Tag: Fraternity

NEEDED – Blasts from the Past

Okay, Alumni, we’re calling on you.  Whether you graduated 15 years ago, 5 years ago, or 1 year ago – we know you’ve got photographs of all the fantastic memories you made while an Active Brother of the Delta Zeta Chapter.  Now it’s time to share some of those memories.

 Young Once

At the 30th Anniversary Banquet, set to take place on Saturday, April 12, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (and if you haven’t already bought your tickets, you’d better hurry up!  Time’s running out, and so are the tickets!), the Delta Zeta Alumni Association will be sharing a special slideshow presentation, flashing back through the past 30 years of Delta Zeta’s rich history.

From the founding members to the most recent new members, this is going to be a special trip down memory lane that you can have a part in making.  We are asking each and every one of you to share at least one (if not more!) photographs to include in the slideshow.

The Past

Please contact Brother Todd Latoski, either via Facebook or by e-mail, to provide your photographs to be included.  Make sure with each photograph, you include the year, the event, and the names of each Brother in the photograph – from the most elegant formals to the most outrageous parties, don’t be shy!  The more photographs you share, the more memories the Alumni will have a change to reminisce about at the Banquet.

It’s been 30 years of Delta Zeta greatness – so let’s see what memories you’ve got to share!

National News – Congress is Coming!

CongressThe 149th Chi Phi Congress is coming!  Set for June 26 – 29, 2014 in Austin, Texas, Congress will see Chi Phi Brothers from all over the country converge to conduct the affairs of the Fraternity during the day and enjoy the sites of Austin during the evening.  This year, the Congress will meet to evaluate new and existing Fraternity policies, to adopt a 2015 budget for Chi Phi, to select a Grand Alpha-elect, and to consider any of its own legislation.  Also, all 2013 award winners will be recognized at the event.

Every registered Alumni Association is entitled to one voting delegate.  Last year, Brother David Ebner attended Congress, and this year, Brother Kyllan Purdon will be attending as the DZAA delegate.  There are plenty of events lined up for this year’s Congress, including a free day to explore Austin on Thursday, June 26th; an authentic Texas BBQ dinner on the evening of Friday, June 27th; a hands-on experience in the Whole Foods Market kitchens guided by one of Whole Foods expert chefs on the morning of Saturday, June 28th; and a Cocktail Reception and Congressional Banquet on the evening of Saturday, June 28th.  And for those of you who are golf fanatics, there will also be the 2014 Watts Gunn Memorial Golf Tournament on Thursday, June 26th (which honors Watts Gunn, Omega 1928, who made golfing history in 1925 by winning 15 straight holes in the first round of the U.S. Amateur, and went on to win many other games).  Proceeds from the tournament support the College of Excellence and Chi Phi’s other leadership development programs.

WattsGunnLogo

Congress is open to any Chi Phi Brother, whether Active or Alumni.  For more information, check out the webpage at http://www.chiphi.org/congress/

A Little Chi Phi History … Chi Phi Invents Football at Night!

Russell Guin Alpha Chi 1917 staged the world’s first night football game in 1928 while principal at Westville, Ill., High School-and wrote a booklet about it which led to his life-time publishing career with Interstate Printers and Publishers in Danville, Ill., where he became vice president in 1931, later president and now board chairman.

Night football was born at Westville because Saturday afternoons were dominated by college ball, and fans had to work on Friday afternoons. Guin got his idea by seeing lights blazing at a filling station one night and decided they were bright enough to play football.

 Football at Night

Twenty-five foot poles were cut nearby, with two 1000-watt bulbs backed by reflectors on each. “By today’s standards, we were out in the dark,” Guin recalls. When the visiting team objected to the night game, Guin raised the guarantee from $35 to $200. In addition the lights, reflectors, poles and installation cost 700 all done without the knowledge, much less permission, of the school board.

Fans arrived all day, and some 4000 eventually turned out. The ball was painted white and became slippery in the damp evening, but the home team won and the game ran off “without a hitch,” making $1000 net profit.

When he was besieged by inquiries, he wrote a booklet, “Staging a Night Football Game,” which was printed by Interstate. 10,000 copies were sold, so Guin wrote a second book on staging a high school play, then a third on designing an “Extracurricular Accounting System” which is still in use. Success as a writer led to a job offer by Interstate.

Originally printed in The Chakett Online at https://www.chiphi.org/chakettonline/alumni-updates/2014/01/russell-guin-inventor-of-football-at-night/