Eta Beta Alumni Association & Snake Reunion

     On Thursday, September 12^th, seven Eta Beta Alumni golfers, gatherd at the Greenville Country Club to decide once and for all who was deserving of the Bobby Tuttle Alumni Memorial golf trophy!  Well they say a tie is like kissing your mother-in-law and that is precisely what happend.  Team captions, Danny Wood and Dixie Hobgood, each, led their team through eighteen holes of pure hell, only to end up dead even!  Nothing could be settled in the club-house after the tournament, so we will just have to wait until 2014 to settle this matter in a special sudden death playoff.

    Thursday evening about thirty Eta Beta brothers, wives and friends gathered at the Greenville Country Club for the opening social of Snake Reunion #6.  Many brothers traveled from as far away as Florida and Texas to be with old friends and make new ones.  We were really pleased by the many younger Eta Beta brothers who participated in our many functions on our sixth reunion weekend.

    Friday morning about sixteen brothers and wives took a trolley tour of the new medical school and a traditional stop at Wright Circle for a picture.  U.B.E.  is one of our favorite stops.  Many of the older brothers remember the pool hall across the street!  Wasn’t there a delivery stable in the back of that old pool hall?

   Now if you haven’t been to one of our reunions, it is worth a trip just to enjoy Parker’s Bar-B-Q that was waiting for us upon our returned trolley ride.  Our business meeting started at 1 pm and was attended by twenty brothers, including a couple of Kappa Sigma Nus.  Our Alumni Association voted to support and work with East Carolina and our National Headquarters for the possible return of an Eta Beta chapter back to the ECU campus during the 2016-17 school year.  Please remember that Sigma Nu was the FIRST chartered social fraternity at East Carolina College.  

  Our annual social and banquet at the Greenville Country Club was a great hit with close to fifty brothers, wives and friends in attendance.  Brother Danny Wood and Jolene McCann headed up a silent auction that raised $1,000.00 dollars for our annual Sigma Nu Swimming Scholarship fund.  This is our way of remembering our Kappa Sigma Nu and Sigma Nu brothers who dominated the swimming team in the late fifties and early sixties.  Many of these brothers were All-American swimmers and many of them deserve to be in the ECU Hall of Fame, something that we are presently working on.  Brother Lyle Cooper, presented Jim Stout the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Service Award and Brothers Millard Maloney and Al Bennett presented Danny Vismor the “Madras Shirt” award that represents the brother that has changed the least!!  So we could dance the night away, beach, boogie and blues, was provided by Danny and Linda Navey from Morehead City.    Paul J. Clifford, President of the East Carolina Alumni Association gave a warm Pirate welcome and Brother Jerry William did another outstanding job by giving the Annual Roll Call of Deceased Brothers.

    A new tradition began Saturday morning. game day, with Jim Stout’s bloody mary brunch.  A Sigma Nu tradition was a bus awaiting to take twenty four brothers and wives to the ECU vs Va. Tech football game.  Now meeting the bus after the game was something else, as only twenty three brothers returned. Brother John Merritt was left behind at the football stadium.  The good news is that Brother John did indeed finds his way back to the Wingate Inn, just in time for our last social at the Greenville Country Club.  About thirty brothers, wives and friends talked of the football defeat, old memories, making renewed friendships and the promises of returning next year.   

So until 2014 and SR #7, just remember, “Once a Pirate, always a Pirate! “    

Minutes
Business meeting of Eta Beta Alumni Association
Friday, September 13^th, 2013, Wingate Inn, Greenville, North Carolina

The 2nd Annual Brotherhood Meeting of the Eta Beta Alumni Association was called to order by Jim Stout, Alumni Commander, with about twenty brothers present.

Brother Jerry Williams, gave a short devotion and it was noted that a roll call of deceased of brothers would be made at the Annual Banquet.

Prior to New and Old Business, Keith Tingley, Director of Fraternities at ECU spoke to the brothers about the possibility of a Sigma Nu Colony returning to the ECU campus in 2016. Next, Alex M. Taylor a field representative from Sigma Nu National Headquarters, spoke to the brothers describing the support that a colony would receive from National Headquarters.

1.  A project manager from National Headquarters would be sent to the ECU campus to live on campus for one semester to recruit future Sigma Nu Brothers for a new chapter.  It would take close to two years to fully develop a new chapter at ECU. 
2. The Eta Beta Alumni Association would need to appoint an Alumni Advisory Board to work with National during this time period.  (see new business)
3. The time line that we are hoping for is the 2016 school year to start the new colony. 

Minutes from the last meeting were not read as Recorder, Brother Ralph Stone was not present.

Brother Danny Wood, Jerry Williams, and Millard Maloney, met with Mat Maloney of the ECU Athletic Department concerning the Eta Beta swimming scholarship.  We have been assured that all donations go directly to the Sigma Nu swimming scholarship program. Also, Brothers Wood and Maloney presented Mat Maloney with a $1,000 scholarship award to help fund the Martinez Scholarship Fund awards to swimmers.

Brother Danny Wood reported that sixty three brothers have supported this year’s Eta Beta Reunion! That is a few numbers higher than previous years.

Brother Millard Maloney gave a treasurer report that enough money had been raised to cover all expenses for SR-6.  If any brother wishes to review the treasurer report, reunion expenses, please contact Brother Maloney.

Brother Jim Stout reported that we had seventy five brothers, wives and friends to attend the 2012 banquet, at the Greenville Country Club. 

NEW and OLD BUSINESS:

A discussion was held concerning the future of Eta Beta and it’s possible return to ECU.  There was a motion, properly seconded, that we, the Eta Beta Alumni Association, support a possible return to ECU for the 2016-17 school year.  Motion passage was unanimous among brothers attending the meeting.

Alumni Commander Jim Stout appointed a committee of Alumni Brothers to work with ECU and National for a successful return to campus.  This committee will be called the Alumni Advisory Board. Members are Ray Oliver, Mike Cunningham, Tom Glass, Chip Mayo and Jim Bentz.  Ray Spears who lives in Greenville will advise this committee on local concerns. Millard Maloney was also asked to serve in an advisory capacity to this committee because of his previous experience with past Eta Beta Chapters.

There was discussion concerning future sites for Eta Beta Reunions.  Most brothers are satisfied with a football week-end in Greenville. We can only set the reunion dates when ECU publishes their football schedule.   However, in the future we may return to Raleigh, as there are a lot of brothers living in the piedmont area of NC. 

Brother Stout reviewed the schedule for the SR #6 week-end.  Brothers, wives and friends were reminded of the Banquet that evening and the Bloody Mary pre-game social at the Wingate on Sat. morning!!!  Go Pirates.

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          Jim Stout, Alumni Commander                                                           Date