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
pictures, links, Archives of previous issues, and other timewasters.
To get there, go to web address: http://beta-pi-blog.blogspot.com
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REUNION 2024 UPDATE!
That old Song comes to mind “When
the Saints Come Marching In” . . .
except I am changing the lyric . .
.
When the Greats! come - mar-ching
in!
We are looking good! With the help of JEFF PEROUT, we can look forward to a fine core group.
Slated to attend are the following Greats:
Rena, with her dog Winky!
RENA DABNE “THE STEAK” SARTAIN. I texted Rena yesterday, and rather than text back she called me! Rena is 100% YES to our ATO Dinner! And she tells me she and Jeanne volunteered to call other 1974 grads to encourage attendance at the VU Reunion. Rena, great to hear your voice, looking forward to being with you! Thank you so much for sending us these great pictures!
JEANNE “CRAZY LEGGS” URICH. Jeanne came to our event in 2019, and we had lots of fun. See you there Jeanne!
JEFF PEROUT. Jeff is our Point Man 74. Jeff is pumped, manning the phones, pounding
the pavement, following the leads, solving the mysteries (and it is no
exaggeration to say ATO 1974 has a lot of mystery men) – Jeff thank you
for all of your help in rounding up the stray slackers.
CHRIS “THE GREEK” REGAS. Chris texted me he is on this, and – this
made my day- almost certainly Greek will attend. Chris, you simply must attend, we love you
bro!
TRAVIS “T” PARR. T Parr was the first to swiftly and decisively commit to our annual ATO Dinner. The MIGHTY T! I think I can say this, T Parr is the very spirit of our Brotherhood! So great that you are attending bro!
JIM CORDNER. Jim came to our event in 2019, and we had a
great time. Jim, I am so glad you are
onboard, looking forward to it!
HERB LADLEY. I got a text from Herb, he wants to attend
and is trying to rearrange his schedule to make it happen. A “maybe” from Herb made my day! Someone tell me how great it will be
to see Herb again, after all these years??
JOHN “BOSS” & BETH STEIN. Over the years, Boss has dropped in on our annual ATO Dinner, he has been very supportive of the Blog! Last year he was Point Man 73 and we had a great time! Boss, glad you and Beth are committed to this, it will be one of our best!
KEN “HARPO” LINDEN. Two weeks ago I talked to Kenny, aka Harpo, he said “I am 90%.” Yesterday I got a text from Kenny . . . he is 100% committed! YES!! Kenny, your pal Frank Biller will be ecstatic, and me too!
FRANK “BUCK” BILLER. Buck has been a rock, always ready with
support and ideas. Buck, I love you bro,
you are my closest and dearest friend!
STEVEN “VINNY” STARR. Vinny . . . you are the Third Stooge, and it is safe to say you are the glue that keeps the Stooges together. Just one favor . . . answer your frickin’ phone! I like this picture of Vinny . . . it reminds me of Norman Bates.
LARRY “BOZO” & ANN SIMONS. Ann is such a good sport to attend these
things. Ann and I are looking forward to
being with you all.
J.D. STRICKLAND. J.D., I love you bro, but I can never get you
on the phone, so I never know if you will show.
Did Vinny’s bad habit rub off on you?
J.D. we won’t take no for an answer.
So . . .we have a solid core group attending, and hoping for more!
AGENDA! These are our 2 events. Be there, Aloha:
Visit Alex & Laura’s Graves at National Cemetery. On Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., we meet at the House and caravan to the National Cemetery to visit Alex & Laura’s graves. We say words about Alex & Laura, but also words about every Brother who is deceased. This event has been moving for guys, and proved to be most popular.
The Annual ATO Dinner & Cocktail Party. This happens Saturday evening, after the Homecoming Game, usually 7:30 p.m.
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NEW STOOGE FEATURE
So, as it happened . . . last year at Reunion, Buck and I and Vinny were driving on our way to visit Alex & Laura’s Graves. As usual, Buck rambles on, and on, and frickin’ on . . . to get a rise out of Vinny. Vinny, as you know, has never let any single thing get under his tight-ass skin. (Vinny’s self image is that of James Bond, cool and collected). To me, all this was, just as it has always been, quite amusing.
So, I told them “Cut the Bullshit! I want to brainstorm about ways to get more guys to come back.”
Vinny said, in his typically vague and aloof manner - “Larry, I think you need to widen the scope on the blog, try to get guys from other Classes, not just the reuning classes.” I said “Vinny, we already do that, you a-hole.”
Buck chimed in with an idea. . . “Do a feature to get guys to say who they wish would come back.”
As I have said many times, Buck is an idea man, he has great ideas. But while Buck has lots of great ideas, he leaves it up to someone else to execute on them, to put it politely.
So, Buck, I was thinking about you, and your idea, 10 months later, and morphed it into a Three Stooges Feature. It is now our idea. The idea is that each of the Stooges will write up to 200 words about a Brother (or Sister) from Class of 74, or other Class, who he wishes would come back to Reunion.
