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Homecoming, Oct 12 - 14, 2007
Brothers, Homecoming 2007 marked a new chapter in the history of Old PSI. We held a very special Homecoming event to coincide with the annual Bethany College Homecoming. The PSI Alumni Event was held on Thursday of Homecoming Weekend at Oglebay Resort. The event featured an afternoon of golf on the challenging Jones golf course, an awards dinner and a Chapter Meeting complete with Minutes by arguably PSI’s finest; Bill Atwater and Gary Novak. Over 65 Betas were present to enjoy the revelry and memories that were shared all day long; including members of the Active Chapter. True Brotherhood was on display throughout the day as members from as far away as California and Texas made the journey at personal expense and sacrifice to renew bonds with classmates and make new friends of brothers from different eras. One brother, Robert Mize 75’ #1051, a pilot for Northwest Airlines, wins the prize for traveling the farthest. Wednesday of Homecoming week he literally woke up in Tokyo, Japan and piloted an Airbus A380 to Seattle where he flew in the jump seat to Detroit and on to Pittsburgh where he arrived Wednesday evening in time for Brother Jeff Boucek to drive him to Oglebay for three days of Brotherhood. Talk about commitment! Those that attended weren’t disappointed. Thanks to the planning efforts of several brothers, including Bob Mackenzie 77’ #1071, all the brothers were able to find a warm handshake, good food and a comfortable bed to enjoy the weekend. Congratulations go out to the winners of the golf event; the team of Scott Thompson, Fran Haus, Sam DeBone and Don Morehouse. There were also skill prizes that went to Brothers Dean Young, David Cottington, George Hanlon, and myself. There were thirty-one golfers that enjoyed a great day. A good time was had by all. After dinner all PSI Betas had an opportunity to hear an update from PSI Beta Greg Jordan, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bethany College. Along with some light-hearted comments Greg made it very clear how important PSI’s future support of Bethany College will be to Bethany regaining its rightful place among ‘elite’ small colleges. Greg was candid in sharing that Bethany has a declining endowment and has operated with deficits over the preceding twelve years. Betas have been among the most ardent supporters of Bethany College and his openness was to make us aware, not alarmed, of the need for PSI to continue to support the college to ensure long term viability. Greg also previewed the search for Bethany’s 19th president and announced the selection of Dr. Scott D. Miller. As many of you now know Dr. Miller has accepted Bethany’s invitation and on January 1st, 2008 will become the next president succeeding Buck Smith who has done a great job of leadership and stewardship of the college. The highlight of Thursday evening’s Chapter Meeting was provided by Bill Atwater and Gary Novak’s Minutes. Bill and Gary combined to inspire us with their words and brought laughter to our hearts with their wit and wisdom. Special thanks to Bill and Gary! Another highlight of Thursday evening was being entertained by our Active Chapter. These young men who won Greek Sing for the second year in a row chose one of their songs to perform for the alumni to share their pride in PSI Chapter and demonstrate their commitment to upholding the traditions that we all have worked to preserve. The alumni genuinely enjoyed your enthusiasm and commitment. The last planned activity for Thursday was to recognize several Brothers for their outstanding commitments to PSI Chapter. Brother Rodney B. Hurl was honored for his lifelong commitment to PSI. He made the journey with his son from Marysville, Ohio. We also recognized Art Musicaro, class of 77’ for his almost 30 years of commitment to PSI and particularly the House Corporation. Mark Bado, class of 87’ was also thanked for his outstanding service as treasurer of PSI Diamond and leadership over some difficult times in the recent years. Both Art and Mark are retiring from their duties as the House Corporation president and PSI Diamond treasurer, respectively. Lastly, we recognized Brother David Cottington '79 #1121 for his leadership with the Recolonization effort. Without David’s tireless commitment and leadership of the Recolonization team, their would not have been a PSI Homecoming. Saturday morning’s PSI Diamond meeting featured several announcements. The most important of which was an announcement by Dean Lesiak, class of 74’ that a bequest was made by the late PSI Beta Fred Tilock, class of 54’. Fred left his entire estate to both Bethany College and the PSI Chapter Charitable Fund. The first distribution of funds was received during the last 30 days. Recognition was made to observe and recognize Fred’s dedication and commitment to ‘Old PSI’. We announced the formation of a Scholarship Fund to encourage and reward academic performance and on campus leadership of PSI Beta Actives. Mark Schmidt will head the Scholarship Committee and is looking for a few good men from various eras to serve on the review and recommendation team for awards beginning in January of 2008. If you would like to participate, please get in touch with me here. Lastly, we opened election to fill the treasurer’s position. Deno Emili once again stepped up to serve on the executive team of PSI Diamond as treasurer. Thank you for your continued efforts Deno! Following the passing of the Loving Cup we all adjourned to the Field House for a Big Tent Party and cookout. A great time was had by all! Brother Malcolm Cottington '50 #607 was especially moved by the moment and asked his son David what he could do for the Active Chapter. David was quick to say that the young men could use a flat screen TV for the chapter room at the House. Brother Cottington offered to buy it! Thank you Brother Cottington! We appreciate everyone who attended and their contribution to a wonderful weekend. We haven’t decided whether this will become an annual event but we would love to hear opinion. Please feel free to contact me here , write, or call with your thoughts. For those that weren’t able to make it for Thursday’s festivities or over the weekend, we missed you. Please plan to support PSI in any way you can whether through volunteering or your financial support. We need your commitment to keep PSI moving in the right direction and to continue to positively influence the direction of the college. Yours in _ kai _, |
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