Beta Pi:
IS BETA PI BLOG without any redeeming social or artistic merit?
YEA . .
. . or
NAY?Beta Pi Blog’s purpose: to bring ATO, Beta Pi Chapter Brothers and ATO Gal-Pals together. The blog is not to be taken seriously - it is meant for fun.
The Beta Pi Blog is non-political. It includes
To get
there, go to web address: http://beta-pi-blog.blogspot.com
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MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW
YEAR!
This Santa Ornament was needle-pointed by my mom, who we lost to pancreatic cancer in 2000. She put so much love into this gift, and I miss her dearly.
It seems like every year I hear
someone complain that Christmas has become too commercialized (it has, and I
say it myself), and that we have forgotten “the true meaning of Christmas” (yeah…commercialization
sort of drowns that out, yes?) – but this is not a sermon. There are reasons why we “give” at Christmas,
reasons why we decorate our Christmas trees, reasons why we go to be with
family and friends. We give love and receive love.
The friends I have made in ATO are my closest and dearest friends in the
world, and so to all my ATO Brothers and Gal-pals, I love you and wish you the happiest and
safest of Christmases.
Merry Christmas from Beta Pi Blog!
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NEWLY DISCOVERED PICTURES OF ALEX
One of my wife Ann's best friends, Judy Burger, knew Alexander Wilson, but not through Vanderbilt. During summers, Alex served as Cook for Easter Seal Camp, and Judy gave us these group pictures of Alex's participation 1971, 1972 and 1973:
Judy said Alex's food was great...we certainly knew that. So great to see others who benefited from Alex's cooking and his love. Thanks to our friend Judy Burger for sharing these pictures with us.
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THE RETURN OF THE THREE STOOGES
Recently, Vinny had a great idea – a “Stooge Reunion!” And since all three of us had been fully vaccinated, we decided to do it. So, Vinny and Buck flew in on November 12th, and we had a great weekend. Here are some highlights:
Here we are in Vinny's Presidential Suite at Lowe's Vanderbilt. As George Simons used to say "1-C." Later that evening I drove Buck to Motel 6 to check him in (kidding - Buck stayed at my house where he has a permanent guest room reservation).
Saturday we walked on Campus
Vinny wanted to actually kiss the Chancellor's foot, but couldn't make the climb.
This is the rear entrance of Kirkland, where Buck led us in "The Kirkland Breakin" -freshman antics - there used to be a overhang landing, Buck convinced me to follow him, we climbed up the downspout, onto the overhang and through an open window. Why? To ring the Bell of course. True story. You can see on the brick where they removed the overhang. DOH!
The ATO's had a party in their new "mini back-yard." Check out all the beverage stains on the new concrete patio!
With Castle Von Zeppo just feet away.
Walk out the door of Castle Von Zeppo to a HIP-HOP EXTRAVAGANZA, what could be better?
This guy was not an ATO, but he loved to be photographed, with us - as it turned out.
You know . . . there was (and is) this pandemic thing still happening, so I wore my mask (do I look like Dr. F**king-Jeckyl, or what?
Buck busy making new friends.
Vinny met this guy, an ATO Active, I forget his name, but a great guy. Vinny said hurry up, I'm tired, then proceeded to doze off, right as I snapped the picture.
Saturday night Dinner at Jimmy Kelly's, a Stooge tradition.
My lovely wife Ann Polk Simons joined us!
Sunday we visited Alex & Laura's grave. In the Union Cemetary, there is a custom . . .
. . . the wife's name appears on the back side of the soldier's headstone. . .
. . . husband and wife are buried together. I really like that tradition.
We talked about Alex and Laura, how much they loved us, how much we loved them . . .
. . . and about our favorite foods Alex and Laura made for us . . .
. . . Buck's was Vienna Sausage a/k/a "Pony Peckers". . .
. . .Vinny's was Hollandaise Sauce (Laura gave him the recipe). . .
. . . mine was Beef Tips. . .
Alex and Laura made a huge impression on our lives, it was so great to visit. . .
FROM CLAUDE CODY
Claude sent me this picture . . . of a recent visit he had with JOHN “BOSS” STEIN, to celebrate John’s 70th birthday. (Claude did not give me the names of the other fellows.) Thanks Claude, great to hear from you!
