Paragon

Newsletter

August 2022

Inside

This

Issue

A Message from the President

Save the Dates for Homecoming & the Fall Work Weekend

July Work Weekend is a Success

July Alumni Social Event –Punch Bowl Social Club

50 Years for the Spring 1972 Pledge Class

Saturday, October 08, 2022 – Homecoming Event

Saturday, October 29, 2022 – Work Weekend – RSVP for SATURDAY

Sunday, October 30, 2022 – Work Weekend – RSVP for SUNDAY

  A Message from the Alumni Board President

Brothers,

Since last we spoke, we had our third successful Work Weekend at 11016 Magnolia in the last five months. We also had a well-attended social event the same weekend. We’re actively planning our next projects and events, starting with Homecoming 2022!

In the meantime, our mailing list continues to grow thanks to your word of mouth and some digging from our team of volunteers. This Paragon is going out to more than 430 brothers, up significantly from the June issue. If you’re not sure if your favorite brother is getting this, forward it along to him! If you’re just joining us with this issue, welcome! You can read our June 2022 and April 2022 issues on our website.

Speaking of our website, since our last issues several brothers donated to the Alumni Association via PayPal. We’d like to thank David Hill, Aaron Mann, and Brandon Palmer, as well as some additional brothers who preferred to remain anonymous. Special thanks go to Aaron and Brandon for opting to make a recurring monthly donation. Thank you, brothers!.

Are you interested in helping the Alumni Association? Want to learn more about what’s going on? The main board meets every other Tuesday night and there are committee meetings as well. Please contact me at president@oabphikaps.org or Nathan Kossover at secretary@oabphikaps.org  if you would like to learn more. We’d be happy to have you sit in on a meeting or review meeting minutes.

Yours in the Bonds,

Nicholas DeCenzo
President, Ohio Alpha Beta Alumni Association

Save the Date for Homecoming and the Fall Work Weekend

So far this year, our Housing Committee has organized three very successful Work Weekends. Due to popular demand, our fourth Work Weekend of 2022 will be held on Saturday, October 29 and Sunday, October 30. We will gather at 11016 Magnolia to make various fixes and improvements to the house. Come for a few hours, a full day, or the entire weekend, or just to say hi! A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Please register on our website. Please contact Patrick Glynn with any questions.

We will also have a social event in conjunction with work weekend on Friday, October 28. We’ll announce the exact details in our next Paragon, but mark the date on your calendar now!

With all the work that we’ve done on the house this year, you’ll excuse us if we want to show it off a little. We will be holding an alumni event at the house on Saturday, October 8, in conjunction with this year’s Case Western Reserve University Homecoming festivities. Save the date now! More details will follow in a future Paragon.

On July 9 and 10, we held our third work weekend of the year. Many actives and alumni showed up to improve the house. The weather cooperated and it ended up being one of the most beautiful weekends of the summer here in Cleveland.

Brothers came in from all over Ohio as well as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Germany. A partial list of Work Weekend participants included: Ken Nagano, Tony Rossi, Eric Pinzur, Dave Rowan, John Dutton, Joe Reed, Nate Jacobsen, Bob Sepsi, Josh Ghiloni, Cassiel Yuzik, Nick DeCenzo, Matt Dellibovi, Christian Carson, Gage Bunker, Tim Kill, Will Woodfint, Max Alexy, Max Sun, Russel Bigham, and Steve DeBrosse. I apologize to anyone we missed – I swear it wasn’t intentional!

We also had a BBQ on Saturday night. Dave Rowan led the grilling team in preparing burgers and hot dogs for all our attendees. Brothers Mark Francioli and Nathan Kossover and guests Danita Grigsby, Josh Grigsby, Noelle Rowan joined the work weekend participants. Euchre was played and a few alcoholic drinks were consumed around the fire pit.

Many, many projects were completed by the work crews. Highlights include:

• The window in the boiler room was replaced and proper venting installed above it to provide the boiler and clothes dryers with more air.
• Demolition was completed in the Catacombs (basement by the bar) to remove water damaged dry wall.
• Light fixtures were upgraded over the bar and in the kitchen.
• The stairs from the deck to the driveway were on the verge of collapse. They were torn down and rebuilt, which included pouring a new concrete pad.
• A lot of junk was removed from the garage and the basement. The rented dumpster was nearly filled, and cars can once again be parked in the garage.
• A whole bunch of landscaping work was completed, including edging, trimming, and tearing down ivy. We let professionals take down the tree earlier in the year, but this weekend the stump was removed

Thank you to Patrick Glynn, Dave Rowan, Ken Nagano, and the other members of the Housing Committee for planning this event.

We put down a new concrete pad while rebuilding the stairs from the deck to the driveway. As every engineer knows, writing in wet concrete is a critical part of the process. Matt Dellibovi does the honors here. Matt majored in hard sciences and not engineering, but the concrete didn't seem to mind.

We took a group shot during the BBQ, but there are too many brothers included to name them all here.

On Friday, July 8, 2022, a group of PhiKaps and guests gathered at Punch Bowl Social on the east bank of the Flats in downtown Cleveland to partake in some delicious food, refreshing drinks, and lively conversation. After dinner, we played a few games of pool before heading up to the rooftop bar, where alumni reminisced about hijinks from years past while enjoying the uncharacteristically perfect weather.

Our attendees were:
Alumni: Ken Nagano, Tony Rossi, Eric Pinzur, Davey Rowan, John Dutton, Joe Reed
Actives: Will Woodfint, Tim Kill, Gage Bunker, Max Alexy, Max Sun
Guests: Danita Grigsby, Josh Grigsby, Noelle Rowan

Many thanks to Kenichi Nagano for coordinating this fun evening!

Pictured: Tony Rossi & the lights of Cleveland. Terminal Tower is lit up in blue above and to the right of Tony.

Bob Sepsi and Mark Francioli both attended the July Work Weekend, but neither one mentioned to your faithful Paragon editor that this year marked the fiftieth anniversary of their initiation into the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta.  Fortunately for us, their pledge brother Gary Jarkewicz wrote in to paragon@ohioalphabeta.organd enclosed a picture from their pledge class reunion a few months ago.

Gary reports that all five members of the Spring 1972 pledge class live in Ohio. For this occasion, they met for a boat ride and lunch on the Cuyahoga River.

Brothers, congratulations on fifty years!

From Left to Right: A. Craig Griebel, Gary Jarkewicz, Robert Sepsi, L. Wayne Cassidy, Mark Francioli.