This Week in SigEp Patriot History, 27 FEB – 04 MAR

Brothers,

02 MAR 1904
A man was born on this date that would affect millions around the world. Our NH Alpha Brother, World War II Veteran and Captain Theodor Seuss Geisel, U.S. Army was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.

28 FEB 1919
On this date, U.S. Marine Corps World War I Veteran and NE Alpha Brother Frank Dewey Carman was discharged following his military service.

04 MAR 1925
World War II Veteran, CO Delta Brother and Private Erling “Swede” Kristian Arnston, U.S. Army was born on this date.

28 FEB 1929
U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and DE Alpha Brother James Robert McCarthy was born on this date in Cleveland, Ohio.

03 MAR 1938
U.S. Air Force Veteran and IA Delta Brother Thomas Michael Hamilton was born on this date in Davenport, Iowa.

04 MAR 1945
On this date, KS Gamma President Robert Ellsworth Stoddard, Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, was killed during the Battle of Iwo Jima while serving with the 23rd Marines.

04 MAR 2011
In a small world example of how we are all connected, 66 years after the death of Brother Stoddard, fellow World War II Veteran, TX Alpha President and First Lieutenant Charles Lynn West, U.S. Army Air Corps died peacefully in Midland, TX.

During the war, Charles served as a bombardier with the 7th Air Force, 30th Bomb Group in the South Pacific aboard a B-24 Liberator nicknamed “Ruff Knights.” Brother West and the Ruff Knights led the entire bomb group on the final tactical assault upon Iwo Jima before the assault on Iwo by Brother Stoddard and his Marines.

Brother West was born 26 MAY 1923, in Miami, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was assigned to bombardier training in Big Spring, TX. In 1943, he received a commission to the rank of First Lieutenant and ordered to Tonopah, NV, to finish training. From there, it was off to war flying in the Liberator from bases on Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, he and a crew of ten other daring young men, and even an ornery dog named "Snuffy," combined to fly 43 missions.

Following the war, Charles attended Louisiana State University and The University of Texas. He graduated in 1951, and worked as an independent petroleum geologist for multiple companies, most notably Texas Pacific Oil & Gas and Beach Exploration, in a career spanning nearly 60 years through booms and busts. Charles was an active member of the Midland Downtown Lions Club, Midland Masonic Lodge #623, Scottish Rite, Dallas Valley, and Suez Shrine.

RECENT LOSSES TO THE ROLL
* IN Alpha Brother and Colonel Ryan Edward Steele, U.S. Army Reserve (Retired) of West Windsor, New Jersey passed away on 13 FEB 2012, with his family by his side.
* U.S. Marine Corps World War II Veteran and WI Beta Brother Daniel Raymond Femal of Houston, Texas peacefully passed away on 14 FEB 2012. Memorial services will be held for David Friday, 09 MAR 2012, 11am at the Houston National Cemetery.
* U.S. Army and Army Reserve Veteran, and AL Alpha Brother James “Bo” Franklin Anthony passed away in Trussville, Alabama on 19 FEB 2012 at the age of 77.* WV Beta Brother and First Lieutenant John Granville Meador, U.S. Army passed away on 28 FEB in Pensacola, Florida.

As always, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of these Brothers, and the SigEp Patriots Project pledges that their service to the Nation will never be forgotten.

CELEBRATION!
Congratulations to TN Eta Brother Clint Van Ert on his recent commissioning to Second Lieutenant, U. S. Army! Best of luck, Brother!

SIGEP PATRIOTS PROJECT (SPP) LEADERSHIP
The SPP leadership ranks now number 20! We welcome the following points of contact (or POCs) that will work with SPP to increase the historical holdings of their respective chapters as well as the SPP archives:
#19 – WI Beta POC is Max Witkowski, former WI Beta Chapter President
#20 – NY Lambda POC is Nate Cross; NY Lambda Brother and Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army

Thank you for leadership and commitment! Others interested in serving as POCs can write to sigepswhoserve@gmail.com.

SPP NUMBERS
* SPP now has the names of 1,175 SigEp Patriots who serve/served in the U.S. military!

* 440! The membership of the official SPP Facebook group now numbers 440 SigEp Patriots with the addition of the following Brothers:
U.S. Navy Veteran and KY Zeta Brother Bradley James Ballard, TN Eta Brother and Second Lieutenant Clint Van Ert, U.S. Army, and MO Eta Brother and Specialist Brian Millbach, U.S. Army Reserve.

Welcome Brothers!

To join the group, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/sigepswhoserve. Not on Facebook? Join our listserve by sending an email to sigepswhoserve@gmail.com. You will be asked to provide your military affiliation and home chapter.

Fraternally and Respectfully,

Brother Ed Jones, NY Eta ‘96
Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Navy Reserve
Founder, SigEp Patriots Project

For the SigEp who has everything... Dr. Suess "Chucks"

Now THIS is a fun find - thanks to Scott Byer for letting us know.

Dr. Suess (aka Ted Geisel) was a SigEp at Dartmouth who went on to become an acclaimed author and illustrator of books for children (though adults loved them too).

Now Converse has released a line of their iconic "Chuck Taylor" shoes with designs inspired by the good Doctor himself.

They are just the thing to wear with "the hat" when you go to read to schoolkids on the Doc's birthday, or make a statement at Homecoming with coordinated footwear. My order is on its way.

(...And yes, they have kid sizes too.)

SigEpFeds.org - Ed Potter Reads Dr. Seuss To Children on Read AcrossAmerica Day

SigEpFeds.org - Ed Potter Reads Dr. Seuss To Children on Read Across America Day
Originally uploaded by SigEp NV Alpha '03.

