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Chapter News
Chapter News Chapter News Chapter News Chapter News Chapter News Just Try It!
By Robin Kenyon, ΤΒΣΤΒΣ ΤΒΣΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ Alpha Mu Chapter, Wichita State University
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What do you get when you mix nine Brownie Girl Scouts, a handful of Tau Betas, and some wacky homemade instruments? A ton of fun, thatís what!
When the Alpha Mu chapter of Tau Beta Sigma found out about the program to help Girl Scouts earn their music ìTry-Its,î we jumped to work sending Former Girl Scout Extraordinaire Melissa Losie to round us up a troop. She contacted one of our Alumni, Julie Foster, and made arrangements to spend an evening with her daughterís scout troop. You can take my word for it; this is definitely a program for everyone. Itís easy enough to arrange; contact churches and elementary schools in your area to find troops, and let it fly from there! The troop leader can provide the necessary materials to make the instruments, and you provide the knowledge and fun and even bring your own instruments. Itís only a few hours of your time, but so worth it to the girls. We were known from there on out as ìthose big girls who played their instruments for us.î We explored soda bottle trombones, bean shakers, glass xylophones, and garden hose horns, enough for a roaring good time.
Most importantly, this experience allowed us to further our common goal of promoting women in the music field. Already, these girls had been graced with a strong school background in music. We were impressed with their knowledge of the instruments we brought to play and their anticipation to answer any questions we posed to them. After about ten (or was it twenty?) choruses of Hot Cross Bunsóa third grade standardówe left with feelings of pride and accomplishment for our abilities to share a love of music with others.
This past April 8th, the Zeta Chi Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Epsilon Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Sigma hosted our annual alumni banquet as part of our alumni weekend, which also included softball and a cookout for our alumni. However, this year had special meaning to all the brothers of Zeta Chi. We celebrated our twenty-fifth year of service to the bands at The University of South Carolina this year, and twelve of our charter brothers came back to Columbia to help us celebrate the occasion.
Our charter brothers came from as far away as St. Augustine, Florida, and from four states to join us. There were alumni in our own area that had been lost, but found with a little work. From the first time I talked to many of them, they jumped at the chance to come back to USC and see their brothers. Many of them hadnít talked with each other in as much as twenty years, and the enthusiasm they had was evident from the moment they got there. It was great to see brothers from a different time still excited about Kappa Kappa Psi. Each charter brother was presented with a plaque as a token of our gratitude for founding Zeta Chi. As they came up to receive this, each brother took some time to tell everyone what they were doing now, and how their lives have changed over the past twenty-five years.
It was a very satisfying feeling to meet the people behind the names, and to learn a little about each of the oldest brothers of the chapter. Nearly four hundred brothers have been initiated into Zeta Chi between the first brothers in 1974 and my line, spring 1999, but it felt like no distance at all talking to them. Our banquet revealed the true bonds that are formed in music, giving me the ability to talk with brothers from previous years, whom I might otherwise have never known, like they were actives in the current chapter.
The biggest honor for our chapter came in presenting honorary membership in Zeta Chi to Mr. Tom OíNeal, who was the director of bands at USC between 1973-76, and truly did wonders for the Carolina Band. Mr. OíNeal was an active brother of the Gamma Chi chapter at The University of Southern Mississippi when in college, but was never made an honorary of Zeta Chi, despite his work for the band and his involvement in the founding of our chapter.
The weekend turned out to be a great success, thanks to all of the brothers and sisters, and especially the alumni committees of Epsilon Alpha and Zeta Chi. We were also fortunate to receive great support from our alumni. It was great to meet the charter brothers of my chapter and help honor Tom OíNeal, without whom Kappa Kappa Psi might never have been at USC. This was our first banquet in a couple of years, and it was a great starting point for future events. We hope the success we had will carry over into our next banquet or alumni functions next year. Lisa Richards, left, instructs three Wichita, Kansas, area Brownies in the proper technique for the garden hose euphonium.
Zeta Chi Celebrated Twenty-five Years of Service
by Alan Pine, ΚΚΨΚΚΨ ΚΚΨΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ Zeta Chi Chapter, University of South Carolina
Fifty Years of Psi
By Amanda Danish, ΤΒΣΤΒΣ ΤΒΣΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ Psi Chapter, University of Arkansas
On November 11, 2000, the Psi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma at the University of Arkansas will celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. The chapter selected a special Alumni Committee to handle all of the numerous details that go along with such a special occasion, and Dollie McDonald and Natalie Nottenkamper, two of our seniors, were chosen to head the committee. Preparations began in the spring of 1999, and theyíve been steadily progressing ever since.
