2013 Year End Post

2013 is wrapping up to a close and we have had an exciting year at the fraternity.

First off the Capital Campaign has tipped $70,000 in pledges! That is 35% of our goal, so no time to rest we need to find those brothers that have not contributed yet. We are trying to track down the other 826 alumni. So far we have had 90 brothers that have contributed to the campaign.

Here are the numbers:
1290 alumni

Updated address - 390

Lost address (no contact info) - 23

Unknown (outdated address) - 826

Deceased - 74

With an email - 483

Easiest way to update your contact information: click here

The average pledge per donor is $777, but I can tell you that the most common amount pledged is the $100-$499 range. So what does this mean, if every remaining member gives a one time gift of $100 we would reach our goal!

One response we received from the last mailer was from our oldest living brother.

Oldest living brother - Harold Weary, class of 1933. 105 years young!

We will be having a Housing Corporation board meeting in January, so if you have any questions or concerns please let me know so we can address them at the meeting. Want to join the board? Let us know and as soon as there is a vacancy we will get you plugged in.

Next year we will be having a spotlight each month on a board member, an alumni, and an active. So be sure to subscribe to the blog and keep your address updated.

Check out the new page: Actives Wish List
The actives will be posting things they could use around the house. So if you have extra lend a hand.

Look for an automated call from us next year, we have a lot of phone numbers so we will be going through them all to find these "lost" brothers.

Back to school and what has happened this summer.

School is in session and here is what has happened over the summer.

Surprise! An air conditioning unit when out. Not to worry, we had a new one installed and the summer residents are cool once again. The good thing about this happening over the summer allowed us to organize a plan with Star City heating & cooling to do maintenance on our HVAC, so our equipment should last it's normal life expectancy. We also put a plan together to replace the other furnaces and air conditioners in the future with more energy efficient ones. So in addition to the hot water heater upgrade last semester we are on our way to making the house more efficient.

Some local members of the building corp. met with representatives of the Parent's club this summer to go over what the Building Corp is and how best the Parent's club can serve their students. We covered many topics from building security & comfort to recruitment and homecoming.

Food is back in the house. The members have brought in a catering service to provide lunch and supper.

The Capital Campaign is still trucking along. Two years into the campaign and we are right at $60,000 pledged. Our goal is $200,000. Currently we have less than 5% of the alumni donating to the campaign.
So if you have pledged and have not sent in your 2013 contribution please do so now. Also if you would like to start contributing to the campaign, fill out a pledge card and send it to us. Officially we will stop the campaign after 5 years, but there will still be some contributions coming in after that time.
The purpose of the campaign is to pay off the mortgage so that the rent the active members pay would go to renovation of the chapter house.

So far we have; 1) put on a new roof to stop water leakage problems, 2) Fixed foundations problems, 3) Replaced/upgraded the water heater, 4) Upgraded one of our air conditioners.
We have in place a plan to replace all of the windows from single pane to low E-windows, upgrade the rest of the heating and cooling systems, update emergency/entry/security doors, new carpets and remodel each room and bathroom (we are talking about a total gut job). I think we have been watching too much DIY channel!
Want to help? we will need physical labor as well as financial contributions. A lot the work is being held off until the mortgage is retired.

Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting April 2013

Election of new board of directors for Theta Chi Building Corp.

April 14, 2013

Trent Maly, President
Jerry Clark, Secretary
Travis Avila, Treasurer
Neal Thomas
Phil Larsen
Steve Wylie
Dustin Bartley
Larry Moffet
Dylann Pinkman
Kale Burdick, ex-officio

Energy Efficiency Upgrades

New Hot Water Heater

Well the bad news is our hot water heater broke! The good news is we get to do #2 on our energy efficiency upgrade list. Last year we installed a new roof to stop leaks and button up any lost heat for the winter. Now with the latest installation of our giant R2-D2 water heater we are on our way to saving money and being energy efficient. This thing is top of the line, 97% energy efficient, which is about 25% better than our old one. It has a digital display so it can tell you what is wrong with it, not that anything will go wrong. We will see immediate savings on our gas bill next month. Thanks to Matt's Plumbing we got this installed in one day, plus he suggested this model for our specific needs. Matt has done a lot of work for us over the past couple of years and really has a feel for our needs and budget constraints. 

