It seems that as we continue to age, these annual awards events come upon us at a faster pace and with the continued diminished number of participants. And so it was again this year on Sunday, August 19, 2012, that the PSE Alumni Assn. met at my home to continue the presentation of monetary stipends to children of former EIU Phi Sigs that submitted an application.

   With only one application submission received, we none-the-less planned and progressed as if there were more. Actually we thought there was going to be more, as we had verbally visited with a Phi Sig at the PSE Golf outing, who apprised us that his son was in school at Eastern. After giving him an application at that time, we expected to receive a completed application before the July 15^th cutoff date. Having received only one application, that being from Evan Boone, who also received the Student Award last year, arrangements were made for the luncheon and award.

   Evan’s parents, Rusty and Karen Boone, from Hillsboro, IL, were invited to the Noon outdoor luncheon at my house, to be followed by the presentation of the Student Award at 1 PM. Following that, pictures and visiting in the PSE Archives room could continue at leisure. Evan showed up at about 11:45 AM and visited with the alumni already in attendance, that being my wife Sharon and me, Boone Chaney and new PSE board member Randy Waldron and his wife, Linda. With about 12:15 PM rolling around, I asked Evan if he knew anything about the whereabouts of his Mom & Dad, who had committed to being there. After finally reaching them by cellphone, he informed us that they would be on their way and should be there in about an hour. Good thing I hadn’t started cooking yet. They had thought that the luncheon was to begin at 1 PM or thereabouts, followed by the rest of the scheduled events. Now I can say this about Rusty, because we’re friends, but I’ll bet that if our PSE soiree was instead, one of his beloved fishing tournaments, he would be there early. At about 1:30 PM, with the arrival of Rusty and Karen, we proceeded to partake of the luncheon. They had made excellent time (no cops apparently around) on their sojourn from Hillsboro to Charleston. You can do the math from the above-noted time elements and approximate the average miles-per-hour travel speed needed to get here. 

   With lunch completed, we quickly commenced and completed the 22^nd annual PSE Student Awards, with little fanfare (as it had all been heard before and we were behind on time). From there, we completed the obligatory pictures in front of the PSE banner and then retired to the Archives Room to go back in time and revel in the simplicity of the time when we older alumni were in school.

L to R – Rusty Boone, Evan Boone, Karen Boone

L to R – Randy Waldron, Gary Brinkmeyer, Evan Boone, Boone Chaney

   With the golf reins of organization and implementation being handed over from the capable hands of Tom Swanson to those equally capable hands of Gene Everett (remember the old Phi Sig adage-we’re all equal), the 2012 version of the Phi Sig Open was held at the Railside Country Club in Gibson City, IL. Swanney had hosted the Phi Sig golf outing for at least the previous 2 years at the Minne Monesse Golf Club in Grant Park, IL, and was ready for it to be played somewhere different this year. Gene has hosted it in the past also, so it was a natural fit for him, with help from nearby Phi Sig, Dick Swing, to put it together. And put it together well he did, ordering up a perfect weather day on May 19, 2012.

   A number of Phi Sigs came to Gibson City on Friday night to partake in the hospitality proffered by Gene and his wife Sue, and spend the night (or weekend as the case may be) at their beautiful country home with the large, well-manicured yard, complete with scattered outcroppings of beautiful flowers and mature trees. All the golfers that have opted to play, but just drove in for the day, were invited beforehand to the morning breakfast. Sue always has a great breakfast spread of entrees on Saturday morning, including a multitude of fresh fruits, breakfast egg/sausage casseroles, pastries & toast, juices and the coup de grace, more of the same. After this hearty breakfast, with its attendant socialization (code words for living in the past), the group sauntered on up to the golf course, a mere 5 minutes from the Everett household. For the $40 cost per registrant, the golfer got his 18 holes of golf, cart (with GPS) and with the money left over (this is not Chicago, is it), there was enough for a few prizes, as well as a participatory gift for everyone. That gift was a set of two Phi Sig whiskey tumbler glasses that were extras from the 2010 PSE Reunion in Charleston, IL.

   With an 11 AM (I think) tee time, the group of 19 golfers gathered into their pre-assigned foursomes (with a few oddsomes to boot). Those golfing this year included Jerry Nyckel, Dwayne Nyckel, John Ziebarth, Tim Kearns, Dave Carrell, Gene Everett, Gary Brinkmeyer, Dick Carpenter, Wally Kos, Ken Dennison (with new bionic knee), Boone Chaney, Jim Luthe, Darrell Brown, Rick Tate, Tom Swanson, Dick Swing, Keith Gotthardt, Ron Eichhorn and Al Story (a friend of the group). Paul Klopfenstein also showed up on his BMW motorcycle to both the early morning Everett open house and the time at the course up until the beginning of golf play, at which time he rode back to the dealership in the Champaign area and then home. I appreciate the toleration of my golf game by my golf group, headed up by my cart partner, Wally Kos. The weather was perfect for the time period and for the game of golf, or as they say in Germany, “wunderbar”. In fact the sun was very intense  and I found myself the next day rubbing Aloe Vera into the right side of my face, where I had gotten significantly burned.

