Fresno Sigma Chi alumnus, Tony Flores (56-S), hosted his third 50s Zoom reunion just in time for the Christmas holidays.  Twenty-one alumni attended out of the twenty-six  who indicated they could.  Ed Boswell (58-F) was going to attend from his home in Kamuela on the Big Island of Hawaii, but apparently he was on volcano irruption watch since Kilauea is blowing its top off and is causing earthquakes.  Many of the 50s era left Fresno after graduating and have not seen their brothers for more than a half century making these Zoom reunions really fun.

Those brothers who were able to join the group were Jerry Bender (56-F), Santa Rosa, CA, Bob Buckenberger (56-S), John Carroz (57-F), Lincoln, CA, Bill Ceresa (56-F), Penn Valley, CA, Butch Charlebois (58-S), La Selva Beach, CA, Joe  Davis (57-S), Davidsonville, MD, Tony Flores (56-S), Jimmy Johnson (58-S), Fair Oaks, CA, Willy  Kollmeyer (57-S), Nevada City, CA, Bill McGuinness (57-S), Joe Monachello (54-F), Atwater, CA, Roger Morey (55-S), Vancouver, WA, Homer Potts (52-T), Fair Oaks, CA, Chuck Sant’Agata (56-S), Frank Small (53-S), Pismo Beach, CA, Bob Smith (54-F), Bill Sparks (57-F), Ron Weiner (53-S), Leo Wilson (55-F), Norm Winslow (57-S) and Steve Zucker (56-S), Maple Valley, WA.

Tony arranged for a slide show that included photos of all of the Fresno Sig Chapter Houses and group photos of four pledge classes.  The first Chapter House was at 1115 N Van Ness Ave and was referred to at the White House.  Photos of the sweethearts of their era will be shown at the next Zoom party in February.

Tony has hosted three Zoom reunions for the 50s era over the last sixty days which serve as examples of his successful efforts to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood for his 50s era. Summarizing all of this, because of Tony the White Cross of Sigma Chi has gained new luster.

On December 17 at 7:00 PM, brothers from around the country joined in the fun. Ed Boswell (58-F) was the furthest away, the Big Island of Hawaii. Brother Brad Fischer (78-S), Alumni Chapter President, led the meeting leaving lots of “open mic” time for individuals to ask questions and tell the group what they were doing during the lockdown.  Consul Jordan Ayerza (17-F) reported that the Chapter House is full, and so far it has been Covid free.  Brad suggested that the January 21, 2021 Zoom meeting may start at 4:00 PM Pacific Time tp provide a more convenient time for brothers who live in the eastern time zones.

Brothers attending included Consul Jordan Ayerza  (17-F), Ed Boswell (58-F), Kamuela, HI, Marv Broderson (63-S), Danville, Jim Calandra (60-S), Seaside, Past Consul Tom Downing (62-F), Brad Fischer (78-S), Wil Herring (76-F), Abilene, TX, Past Consul Marc Jason (81-F), Denver, CO, Past Consul Ron LaRocca (61-F), San Diego, Fred McPherson (61-F), Santa Fe, NM, Rick Nelson (65-S), Dan O’Brien (61-F), Sun City West, AZ, Don Ormsbee (66-S), Davis, Mike Patton (63-S), Paul Porter (74-F), Livingston, TX, Bruce Quan (72-F), Julian Ramos (09-S), Gary Renner (62-S), Dave Reuland (69-F), Bill Robinson (70-F), Chuck Sant’Agata (56-S), John Savona (73-F), Elk Grove, Bill Smittcamp (73-S), Jack Tacchino (66-S), Jerry Waters (62-F), Warren Williams (61-S), Norm Winslow (57-S) and Kevin Wren (74-F).

The Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment was able to award $28,000 in scholarships to fourteen brothers for the 2020/2021 school year, plus the Dante Simi (58-F) Endowment awarded $6,000 to three of our undergraduate brothers.

The Active Chapter achieved academic excellence last semester by besting the all-men’s average at Fresno State with their chapter average of 3.22. Out of 48 undergraduates in the chapter, 23 had a GPA of at least 3.50, one short of 50% while 14 brothers achieved a 4.00 GPA!  They are beyond students of fair ability.

