Epsilon Chapter Cabinet MARCH 2005 President David H. Batten ’79 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-828-1500 DHB@cshlaw.com Treasurer Charles E. Bell III ’91 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-877-2438 charles.e.bell.iii@smithbarney.com Fund-Raising Chairmen George T. Barnes ’92 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-459-2601 gbarnes@vanguardpg.com Laurence B. Maddison III ’92 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-821-5482 lbm3@bellsouth.net Paul C. McCoy ’98 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-981-0191 paulmccoy@lewis-roberts.com House Maintenance Chairmen Lindsay F. Sewell ’98 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-573-5513 lsewell@trammellcrow.com John Hughes ’66 Chapel Hill, N.C. (W) 919-933-9959 JHughes@vistatm.com Graduate Communications Chairman W. Holton Wilkerson Jr. ’00 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-821-8023, ext. 207 hwilkerson@hunterandassoc.com Undergraduate Communications Chairmen Tom Darden ’02 Raleigh, N.C. (W) 919-532-0435 tdarden@windchannel.com Mike Brown ‘04 (C) 919-672-1689 mikbrown@pulte.com House Corporation Report By Charles E Bell III ‘91, Treasurer The House Corporation was busy last year! The board stepped up the alumni communications program so that you will receive more regular communications. Holton Wilkerson ‘00 has taken over alumni communications, which includes the oversight of the Owl. We’re making an effort to profile different alumni brothers to make our newsletter more interesting. Your financial support has not gone unnoticed, as the Annual Fund contributions have increased over 125% from this time last year. These Annual Fund contributions primarily pay for the communications to the alumni. The more you give to this Fund, the more communications we’re able to provide. Thank you for your help! With the lead of Bo Maddison ‘92, Paul McCoy ‘98 and George T. Barnes ‘92, we’ve reenergized the Rebuilding Campaign to complete the purchase of Vance Hall. In 2003, we received $600 in Rebuilding Campaign contributions. In 2004, we’ve received $76,525! Again, thank you for helping us complete the purchase of Vance Hall. Unfortunately, we are not done, as the mortgage currently stands at $440,000. Our goal is to have this note paid for in three years. Please seriously consider recommitting to your existing pledge or starting a new one. You will be receiving correspondence about this shortly. We upgraded Vance Hall! After five years of wear and tear, it was time to make some necessary improvements. Under the leadership of Lindsay Sewell ‘98, we brought the house back to its glory. We now have a maintenance man on retainer who is checking out the house monthly to catch any issues that might crop up. This has been very effective. We celebrated BT’s retirement and the fifth anniversary of the Vance Hall reopening. The Fall Gala was a roaring success under the leadership of fundraising chairman George T. Barnes ‘92 and Joe Hogan ‘90. We had over 200 brothers and their spouses/dates attend. Your contributions to the BT Retirement Fund have helped raise over $15,000 so far. We plan to set up these funds to pay him over his lifetime. The board is helping BT transition to the next phase of his life. The board commissioned an attractive print of Vance Hall. One of our new board members, John Hughes ‘66, has spearheaded this project and is taking orders. Make sure to get one for your home and office! Please make sure to thank John for his interest in making Vance Hall look great. He has personally funded a yard crew to keep the grounds maintained every few weeks! We can’t thank all of you enough for keeping Epsilon the best and strongest fraternity at UNC! Perge! ■ We Want to Hear from You! Do you sometimes find yourself wondering what your brothers from happening in your life and how they can reach you. the fraternity have been up to? To be sure, someone has been wonSo please take a minute to fill out this form and pop it in the mail. dering about you too! So please return the enclosed update form with Your news will be published in the next issue of this newsletter and, the latest and greatest about you. Topics you might want to highlight who knows, maybe you will reconnect with a long-lost friend! Also, we are on a mission to gather all of the email addresses for include career, family, reunions with fraternity brothers, travel or some our alumni so that we can communicate electronically with our memfunny memories. Be sure to include your full name, your graduation year and any updated address information. bers! Please take the time to fill in your email address on the solicitation We really strive to make our alumni program meaningful, and to form or to correct it if it has changed and send it back. ■ do so we need more than your much-appreciated financial support. We want to strengthen the bond of brotherhood by helping to reconLog on to the website at www.epsilonpg.com for more nect you with those who meant so much to you during