   With the completion of the golf play in mid-to-late afternoon, the group was again reminded, as they had been when they registered, that there was a cookout and meal being provided once again by Gene & Sue Everett, this time supplanted by goodies from the Swing family (Barb & Dick). The outdoor deck provided the perfect medium for continued conversation and another great meal. It’s hard to believe the appetite that can be generated by the swinging of a golf club (or maybe it’s the 12 oz. curls on the course). Whatever, there was certainly enough great food, drinks and visiting to go around to satisfy whatever hungers you had. With the completion of the meal and the onset of lethargy, it was time to award prizes and recognition to the winning foursome from the day’s efforts. Coming in first, with a 2-under par overall score, was the team comprised of members John Ziebarth, Dwayne Nyckel, Ken Dennison (is that new knee an unfair advantage?) and Darrell Brown. They each received a sleeve of new golf balls for their combined efforts. With the sun beginning to wane, most everybody said their goodbyes to the refrain that they would be back again next year. And, it sounds like Gene is going to host the 2013 version of the Phi Sig Open again in Gibson City, IL. I doubt if there are any complaints out there, hearing that bit of news. However, no evening travel plans were in place  for a number of us who were staying overnight with the Everetts. The morning found us refreshingly rested and once again the recipients of their morning hospitality. Don’t get much better than that!

   Thank you Gene and Sue (and Dick & Barb) for all your efforts in providing a memorable golf outing.

PSE Open golf outing attendees

L to R – (Standing) – Gene Everett, Tim Kearns, Dave Carrell, John Ziebarth, Ron Eichhorn, Dick Carpenter, Dick Swing, Jim Luthe, Jerry Nyckel, Keith Gotthardt, Tom Swanson, Wally Kos, Paul Klopfenstein, Al Story

L to R (kneeling) – Darrell Brown, Dwayne Nyckel, Gary Brinkmeyer, Ken Dennison, Boone Chaney

Winning PSE Open golf outing foursome

L to R = John Ziebarth, Dwayne Nyckel, Ken Dennison, Darrell Brown

   Well, it took 39 years to finally arrive, but arrive it did, to minimal fanfare but also the gratefulness that we are still willing and able to get together. Four of the original six Phi Sigs that started out on the bluffs of Lake Michigan in 1973 were in attendance, as were three spouses (that’s better than the national average of married spouses after 40 years). The original Phi Sigs were Charlie Henry, Gene Everett, Dave Carrell and me, Gary Brinkmeyer. From the originally scheduled late-July, early-August camp-outs of past years, we now meet in mid-to-late September, this year being on September 21-23, again near Lake Shelbyville, IL.

   Now, I’ve elucidated on all the goings-on of past camp-outs and the more recent camp-ins over the years, so I’m not going to bore you with all that fun again, suffice to say though, that it sure was nice this year to stand under the outdoor porch overhangs on our cabins while a toad-strangling rain poured down on us on Friday afternoon. During those first 25 years, we would have just gotten our tents and sleeping bags wet and slogged around in the mud outside, generally making both the campsite and ourselves miserable. The new Whitetail Crossing Cabins near Lake Shelbyville afford us all the amenities of home and the site area has strived to maintain and continually improve both the buildings and the roadways/parking areas. We are already scheduled to meet again on September 20-22, 2013, for the convocation of the 41^st PSE Camp-In.

   Amongst all our musings while sitting around the campfire or milling around in small, ever-changing groups, our Phi Sig group has always had the capacity to listen year after year, to all the stories that are repeated and embellished and all the same old jokes, with an occasional smattering of new ones interjected. We laugh as heartily as if it had just been heard for the first time and we visit amongst one another and marvel that we as a group are still getting together. We, as individuals or family units, also hear from many of our own individual friends or colleagues, who can’t believe that the friendship and brotherhood that bonds us together has gone on for so many years. Frankly, it is something that we brothers have talked about from time to time. The discussion mediates from the extremes that (1) we are stuck in a time warp to the more plausible explanation that (2) in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s especially, there was just a great mix of individual personalities that commingled to form a number of caring, cohesive pairings that enjoy each others company. I don’t know how else we can explain it, so we’ll just have to accept that that’s the way it is. All I know is, that amongst our group are some of my (our) best friends, whom we choose to associate and visit with. I think the same can probably be said for many other brothers or couples in our group and in a multitude of other groups that I have talked to.

