Beth Bankowski enjoying the Minneapolis skyline
The first person to arrive Thursday night at the condos in Killington, VT for the Alumni Association’s MidYear meeting was Secretary Tara Waybrant (Zeta). Tara had the longest trip of everyone, opting to take the train. She got in around 10pm, and went straight to bed.
Alex Dimitrijeski (Zeta), arrived next, bringing with him a carload of Brothers, Scott Bennett (Alpha), Kate Capehart (Mu), and Brittany Ondraka (Zeta). They had all decided to fly into Boston and carpool from there. Alex was the last to arrive in Boston, his flight delayed from a 9:30pm arrival to a midnight arrival. The other three spent most of that day exploring the town, waiting for him to arrive. They rolled into Killington at about four in the morning, and after accidentally entering the wrong condo, they quickly found Tara, found the right condo, and went to bed.
The next morning, after getting up early, Tara and Alex decided to let the rest of the gang sleep in, while they went to the grocery store to buy some bacon, eggs, orange juice, and pancakes. They thought it might be nice for the others to wake up to the smell of bacon.
With nothing but relaxing on the schedule, the gang decided to head down to the hot tub while they waited for the next car to arrive.
That car, carrying President Chrissy Fleming (Mu), Andrew Fleming (Zeta), and Treasurer Ryan Hauck (Delta), left New York a few hours earlier. Ryan had flown into New York, and decided to spend some time exploring the city (and getting rained on), while he waited for Andrew and Chrissy.
That group arrived just in time for a very late lunch, and after an exchange of hugs, and a few minutes to settle down, the whole group went down to the Long Trail brewery, to enjoy some of the local beverages.
After placing their orders, and an encounter with a scary looking caterpillar, they were met by a third group of Brothers, National President Chris Ciariello(Pi), Molly Wood(Pi), Ivan Chen(Pi), and Beth Benkowski (Pi). Hugs were again exchanged, seats were shuffled, and the group sat down to enjoy their meals and beverages. When lunch was finished, some Brothers went wading in the nearby creek, and then joined the rest of the pack back to the condos to relax for a bit before again heading out to a late dinner at the Pasta Pot. After that very late dinner, the group once again went back to the condos to watch the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies and wait for the final car.
When the final car arrived at midnight, with Chris Leong (Pi), and collegiate Pi Priscila Periut, it was time for bed. However, since this was MidYear, the group stayed up a bit longer, as Ympa Alex, in his Mu Beta Psi cardigan, read part of an article from Cosmo to everyone. He then passed it along, and everyone took turns reading. Shortly after the conclusion of story time, most of the group went to bed, while a few decided to stay up late into the night retelling old stories and exchanging new ones.
Some online guests
The next morning, everyone gathered for breakfast, and after the officers quickly ate, they went to the conference room to set up for the meeting.
The group was joined at the meeting by online guests Andrew Stephens (Zeta), Sarah Flourance (Pi), Vice President Nick Rosencrans (Zeta), Adam Gardner (Omicron), and Sherri Brigden (Nu).
Practicing Life’s a Happy Song
During the election of our Assistant MAL, the whole group, minus Sherri, Brittany, and Beth, practiced a very special tune, “Life’s a Happy Song” from the newest Muppets movie, at the direction of Ivan. This was for a surprise planned for later in the night.
Following the meeting, the group split into a group heading to the pool, and a group heading to the Back Behind Saloon, where they were later met by the pool group.
Playing Cards
After the Saloon, everyone gathered back at the condos and a game of Cards Against Humanity was played. Everyone quickly learned a lot about each other’s’ sense of humor, and many, many laughs, and groans, were exchanged. The group then decided, being that they are a part of a music fraternity, that some Rock Band should be played. Most everyone took part, and some of the Zetas even sang!
Rock Band
At the conclusion of Rock Band, Ivan suggested that one more song be sung, the song that had been practiced at the day’s meeting. Everyone joined in, and when the music stopped, Ivan pulled out a ring and proposed to Beth. She said yes,everyone cheered, and broke back into song.
The night concluded with another round of Cards Against Humanity, then either bed for a few, or a late night moonlit stroll for others.
The next morning, after breakfast and a bit of Olympics watching, a group photo was taken, and the group heading out to Boston took off. The rest of the group took a gondola up the mountain, explored, did some hiking, and dispersed from there.
This concludes the story of MidYear 2012. If you would like to be a part of such a story in the future, join the Alumni Association!
-Alex Dimitrijeski (AA, Zeta)
