January was a fun filled month for the Washington Chapter.  On the 4^th Kellen from CSC came to visit and gave us some tips that will hopefully help us to regain our former glory as one of the top chapters internationally.

On the 7^th we had a “Jersey Shore” themed party based on the popular reality television series.  In preparation, we slathered on the hair gel, undid three too many buttons on our shirts, and practiced our phony personality types in the mirror.  Overall, the event was a great experience for the rushes that made it and the sorority girls out representing the houses Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Alpha Phi.

On the 14^th we decided to try our hands at a game called “Broomball”.  I’m still not sure whose idea it was to make this game a brotherhood event, but saying that it was a blast would be an understatement.  Personally, I hadn’t the faintest idea what “Broomball” was, but once I heard that the game involved an ice hockey rink and homemade hockey sticks I began mentally preparing myself for a painful and competitive ordeal.  Working carefully, I constructed my broomball stick using a wooden wardrobe bar, a hanger, and plenty of duct tape.  I was ready.

Once we arrived at the ice rink on Aurora, we picked teams and took the ice.  Even though the end result of the game was quite lopsided (my team won), our spirits were soaring and our bodies were ready for a good old fashioned Delta Zeta pancake feed.  After almost falling asleep at the feed, it was time to call it a night for the Alpha Delts.

The Washington Chapter even managed to get up to Whistler, Canada for College Weekend on the MLK holiday and enjoy the nightlife of Whistler as well as the awesome slopes of the ski resort.

Visa’s slogan in the run-up to an Olympic Games has long been ‘Go World.’ That sentiment has never been more obvious to former Mercer Islander Steve Penny than during the times when he has carried the Olympic torch.

“It’s actually a really neat feeling,” said Penny, who is president of USA Gymnastics, based in Indianapolis, Ind. “You feel it most when you’re receiving [the torch] and passing it on — you just feel connected to what it’s all about, taking the flame from Greece toward the opening ceremonies, having it in your hand.”

Penny, a 1982 graduate of Mercer Island High School who has a bevy of family members still living on the Island, was offered the chance to carry the torch on Jan. 20 for half a kilometer in Canmore, Alberta, located about 20 miles outside Banff, in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, by Visa, a corporate sponsor of both the Olympics and USA Gymnastics. Canmore is a city of approximately 12,000 people and celebrated the Olympic torch passing on day 83 of its journey.

Penny, who once worked as a tour guide in Banff, said that even though he had a few options of locales to carry the torch, this was his first choice.

“Being able to go back — it was really special to me,” said Penny.

The former Islander said he has long been involved in the Olympic movement in the United States, even carrying the torch prior to the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996. He said that while the experience was a little more meaningful this time around, he would never forget the feeling of being at the 1996 opening ceremonies and watching Muhammad Ali carry the torch into the stadium.

“I’ll never forget the feeling when he lit it. I’ll be at the opening ceremonies [in Vancouver], and I’m really excited to see who lights the torch,” said Penny.

Fourteen years later, Penny ran through downtown Canmore, following Main Street for a time before handing the flame off.

“When you have it in your hand, it feels like you’re in your own parade,” he explained. “You don’t even realize you’re running — everyone is cheering and smiling.”

Penny received the torch from Canadian Josh Epstein and passed it to a woman from Kazakhstan, who was also a guest of Visa’s.

“It was so symbolic of the Olympics,” said Penny. “To have it passed from someone from Canada to the U.S. to Kazakhstan.”

He said torch bearers attend a briefing at the beginning of the day, then join the caravan of people traveling across the country with the torch, sliding into the torch-bearing position when it is their turn. In an e-mail to friends and family prior to the event, Penny said the honor of carrying the Olympic flame was something that he considered to be of great significance.

“To me, the Olympic movement is one of the most powerful unifying forces in the world today,” he wrote. “The spirit of the Olympic Games is captured in its two primary symbols: the Olympic rings and the Olympic flame. The Olympic rings represent the interlocking of the world’s continents, and each color of the rings can be found in the flag of every nation. The Olympics are the one event where mankind comes together in peace, to compete in sport under a vow of fairness and sportsmanship. Olympic athletes are regular people who become heroes for their country and their sport through their commitment and dedication to their passions.”

The countdown to the opening ceremonies, when the Olympic cauldron will be lit in BC Place in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 12, began on Oct. 22, 2009, when the torch left Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics.

It arrived and began its journey across Canada on Oct. 30. Over the next 106 days, the torch traveled by land, by sea and by airplane to every province in Canada. The torch made it as far north as Alert, Nunavut, the northernmost permanently inhabited community in the world, via plane in November. During the 2,800-mile journey, the torch was held by 12,000 people.

http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/mir/news/83924912.html#comment-35793817

Crockett L. Stearns passed away in Eugene, Ore., on Jan. 22, 2010, at age 86. Crockett was born Dec. 25, 1923, the first of two sons born to A. Crockett Stearns and Mildred Stone Stearns and whose great-, great-, great-uncle was David “Davey” Crockett. Crockett grew up in Yakima, Wash., and graduated from Yakima High School in 1941. He attended Yakima Junior College for one year and then the University of Washington where he studied pre-med. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the University of Washington ski team.

His education was interrupted by World War II, in which he served as a hospital corpsman in the naval hospital in Seattle. Following discharge he returned to the University of Washington, receiving a B.A. in finance in 1948, and established the Yakima Blood Center. He met Norma Tipple in 1946 and they were married on July 16, 1949, in Yakima.