Next up on the energy efficiency list...You'll have to wait for that next post. We will be going over future plans for the house as well as energy upgrades. 

Wendell Carriker 1953

ALVIN WENDELL CARRIKER Wendell Carriker of Alexandria, VA died on December 25, 2012 at the Sunrise at Mount Vernon. Wendell was born in Harvard, NE on December 9, 1931. He was 81 years old. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Marlene (Fallbeck) Carriker, his brother William R. Carriker of Sequim, WA and four children and their families – Gordon Carriker of Ozark, MO, Judith and Michael Jurkowski of Alexandria, VA, Bradley and Cynthia Carriker of Alexandria, VA, and Roger and Lisann Carriker of Jessup, MD; seven grandchildren – Danielle, Diana, Daniel, Sarah, Anna, Natalie, and Andrew plus two great grandchildren Klairissa and Alexis; and nieces and nephews in Nebraska, Connecticut, and Virginia. He and Marlene came to Washington in 1954 after their wedding in Nebraska on October 3, 1954. They resided in Washington, DC for six years and then purchased their first home in Alexandria, VA (Mt. Vernon/Ft. Hunt area) in 1960 and have lived in their present home (three quarters of a mile from their first home) since 1971. Fortunately, Wendell and Marlene were able to spend a wonderful Christmas Day and have dinner with some of their children and grandchildren the day he passed away. Wendell graduated in 1953 from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE with a BA in Physics and his MS in Physics from Vanderbilt University in 1959. In 1953 he was selected for an AEC Radiological Physics Fellowship at Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge National Lab. From 1954 to 1960 he was the Health Physicist heading up the Radioisotopes and Reactor Section of the HP Staff at the Naval Research Lab. In 1957 he became a member of the Health Physics Society when it was first formed. He helped organize the Baltimore-Washington Chapter which was chartered in 1958 as the first chapter of the Society. He served as the Secretary-Treasurer (1959) and President (1961). From 1960-1965 he was with American Machine and Foundry in Alexandria, VA working on R & D projects involving government contracts and corporate funding in areas of uses of radioisotopes. He was involved in a feasibility demonstration project for NASA to prove the capability of a C-14 tracer technique for detecting bacterial life forms on Mars. From 1965 to 1977 he was at the Naval Oceanographic Office. The work involved engineering development related to applying existing technology to the instrumentation systems used for measuring oceanographic parameters related to the water column ocean floor and air-water interface. From 1978 to 2000 he was the Certified Health Physicist in the Office of Hazardous Materials Transportation of the U.S. Department of Transportation. His initial task was to develop information and guidance for early responders to transportation accidents involving radioactive materials. Guidance documents and training classes for first on-scene responders was developed. Since 1980 his prime responsibility was for all of the six guides related to radioactive material in the seven editions of the Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Guide (ERG) book generated at DOT. The ERG book was distributed nationwide with intent that a copy would be in every law, fire and medical emergency response vehicle. As Senior Health Physicist he was involved with many Federal, state and local government officials. Wendell retired from the government in September 2000 with 42 years of service. Wendell was an avid community volunteer for family and church activities. In the early to late 1970's, he was very involved in volunteering his time as the Boy Scouts of America Troop 654 Transportation Chairman for all Troop scouting activities. Wendell is an alumni of the Theta Chi Fraternity at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was a music lover all his life and was a member of and toured with the Wesleyan Male A Cappella Chorus from 1951 – 1953. He especially enjoyed attending the Alexandria Harmonizer concerts locally. He is a member of the Mount Vernon Geneological Society, located at the Hollin Hall Senior Center, and was successful in compiling his family history as far back as 1687. As Wendell was blind most of his adult life, he truly enjoyed the Talking Book Program sponsored through the Fairfax County Library system. Wendell taught Sunday school classes at Aldersgate United Methodist Church when his children were young. He also worked on local blood drive collaboration between Aldersgate UMC and other area churches by organizing large scale blood drives with INOVA Hospital. Blood drives by some of the original churches are still being held. Wendell had also been a member of the Aldersgate United Methodist Men. Wendell, and wife Marlene, have been members of Aldersgate UMC since 1966.