and rewarding!"

Matt is to the right, in the weird hat.

Matt is a Fiji legacy, the son of Mark Miely (Sigma '79), from Upper Arlington outside of Columbus.  I checked in with him last week, while he was on site in North Carolina, and asked if he'd built some homes yet.  "We're definitely making progress on the one we're working on.  And it's definitely a rewarding experience.  More than worth my spring break anywhere else could be."

Matt, still in the hat, working for Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina.

He's now safely back on campus.  "Yeah, back to classes." 

Good for him.  Good for Wittenberg.  Good for Sigma Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta.  But, best of all, good for the family for whom he just provided needed housing.

Thank you, Matt.  You make us all proud...

Fraternally,

Skip Buckley '80

Perge!

Pig Dinner RSVP Form Ready!

Sigma Chapter's 2013 Pig Dinner is set for April 20, 2013:

Golf Outing:
Windy Knoll Golf Club
500 Roscommon Drive, Springfield, OH 45503
www.windyknollgolfclub.com – 937.390.8898

Pig Dinner:
Sigma Chapter House, 20 West Ferncliff Place
1:30 pm – (Optional) Golf Tournament at Windy Knoll Golf Club
6:30 pm – Pig Dinner Fellowship Cocktail Hour (Cash Bar at Chapter House)
7:30 pm – Annual Norris Pig Dinner Banquet (Chapter House)
Keynote Speaker: TBA
Symposiarch (MC): Marcus Hitt (’05)

$35 – Pig Dinner: Graduate Brothers / Fathers
$100 – Golf Outing AND Pig Dinner (at $10 discount), $75 Golf Outing ONLY

CLICK HERE to access the registration/RSVP form!

 

Fraternally,

 

Skip Buckley '80

 

Perge!

 

 

 

 

Sig Fiji Newsletter Available Online!

 

The Fall / Winter 2012 Sig Fiji newsletter of the Sigma Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta at Wittenberg University is now available to view online!  Click here to view and download the latest issue!

 

Congratulations to 2012 Corresponding Secretary Nick Van Dyne '13 for completing his final newsletter issue -- great job, Nick!  And, thanks as always to Craig Olson '74 of Olfield Graphics for donating a portion of the design, printing, and mailing of the chapter's newsletters.  Nice work, Craig!

 

The hard copy of the newsletter was mailed earlier this week, so watch your mail.  The 2013 Pig Dinner invitation was also just mailed, so Sigma Graduate Brothers should receive that one, too.  (The Pig Dinner date is Saturday, April 20th.  Page 8 of the newsletter includes the invitation, too.)  If you ARE NOT receiving mail from us, then PLEASE send in your current mailing address to PhiGam@PhiGam.org.

 

Fraternally,

 

Skip Buckley '80

 

Perge!

Original Sigma Charter Recovered!

Sigma Chapter's original charter from 1884 has been preserved in a safe deposit box in a Springfield bank for over six decades.  (Not sure where it was kept before then.)  We recently learned that the bank in downtown Springfield (now PNC Bank) will soon close that location, and we were advised to get our contents.

 

On Friday, February 1, 2013, Greg Gernetzge '15, Chapter Treasurer, and Skip Buckley '80, Sig Fiji Alumni Association Secretary, removed the contents and took possession of the original charter!  We brought it back to the chapter house at 20 West Ferncliff Place, and shared it with the Sigma Brothers.  Copied above are photos of various Brothers displaying the original charter at the chapter house.  One Brother commented, "This is the oldest historical document that I've ever touched -- 129 years old.  Almost as old as the Emancipation Proclamation."

 

We now plan to send the original charter to our International Fraternity headquarters office in Lexington, Kentucky, where it will be preserved in a fire-proof, water-proof safe.  We hope to get a new replica of the original charter to display in the chapter house.

 

It was a pretty cool moment in our chapter's history to secure the original charter, and to share it with today's Sigma's Brothers.

Fraternally,

Skip Buckley '80

Perge!