Wabash College - Class of 1991

Sphinxsters, sure to save the date…

Homecoming - October 4, 2008
Sphinx Club Reunion

Yeah, I’m talking to you Aitken, Jason Albaugh, Mike Aslin, Brian Burdick, Rich Calacci, Drew Crousore, Mike Cunningham, Brian Deleget, Jerome Dixon, Scott Firestine, Will Grannan, Brad Gregory, Scott Handlon, Matt Hanson, Kaizaad Kotwol, Todd Kingsbury, Mark Kosior, Jay Krause, Aaron Kroemer, Brett Miller, Timothy Oliver, John Panozzo, John Plaster, Ron Pitcock, Phil Stutz, Bryan Wickens, and two other FIJIs with illegible names. (Did I forget anyone?)

During the day, you can

• Attend a pregame Celebrating Leadership Luncheon
• Cheer the team onto the field with all reunion attendees
• Perform a celebratory pushup and a couple of cheers
• Join the others for a reception following the Little Giants’ Homecoming win over the evil Allegheny Gators

Here’s your To Do list:

1. Find your pot (the College has some you can order)
2. Dig out your coveralls and that old Sphinx Club shirt (if your wife hasn’t thrown it out or made it into a quilt!)
3. Call up a fellow club member or two and make sure they come
4. Mark your calendar
5. Do a couple of practice pushups…just to avoid a career-ending injury!
6. Buy a zucchini

Hopefully, we’ll see you there.

Over the next few days (or weeks), we’ll be posting pictures, stories, and thoughts about last weekend’s Big Bash 15^th Reunion. We start with the main headline for the Class of 1991.

Three years ago, when Tom Runge and the Alumni Office boldly decided to start a new Wabash tradition of holding its reunions in the summer, they began staging an alumni Chapel Sing where the reunion classes would each stand in front of the Pioneer Chapel and belt out their rendition of “Old Wabash.”

On Saturday, a portion of our reunion class gathered in front of Baxter Hall as the Sings commenced. Some of us were busy cramming the second verse just as we did before a final way back when. The Class of ’56 had color copies of the “W” from their senior yearbook that they held up. Cal Black and the Class of ’66 paraded in wearing green pots with a police escort, a golf cart, and a pickup truck. (I felt Cal had a leg up on the competition since a direct relation of his wrote the song! I heckled “Show Boats” from the wing.) The Class of ’71 made red t-shirts with the lyrics printed on the back!

I sheepishly admitted to our classmates, “Sorry guys, I didn’t come up with a gimmick for us.” Funny how Wabash guys react (especially at the last minute) when presented with a dilemma. Watching Chapel Sing caused a lot of memories from our freshman year to flood back. I “remember” passing out. Brett Miller reminded us that the Delts won our year. The Betas stood up on the top and were the first to start and the last to stop. We couldn’t remember which pledge class had a cadence to preserve their voices. I remembered how a couple of Phi Delts would thrust into the air one finger (for first verse), two fingers (for second verse), or a fist (for refrain and chorus) to try to keep my pledge class in sync amid the din. Someone recalled how the Sigma Chis came late, charging in up the center of the mall to bully their way to front and center. Ross Weatherman recalled a big fight.

Suddenly, our little “focus group” hit upon the idea of staging a fight. So, when we sang, “…to the light of the southern seas,” the fists flew and the good-natured shoving began. Remarkably, we kept singing the song! (The Sig contingent didn’t show up until the dinner later that night, so I’m not sure if a faux fight would have been good idea with the likes of Ervin and Fahey on hand!)

On Sunday’s award brunch, the Class of 1991 finished runner-up to ’66, who took home the Robinson-Ragan Award. It’s amazing what style points will get you.

(Thanks to Tim Cobb’s wife, Tricia, who took the photos.)

Registration is now closed. If you missed the countless reminders, you’ll have to throw yourself on the mercy of the good folks of the Hays Alumni Center. We’ve provided some quick links for the weekend.

• Who’s Coming
• Friday Schedule
• Saturday Schedule
• Sunday Schedule
• Childcare

The College is really rolling out the “Scarlet Carpet” for all of the reunion classes, so we expect to have a great weekend to reminisce and reconnect. It will also serve as the last farewell to President Andy Ford before he and his wife, Anne, depart for Rich Calacci’s hometown of Wheaton, Illinois.

Our Big Bash 15th Year Reunion weekend approaches on June 2-4, 2006. Your living unit reunion reps should have contacted you about attending.

Checking the Web site, Brent Bolick and Jeff Grabill are the first two to sign up and 11 more of us our planning on attending. To answer a question posed by Mark Koshior, yes, your wives (and children) are certainly invited. The College is doing a great job planning the big event, so I hope you all can make it.