National President’s Message – May 2020

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Hello Brother’s and Sisters,
First of all, I hope that everyone has gotten through this pandemic without any illness.  May God look down upon us and keep us all safe.  Hopefully we will be able to go to our favorite restaurant or watering hole in the near future!
Most of you have probably heard,  but Brother Kerry “Sarge” Gilmer was in a motorcycle wreck in March.  He had a pretty extended stay in the hospital with some broken bones and some breathing issues.  He was released from the hospital around the 1st of April.  He still has a long way to go,  so please pray for healing for our Brother.
I want to wish all the mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.
May is also when we recognize the men and women of the Armed Forces that gave the ultimate sacrifice for us to be free and live in this great country.  Remember them as we celebrate Memorial Day.
PDK has been trying a new way to communicate on the Go To Meeting website.  I think this will come in handy and save some money for National Officers and others in the future.  You will get an invitation through your email and you follow the instructions to join.  It is better to do it on a laptop or computer so you can see and hear everyone.  If you do it through your cellphone you can only hear people.
At Beta Eta we have continued to make improvements to our Chapter  House.  Thanks to everyone that has put the work and time in to making it a better place for everyone.
As of writing this article, all Chapters are shut down due to the Governor’s order.  We now can see what a simple gathering or a night out to eat is such a luxury.
Convention is coming in July so be sure to get your registration in by June 30th, your magazine article by June 20th and your shirt orders in to Beta Eta by May 15th.  All the Chapters should have a Convention Packet, if not,  email Scott Dull at sdull13@gmail.com and he will send you the info.  We look forward to seeing you all there.
Don’t forget to get your 20/20 tickets ASAP.  Contact any National Officer and he will gladly hook you up.
May God bless you and your family!
Proud to be a Phi Delt,
Todd Gullett
National President

 

National President’s Message – December 2019

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Hello brothers and sisters,
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and your family.  Let’s not forget the reason for the season.  Christmas is to remember the birth of Jesus Christ.  May he bless you.
Butch, Larry and I made the trip to Florida for the Fall SEC meeting on October 4-6th.  Brother Joe and Kelly were at the airport to pick us up and let us use their car for the weekend.  We really appreciate you guys doing that for us.  Thanks again.  Thanks to Florida Nu for the beach party on Friday and the Swampfest on Saturday.  We had a great meal of gator tail, frog legs, catfish nuggets and chicken.  Everything was delicious.  Thanks to the brothers and sisters for their hard work and hospitality.
Brother’s Butch Rhonemus, Larry Detro and I, along with 4 other brothers, made the trip to Kokomo for initiation on October 21st.  Kokomo helped, Delta Nu Plymouth, bring in 3 new brother’s.  Congratulations to Brother’s Trump, Johnson and Martin on being Phi Delta Kappa’s newest members.
Brother Butch and myself are heading to Mississippi for the Chili Cook-off November 9th.  We look forward to seeing all our Mississippi family.  The weather there should be a little warmer than Indiana.  It is supposed to be a high in the lower 30’s all week.
If you haven’t bought 20/20 tickets, now would be the time.  Early bird drawings begin this month.  Get in contact with me and I will hook you up.
Proud to be a Phi Delt.
National President
Todd Gullett

Am I Really Almost Done? – Bruce Smith, National President

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Hello Brothers and Sweethearts!

This is my second to last article that I am required to write. Trust me I will always write articles when the mood strikes me. I enjoy writing more than most do. I enjoy talking too, as most of you already know. I do want to thank all of the National Officers for not missing any articles this year. I forgot to email mine in once in my seven years. I felt like horrible about that mistake. We came up with a system at an SEC meeting to make sure it should not happen again. So far it is working well. That is what I like about problems, there is almost always a good fix when good minds get together and work it out.

