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

PHI DELTA KAPPA FRATERNITY – BETA ETA CHAPTER ‘The Best Kept Secret in Winchester?’

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The following is an article printed in The News Gazette in Winchester, Indiana

 

 

 

 

The Phi Delta Kappa Fraternity was founded in 1902 in Marion, Indiana. It was originally a social fraternity of young businessmen. The Winchester Chapter which is Beta Eta was founded in 1912.

    Around the World War II Era, there were many Chapters throughout the nation. As has been the case with many civic organizations, the membership has diminished over the years. Currently there are eleven chapters remaining with seven of them in the state of Indiana, three in Florida, and one in Mississippi. The total membership is 901 nationally, with the largest chapter in Winchester with 227 members.

    The Patriarch of Beta Eta is the elder Statesman of the National Membership. Fred Armstrong, retired insurance and real estate broker, is a 72 year member of Beta Eta Winchester. He still frequents the Chapter House when he is in town. Way to go, Fred!

In addition, PDK Beta Eta has been blessed to have tremendous continuity in leadership as both Secretary Zeke Horner and Treasurer Bill Robbins have served in their offices for over 30 years each. Current Chapter President is Larry Detro, Jr., who has spearheaded most every event this year.

    Each Chapter has its own business plan, but every Chapter contributes in many way to its community.

    Current local officers for Beta Eta Winchester are as follows: President – Larry Detro, Jr.; Vice President – Charles Berger; Assistant VP – Chris Moore; Secretary – Zeke Horner; Treasurer – Bill Robbins; Assistant Treasurer – Scott Dull; Master of Ceremonies – Mason Hummel; Sergeant at Arms – Tyler Lennington; Inner Guard – Shean Bosworth; and Outer Guard – Darian Mallory.

    Trustees that keep the facility in top condition are as follows: Kenny Collins, John Wolfe, Rob Kelly, Jerry Fair, and Steve Burge.

    Beta Eta Winchester is very active on the national level as well. Current National Officers are the following: Vice President – Todd Gullett; Auditor – Butch Rhonemus; and Secretary/Treasurer – Zeke Horner. National Board of Trustees are Jim Byrd- Chairman, and Chris Parks – Member. Foundation Board of Trustees are Ron Anderson and Jeff Woolf.

     Beta Eta Winchester has contributed to many local causes throughout the year. Examples include the following: all elementary schools in Randolph Central, Driver Middle School, Winchester Community High School, Winchester Athletic Boosters, Winchester Band, Winchester Concerts in the Park, Winchester Alumni, Winchester Homecoming, Winchester Prom, Winchester Police, Journey Home, Christ Starfish Foundation, Rotary Club, Department of Child Services, Boys’ Little League, Girls’ Softball, and many other worthwhile causes.

    Recently, PDK Beta Eta donated $1,000 to the Randolph County Food Pantry and $1,500 to Secret Families of Randolph County.

    Another event that receives contributions locally is the Second Saturday of the Month Scholarship Breakfasts. Beta Eta was able to award $2,300 in scholarships in 2018 and is on track to exceed that amount in 2019. Breakfasts are from September through May.

    Total donations to our community in 2018 was over $11,000. This is a good secret, but don’t tell anyone. PDK Beta Eta has been a nice secret for 107 years.

Northern Chapter Chase – Larry Detro, Jr

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On the weekend of April 26 thru 28 the Northern Chapter Chase took place here in Indiana. Brother Doug Leach of Gamma Theta – Danville coordinated this event and done an excellent job.

Here at Beta Eta we kicked off the Chase on Friday by providing a variety of food to our members, having a drink special, raffling off a gift certificate to Firehouse BBQ and Blues, giving away a gift certificate to Jason’s Meat Market as a door prize and cranking up the jukebox.

On Saturday morning we headed to Beta Nu – Kokomo in the Colt’s bus with 12 members aboard and 4 other couples following in their vehicles. When we arrived we had a great breakfast waiting for us. We had a few drinks and socialized for a while then headed north with three couples from Kokomo and two couples from Danville for our next stop, Lambda – Peru. The folks here had a meat & cheese tray and vegetable tray ready for us. Again we had a few drinks and socialized for a while then headed north for our third stop, Delta Nu – Plymouth. These folks had ham & beans, cornbread and a variety of food waiting for us. Once again we had a few drinks and socialized before heading north to our fourth stop, Zeta Eta – Laporte. These folks had hamburgers and a variety of food waiting on us. And once again we had a few drinks and socialized before we moved on to our last stop, Gamma Lambda – Michigan City. These folks had chicken and a variety of food waiting on us. This being our last stop we socialized a little longer and had several drinks before finishing the night and heading to our hotel.

The Chapter Chase is a truly awesome time. The brotherhood that is experienced is amazing. The effort all the chapters put in for this event is amazing with all the food and “drinks” waiting for us and the hospitality that is extended. If you have never done this you are missing a great time and should try to experience it at least once. I want to thank Doug Leach for organizing the Chase.

I also want to thank all the brothers and sisters from each chapter for the food and hospitality and those members from Beta Eta, Gamma Theta and Beta Nu that made the journey north. If I were to talk about every stop in detail this article would not fit into the magazine as you experience something different at each chapter.

Thank you to all the Phi Delt chapters.

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!