your college news about your brothers. days. This is a great opportunity to let your brothers know what is The Epsilon Owl 1 www.epsilonpgd.com \r\nNot forCollege Days Alone R emember your days at the Phi Gam house, from Fiji Island to Paul Minor to Albert to B.T.? From band parties in the backyard to band parties in the front yard? The best pledge classes on campus. When women couldn’t go upstairs (but did anyway). Mom Mengel and other housemothers. When we built benches in the front yard so we could watch the Tri Delts. When some of us actually wore ties to football games. We are all lucky that our house and its traditions live on, flourishing alongside the new traditions and new memories of today’s undergraduate brothers. All this doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of lots of hard work by current and graduate brothers and the generous support of graduates and friends. To remind you of Epsilon and your days here, the house corporation has commissioned a limited-edition print of Vance Hall suitable for framing. This print was designed by Keeland Francis and is approximately 9 inches by 12 inches. Only 200 of these signed and numbered prints were made, and many were sold at the B.T. benefit. The prints are $200 each, delivered to you by mail. All profits from the sale of the prints will be used to reduce the mortgage on Vance Hall. The house corporation’s goal is to eliminate the mortgage in the next three years, ensuring the financial stability of Epsilon for years to come. To order yours, please send your check for $200 to John Hughes, 534 Dogwood Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Be sure to include your name, street address, city/state/ZIP and phone number. Fundraising Graduate Structure Profile Lewis T. Nunnelee II ‘49 A Brief Overview of the Phi Gam Fundraising Structure The Tune Plays On As most of you are aware, the fundraising effort to satisfy the note on the house was rejuvenated last year. Recently, we have received inquiries regarding how and when pledge payments are credited to the payor’s balance. Apparently, there have been some cases where unsatisfactory time lags have occurred between mailing checks and processing and crediting the payment to the payor’s pledge balance. The purpose of this article is to explain how pledge payments made by check are processed and credited. First, the check is sent by the payor to either the Phi Gam P.O. Box in Chapel Hill or to the Group Leader who contacted the payor about making a pledge. If the payment is sent to the Chapel Hill P.O. Box, it remains at the P.O. Box until the mail is forwarded to Affinity Connection; this happens a minimum of once every two weeks. Affinity is the company hired by the Phi Gam house to credit payments to each pledge balance. Once Affinity is in possession of the checks or pledges, each payment/pledge is recorded and credited to the payor’s pledge balance. After Affinity has processed the pledge payments, they forward the checks to the Graduate Treasurer, Charles Bell ’91, who endorses the checks and places them in the Bricks and Mortar Account. Sometimes this process takes time and, unfortunately, payments may not be credited as quickly as desired. Affinity states that it may take about 34 days for the checks to be processed and cleared from your bank account. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and are working with Affinity to speed up the process. In addition to fundraising efforts to satisfy the mortgage, we have stepped up efforts to increase the level of annual fund giving. The annual fund is used to for graduate communications such as Lewis Tune Nunnelee II grew up in Washington, N.C. near the Pamlico River, a town of about 10,000 at the time. His namesake fought with Jeb Stuart in the War Between the States. Nunnelee’s son, born in 1951, carries the same name, as does his grandson, now 27. Graduate brothers from the Phi Gam house during the late 40’s will remember Tuney, if not for his musical abilities, footwork on the dance floor and sharp wardrobe—then for the cheese toast, sometimes with bacon. “I got to UNC after two years serving in the Aviation Cadet Corps, the U.S. Army Air Force then. It was enough to get me some help from the G.I. Bill, even though by the time I was in they were holding us in reserve,” remembers Nunnelee. “Tuney,” as he was known to friends, had played football in high school but didn’t get a scholarship to play at UNC. He went out for the team anyway his freshman year and, unfortunately, took an injury to his back during training which still bothers him “now and then.” He didn’t get to play. “I waited tables in the house which entitled me to meals and helped me pay my way,” added Nunnelee. “The fraternity wasn’t in great financial shape in those days. I was glad when I got the chance to be treasurer. One way I put the finances in line was to serve a lot of toast with cheese and bacon to save money!” So why did they call him “Tuney”? “Well, Tune, is actually my middle name. Some of the brothers will remember