Work Party 2013 Report
Pictures are posted at https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A7532ODWywVqY and at FACEBOOK Work Party 2013.
[This report was compile from comments by Bob Hutnick and John Pfaff – thanks, Barney]
Delta Psi’s 8th pre-semester Work Party is in the books. The new Pomeroy Chapter House is finished and it looks great. These are exciting times at 58 Pinewoods. 48 undergrads moved in on August 14th and they were very grateful to our alumni for contributing to the renovation of our home.
John Leroy Pfaff ‘71 arrived Wednesday morning with a trunk load of dishes, glasses and flatware purchased from a restaurant supply house in New Jersey but needed to go back for a second load. Most of the afternoon was taken up with smiling in awe of the completed house. Bob Justa Eckart ’73 and John did a thorough walk-through/ inspection while waiting for word that the Certificate of Occupancy was issued. During this time several undergrads arrived, but they could enter until the inspection was finished. Fortunately, the CO was signed off around 4 PM. Talk about last minute. Then everyone could go inside. The undergrads were able to sleep in their new rooms, on the floor, as the furniture was arriving at 8 AM Thursday morning.
Furniture trucks were unloaded on Thursday, the 15th, with John “Leroy” Pfaff acting as the project manager, making sure they were off-loaded properly, accounted for, and delivered by the undergraduate brothers to the right room. The first truck arrived at about 8:15 AM. The salesman was there to coordinate. He and one of the undergrads handed the stuff down to 2 brothers for each piece. We unpacked the pieces as Pfaff directed each item to a specific room. There are 25 bedrooms. Two rooms are will be singles and the rest are doubles. 48 will be living in. In Leroy’s opinion, the ideal number is 49. The architect said that there should be 4 singles, but there is plenty of room in 3 of the 4. By our old 1970’s standards, the Land of the Giants and the Nursery could probably be triples and everything else doubles, therefore a maximum capacity could be 52. Come to the dedication on October 5th and judge for yourself. Anyway the entire truck was unloaded by 10:30am. The 4 drawer dressers fit into the closets and we provided loft kits for the beds. They can either bunk the beds or raise them up so that desks or other things can fit under them. Pfaff commented that he “was amazed at how big the rooms appear to be with the furniture in them”.
Then the second truck came about an hour later with all the common area furniture – couch, chairs and a conference table for the Alumni Room (formerly the living room), conference table for the new study room, a round table for the Library, 4 square tables for the dining room extension that can be used for dining or study and couches and chairs fir the downstairs TV area. We still have chairs for the living room conference table, the 4 tables in the dining area and chairs for the library to be delivered next week. The furniture included a huge wooden cabinet with doors at one end of the chapter room. The undergrads bought a 60″ Samsung Smart TV to go in it. Of course the whole place is wired for sound.
Several of the Thursday-arriving alumni headed to Dinosaur Barbecue on Thursday night for dinner. After dinner, Gary “Slug” Wood ‘71 and Bob Ruff Hutnick entertained several alums on our back porch – the house Director’s Suite’s porch, where Brothers Slug and Hutnick lodged on Thursday night. We had guys from 1960 (Ed Kellog ‘60) through 2013. In addition to Ed, there was Bruce Allen, ’65, Foss Hooper, ’66, Larry Mentz, ’68 and about 35 more of us, including Paul Cosgrave ‘72, Al HJ Hanbury ‘74, Bill Evil Hanson ‘73, Past Grand Consul Bob Jones ‘73, Jim Board ‘75, to name a few.
Friday, some alumni played golf, while others prepared for the work sessions on Saturday and Sunday, and the undergrads worked on their rooms. The 8th Annual Work Party Golf Open was again contested at the Troy Country Club in Troy, NY. Increasing the field by 4 “gophers” in 2012, the ten golfers teed off around 10 a.m. Led by a birdie by John Leroy Pfaff, whose cousin teed off on the 10th hole to avoid being too close to the Sigmachi Tournament, the team of Leroy, Bob Hutnick, and Colin “The Steward” Burbadge, had a torrid front 9 rounding the turn at -10. This included Leroy’s birdie on the par 3, 185-yard, 8th hole, with a 20-foot curving putt for a net score of “zero.” Team 2, meanwhile, comprising of Hanbury Jr. (HJ), P.J. Cosgrave (Cos), Jim “Dart” and Tracy Board, was also at -10 at the turn, as HJ birdied the par 5 4th (451-yards) and 7th (510 yards) holes. On the back 9, the teams sagged a bit. When the dust settled, HJ, Cos, and the Boards, came in at -16 to Leroy’s, Ruff’s, and Colin’s -15 score. Leroy/Ruff/Colin’s score may have been lower BUT the team forgot to write down the scores on one hole totally missed another as they had to double back to play it! Cos shot an 87, HJ 88, Dart 89, Ruff 90, Colin 92, Tracy 96, & Leroy at 110. Lunch and drinks followed. About an hour later Team 3 arrived with Anu, Colin Haynes, and Scott Mitchell, all 2007 alumni. Their totals: 12 beers and 3 hotdogs DURING their round! I think Anu claimed to have shot a 147 or so but with that many strokes, not sure if that was accurate.