Happy Birthday John…you don’t look a day over….70, and you guys both look great! What I'd like to know is how come Boss has a thick healthy-looking crop of hair on his head, and Buck is nearly bald? A mystery.
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OOO-KLA-HOMA WHERE THE WIND WILL BITE YOU IN THE ASS!
I got a nice text message from my old guitar-pal MATT BLANKENSHIP. . .
"Hey I'm thinking of you buddy. Just fueled up outside of Fort Sill."
Yeah, Fort Sill, for those who may not know, I was stationed at Fort Sill in the Artillery School during my U.S. Army stint 1975 - 1977. It is true, every word, the wind actually does come "ripping across the plains" - it is the coldest-ass wind I ever experienced. Matt, thanks for the memory, I hope you don't run out of gas in Oklahoma again!
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POETRY CORNER:
I want to share a poem with you. So many Christmas-themed poems are full of syrup and sweetness, and we get deluged with all that, everywhere we turn, as if we need reminding. So a winter-themed poem seemed right.
So, I found a Wallace Stevens poem that suits the way I feel today, and as you might guess it is not sweetness and syrup. These days, it feels very much like we are in survival mode, which I think is akin to what is being discussed in this poem, what Stevens calls the “mind of winter.”
It is said that Wallace Stevens
worked by day as an Insurance Agent and got up early at 4:30 a.m. each day to
write, before he went to work. Determination.
The Snow Man
One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;
And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter
Of the January sun; and not to
think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in
the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
Wallace
Stevens – 1879-1955
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KEEPING TABS:
Here is a reminder of the Brothers and Sisters we have lost.
DAVID W. HAINES, JR., died
January 17, 2021.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2021, No.01
ROBERT LOUIS CROSSLEY, JR.,
died October 24, 2019.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2021, No.03.
Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/knoxnews/name/robert-crossley-obituary?pid=194272149
ANTHONY GUY MIRANDA, died
June 18, 2019
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2019, No.04.
Archive: ___ 2019
Obituary: http://www.brinsfieldfuneral.com/obituary/anthony-guy-miranda
MARK McGANN, died December
10, 2018.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2018, No.07.
Archive: Dec. 2018
BECKY BRUNING MANYAK, died
October 19, 2017.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2017, No.07.
Archive: Sept. 2017
Obituary: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=rebecca-manyak&pid=187110606
ROB BLANKENHORN, died December
2016.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2017, No.05,
(See Comment by Dick Stoner). Archive: Sept. 2017
EDWARD G. “TED” STEPHANY,
died January 20, 2016.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2016, No.01,
Archive: Jan. 2016
J. NEAL CRENSHAW, died
November 12, 2014.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2014, No.08, Archive: Nov. 2014
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2014, No.10, Archive: Dec. 2014
MILES WALSH, died in July
2013.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2013, No.05,
Comments Section (over 50 comments), Archive: Aug.2013
DAVID HOWE, died November
30, 2006.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.68,
Archive: Dec. 2006.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2007, No.30, Archive: May. 2007
KURT WAGNER, died in July
2002.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2016, No.02,
Archive: Jan. 2016
ALEXANDER WILSON, died
April 9, 1977.
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.25,
Lowenstein Essay Contest. Archive: Aug. 2006
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.33, Honoring Alex and Laura. Archive: Sept. 2006
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.45, Tale-o-Pig-Roast. Archive: Sept. 2006
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2006, No.50, Winner Essay Contest. Archive: Oct. 2006
Beta Pi Blog, Vol.2017, No.05, Alexander Wilson. Archive: Sept. 2017
Alex and Laura are buried at the
Nashville National Cemetery. The cemetery is at 1420 Gallatin Pike South,
Madison, TN 37115. Alex and Laura are at Section KK, Site 794.
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THE ARCHIVES
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BETA PI BLOG ROSTER STATS: As of December 22, 2021, there are 132 ATO’s on the blog email list, including 13 Brothers whose e-mail address is unknown, plus 19 ATO Gal-Pals.
VTL,
Larry Simons
Beta Pi, 72