that snappy dresser, J. Herringbone Tweed in the Lil’ Abner comic strip. Some of the guys saw a similarity. Well, I did like to wear those white buck shoes of mine…” It wasn’t all bad being treasurer. It entitled him to live in what was then called the “Presidential Suite” in the old house. (Continued on Page 4) (Continued on Page 3) 2 www.epsilonpgd.com March 2005 \r\nGraduate Profile… continued from Page 2 “(Marion) Woodbury’49, who was president, and I got the best room in the house as officers. We had an office and a small bunk room off that. I thought I was in high cotton,” laughs Nunnelee. “We had some great times. In those days the Big Bands would come to the area. We loved to dance.” He had a good sense of rhythm, having played in bands starting in high school. “I played the drums and the bass. You’ve got to have those in a band. I had started in a little group called the Gay Guts. We were pretty well known—locally anyway.” At one of those dances back home, he met a lovely young local girl named Ann Robins who came to campus for special weekends his last year at UNC. “We had a very nice den downstairs next to the dining room with sofas and a fireplace. You could take guests there. We called it the Woo Room, but now remember, we also had a resident housemother!” Nunnelee was quick to add. Lewis T. Nunnelee II ‘49 After graduating with a degree in marketing in 1949, he married Ann and took a job with the IRS. But he just wasn’t cut out to be an IRS agent, and when a good friend offered him the chance to get into the beer distributing business four years later, he left his secure government job and took it. “I had a small three-truck operation when I started. Sometimes if one of the guys called in sick, I had to drive the truck myself. When I got the chance, I bought into the business and finally formed our own Coastal Beverage Company in 1960. Today we have distributorships in 39 counties in eastern N.C. My oldest son and his son are in the family business now, too. The nickname has stuck. My son is also Tuney, but we call my grandson just Tee. He prefers it.” The senior Nunnelees have celebrated 55 years of marriage and have two sons, a daughter and five grandchildren. They are grateful that all live close by. Nunnelee remains much involved in the area. He is proud to have served on the Board of Directors of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center and has been a director of First Citizens BancShares, Inc. since 1979. He and Ann still enjoy a good time. They look forward to a cruise to the islands in March this year. They don’t get back to campus quite as often as they used to, but they still have season football and basketball tickets. “For quite a few years, we would have reunions at Dick Greene’s home in the spring, but we’ve missed a few recently. We should have another reunion,” commented Nunnelee. Graduate brothers may contact Ann and Lewis Nunnelee at their home number, 910-343-9560. ■ Chapter Tribute Epsilon Mourns the Loss of Two of its Own Kent Welch, an affiliate of Epsilon of Phi Gamma Delta, who graduated in May of 2004, died peacefully on November 23, 2004 from injuries sustained in a car accident that occurred five days earlier in Prague. Harper Williams, an undergraduate brother of Epsilon of Phi Gamma Delta and member of this year’s fall pledge class, died instantly of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on December 28, 2004 in Wilmington, NC. Both will be remembered for there genuine character, love for others, and devotion to their faith. The graduate and undergraduate brothers of Epsilon ask that you keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Remembering Edward Kent Welch ‘04 Remembering Harper Beall Williams ‘08 During the fall of my sophomore year, I spent Tuesday afternoons at Joe Snipes’ farm house on Crawford Dairy Road near Pittsboro. It was there, where I took mandolin lessons, that I met Kent Welch, a freshman from Winston-Salem. My lesson time followed Kent’s and I would always arrive a little early to hear him pick the banjo. Little did I know, Kent would become a close friend, bandmate and brother. Over the course of the next year and a half, Kent and I grew to know each other through class, bluegrass music, and Carolina athletics. In the fall of 2002, the undergraduate brothers of Epsilon unanimously chose Kent to become an affiliate brother. He accepted the bid and soon became a staple at Vance Hall. Often it is difficult for an affiliate to jump into the life of the house. However, Kent had an uncommon optimism and graciousness that drew people to him. He was an honest and genuine person who had the rare ability to turn strangers into friends with a single conversation. When you talked with Kent, you knew that you had his full attention and concern. His unselfishness was contagious, and he By Wilson Jones ‘08 When I think of my best friend Harper Williams, I think of an ideal young man who brought joy and a heart-warming smile to everyone’s lives. I was lucky enough to know Harper for many