Following a brief stay in San Jose, Calif., he and Norma returned to Washington where he received his B.A. in education at Central Washington University. He taught seventh- and eighth-grade science prior to a 15-year career as a pharmaceutical representative for Lederle Labs in Eugene, Ore. In 1951 Crockett and Norma welcomed the birth of their first son, Patrick, who was followed by twin daughters Jane and Jill in 1952 and son Peter in 1959. In December 1966 through March 1967, Crockett completed training in New York City that preceded a 20-year stockbrokerage career culminating in his retirement from Dean Witter in 1987.

Crockett was an active member in the Active 20-30 Club in Eugene. His volunteer responsibilities included the facilitation of University of Oregon track and field meets and producing fireworks displays for the Fourth of July. As an avid snow skier, Crockett helped time and gate-keep for high school ski races and was a member of the Eugene Town Club.

A devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he was preceded in death by his mother, his father and his brother, Jack Stearns. He is survived by his beloved wife, Norma; son Patrick (Jill) of Hailey, Idaho; daughter Jane Hoselton (Kevin) of Creswell, Ore.; daughter Jill Stephens (Bill) of Hillsboro, Ore.; and son Peter (Heidi) of Hailey. Grandchildren include Callum and Tate Stearns, Jill and Drew Hoselton and Brooke Johnsen (Ryan), Billy Stephens (Nikki) and Ryan Stephens (Suzie) and Justin Stephens (Katie), and Mia and Crockett Stearns. Great-grandchildren include Will and Taylor Stephens and Hailey and Jake Stephens.

At Crockett’s request, no services will be held; however, the family will honor him at a private ceremony in Sun Valley, Idaho, his favorite destination where flags flew at half mast on Bald Mountain upon news of his death.

Remembrances may be made to Sacred Heart Hospice or the South Eugene High School Ski Team. Arrangements by Musgrove Family Mortuary, Eugene, Ore., (541) 686-2818.

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005129892

Thanks to Bob Gilbert and the PNWAADP for providing, framing and installing these beautiful portraits in the living room.

Portraits of notable national alumni line this wall. Francis Bellamy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Salmon P. Chase, Theodore Roosevelt and Oliver Wendell Holmes are represented for their service and contributions to country and fraternity.

Portraits of Joshua Chamberlain, Henry Warren Austin and Frederick H. Gillett, also noted for their service to fraternity and country, line this wall.

Above the mantel hangs a photograph of the active brotherhood who would like to express our deepest thanks to Bob Gilbert and the PNWAADP.

On Saturday November 14, 2009, the Washington Chapter initiated its fall pledge class. After the ceremony, PNWAADP hosted a banquet for the undergrads at the Conibear Shellhouse. Alumni representing over half a century of brotherhood were in attendence.

Congrats to the new initiates, TJ, Zak, Jared, Shilo, Dash, Jonathon, Aiden, Andrew, Matt, James, Nolan, Riley and Nicolai pictured above left to right (Nolan, Riley and Nicolai not pictured).

Professor emeritus, MIT Born Yakima, WA, 1921. Died September 5, 2009, Gig Harbor, WA.

BA from Univ. of WA 1942; MA Harvard University 1943; PhD MIT in International Management 1963. Foreign correspondent in Middle East, 1947-1956, reporting on Turkish affairs, wrote first account of Palestinian refugee situation published in a major U.S. press. In military government, political intelligence, South Korea, 1945-47, during which time tried to stop deliberate provocation of North Korea by South Korean leadership, which provocation led to Korean War and U.S. intervention. Special studies in London School of Oriental and African Studies in Islamic law and Ottoman history. Taught modern Turkish history at Harvard College, and worked as a research associate at the Harvard Business School researching the decision by U.S. corporations to commit resources to foreign markets.

Taught for 24 years at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, during which time he created the second academic program in the U.S. dealing with international business. Wrote one of the first textbooks in the field and was a founder of the Academy of International Business, serving as its president for one term. Lectured for several years at the Foreign Service Institute in Washington, DC. Author of sixteen books on Turkish economics and history, international management, the occupation of South Korea, international technology transfer, etc, and many articles. Taught for 8 years in the School of Business and Public Administration, University of Puget Sound, as George F. Jewett Distinguished Professor of Business. He was the board chair for the Kluckhohn Center for the Study of Values and the Hamlin Robinson School for Dyslexic children; board member, World Affairs Council of Tacoma; member and former chair of the Institute of Current World Affairs. Lived, taught and did research in 34 countries.

Robinson leaves his wife, Carol, and three children – Linda McCaffrey of Brookfield Center, CT; Kermit Robinson of Hanover, MA; and Wendy Robinson of Bethlehem, NH; five grandchildren and one great grandchild. His children were by his first wife, Elizabeth Ann of Grosse Pointe, MI., who died in 1979. He also leaves six stepchildren – Steven, Shelley, Michael, Terri, Julie, and Eric Schreiber – plus four step grandchildren.

A memorial reception will be held on September 19, 2009 at the family home in Gig Harbor, WA from 1 to 4 pm and on October 2, 2009 in Denver, CO. Donations may be made to the Hamlin Robinson School for Dyslexic Children, Seattle, WA or Minerva Scholarship Fund for deserving women returning to school, PO Box 2705, Gig Harbor, WA, 98335.

We currently have 13 pledges participating in the pledge program. They have just completed their third week’s test and have shown steady improvement since the first test. Their most recent test covered Alpha Delta Phi International and the origins of the Washington chapter. The pledges just finished learning “Doxology” and “Hail To Thee” and are learning the songs with great enthusiasm. They are continuing their path towards I-week and the actives are looking forward to initiating thirteen great new members to Alpha Delta Phi!