The Chapter Chase is in the books again. Thank you to National Master of Ceremonies, Doug Leach, for getting it all set up. Thank you to Beta Eta for bringing the majority of the travelers. Thank you to all of the Indiana Chapters for your fantastic hospitality. I missed the stops in Peru and Plymouth due to my baseball coaching responsibilities. I apologize to both of those chapters. I was hoping to be able to do the whole chase again this year but a quitter made it impossible.

We did have a third coach this year to help us out. He got his feelings hurt and quit. A week or two later his son quit the team. It just reminded me of something my dad told me years ago, and that was “Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win!” That mentality still follows me into all aspects of life.

I know this is also very true when it comes to fraternal matters. If enough of the brothers quit caring about their Chapter it will fail. If there are no new members to take over for the ones that do it all now surely that Chapter will fail. I am not a quitter, sometimes when I really should quit I still continue to battle and try to win. It all comes down to how much you care and appreciate what you are fighting for.

I love our Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity. I will continue to work to better the Fraternity for as long as I draw a breath. I love the brotherhood. I love traveling to other chapters. I love the events and the charities we support. I just can’t see my mentality for success ever changing. How about you? Do you believe in PDK enough to continue to fight the good fight? Do you care enough to step up your game to help your chapter and the fraternity as a whole? I sure hope you do. We need your support. False allegiance is really not acceptable now, is it?

I hope to see many of my brothers and sweethearts in Kokomo for the National Convention in July (17th to the 20th). I am sure Beta Nu will put on a great convention. The convention tells me that it is getting close to my time in the National Officer Chairs to be done. Next month I will convey some of my final thoughts as a National Officer in Phi Delta Kappa. It may be my longest article ever. Then again it just may be tears on the page.

Don’t forget to buy your 20/20 tickets from any National Officer. Some really need to get their allotment of tickets sold. National VP Todd Gullett is our best salesman when it comes to 20/20 tickets. His salesmanship has helped out with all of the SEC members travel expenses over the years. He has made it possible to donate extra money to our National Foundation and St. Jude’s and other charities. Thank you to everyone that buys the 20/20 tickets to help support the SEC brothers, the National Foundation and St. Jude’s. It is people like you that keep the fraternity growing and doing the great work we do.

Until next time remember to tell your loved ones every day that you love them. Hug a brother and get involved. Proud to be a Phi Delta Kappa!

Happy New Year Brothers and Sweethearts

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Hello and Happy New Year, brothers and sweethearts.

Sarah and I had a fantastic trip to Mississippi Alpha, The Hospitality Chapter. We left on Thursday afternoon after I got off of work. We drove and got south of Nashville, TN and then found a descent hotel to sleep for the night. Friday was a day I was looking forward to on this trip. Most of you that have talked to me understand my love of music.

The side trip was to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The 3614 Jackson Highway Muscle Shoals Sound Studios was our destination. This was/is the home studio of The Swampers. These guys recorded some of the best music ever recorded. We had a tour of the facility and the recording studio. It is Rock and Roll Heaven, Man. I was surprised at how small the studio actually is. Ask me details when we meet and I can fill you in. Google The Swampers and you will understand my obsession with checking this place out.

After this side trip we journeyed on to Meridian for their Chili Cook Off. Friday night was spent at the Chapter House catching up with old friends and making some new ones. Beta Eta, Winchester sent a good group of brothers and sisters down to Meridian too. Dang that was a fun night! Saturday was the cook off. It had been raining in Meridian for several days. The back yard was kind of a muddy mess. All of us Indiana folks had to get some boots or cheap shoes to slop around in the mud. The tickets allowed us a chance to sample every different chili there. There were some interesting flavors made by the chefs. I liked all of them. Outer Guard Nate Moore and his wife Hannah won the completion based on votes by all of those who sampled the chili. Congratulations, Brother! White Trash Chili was the ruler of the day. There was a band playing some Southern Rock, country and straight up rock and roll. It was a fantastic afternoon. We stayed at the Chapter House until late in the evening. Thank you so much to all of the brothers and sweethearts at Mississippi Alpha for such a wonderful time. You deserve the title of The Hospitality Chapter. It was bittersweet not seeing PNP Greg Trombly’s smiling face at his Chapter House. R.I.P. brother Greg, we really do miss you.