years, and we were inseparable ever since we went on the Western Tour together during the summer of 2001. Despite living in different towns, we spent a great deal of time together and over the past five years, I talked to him on the phone almost every day. During this time, I came to realize, as many who knew him did, that he was truly an angel among us – a true blessing from above. Harper was the definition of a man whose moral and Christian character guided every second and decision of his life. This outstanding character is something I attempted to imitate, but I quickly came to realize that no one would ever be able to give of him or herself in the gracious manner in which Harper did. Harper always dreamed of coming to Chapel Hill and following in the footsteps of his father Bert and brother Tram in becoming (Continued on Page 4) (Continued on Page 4) By Lewis Deans ‘03 The Epsilon Owl www.epsilonpgd.com 3 \r\n778-49 SN mh Chapter Tribute… continued from Page 3 Remembering Edward Kent Welch ‘04 made all who knew him a better person. Kent loved Chapel Hill. He studied history and political science with great persistence and with the goal of one-day working for an intelligence agency. Kent had a great love for the banjo and bluegrass music. He enjoyed the instrument and the music, but his real satisfaction came from playing for others. Whether playing for one person in the Sanctuary or for a full yard on a football Saturday, Kent made the Phi Gam house a great venue to hear bluegrass. Kent was also passionate about Carolina basketball. Even through the recent down years, Kent always looked at the positives of each game and player. He couldn’t wait for the Heels to be back on top this season. Kent lived his life joyfully and, in turn, spread joy to those around him. He embraced the ideals of Phi Gamma Delta and was an example of honesty and sincerity in everything that did. Epsilon is better and stronger for having had Kent as a brother. ■ Fundraising Structure (Continued from Page 2) the Epsilon Owl, Pig Dinner Invitations, the website (www. epsilonpgd.com), and Affinity charges. There also have been inquiries about time lags associated with these donations. The method for processing annual fund payments is the same as the rebuilding campaign, except that all payments go directly to the Chapel Hill P.O. Box. Please keep in mind that everyone involved in organizing the fundraising effort is acting on a voluntary basis. Thanks again to all who have contributed to the rebuilding campaign and to the annual fund. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. ■ Remembering Harper Beall Williams ‘08 a brother here at Phi Gamma Delta. That dream became a reality this past fall. We had always talked of coming to Carolina and rooming together, and I am so happy that this fall Harper was able to do this and spread his joy and love throughout this great place. From the heavenly days of rush to the arduous days of pledging, Harper took everything in stride, always with that big grin we all came to know and love. Harper loved the outdoors, hunting, and fishing a great deal and formed many of his closest friends on those outings. The morning before he passed away, Harper, five of our closest friends, and myself all went hunting together near Wilmington. Although we did not then realize that it would be our last hunting trip with one another, it was very fitting that all of us, who were so very close, were able to go together one last time. We must now cherish those moments, memories, stories, and other great times with Harper for the rest of our lives. As we go through the process of mourning the loss of our good friend, we must all come together to support and pray for both the Williams and Palmer families, who have been so greatly affected by this tragedy. Both of these families need us right now and we all must do everything that we can for them – this is what Harper would want us to do. He would also want us to support his friends and those he loved. Harper’s legacy of caring and compassion is clearly evident in the love and support for him and his family that has emerged from this terrible situation. This overwhelming support further demonstrates how many people loved him and were lucky enough to call him a friend. Jared Brown said it perfectly when he said, “Harper was a best friend to all and a brother to many.” I know Harper is in a better place now and he has that big smile on his face that brightened all of our lives. Harper, I don’t know what I’ll do without you but I know you’ll be right here with me for the rest of my life. Rest in peace, buddy, and I can’t wait for the glorious day when I am lucky enough to see you again. ■ 778-49 SN Address Service Requested Graduate Relations Office P.O. Box 3367 Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3367 Epsilon of Phi Gamma Delta, Inc. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA We brought Vance Hall backto its glory! PRSTD STD US POSTAGE PAID State College, Pa. Permit No. 2 4 www.epsilonpgd.com March 2005