25 Belle Avenue

New Property Manager Elected

On Saturday, April 30, Jim Ljunglin '57 was elected to replace Michael Bruce '08 as the Elder Property Manager. Mike would like to thank the chapter for giving him the opportunity to serve as Property Manager from 2008 to 2011. He also wants to thank Jay Webb '61 for his past and continued service as Project Manager. Jay's efforts and expertise are invaluable and we all hope he continues to work his magic. We have several large items looming over the horizon, including bathroom renovations, flat roof replacement, vinyl siding, basement renovations, and sprinklers. We believe that we can complete either the bathroom renovations or the vinyl siding in FY13 (i.e. Summer 2012), which will go along with the expected completion of the wing electrical upgrades. Mike believes it is important for Jim to complete three tasks before August 2011:

Find a dependable, timely, and trustworthy "handyman." A good handyman is one that will be able to fix leaks, holes, and other small items for a fraction of the cost of our larger vendors. This person should also be proactive in visiting the house periodically and fixing things with minimal input from us or the Actives. We had one for a time, but he became complacent after the honeymoon period ended, and we had to let him go.

Find a reasonably priced cleaning company that will clean the kitchen and bathrooms periodically. Even though we don't want them to come on standard intervals, it would be useful to have someone on standby to do work for us within a reasonable time frame. Jay has already done a lot of research on this front, so this might already be done.

Have an architect and/or interior designer to give us a plan for the basement. Even if it is not acted upon for a year or two, it will allow us to show a real plan to the Actives and our bigger donors for inspiration.

Of course, the chapter is in desperate need of young blood. If anyone is interested in helping Jim out and eventually succeeding him, please contact the Property Committee.

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Lots of New Pictures Posted

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We uploaded a lot of new pictures to our Flickr account, including photos of:

  • A recruitment event in early 2007
  • Renovations over the summer of 2007
  • The convention in Lincoln, NE in summer 2007
  • The convention in Montreal, QC in summer 2008

All of the sets can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietasocieta/sets/

If you have any photos you'd like to share, contact us!

Enjoy!

A Note From the Actives

Dear Brothers, Hi, I'm Joe Novek of the Spring Class of 2009 and I'm writing this email to introduce myself as the Alumni Chair. This year we are all looking forward to the 60th Annual Alumni Weekend and it should be a great time to all those that attend. In Troy, we are all currently dealing with the snow that has been plaguing the Northeast. RPI even canceled classes on Wednesday in anticipation of the big snow storm coming from the Midwest. Luckily for us, our houseman Greg Mummah was able to find someone nearby with a Bobcat who cleared our parking lot for free.

In other news, we are soon initiating six new members to the fraternity, Nick Keefe, Joey Tripodo, Nate Haskell, Nate Fiala, Sean Dempsey, and Oskar Ramirez. They used the extra time over break to learn a lot more about the brothers and the house. Their quiz grades are doing much better than before break, and the credit should go to Pledge Master Justin Persin and Assistant Pledge Master Dan Barrett.

The basketball team is also having a good year with their current record at 10-7. Brothers that are on the team are Danny Martin, Andrew Darst, Mike Hammond, Jamie Zajac, pledge Nate Haskell, and "associate" brother Matt Pooley. Other brothers Mario Iacuone, Brenden Farley, and Redon Quello, along with pledges Nate Fiala, Sean Dempsey, and Nick Keefe played on the JV team this year. The next home basketball games are Friday the 11th against Skidmore and Saturday the 12th against UNION. If you are in town, come support the guys.

In our elections before break we elected Dodds Anderson as our new President, who was previously Vice President. Taking Dodds' place at Vice President is Greg Mummah. Secretary is now Brenden Farley. I was also elected to be Sigma Rho. House Manager, as discussed previously, is now Greg Mummah, and K-Man is still Mario Iacuone.

In closing, I look forward to working with many of you to help plan this upcoming Alumni Weekend which this year falls on the weekend of the 30th in April. I also hope to see many of you at the Alumni Weekend this year.