   To commemorate this special occasion, discussions ensued last year over what would be an appropriate souvenir keepsake for everyone to receive, honoring the 40^th Anniversary. Since we all enjoy the sharing of the afore-mentioned jokes, and since we are having more and more trouble remembering them, the thought was forwarded that they should be recorded in a numbered listing (punch lines only). That way, we could just holler out  “#42” or “#8” or anything else, look on our listing and laugh as we realized what the whole joke was from our memory. So that is exactly what we did! An email was sent out to everyone in our Camp-In group soliciting all of the joke punch lines from our 40-year past, as well as all the different jingles from the “There once was a man from… tucket” or “There once was a lady…Claire”. Surprisingly, we did pretty well, hearing from 7 or 8 guys, with a 3-page listing of some 75 “classic” jokes and 2 full pages of the classic jingles emanating from the submittals. Each joke now has it’s own number and we have the preserved punch line (now we just have to remember the whole rest of the joke). With everything on the computer, it was a quick flick to make up 15 copies of all five pages. These were then distributed to each couple (or single, as the case may be) at the Camp-In.

   However, that wasn’t the end of the keepsakes that were presented. Starting about a month before the scheduled PSE Camp-In, I was digging for some other ideas, and happened to be making some photo prints  at our local CVS store. I saw a display for the make-it-yourself photo books and started thinking about that as a keepsake for the Camp-In group. However, my prowess for technology comprehension projects is legendary, so I asked a young lady working in the photo area how difficult it would be. Of course, she made it sound like it was a piece of cake and I bit into that pitch (sorry, no pun intended). Upon discussing it more with her, she availed herself to be able to help me every step along the way. The cost was a concern, because I was looking at making 15 copies of that book and I only had limited funds, money that had been leftover from each of the 3 past years and some anticipated for this year. CVS helped out by making me aware of where I could cut corners and sales alerts to minimize expenses. With all that in place, I jumped wholly into the bookmaking business. Now, I have always taken a lot of photos and fortunately have put them into albums for the last 39 years, with each year’s pictures identified. Over those 39 years, I have accumulated somewhere between 1200-1500 pictures, so I spent about a week going through them all and whittling that number down to about 150 different pictures. Those 150 pictures represent everyone who ever attended one of these camping adventures, every site that we ever went to, all the different activities that went on, in essence, a time capsule of our 39 years together. After spending 5 hours together with this CVS employee on the final day, we had everything laid out, so that all that was left was the actual copying on the Kodak machines. That took 4-5 days because of the quality required, errors in printing, printer breakage and the collaging and trimming of the individual 300-plus pages into the 15 books, interspersed with all the other regular business going on in their store. With all that completed and within budget, each couple (or single) received their own photo book of our times together, culminating in this 40^th Anniversary PSE Camp-In.

   Looking back, this group of campers forms the core group of our PSE Camp-In group that gets together now. We are: Charlie & Jeannie Henry, Gene & Sue Everett, Dave & MaryAnn Carrell, Gary & Sharon Brinkmeyer, Jeff & Rhonda Estes, Paul & Betty Klopfenstein, Larry & Donna Carli, Tom & LaDonna Swanson, Mike & Chris Ellis, Bob & Therese Kincade, Boone Chaney, Jim Luthe, Rick Tate, John Ziebarth and Mike Goodman (with companion Jill). However, at various times in the past, the complexion of our camping group has changed from some who used to attend regularly, to some who have intermittently  attended  to a few who have only been to one or two camping adventures. The names of those individuals include the other original 1973 attendees, Ken Gazda and Jim Porter, as well as all of the following Phi Sigs: Scott Hahn, Dick Christman, Gary Schaefer, Pat Wesley, Ron Eichhorn, Bill Sidwell, Jack Terndrup, Dick Rodie, Ken Gusewelle, Bill Granger, Randy Rothrock, Jay Solheim, Dick Swing, Larry Reed, Steve Ringhofer, Jerry Rankin, Mike Snow, Dick Weber and Dick Kellenberger. Of course, many of these brothers attended with their wives, but in fairness to my lack of recollection of some of the ladies names, I will defer from potentially “messing” up and just say that we enjoyed everyone who made these camping adventures so much fun over the years.

   With the 40^th now under our belts, along with it’s attendant activities of Saturday morning golf, Friday & Saturday evening campfires with the resplendent rehashing of old jokes, songs and stories, the Saturday evening fantastic fish fry and the weekend-long visiting amongst our couples & singles, we anxiously await the gathering again next September. We also sorrowfully remember those who once were a part of our weekend fun gatherings-to paraphrase Edwin Stanton-“now they belong to the ages”--Nancy Goodman, Ken Gusewelle and Dick Weber.

Camp-In Attendees

L to R (standing) – Gene Everett, John Ziebarth, Jeff Estes, Charlie Henry, Bob Kincade, Boone Chaney, Jim Luthe, Rick Tate, Paul Klopfenstein, Mike Goodman, Larry Carli, Dave Carrell, Tom Swanson

L to R (kneeling) – Mike Ellis, Gary Brinkmeyer

And the "Ladies" in Attendance

L to R – Jill Goldberg, Betty Klopfenstein, Chris Ellis, Therese Kincade, Sharon Brinkmeyer, Jeannie Henry, MaryAnn Carrell, LaDonna Swanson, Rhonda Estes, Sue Everett