The following weekend we had our first Northern Brotherhood Meeting in years. Kokomo, Beta Nu hosted the meeting. I wanted to get this meeting back up and running. The attendance was about what I expected because of the less than one month notice. I think everyone enjoyed the meeting and the brotherhood. The discussions were worthwhile and the time was well spent. We will keep this going! Thank you Beta Eta for all of the brothers that traveled to Kokomo.

I waited until our We Care Weekend was finished in Kokomo to write this. This year our collection total was a bit off from last year. The total collected was $11,600.00! Of that $1,892 was in change, yep, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Thank you to PNP and Emir Jim Myers for all of the planning and get the brotherhood involved. I sure wish more Beta Nu brothers would do their part and help out.

We lost brother Don Hicks to a fast acting cancer. Don was a great brother at our Chapter and was also a brother of PNP Otis Hicks. Don was such an upbeat and cheerful man. He will be missed by all of us. Beta Nu did the funeral ritual at Don’s funeral. This is such a moving ritual to see and hear. My Beta Nu brothers did a very beautiful and heartfelt reading for Brother Don. You did a great job, brothers.

I hope everyone out there had a blessed Christmas and the start of a Happy New Year! God Bless you all and your families. And God Bless PDK! Until next time remember to tell your loved ones every day that you love them. Hug a brother and get involved. Proud to be a Phi Delta Kappa!

Merry Christmas and All That Jazz

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Merry Christmas and All That Jazz

By Bruce Smith, PDK National President 2018-19

Hello brothers and sweethearts. Sarah and I had a wonderful trip to Florida Alpha Lambda. We flew in early enough on Wednesday that I was able to attend their business meeting in the evening. President Chris Lawrence ran a great meeting.

The Chapter was putting the finishing touches on the Pasco County BBQ event for that coming weekend. Every brother at the meeting volunteered for a task to make sure everything was covered for the weekend. I was able to sit back and watch the brotherhood take on such a monumental task with ease. e brotherhood working together in unison made me very proud as National President.

This was my first trip out of Indiana since the National Convention. I cannot accurately describe the feeling one gets when they are treated with such respect and pampering. All of the brothers made sure that Sarah and I were well taken care of. It is almost embarrassing for a man like me. I have never been in a position to receive the truly kind, caring and loving treatment I received at Alpha Lambda. Thank you brothers, I really felt the brotherhood and the love from you all.

The cooking event on Saturday was unreal. Emir and PNP George Taylor will have a full report on the event. One of the bonuses of being the National President is that I got first dibs on the meats after the judges were done with their sampling. My God, those teams sure did cook up some of the best chicken, ribs, pork medallions and brisket I have ever eaten. I would recommend going to this event to any PDK brother or sweetheart. Again, thank you Florida Alpha Lambda for making this humble Indiana guy feel like a King for several days! You guys ROCK!

It was so sad to hear about the passing of PNP Greg Trombly. I spent five years in the SEC chairs with Greg. It would be hard to find anyone that loved to travel more than Brother Greg. His enthusiasm and love for Phi Delta Kappa was off the charts. His smiles and hugs will be missed by all who ever took the time to get to know him. R.I.P. my brother, my friend.

Christmas will almost be upon us when this magazine gets to your hands or computer screen. This is the time of year that families get together and share their love of each other over meals, drinks, caroling and present-opening. If you know of a brother or sweetheart that may be alone on Christmas please open your heart and your home to them and show them some love. God Bless you all and your families. And God Bless PDK!

My article next month I will fill you all in on our trip to the Hospitality Chapter in Meridian Mississippi. I know the brothers and sweethearts will show us a great time. I love traveling to PDK events and meeting old friends and making new ones. What could be better than that?

Bruce Smith

PDK National President 2018-19

president@phideltakappa.org