Recently the Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment Board received a thank you note from brother Luke Karagozian (20-S) who received a $2,000 Endowment scholarship and a $3,000 Simi scholarship. In his note, Luke thanked our alumni for its generosity to him and other undergraduates in the chapter, and he noted that the financial help he received allowed him to work fewer hours so he could focus on the 16 units he took in the fall semester. Apparently he focused pretty well because he earned a 4.0 for the semester.
Brother Luke also wrote that our alumni generosity had inspired him to help others and to give back to the community. He hopes that sometime in the future he will be able to help young students just like we helped him. Since Luke aspires to be a teacher, he will have a lifetime of opportunity to do so.

The Fresno Sigma Chi Endowment will be able to award $38,000 to our undergraduate brothers for the 2021/2022 school year. Our endowment total as of January 1, 2021 will be approximately $925,000 and brothers have purchased 2/3 of the 400 available donor bricks that help fund the scholarship program.

Even during the historic COVID-19 pandemic which required an innovative approach to pledge recruitment, our local chapter was able to excel.  With the leadership of Recruitment Chairman, Christian Cline (18-F) they successfully recruited the most pledges of any fraternity at Fresno State and initiated thirteen.  But more importantly as Chapter Advisor, Dusty Lacefield (12-F), noted at the end of the recruitment period, “The quality of the men in this pledge class is astounding!”

The pledge program followed all of the safety protocols outlined by Headquarters, the initiation was done using FaceTime and the ritual used was created especially to follow all safety protocols for the pandemic.  When we finally get back to normal, there will be another initiation that will follow our normal ritual.

The Fall 2020 new initiates are Trenton Benevedes, Christian Cruz, Trent Gardner, William Jacobs, Mason Jennings, Dylan Maley, Logan Mann, Andrew Martinez, Matthew Morillas, Ethan Munoz, Adam Peters, Nolan Sumter and Ronald Wood III.

Click the link below to view the new Attestation Form.

Signed Pledge Form Logan Mann

Attestation forms were used for the first time in Sigma Chi history, and DocuSign was used to prevent infection.  The attestation form above is that of Logan Mann, son of Sam Mann (06-F), Brother Sam is in charge of the Harry St John Dixon Memorial located in the Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno California.

On November 19 the alumni chapter met virtually informing those attending of the latest happenings with our local undergraduate chapter and fellow alumni. Alumni Chapter President, Brad Fischer, opened the meeting with self-introductions.

Brothers in attendance were Consul Jordan Ayerza (17-F), House Corporation President, John “Bullwinkle” Ballinger (65-S), Dave Barns (61-F), past Consul Greg Baxter (67-S), Colonel Don Beauregard (62-S), Marv “Brody” Broderson (63-S), past Consul Tom Downing (62-F), Alumni Chapter President Brad Fischer (78-S), Dan O’Brien (61-F), Mike “Kabong” Patton (63-S), Bruce Quan (72-F), Dave Reuland (69-F), Bill Robinson (70-F), Bill Smittcamp (73-S) and Tim Vaux (66-F).
Consul Ayerza reported that the in-house brothers have been diligent in avoiding exposure to the Covid virus (cross your fingers), and have an isolation protocol in place if someone does get it. He noted that thirteen brothers were recently initiated during an informal ceremony, and that they will be initiated at a later date using the formal ritual when the pandemic allows. He said that it looks like some of the fraternities on the Fresno State campus may not survive these trying times including ΣAE which has closed its chapter house for lack of occupancy.

John Ballinger gave his report noting that the Chapter House is at full capacity explaining that maximum occupancy was reduced to twenty brothers because of the pandemic, and that one room was reserved for isolation in case a brother were to get the virus. He asked brother Patton to show some slides of the south exterior that will undergo improvements in the next few months. Past Consul, George Matoian (79-S), made a donation to the House to improve the signage on the south elevation, and this started the discussion to make more extensive improvements. The south side at Bulldog Lane has not changed since the House was built in 1967, and it obviously does not give passersby a good first impression of the fraternity. The photo below is the before, and we look forward to showing the after in a few months.
Brad saved the most fun part of the meeting for last, and that was the open mic period. It was an entertaining free-for-all, and we were able to find out what is going on in our brothers’ lives.

The next Zoom alumni meeting will be Thursday, December 17 at 7:00 PM.