AlumniBulletin-Fall24

CLASS NOTES | FALL 2024 | 61 the Brown and White Awards. There will be lots of activities on Friday, including campus tours and seminars, a golf outing, a welcome lunch and an evening of fun at Hawktoberfest. Saturday will see the State of the University address, the Parade of Classes, and a traditional class dinner. Our committee already has two volunteers but needs more! Reach out to Doug at toddmodel@mac.com to volunteer, give an early “yes” to attending, and suggest programming for our activities and class dinner. As John Steckbeck taught us to say, “8-0! GO! GO!” … to our 45th class reunion! Lastly, I am pleased to highlight that the Class of ’80 again has a representative on the Lehigh University Alumni Association (LUAA) Board of Directors, as yours truly joined in July. It is an honor to serve our alumni and the overall Lehigh community. Please let me know your thoughts, questions and suggestions so I can discuss them with the Board. ’81Tom Wocklish, twocklish@alum.lehigh.edu Bruce Brierly has earned a participation commendation for forwarding an update to his class correspondent. Bruce retired in June of ’23 after working 42 years at Mack Truck’s engine plant in Hagerstown, Md. He spent most of that time working with electronic controls. Pretty good considering he nearly failed Control Theory senior year! They paid him to play with trucks all that time and “I couldn’t have asked for a better job.” Now he is busier than ever with a long honey-do list, travel and as a loving grandpa to four grandchildren! Think of Bruce when you see a Mack truck headed your way. Charlie Marck (not Mack) and his wife Sue (Schlicht) Marck ’82 recently hosted a gathering of ’81 and ’82 alumni at their summer residence in the Poconos. When the temperature begins to dip, they reside in Charlotte. Children (three) and grandchildren (six plus one on the way) are distributed in Atlanta, Charlotte and Vienna, Va. Charlie retired in January and will vacation in Hilton Head from time to time. He returns to campus for football reunions and the MahlJoe gig. My wife and I moved to Chicagoland following an employment opportunity. Retirement didn’t stick, primarily because my golf game was getting worse. After living most of my life 60 minutes south of campus, the Midwest is different. They have Great Lakes up here. When the kids on the beautiful sand beaches yell, “I’m going in the ocean,” nobody corrects them. Italian beef sandwiches and hot dogs are big promos. Cheesesteak, right? Nope, they don’t know what they’re missing. My wife Jen looked me square in the eye, “Just try and take me out for a hot dog.” Pizza comes on a loaf of dough, on a cracker and everywhere in between. Folks are more committed to their pizza than their politics. Sweet corn is the best I’ve ever eaten. The area we live in is quite diverse, which makes for interesting grocery shopping and a wide variety of restaurants. It is said outside of Poland, Chicago is known to have the largest Polish population. We enjoyed our first exposure to Polish fusion cuisine. The city of Chicago is a gem. Great cultural opportunities, architecture, and rivers that flow backwards. We initially embraced Chicago years ago when starting train trips to the left coast. I recommend a visit. Enough about me, our classmates are interested in you. Please drop me a line, give me a call. Let’s catch up. ’82 John P. Belardo, 152 Berkeley Circle, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920. (973) 425-8755 (B); jbelardo@mdmc-law.com. On Facebook, like “Lehigh University Class of 1982.” Paul Pocalyko responded to my request for dive bar memories with this “Jack Kerouac-esq” stream of consciousness rant: “A little-known fact is that Uncle Manny’s had the world’s largest urinal—or so it claimed. … You could step in it if not careful. … It was bigger than the Urinals of Glarner Stube. It is far more likely that we were asked to leave more of the dive establishments you listed than get to a second or third round. … I believe the 4th Street Saloon asked some guests to depart due to exuberant behavior. It is a foggy recollection: Clearly, they should be allowed to finish the pitcher and pints that were purchased. ‘That’s not going to happen,’ or words to that effect. Thus, the glass chase began. As each glass was emptied, it was left on the sidewalk for the proprietor. The pitcher was left in an alley. … Perhaps less than a block was traversed, but at the time it seemed longer—likely due to laughing, fast walking and quick drinking. “Sometime around the mid- to late ’80s Sig Ep was … removed from campus. In the early ’90s it was recolonized with a large event and dinner at the UC. Since any type of adult beverages was forbidden … a visit to the Tally Ho seemed in order. What had become of the great bar? It was now a restaurant with a bar and an atmosphere reminiscent of Goosey Gander but with nicer tablecloths. … No crowd, no music—just ughh! “Which brings me to $211.32. Prior to our arrival at Lehigh, Sig Ep undertook a renovation of the bar and area behind it. It was believed to have been an extra … women’s bathroom, which seemed excessive in a men’s fraternity house that already had two other locations. … This became a walk-in cooler, big wooden door, compressor, and chilled air to perfection. … This renovation was approved due to needs for cold food supply storage. … The taps and bar being on the other side of the wall was purely coincidental. When I became the assistant treasurer of Sig Ep circa 1980, there were constant complaints about running out of beer. … The brother responsible for ordering refreshments was removed from the role, publicly humiliated and replaced with a young sophomore engineer. … He and I were tasked to immediately fix this problem. As an accountant, I simply needed some data. How much do we consume, and how much can that cooler hold? Since the historical purchase records were in disarray, I called Banko Beverage and was told it was averaging around eight kegs a week. … Our young engineer reported back that after careful math and field measurements there was ample room for more than 30 kegs of beer. That volume may require some reduction in food storage, but that seemed of little concern. I called my new best friend at Banko to set up order parameters. What discounts are available, and what price breaks can you provide? If you order 10 per order, we can give you one for free. … A semester is 14 weeks plus a couple of weeks for finals. Can we create a purchase order as follows—‘Deliver 11 kegs every Friday at the end of day for 15 weeks—we will call before that if we want more.’ After a long silence, my Banko guy noted that would make us the largest customer for kegs in their history. He would bring the purchase order for signature immediately. … I just bought 170 gallons of beer for $.65 a gallon, delivery included. My new friend was at our door in 15 minutes. The 11 kegs arrived promptly at 4 p.m. The current pricing would be set at $211.32 with esca-

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