News

Welcome

by Brian Geary '90, Alumni Communications

Welcome to another edition of the Phi Mu Delta, Nu Theta, active-alumni e-mail newsletter. Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback that we received from our inaugural issue; please keep the comments coming. It is great to see more alumni from across the years reconnecting and our network growing. In this edition, Jeff Lamborn '09, Alumni Relations, shares with us the active's recent success in recruiting new members, Ian Plaxin bids us farewell as Alumni President and reviews some of the recent A-board goals that have been achieved, and we end with some great first-person accounts of summer and fall alumni gatherings. As always, if you've got a story about reconnecting with Phi Mu Delta Alumni or an idea about what you would like to see in the newsletter, please send them our way. Special thanks to both Geoff Seber of the Rensselaer Office of Alumni Relations and Jeff Lamborn for their continuing effort and enthusiasm for our active-alumni e-mail newsletter.

Active News

by Jeff Lamborn, '09, Alumni Relations

We began another process of recruiting new members for the fraternity this fall. Adding new ingredients to an old formula, we've rebadged rush as recruitment beginning this year. The new name captured the house attitude well, and a new style of advertising the house and showing what we're made of was fully endorsed by the brotherhood.

To get our name out to potential members, we found ways to befriend freshmen before school even started such as helping with move-in days and student orientation, in addition to light "dorm storming" during rush. We ordered business cards for each brother as a way to exchange contact information and brothers personally invited potentials out to any activity they would do normally with other brothers. The goal was to make the potentials feel more integrated rather than alienated as some events can do. Advertised events were held on the weekends. As Paul Vecchio '09 put it, "We put the ball in their court" with confidence that they would continue to come out on their own accord.

I'm very happy to report that the method was successful and we've pinned 16 guys; doubling any recent year's best! A list of their names can be found on the house home page and we look forward to brothering them in the near future after they complete our new member education program led by Paul Lemieux.

Alumni News

by Ian Plaxin, '01, A-board President

As some of you already know, this past Alumni weekend I stepped down as Alumni President. Russ Hearn was elected as the new A-board President, Dave Covino will continue on as the Vice President, and I will remain on the A-board as member at large. Over the past seven years as A-board president it was good to see the house grow, the A-board get things accomplished, and guide the direction the fraternity. I am sure great things will happen in the future.

Some of the projects that we have been discussing forever are getting closer and closer to being accomplished. After initially going with a management company that did not work for us, we are very close to finding one that seems to be a perfect fit for Phi Mu Delta. The recent sale of the little league land will give us capital for some much needed structural renovations to the fraternity house, and with the large pledge class this semester it seems that the active brotherhood continues to grow. Please see the A-board meeting minutes and the PMD Google group for further details.

As Alumni President I have gotten to meet many of the older brothers and that was a wonderful experience. I was glad to have it and I look forward to continuing this even more in my new role.

Alumni Notes

by Brian Geary, '90, Alumni Communications

It's great to hear that alumni are getting together in small groups around local graduating years to keep friendships alive. Here are two first-person accounts of some recent summer outings. There is also a recap of this fall's Alumni Weekend and information about the Nu Theta Christmas gathering in Boston.

West Coast Adventures - Yosemite National Park Campout

Michael "Jody" Busch '08

For this year's July 4th weekend, Al Trzuskoski '03, Russ Hearn '05, Mike Wulforst '06, and I ventured off to Yosemite National Park to do some catching up, hiking, barbequing, and bear spotting. With a California highway pothole denting a rim on Mike's MR-2 with me riding shotgun, (necessitating a purchase of a new set of tires from a dusty town on detour), and Al's commitment to be the first man there at 3am, there was plenty of stories to tell over an abundance of hotdogs, bratwurst, burgers and beer Friday night. Unbeknownst to all of us however, the night would get more interesting when a park ranger would drive by our campsite every 15 minutes with a huge spotlight and shout "BEAR" in attempts to scare the local bears away. Luckily, the cute park ranger reminded us to put all of our food and beverages in the storage locker before we turned in for the night, so we didn't have any issues.

A hearty breakfast gave us the energy to hike the Half Dome Trail. And by Half Dome I mean the first few miles of the 18 mile trail that wraps along a set of waterfalls. The "misty trail" proved to be a refreshing one for the hot and dry climate, but base camp soon lured us in and we cooled off in the frigid river nearby, which was essentially run-off from melting snow. Before long, it was time to light up the fire pit and grill more red meat. The night continued in much of the same fashion as the night before, but without the bears. Before we knew it, Sunday came around and it was time to go our separate ways. It was a fun way to spend the weekend and even better to reconnect with the guys I hadn't seen in years.

East Coast Adventures - Summer Beer Garden Excursion

Ian Plaxin '01

To celebrate the flug day of 8/8 several Phi Mu Delta brothers got together and hung out at the Bohemian Beer Garden, in Astoria, Queens, New York. At the gathering, brothers from the past 15 years showed up including: Paul Grenci '95, Mike Joslyn '95, Matt Fox '96, Dave Covino '97, Mike Saily '99, J. P. Gelb '01, James McCaskill '01, Dan Kennedy '02, Clay Nicholson '02, Marty Kearns '03, Adam Lickel '06, Renzo Lombardozzi '07, Ben Green '10, and Mike Popp '10 and myself.

For the past couple of years several local alumni have been getting together at the beer garden each summer. This year it was decided to make the gathering more of a brother event. The event was a huge success as the brothers from a wide range of years hung out together. Several brothers told stories about their kids or kids on the way. Many pitchers of beer were also shared among the brothers. As the evening went on, the cards eventually came out and several hands of Guts, a Phi Mu Delta favorite, were played. Mike Popp (an active) was one of the brothers to come out on top going home several dollars richer, which all of the alumni are sure will help him out up in Troy.

Alumni Weekend

Russ Hearn '05, Alumni Board President

We held our annual fall Alumni Weekend in Troy the weekend of October third, drawing a group of alumni ranging from the years 1959 - 2009. In addition to homecoming activities that were sponsored by RPI, the Nu Theta alumni corporation hosted a dinner for actives and alumni at Daisy Baker's in downtown Troy. The dinner provided a great opportunity for over two dozen alumni to reconnect with old friends and provided an opportunity for interaction with members of the active chapter. After dinner, the chapter house was alive with foosball and good conversation into the early hours of Sunday morning. Thank you to all of the alumni who attended and special thanks goes out to Ian Plaxin for making this event a success!

Phi Mu Delta Christmas Gathering '09 - Boston 12-16-09

John McCarthy '87 let us know that the Phi Mu Delta Christmas gathering in Boston is set for December 16th and is off to a good start. Jeff Lashway '87 has made arrangements at the Liberty Hotel in Boston for rooms. Please mention "RPI Reunion" in order to get a discount on the rooms. For more information e-mail John or view the contact list.

Please remember that end-of-the-year donations to the House can be made to:
Nu Theta Alumni Holding Corp.
c/o Dave Covino
110 Washington Street
Hudson, MA, 01749

Once again, thank you for everyone's input. Please keep the comments and suggestions coming. You can either e-mail me directly or add a thread on the Phi Mu Delta Google Group. Please also make a moment to update your contact info on Brother Web and @RPI.net so that we can keep the network strong.