ΠΚΦ Starlighter
BETA KAPPA
V O L U ME
INSIDE THE ISSUE
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Mike Maday, All the Way!
Alumni Spotlight
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Operation Home Front
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Young Entrepreneurs X3
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Announcements
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Important Dates
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Historian Report
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Contact Info Editor’s Letter
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Beta Kappa alum Mike Maday is not in the National Hockey League, but as a boy his time on the ice paid off when he was offered the chance of a lifetime. Maday grew up in St. Catherines, Ontario where hockey reigns as most young men’s dream profession. Maday played hockey throughout his early childhood, with teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens feeding his love for the sport. As a teenager Maday moved to Atlanta. He figured that his hockey playing was coming to a close, but was pleasantly surprised to find a decent number of his peers interested in the sport. He played in a junior hockey league for the Junior Knights up until it was time for college. Instead of pursuing a possible college scholarship, Maday opted to attend Georgia State University, where he eventually joined the Pi Kappa Phi family as a member of the Beta Kappa chapter.
Maday played some club hockey at the University of Georgia and men’s leagues, but they looked to be the extent of his hockey career. David Caruso, a one-time backup to Maday, went on to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes where he eventually transitioned to the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators and Trenton Devils. In March, Caruso’s Trenton Devils were in need of a backup for their game in Atlanta. Caruso sent Maday a message telling him that the Devils were in need of an emergency backup. Maday couldn’t pass up the chance to be a part of competitive
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By: Cody Heermans hockey with some young and very talented players. After participating in some team meetings and stretch sessions, Maday realized the quality of players he would be competing with on the ice was no extra-curricular men’s league. This would be reinforced later on game day when Maday was in the goal for warm ups. During one brief feud between Caruso and a Gladiators player, Maday faced the reality that he might get some time in the net. Nothing came of it, but Maday was ready regardless. After the game ended he was able to see his friends and family in attendance for such a momentous occasion. Mike Maday is one of many Beta Kappa alums to go on after college and represent Pi Kappa Phi honorably. His dedication to hockey has obviously paid off, and is one of the great recent stories in our chapter.
Mike Maday BK 466 Spring 1998
Letter From the Archon By: Paul Marmol If anyone is interested in placing an ad, or writing an article please send all submissions in email to: mkahn2@student.gsu. edu
Greetings Alumni and Family, It is my sincere honor and pleasure to write to you for the first time as Archon of Beta Kappa Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi. I'm excited for the year of Pi Kappa Phi ahead of us and hope to strengthen our alumni and family relations into it. I would like to take this chance to say thank you to all alumni and family who have continued your support in so many generous ways; without your support, our fraternity could not continue to thrive as we have. Your alumni support proves that you have chosen to be Brothers for Life, instead of Four Year Brothers. Thank you again and I look forward to meeting you all at our alumni and family events this Spring. Yours in Pi Kappa Phi, Paul Marmol
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Alumnus Spotlight: John W. Barber ‘54 ing our membership as the original group graduated and went off to the military. Our focus was social and philanthropic, and in the beginning we had no particular plans to attempt to join a national fraternity. As we grew, several members expressed interest in researching a national fraternity that would fit our members. We learned that Pi Kappa Phi was a well respected JWB: ROTC had been installed national fraternity with interest in on campus for the first time. The our campus and an excellent repucampus was notable in that we tation. A committee of members did a lot of walking. Walking the met with Pi Kappa Phi and preramp ways of the parking deck sented to us their recommendations which was converted to classregarding initiation into the fraterrooms was an interesting adven- nity. I was very honored to be the ture. You walked up the ramps to first initiate. some classes and down the ramps to others. We walked outside to a park in front of the Atlanta Auditorium for fresh air. We were “making do” and we knew it, but an education was to be had. Most of the student population worked either full or part time. Many of the professors also had second jobs. Matt: Things were much different in 1954 when you joined Pi Kappa Phi— NBC’s “The Tonight Show” first aired on television, gas was 22 cents per gallon and Swanson delivered the gift of TV dinners to America– What was it like on campus at that time?
Matt: As a founding member of Zeta Chi Delta, what made you choose Pi Kappa Phi as the national fraternity to replace your charter on Georgia State’s campus? JWB: The original members of Zeta Chi Delta were a group of young men who had gravitated together from first meeting in classes and in ROTC training. Our purpose was to put together a local fraternity group to hold us together and to promote increas-
John W. Barber BK-1 Matt: What were your best memories as an active brother in Pi Kappa Phi? JWB: My best memories of being a part of the Beta Kappa Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi are the many social events which were very enjoyable for all of us. We had barbe-
By: Matt Kahn
ques, proms, dances and other gatherings. Matt: As a founding member of the Beta Kappa Chapter, what lessons and skills did you come away with from the fraternal experience? JWB: As a founding member of Beta Kappa Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, I look back and appreciate the leadership skills, friendships, and supportive qualities which I developed during those years. The training has benefited me greatly in my endeavors both in business and in family and social life. Matt: Tell us a little about your family. JWB: My lovely wife of 43 years and I have a son John and his wife, who have three daughters and twin daughters Betsy and Jenny with two sons. All live near us and we have the pleasure of having contact with all our children and grandchildren often. Matt: What advice do you have for all of the active brothers of Pi Kappa Phi? JWB: Enjoy all the benefits of active fraternity life, and maintain your friends after college which will be a pleasure to you during your whole life.