Bob Jones arrived on Friday night with the massive 2006 Ronald Reagan clock that he and Larry Mentz ‘67 donated to the House. We had pizza and salad delivered Friday night for dinner. Friday night was the House Corp Meeting in the new Dining Room. It was attended by 80 brothers, 30 alums and 50 undergrads. It was a boisterous affair. Elections were held for House Corp officers as John Murray decided not to run for re-election. There were 6 candidates for 4 spots, including Anu Srivastava ’07, Josh Gilbert ’09, Dan Zuber ’10, Ken Sobel ’12, Jim Rosetti ’79, and Beo.
Our cook started Saturday morning with breakfast at 8 AM – eggs, sausage and bacon, breakfast was served by Chef Chris Burnett, our cook who returned to Delta Psi even after being “laid off” for a year whileconstruction took place. Work sessions started at 8:30. The big projects included landscaping and irrigation lead by Larry Heininger ’77 with Slug and others planting a lot trees and shrubs, putting plastic, fabric, and stones around the foundation of the house to encourage water run-off. The new foundation also has been water-proofed with sealant. Others worked on cleaning the old basement and the garage, setting up the kitchen and sealing the front porch ceiling wood replaced in 2007. Jim, Chelesa and Pam Manocchi with Tracy board laid carpets, hanging blinds, shades and curtains. Bob Jones and Larry Mentz donated a huge Grandfathers clock that has a place of honor in the Alumni Room. Jim Manocchi also hung all the plaques for the rooms that were donated by the big givers. Beo oversaw the entire work party assignments as Tom Kouletsis ‘76 oversaw the provisions and attendance.
Lunch was hamburgers and hot dogs. Dinner was steaks, shrimp, baked potatoes, broccoli and grilled onions and peppers – a real feast. Oh yes, there may have been a beer or two. Saturday night was the first Ritual House Meeting held in the new chapter room. It began without the Consul, Joe Karpie, who was attending a wedding. However, Pro Consul Ben Richardson made it back from RPI freshmen-welcoming duties just in time to conduct the meeting. It was the first ritual meeting in the Chapter Room. A formal house meeting was and the good of the order was really great. Ed Kellogg would have had “senior chair” but he didn’t make it back to the meeting after working all day and so Bruce Allen ’65 was senior chair. Gary Stottler ’82, was again the last alumni from the ’70s era. The next alum was ’07. So we had alumni from 1965 – 1982 and then from 2007 – 2012. Other recent alums included Mike Cunningham, Mike Hanson, Chaz Goodwine, Alex Manocchi, Roddy Yagan, and Mike Villaneuve. Barney’s alumni little brother from the University of Houston Sig Matt Marett ’13 showed up on Friday. He’ll be attending grad school RPI this year.
Many of the old farts finished up enjoying the evening drinking beer on the front porch. On Saturday night, as we sat on the Front Porch with Bruce Allen ’65, Foss Hooper ’66, Jim Manocchi, Beo, Leroy, HJ, Slug, and Ruff, the Pro Consul, Ben Richardson, came out and sat with us. Good Spirit Ben!
Three-quarters of the undergraduates have never lived in a fraternity house (all the sophomores and juniors!) So this will be a special “challenge” for the House this year. Adjusting to fraternity life with fewer than normal upperclassmen to show them the ways of college men and how they live and work together. There also appears to be a shortage of house “work session expertise.” Since only the seniors have experienced work sessions, the undergrads knowledge of this important aspect of fraternity life is, how you say, missing. The members of the House Corporation are planning to provide assistance and training.
Sunday, breakfast was served at 8am, and the landscaping was probably finished by 4pm. The cook served hamburgers and pasta salad for lunch. The place looks great. More planting will need to be done in the spring, including additional privet hedges along the front. For October 5th, Ruff has put together a great program and you will be very pleased with the results of your donations. You will be inspired when you see the finished product in October at the Dedication.
Sigma Chi Fraternity 