A celebration of this sort would not be the same without the help and participation of our alumni. To get the strongest alumni base possible, the committee poured over stacks of university alumni books and old yearbooks to find any information that they could about past Psi members. They quickly discovered that a current list of all married, as well as maiden, names was an absolute essential! Many alumni were discovered during those long hours in the University Library.
Last November, when a preliminary list had been compiled, a mailer was sent to each alumnus. This mailer included an information sheet that asked each person questions about their past involvement in TBS, what has happened to them since graduation, what they might know about other past members, and various other details. When the committee received responses, the information sheets were placed in a notebook and were used to keep track of who had been successfully contacted. E-mail addresses were also listed on the information sheets. With this additional method of contact, communication with these alumni became much easier. Each e-mail received was also placed in the notebook for future reference.
The committee was enjoying much success, but they were still having trouble finding addresses for many of the alumni. Internet searches yielded some results, but they were marginal. A lucky break came in the form of a mailer sent in February of this year in which the committee included a list of all alumni that they were unable to locate. This turned out to be a fantastic way to get more results. Married names, addresses, and phone numbers all came pouring in. Another help was the creation of an alumni page and special alumni guestbook as an addition to our existing chapter homepage. This really helped the alumni see what their chapter has become. It also gave them a chance to get in touch with other alumni. Once the list of alumni had grown to a significant number, the committee began calling local alumni to speak to them on a more personal level. Each charter member also received a hand-written letter from a member of the committee to let them know what was going on and personally invite them to our upcoming banquet.
Our Fiftieth Anniversary Banquet will be held on October 21, 2000, in Fayetteville. An alumnus from each of the five decades of Psi will speak. Some of these speakers include Mrs. Kathy Steil Morris, Mrs. Becky Anderson Hartman (a past National President), and Mrs. Chris Mullen Gordon. A slide show will be presented using photos sent in by various alumni, and a chapter history book will be available for everyone to enjoy. We are absolutely thrilled that two of our charter members as well as our first sponsor (and honorary member) are planning to be in attendance.
We at the Psi Chapter are incredibly excited about all of the planning that is going on. Pride is abounding here at the University of Arkansas as we look back on our fifty years of service to the Razorback Band. We would like to extend an invitation to all of you, our sisters and brothers, to join us in celebration this fall. Thank you for supporting us through the past fifty years. We hope to be going strong for many more years to come.
On May 4, 1970, during protests against the Vietnam War, four students were shot to death on the Kent State University campus. This event was so traumatic that the campus was shut down for the rest of the semester.
On Thursday, May 4, 2000, at 8:00 p.m., there was a combined concert including the Kent State Wind Ensemble and the Kent Chorus to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of shootings. The concert included the world premiere performance of Ken Langerís four-movement work for wind ensemble and chorus, ìDona Nobis Pacem.î The concert took place in the newly renovated university auditorium, which once held great conductors such as Fredrick Fennel, Karel Husa, and Igor Stravinsky. Even though it is still under construction, it is coming alive once again to host the sounds of the Kent State Bands.
The concert also included the Wind Ensembleís performance of the new piece by David R. Gillingham, ìA Light into Darkness.î This piece was written in memory of the Oklahoma City bombing, and paints a vivid picture of the emotions and reactions the city felt during this event. The Kent Jazz Ensemble was also featured in the concert.
Beta Psi brothers Jacob Adkins, Elisha Arnold, Angela Bungo Sara Carlino, Brandon DuVall, and Mary Tesch were among the performers, and the Beta Psi Brotherhood did all the set changes for the concert.
It was an evening that expressed the continuing goal to ìstrive for the highestî with the love of music. Brother Tara Chesko said, ìThe concert brought much publicity to the School of Music because of the significance of the May 4th shooting at Kent State; it was a great way to remember the past, brought to life again with the help of the KSU music department.î It also showed how much our University, School of Music, and Chapter have prospered throughout the past thirty years. Think about what your chapter can do to help your campus remember its past?
May 4th: A Commemoration
By Jacob Adkins and Kevin Matheson, ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ Beta PsiChapter, Kent State University