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Operation Home Front Chad Cox BK 605, interviews J. Gregory Howard, BK 314, about his involvement with Operation Home Front. Chad:Tell us a little about yourself as a man of Pi Kappa Phi and as the Chairman of the Board of Operation Home Front? J.G. Howard: I take the ‘fifth’ on my days as a man of Pi Kappa Phi. Women and children may read this and I still want to hold public office. All joking aside, the fraternity was quite involved in the community for a commuter college. We were an older chapter then; by this I mean the average age of the Brotherhood when I pledged was 24, and most were working full-time while going to school. The fact that we participated at all and so successfully with P.U.S.H. and St. Vincent DePaul was amazing. For the rest of the stories you will have to ask me at the next event. As for Operation Homefront, our Mission is to provide emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our service members and wounded warriors. We believe those who wear our country's uniform do so with a sense of duty, knowing they support the causes of freedom. We serve by serving them and their families. Operation Homefront also operates several other programs as well: ‘Wounded Warrior Wives” and ‘Operation Homefront Villages’ just to name a couple. Chad: What motivated you to start Operation Home Front? J.G. Howard: I did not start Operation Homefront; although, I have been a part of the organization for a little over six years now and Chair-
man of the Board for Georgia for all but t hree months of my association. Operation Homefront was started by three wives of service men, that wanted to deal with the ‘Murphy’s Law’ of military family life; the moment a service member deploys, the car will break down, the roof will leak, the plumbing will burst, or a catastrophic medical event will occur. Most military families and their children are not prepared financially or logistically to deal with these crises. They needed help. Chad: How long has Operation Home Front been in operation? J.G. Howard: The Georgia Chapter was founded in 2005. Nationally, Operation Homefront, Inc. began in 2002, in the wake of September 11, 2001 and the military deployments that followed, when military wives and veterans found the growing need to ‘fill the gaps’ and provide the emergency assistance to the military families they were stationed with. This was their answer.
J.Gregory Howard, BK314, accepting a check from Verizon at the December 28, 2010 Falcon’s Halftime Presentation Chad: Since then approximately how much have you raised for the wounded soldiers and families of those soldiers? J.G. Howard: In 2009 alone we met 160,536 needs requests for military families, including active duty, Guard and Reserve members from all branches of service. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has pro-
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By: Chad Cox vided more than $92 million dollars of aid and funding to programs that benefit military families. OpHF does not solicit funds, nor are we governed by the United States Government or any agency therein. We’re proud to have earned the earn the highest rating – four stars – for the fourth straight year from Charity Navigator, the nation’s top independent evaluator of nonprofit organizations. $0.95 of every dollar in total revenue donated to Operation Homefront goes to our programs. Very few charities can say this. Chad: How can others get involved and help this great cause? J.G.Howard: Check out our local chapter, Operation Homefront – Georgia at www.Homefrontga.org. Volunteer opportunities arise constantly. The Georgia Chapter office is located at 1220 Old Canton Road, Marietta, GA 30062 and can be reached at p) 770-973-0014. Executive Director, Kim Scofi. Chad: When is the next event you have planned for Operation Home Front? J.G. Howard:Our events link is: http://www.operationhomefront.net/ georgia/events.aspx . “Operation Hollywood” Airsoft tournament to benefit Operation Homefront Georgia March 19, 2011 – 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Location: Area 13 Airsoft Field-Area 13 located at 640 Kelly Farm Road Newnan, GA 30265 Contact: Greg at p) 770-815-4728 after 3:30 during the week
3rd Annual “Operation Yellow Ribbon Run” April 09, 2011, 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM Location: Mt. Bethel UMC, Marietta Contact: Col. Mike Patellis p) 770-9730014 Volunteers Needed.
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X3: A Pi Kapp Enterprise An interview with Donovan Panone, BK 388 and Mike Littrel, BK441 Q: Tell the readers a bit about what you do? Donovan: X3 is a training center for people with fitness goals or competitive goals in MMA. For fitness goals we offer high energy classes that make training fun. We have an indoor track, astroturf field, and full gym. People want people to push them. We have the best fight team in the Southeast with a 90 percent win rate. 75% of business is on the fitness side. Train football players. We also offer yoga classes and have an on-site nutritionist Q: Where did you come up with the idea for your business? Mike: Basically when I graduated college I started boxing competitively and started a boxing gym together with some friends. Within a few years we were doing well, and I sold the gym and started working with NFL players and training them in MMA and strength and conditioning, as well as kickboxing and martial arts. I also just love working out and working with people Q: How many employees do you have?
