Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2010, No.13 - Ziska Zurfaces

Beta Pi:

IS BETA PI BLOG WITHOUT ANY REDEEMING SOCIAL OR ARTISTIC MERIT?:

YEA

. . . . or NAY?


Beta Pi Blog exists for one reason: to bring ATO, Beta Pi Chapter Brothers - and ATO Gal-Pals - together. The blog does not take itself very seriously - it is meant for fun, and therefore is non-political. It includes

pictures, links, Archives of previous issues, and other time-wasters. To get there, go to web address:  http://beta-pi-blog.blogspot.com/  .

ZISKA ZURFACES: I had thought that all-time Great Schwimbag from Columbus, Ohio - Rick Super-Zit Ziska, had been lost forever. Wrong! The social networking tool Linked-In helped me find Super-Zit. His e-mail is  rickz@myroncornish.com  .

WITHOUT FURTHER TO-DO, BETA PI BLOG WELCOMES RICK ZISKA! In honor of Super-Zit, we shall have a re-telling of perhaps one of the greatest Tales of Tickle-dom ever told (formerly told at - see Archives, _____, 2006, Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.39).



BUCK LEADS PLEDGES IN PAINTING THE SAE LIONS

By Bozino Lorenzo

It was a lovely autumn evening, birds chirping, co-eds fluttering and bouncing, fratenity row was Electric Avenue! The SAE's had their formal going on, and ATO's had Wales Tales going on in the Zebra Room.

Keep in mind - ATO's had several E allies, they were in spiritual harmony with us - there was Tom Curtain, a.k.a., Nate, Jody Faison, David Dodson, just to name a few great guys.

There are many tales in the annals of Beta Pi of the ritual painting of the SAE Lions - and having imbibed heavily himself,

Frank J. Biller  fbiller1@msn.com  was educating the pledges on such tales. Frank was also promoting extreme imbibition among his young followers, namely Dirk Ewing, Rick Ziska and Jack Nichols jack.nichols@datawire.net  . The beer consumed, it was yet early in the evening, at twilight, Buck’s plan was hatched:

It would be a stealth mission - never mind waiting until dark of night - they would rely on speed and agility to avoid being detected by the E's. Oh, and never mind that the E's were casually mingling with their dates, all in formal attire on the E front porch, as they prepared for their soiree! Never mind that the SAE Lions were located a mere 5 yards from the porch. These were insignificant details. Stealth Mission, all systems GO!

Buck, having the presence of mind to remember a bucket of paint was in the store room, it was zero hour. The excitement was more than the brave comrades could contain, they were laughing so hard. Off they go, across the street, paint bucket sloshing, running toward the E Lions. Ewing and Ziska, being swimmers, and Nick being Nick, they easily out-ran Buck.

They could have merely poured the paint on the Lions quickly - but that would be too easy, and too boring a tale to tell. In the sheer excitement of the moment, it was

fling the paint toward the porch - riveting the unsuspecting E's, and their lovely dates, in a horrific spattering of paint splotches on E's faces, on E's formal attire, on E-date's faces, on formal evening gowns, on the E stone walls, on the E porch -

the brave lads laughing and howling!

They bolt (stumble) back into the Tik House, Buck out of breath, yelling - the E's are after us, they're gonna kill us, boys!

Actually, the E's were in a state of shock - culture shock might be more acurate - their evening having been so abruptly disrupted by drunken revellers.

One word: Shame. It was the most somber, focused Chapter Meeting in memory - no one even smiled. At the top of the agenda, University threats of revoking the Beta Pi Charter, National was contacted, an attorney was consulted, if we were lucky, Social Probation would result: a form of "supervised probation" overseen by Dean K.C. Potter, with financial restitution (for the ruined formal wear and dresses), and work scrubbing the E walls and porch, and most importantly, an apology.



It was a consensus: no matter how shameful, it was all for one, and one for all, we would face the music together, with dignity. This made a lasting impression on me.

Did I mention it was oil base paint? Beta Pi met the challenge, with dignity, in force the next Saturday morning, armed with wire brushes, thinner, paint stripper, and contrition.

I remember scrubbing the E stone walls with a wire brush, and busting a knuckle (no one thought of work-gloves) thinking it was right for us to do this. I think of Buck, Rick and Jack whenever I look at those E Lions.


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ATO GAL PAL UPDATE: Planning forward to October 22 - 23, 2010, Reunion Weekend, Saturday evening 4th Annual ATO Dinner, 7:30 p.m., at Cabana! This just in from a few of those great gals . . .

KAREN DEGERBERG karen.degerberg@gmail.com  : Thanks! I'll be there. Looking forward to seeing you, too. Karen

KATIE HERRINGTON TAFT nurseless1@att.net  : Yes, will be in attendance at reunion. Would love to attend ATO dinner. Count me in.





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HOW TO POST, OR READ COMMENTS: Click the button - Comments - just below VTL, . . If you’re having trouble, send me an e-mail and I’ll post your comment.


BETA PI BLOG ROSTER STATS: As of July 29, 2010, the Blog roster stands at 102 Tick-a-lo men online who have e-mail addresses (plus 7 Brothers who do not have e-mail), and 13 ATO Gal-Pals. The blog needs e-mail addresses, please share!


VTL,

Larry Simons


Beta Pi, 72