I promptly Texted Buck and Vinny about this, and they are on board. So, without further “to-do” . . . Beta Pi Blog presents a new Feature . . . entitled
THE STOOGES REUNION WISH LIST
VINNY’S WISH LIST
FOTCH!
For the Class of '74 Reunion (the ATO Quinq Reunion!) I wish that the great DOUG CAMPBELL (Fotch) would show up. One of the few guys who could be silly at the Tales table and yet radiate seriousness on most other occasions, it would be great to see him again, if only to see what size (if any) beard he has. I remember once at the Tales table he gave a mini-lecture on his favorite authors. The only one I remember is Ford Maddox Ford. Maybe if he shows up I could give him the name of one of my favorite authors!
STIMPIE
You
know who I would really like to see at the Class of '74 (ATO Quinq)
Reunion? ANN SIMPSON, better known as Stimpie, or even better known as
Matt (don't call me Hart) Hart's squeeze. Mostly I remember her as a very
unwilling Wales Tales Wench, but hey, seeing as how in our recent Reunion Tales
events, we have relaxed some of the rules and let women play, maybe she could
join the table. I would volunteer to wench for her!
T. McCOWN
For
the Class of '74 Reunion (the ATO Quinq Reunion!) I would love to see the
honorable T. (THOMAS) McCOWN. He was president of the fraternity and
always had some sage advice given with a little bit of sarcasm. He was a
fun guy and led us through some epic times at the fraternity. I have no
idea where he is or what he is doing (was/is he a doctor?), but it would be
great so see him and find out!
Respectfully
submitted,
Vinnie
Starr '75 ILAMATOB
BUCK’S WISH LIST
PIERCE HODNETTE
One
of my favorite guys from ‘74 was PIERCE HODNETTE. As I recall Pierce was a bit
of a wordsmith. I read a couple of Mark Twain books during my school days and
heard some cool words in his writing like nefarious, scallywag and rapscallion.
To my delight I recall Pierce (after copious amounts of beverages) occasionally
going on a rant in which he spoke in rather formal stilted 1800’s style
language and used the same words as Mr. Clemens to describe various unsavory
gentlemen who were no friends to the ATO’s. I distinctly recall someone called
“Nefarious Wilson” that I always thought was a Mark Twain character. After 45
seconds of intense research on Google I found a character called Puddin’ Head
Wilson but no one known as “Nefarious”. I am wondering if I mixed up Twain with
one of Pierce’s rants. Perhaps we were discussing D.W. Wilson?
Now if Pierce were to show up at Reunion this year we could clear this all up….
CHET BREWER
I
miss my friend CHET BREWER. We all learned many things from the people we knew
at Vandy. I was a naive Midwesterner when I came to Nashville. I had never met
anyone like Chet and I feel fortunate to have known him. I have often wondered
how his life turned out and would love to hear his story and share mine.
BOZO’S WISH LIST
HERB LADLEY
The number one on my Reunion Wish List is HERB LADLEY. Something I really admired about Herb was his reserve, he was a man of few words. He commanded great respect because he was a true gentleman, and he was a kind, respectful man. Of course, he was also respected for his Wales Tales abilities, he was always Prince at every game he played. But that wasn't the only reason why guys respected him.
I got to know Herb more closely when he volunteered to act as my Trainer for “The Fight.” We all knew the whole thing was more “for show” and for fun. But I told Herb that Buck said he thought we’d just drink the beers and swing at each other several rounds. I told Herb I actually wanted to train, because I wanted to win. And Herb took me seriously, and was a great help. Being taken seriously was important to me then, because I was the Fraternity “Bozo” and no one took me seriously.
Herb, I miss you my friend. I hope you will come back this Reunion, I would love to see you. And I know there are many of our Brothers who also want to see you. Love you bro.
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KEEPING TABS:
Here is a reminder of the brothers and sisters we have lost.
CLAUDE CARR
CODY, IV, died February 8, 2022.
Beta Pi Blog,
Vol. 2022, No. 01
Obituary:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/houstonchronicle/name/claude-cody-obituary?id=32988710
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
To explore the “Archives” in this Blog – go to the top of the latest “blog issue,” on the right. You access it by clicking on the Month and Year, and it will drop down with choices. For example, if you click on December 2006, a list will drop down listing all issues that were published that month. Click on an issue, and you can then post a comment to that issue. It’s never too late to post a comment, right?
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HOW TO POST OR READ COMMENTS: Just click the button - Comments – below my signature block.
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BETA PI BLOG ROSTER STATS: As of September 21, 2024, there are 136 ATO’s on the blog email list, including 15 Brothers whose e-mail address is unknown, plus 19 ATO Gal-Pals.
VTL,
Larry Simons
Beta Pi, 72
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