In TKP Joe Novek '12

Pictures of Kitchen Construction Now Posted

These pictures were taken in the winter of 1988 and 1989 when the kitchen expansion was taking place. They are really cool! You can view them here. Thanks to Jim Ljunglin '57 for providing them!

As always you can view all of the archived house pictures here.

PS: If you'd like to have some of your old pictures posted online, please email the Delta .

Photos from Troy (Update!)

All, As mentioned a few days ago, we have a Flickr account here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietasocieta/

We decided to splurge for the unlimited account, so keep checking back for new pictures... there are new ones uploaded as of this evening!  As always, you can also see the latest pictures posted on the left side of the main page of this site, under the title “Photos from the House.”

Photos from Troy

All, You can access the latest pictures taken by the Delta here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vietasocieta/

We exceeded our bandwidth limit for the month, so there may not be any new ones for a couple of weeks.  After that, keep checking that site for new pictures from the house.  You can also see the latest pictures posted on the left side of the main page of this site, under the title "Photos from the House."

A Note from the Actives

Brothers, The Fall 2010 semester has begun and things are getting back to normal at 25 Belle Ave. Last week we had our annual Work Week and much was accomplished around the house, most notably building a fire pit in the backyard. Classes have also just begun, so we are all getting back into the groove as far as schoolwork goes. Also, Rush just started a few days ago and we are hoping for a big class as we have already talked with 10+ kids who have shown a good interest in joining the house. We feel we have a very solid schedule this month during Rush to try to attract a lot of kids to come out to the house and have a good time and, ultimately, pledge and become brothers. It has been a smooth start to the year and we feel it will continue throughout the semester

Always in Tau Kappa Phi, Brendan Farley '13 Alpha Sigma

Update from Troy

The end of the Spring 2010 semester has been quite hectic, and we're sorry for not updating for a while.  First of all, we'd like to congratulate the following Zetes for graduating from RPI on May 29:

  • Michael Bruce
  • Jeremy Colon
  • Steve Thomas
  • Joseph Brust
  • Tim Plante
  • Eric Anderson
  • Tim Rupp
  • Ed Reis
  • Jeremy Crouse

All of those guys had successful academic careers, and each has contributed in his own way towards furthering the good name of Zeta Psi.

There is also much work being done to the property.  Currently, the chapter house's electrical system is being upgraded.  Each room on the second and third floors will have its own circuit, and the third floor circuit breaker has been upgraded.  In addition, one wall in each second and third floor bedroom will have a plug-in strip with at least six connections to avoid the need for power strips and extension cords.  The electrical requirements of the actives has increased greatly since 1951, with computers, TVs, and refrigerators replacing desk lamps and transistor radios, so this project will allow the residents to enjoy a safer, more convenient living space.

There is also a lot of carpentry work taking place.  Six third floor windows are being replaced, and Azek will be used for the sill and outside trim.  Also, the center section of the basement ceiling is being replaced, and the floor is being repaired.  The sills and insides of the dining room window frames are to be sanded, stained, and sealed.  The front door is to be replaced.  Finally, exterior soffits and trim will be repainted as necessary.

The library is being renovated.  Furniture will be installed in August, and the actives will finally enjoy a quiet area to hit the books.

Finally, extensive landscaping has been completed.  The chapter house's grounds look beautiful now, and the neighbors are quite happy.

25 Belle Ave Renovations

As many of you may know, Brother Rick Case has been our Elder “House Manager” for the past few years now. He has put countless hours into soliciting bids for repair work and upgrades, as well as rolling up his sleeves and putting a lot of his own “sweat equity” back into the house. Heck, he’s even made his own kids work on the house! As Jay Webb will attest, this is a very difficult and time consuming job (which is why I think Jay asked Rick to take it over around 2am one Alumni Weekend – and Rick agreed).

Unfortunately there isn’t enough space to print the pictures of the improvements in this issue (which include a rebuilt roof / railings off from the library, new fascia / gutters, new outside wing sheathing & painting, etc. So, you’ll just have to come back for Alumni Weekend to see for yourself.

Kudos to Rick for doing such a great job.