This has just GOT to be a "picture of the day" somewhere. May as well be here. A neat way to get involved and also honor a beloved SigEp.

Rhode Island Sig Eps and Sigma Kappas Do Cat in the Hat

URI Greeks bring 'Cat in the Hat' for awhile, Kingston pre-K color, smile
Hillary Brady

The children of First Step at Kingston's pre-K program got a special surprise on Friday in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, as they were joined by University of Rhode Island Sigma Kappa and Sigma Phi Epsilon volunteers-and one Cat in The Hat.

The 20 volunteers crowded the brightly lit classroom for an hour of reading and activities in honor of what would have been the 105th birthday of Dr. Seuss, a famous Sig Ep, and staple of children's literature.

The 18 children, aged 4 to 5-years-old, sat cross-legged and transfixed on the carpet, while Sigma Kappas joined them on the floor and SigEp volunteers sat in tiny, kid-friendly desk chairs.The event began with reading along to the Dr. Seuss classic, "The Cat in the Hat."

"The Cat in the Hat," played by junior Jim Elliott, Sigma Phi Epsilon's vice president of programming, came to read the story aloud. Dressed in a tall red and white striped hat, white dress shirt and red bowtie, he was met to enthusiastic pointing and exclamations from the audience."I have the same birthday [as Dr. Seuss]," Elliot said.

His mother, who used to dress up in honor of her son's birthday, sent the Cat in the Hat costume to him for the occasion.During the reading, the URI volunteers pointed out the colorful pictures, as the children shouted out guesses about what surprises in the plot were coming next.

The children readily offered up opinions and questions to their honorary readers.Later in the story, when the Cat in the Hat balances on a ball for the entertainment of Sally and her older brother, a young boy inquired, "Can you do that?" to Elliot.

Also to the delight and laughter of the audience, Elliot lifted his own striped cap in accordance to the Cat tipping his iconic hat.

After a round of applause at the completion of the story, the children and URI volunteers sat at plastic tables to color pictures of various Dr. Seuss characters. The kids could choose from Cat in the Hat and Grinch door hangers, various coloring pages and connect-the-dot activities.

At the tables, the conversation among the First Step and URI students seemed carefree."Can you guess how old I am?" Sigma Kappa member, Val Shapiro, said to the group. A boy to her right, after much deliberation, held up five fingers. After he had run out of fingers to count on, her age, 19, was revealed, much to the shock of the students.

The children and URI volunteers also debated whether or not the Grinch was "scary," talked about their siblings and families and shared opinions on their favorite Dr. Seuss books and the "Horton Hears a Who" movie.

After the projects were completed, the children stacked the Crayola markers into towers, while the taller SigEp volunteers helped steady their creations.

"This is all I ever did in pre-school," joked SigEp member John Collins, as he watched the children rebuild after the tower toppled.

"We're happy to have volunteers come in, the kids love it," Cassi Braga, the pre-K instructor, said. "And we're studying Dr. Seuss next week, so this was perfect."

For the two Greek houses, pairing up seemed natural."Dr. Seuss was a SigEp, and he married a Sigma Kappa, so that's why we decided to team up," freshman Jen Debruno, the philanthropy chair for Sigma Kappa, said.

This celebration is in its second year, but Friday marked the first time the groups traveled to the pre-school."Last year we did it at the [campus] library, but only a few kids came," Elliot said.

Sigma Kappa and SigEp decided to come to the kids this time around and they considered this year's efforts to be a success."We'll definitely be doing it again. I think it went really well. The kids are so energetic and cute," Debruno said.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Members of the Louisiana Gamma chapter celebrated Dr. Seuss Day by reading some of his works to students at Loyola's Whelan Children's Center.



(DR. Seuss - Theodore Giesel - was a SigEp at Dartmouth)

Celebrate Dr. Seuss - Sig Ep

To mark the anniversary of Dr. Seuss' Cat In The Hat turning 50 years old this month, the Random House First Book foundation will donate a book to underprivileged children for every birthday card The Cat receives. To send a card to the Cat, go to www.catinthehat.com.

Fed Sig Eps Use Dr. Seuss for Reading Program

Sig Ep Feds Celebrate Dr. Seuss

Gentlemen:
We are organizing our first-ever "Dr. Seuss Month", which is a program whereby Sig Ep Feds alumni volunteer brothers will spend an hour or so reading the works of Dr. Seuss to kids from area groups and schools that have asked to partner with us in this pilot program. As you probably know, Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was a SPE brother from Dartmouth.
We think this program will help to celebrate his creativity, be great PR for Sig Ep and be fun for some area kids at the same time.
So far we have Fairfax County and Montgomery County schools and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington who want to work with us. We are also working to get endorsement from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Dr. Seuss Foundation, who at the least can give us their seal of approval as a partner and permission to use Seuss images on some T-shirts and promotional materials, and at best who might be able to provide some books, t-shirts or other materials.
Of course, to make this program work we need YOU, the volunteer. We don't have specific dates established yet until I gather a pool of volunteers.
What this would entail is a couple of hours of your time during a weekday. The kids will be grades K-3rd grade and we can make Cat in the Hat hats available and we are working on t-shirts.
If you think you could take a long lunch, work alternative hours, or can just take a few hours of leave to help with this project, you will find it very rewarding I am sure. If this program takes off, the Sig Ep Foundation at nationals is very interested and perhaps we can take it nationwide to undergrads and other alumni groups.

Please email me back if you are interested in this, or give me a call to discuss.

Yours in brotherhood,
Brandt Heatherington
Sig Ep Feds Philanthropy Chair
703-307-1574
BrandtH605@aol.com