By: Stephen Cole
Donovan: We have two locations and are continuing to grow and look for new locations. We have about 40 employees in all. Q: When did you start your business? Donovan: The first gym started in January 2007 and was located in Marietta. The second opened in May 2008
Scott Luchkowec BK386, Mike Littrel BK441, Donovan Panone BK 388 Q: What type of training or education did you get before you started your business? Donovan: Marketing background. Started off doing sales and marketing for a small web development company. Mike was a competitive fighter. Donovan also wrestled in high school. Mike parlayed wrestling experience into kickboxing. Mike: Business degree from GSU helped and growing up in sports Q: What start up costs did you encounter? Donovan: When the Marietta location opened it was opened with “blood, sweat, tears, and credit
cards”. Plumbed, constructed, and built by the openers. Q: What obstacles have you faced in your business? Donovan: Staffing is the number one issue. Staff must be able to deliver top notch customer service and must strive to deliver the highest possible levels of customer service. Must have a well-trained and motivated sales team. Keeping a good staff trained. Mike: Trying to improve the product constantly and not becoming complacent with what you have now; continuously trying to grow. Keeping the big picture in mind Q: How many hours a day do you put into your business and how is this time spent? Donovan: There are no set hours really; the question is whether or not you have accomplished what you need to. It certainly is more than a nine to five, but doesn’t necessarily feel like work all the time because you’re doing what you love to do. You just have to make sure that things get done. Q: What was the best advice you received along with way as far as your business goes? Donovan: Biggest thing that we have learned is to stay focused on your goals, and you must base your decisions on the goals that you have.
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Announcements Important Dates •
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This upcoming May 11th marks the 20th anniversary of Beta Kappa being re-chartered at Georgia State University Email any announcements to me at: mkahn2@student.gsu or matt.kahn2@gmail.com
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March 18th-20th: 18th-20th Spring Retreat in Gainesville, GA March 28-April 2nd: War of the Roses April 17th: Family Day @ 585 Sherwood Ave May 3-7: 3-7 Summer Roseball in Panama City Beach May 13-14: Alumni Weekend in honor of 20 Year Re-Chartering!!!!
Historian Report By: Matt Kahn I have returned for another term as Historian for my final semesters of college, I hope you all don’t mind too much. It has been very exciting for me to see our chapter’s alumni relations grow to the point they are at today. Alumni involvement is at an all time high. Brian Childers has been helping brothers with summer jobs at Turner Field and Ryan Caruthers has offered his assistance in helping finding jobs for newly graduated accounting majors. It is great to see all of the alumni stay active in the
chapter and help brothers. Also, we have one of our biggest alumni events of the chapter’s history coming up in May, which we are all excited about. In case you have not been keeping up with the emails, this May we will be honoring the re-chartering of our chapter by having a Brave’s game gathering on May14th including a pre-game tailgate. That evening we will gather together at a banquet hall still TBD and celebrate the history of our chapter with several activities we have planned.
I look forward to seeing a lot of old faces and many new this summer. I would also like to thank all of the alumni who provided their time and knowledge for this edition of the newsletter. Keep reading gentlemen.
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X3 Continued... Mike: Make sure that you are doing what you love and be passionate about what you are trying to achieve. Q: What has been the key to success in your business? Donovan: Combination of staying focused on our goals and having fun with the things that are thrown at you. Not letting the little things get you down and staying positive. Positive energy that we convey trickles down to the rest of the staff. Negativity and positivity are contagious. Focusing on the details and the little things can make a big difference. Mike: Perseverance and being able to fight through the ups and the downs of everyday life Q: What types of marketing strategies do you employ? Donovan: We do a lot of online work (search ads through google, facebook ads) and word of mouth/ customer referrals from existing members. Q: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs wanting to start a business? Donovan: You have to have a well thought out plan; most people fail because of a lack of a plan. Be prepared to work hard on the details and be prepared to work on the little things. Never settling for less than your best and always looking to move forward Mike: Start a business because you genuinely want to succeed at, and because it is something that you believe in whole heartedly.
Pi Kappa Phi—Beta Kappa 5235 Redfield Court
Archon— Paul Marmol (marmol.paul@gmail.com) Vice Archon— Daniel Cole (dcole4@student.gsu.edu) Treasurer— Aaron Lugo (agomezlugo1@student.gsu.edu) Secretary— Andrew Langley (alangley4@student.gsu.edu) Warden— Michael Kahn (mkahn3@student.gsu.edu) Historian—Matt Kahn ( mkahn2@student.gsu.edu) Chaplain— Adam Sukenik (asukenik1@student.gsu.edu) http:// www.gsupikapps.com/
Readers, This winter break I attended the Midyear Leadership Conference at Pi Kappa Phi’s national HQ in Charlotte, NC. On the historian track, I was congratulated for having one of the best portfolio of newsletters out of any active chapter, but one point to improve was more of a focus on Alumni-News. This edition I shifted the focus from us to you and I hope you enjoy this edition, because a lot of brothers worked very hard to get this one out! See y’all next time!
Matt Kahn BK 538
Visit them on the web at: http://www.x3sports.com/index.html
Editors—Matt Kahn Writers— Chad Cox, Stephen Cole, Matt Kahn, Paul Marmol, Cody Heermans
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Blast from the Past
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