WESTWOOD – The Upsilon brothers greeted Los Angeles Times reporter Larry Stewart with a chair and open ears at the 83rd annual “Founders’ Day” on Feb. 19 at Sigma Pi Manor.
Stewart, the Los Angeles Times sports media columnist and a friend of Joe Marsalek from the San Gabriel Valley, gave his first speech standing on a chair in the the Chapter Room, thanks to a non-existant P.A. system. Stewart attended Las Vegas Bowl champion Fresno State, but generously wore a blue UCLA shirt and encouraged all Bruins to exude their blue and gold spirit. And for good reason – his daughter Jill also is a Bruin.
Larry fired up the brave Bruin fans, especially Paul Dinh, who wanted to storm the Times building for their USC coverage. He encouraged us to get Karl Dorrell more excited and is optimistic about Ben Howland’s first steps back to the Promised Land and Final Four.
Bob Seaman, our dedicated brother who is the second American to run a sub-4:00 mile and another Central Valley product along with his late brother and fellow Upsilon alumnus John Seaman, revelled with Larry about the Glory Days in the Central Valley. Steve Yu, a Bakersfield native, explained the cultivation of cumquats on his family farm.
The event was out of control, as normal, even though last year’s rowdy bunch led to a ban on Little Sisters serving dinner (thanks, Dan Romero!). Matt Sumrow even brought the beer on time.
The “Farthest Traveled” Award went to Jim Murphy, who came from Jacksonville. He slightly beat out Tom Giffin and Doug Glantz, who both journeyed from the Bay Area. A slim Tom now has three children and left them at Disneyland with his wife, Robyn, to get drunk with the brothers. Doug has made it three years in a row, despite living far in Dallas and the East Bay.
The “Wisest Returnee” Awards went to a trio from the early 1950s – Joe Marsalek, Paul Hutton and Ken Ingram.
After Jim Cochran and Ed Cox’s return after 20-year streak of absence, former Head Hasher and E.C. member Jason Gray returned after being a ghost for 12 years. He now has three kids and drives a Camaro in La Canada. Tom Giffin also returned for the first time in 11 years. Ivan Quiroga, recently engaged, continued his two-year streak of attending after a 10-year absence.
Several former Sages attended: Larry Coval, Adam Brockman, Chris Baker, Won Park and Adam Brockman. Jeff Bara met us at Maloney’s, following his Auto Racing Fantasy League draft.
The post-party was at Maloney’s, as usual, and Mike Alvarez was back in his prime, buying shots for all the brothers. Kerry O’Hairball made an appearance, gouging free drinks from the bar patrons (Hey, she’s an O’Hara, what do you expect?)
Plan on joining us in 2006. Bob Hillerman plans to roadtrip from FLORIDA to accept his Golden Cross, and Tim O’Hara will sponsor the bar for the fourth consecutive year.
Business notes: Art Martinez, secretary of the 501-c-3 non-profit Upsilon Alumni Association, chaired the annual meeting. Herman Quispe is the sole board member with decision-making responsibility. Jay Ross was elected UAA President by acclamation.
Tom Miller remains president of the Housing Board. A meeting for new members will be held in April, and we encourage all to attend and become more involved in the management of the fraternity. If interested , contact Tom at LvzGolf@AOL.com.
Aloha!