Matthew Tymchuk - TKE Rush Chair

This spring is a crucial time, as is always, for our recruitment in Tau Kappa Epsilon. With the new house construction underway, it is a time of great growth for our fraternity. Our new Recruitment Chair, Matthew Tymchuk, and the Assistant Rush Chair, Paul McCoy, show great potential and leadership for the most important part of the semester. It will be a challenge to recruit new members with all of the change, but we are looking forward to a successful rush. The new members will be lead by the new Hegemon, Darren Domaracki, who is excited to mentor and teach the TKE traditions. In order to help with this year’s recruitment, our chef Steve Hewins has made a great menu for all.

The menu for this week’s menu is as follows:

Tuesday: Chicken Parmigiano, Wilted Greens, Fresh Bread
Wednesday: Sausage, Beef, and Peperoni Calzones, Greek Salad
Thursday: Grilled Marinated London Broil, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Roasted Mushrooms, Fresh Bread

We look forward to seeing everyone at the house this week who is interested in making TKE a better place and are excited to see the results from this years recruitment!

Ric Gray - Beta Pi TKE Alum

On Monday, November 7^th, our chapter was fortunate enough to have former Beta-Pi TKE Ric Gray speak for our monthly alumni dinner.  Gray graduated from Georgia Tech in 1981, with a degree in Industrial and Systems engineering, and is currently the President of the Solutions Americas Division of Adtech, a computer technology and services company.   In his speech, he emphasized the importance in attitude within both the fraternity and the workplace, citing his need for positive attitude through his personal struggles.  At the age of 47, Gray, and non-smoker, was diagnosed with throat cancer, and after several unsuccessful treatments, underwent mandibular retraction surgery to remove a life threatening tumor from his tongue.  Given a low chance of ever being able to regain his speech, or being able to function normally in his work, Gray went through 18 months of physical and speech therapy to overcome his debilitating cancer, and is able to resume in his every day functions.  He stated that a large part of overcoming his life-altering condition was the attitude that he had throughout the process, and he advised all brothers to keep a positive and healthy attitude to all aspects of life, especially within the fraternity, and strive for the best of one’s capabilities.

To learn more about Ric Gray and/or the Solutions Americas Division of Adtech, Click Here.

Over the years, a diverse group of guys have lived the TKE experience. As many brothers have become great friends, the musical talents of many of them have come together. Three of the more recent bands to come from and/or currently in TKE are The O-Line, Almost Legendary, and HBGJ.

The O-Line

The O-Line

Founded by two TKEs, Brendan O’Leary (Beta-Pi 1313) and Brian O’Connor (Beta-Pi 1294), The O-Line started in Brian’s garage before both heading to Georgia Tech together. While both becoming Beta-Pi TKEs, their roots kept the duo writing and performing. After seven years of writing music together, the two pooled their resources to bring together the idyllic group of guys now known as “The O-Line”. With the band now formed, three new members joined: Mike Miles on the bass guitar, Nathan Hadley on the drums, and Paul Hsieh playing the violin. The band also occasionally plays alongside touring lead guitarist John Rosser (Beta-Pi 1297). The O-Line has released 1 CD and is currently playing various venues. Their next show is Friday, August 5th, in the Atlanta Room at Smith’s Olde Bar.
To learn more about the band, Click Here or check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

Almost Legendary

Almost Legendary
Beta Pi TKE alumni, Brian O’Connor, has been working diligently as a technology consultant but spends a lot of his free time writing, recording, and playing music with his Atlanta-based pop band, Almost Legendary. Alongside Brian on the Guitar and Keyboard are three other members: Mark on the bass guitar, Chris on the guitar, and Ryan on the drums.  The band has played up and down the east coast playing shows ranging from Atlanta to New York. They have performed alongside many major acts including Bowling for Soup, Hawthorne Heights, and Hello Goodbye. Almost legendary will be recording their first EP in the summer of 2011 so keep an eye out for their upcoming track releases.
For more information and to listen to demos and futures releases visit their website:www.almostlegendarymusic.com.

HBGJ

HBGJ performing at TKE Stock

Comprised of four currently active TKE brothers, HBGJ is a high-energy band influenced by Blink-182 and Third Eye Blind. With Michael Zerkus on the bass guitar, Michael Duley on the guitar, Noah Ta on the Guitar, and Sam Elia on the drums, HBGJ has been known to ignite the crowd during their shows. The four members are also full-time students, but still find time to shred at every possible moment.
For more information on HBGJ, Click Here.

When summer semester at Georgia Tech started, the TKE house was undergoing a big change. With the guidance of John Reagan, the chapter hired a new chef to revamp the TKE meal plan. Steve Hewins, the new TKE Beta-Pi chef, with the help of a current TKE brother and long time cook, Ronnie Andris, has greatly improved the meal plan at the house.

Chef Steve Hewins and Ronnie Andris working in the kitchen

Since starting, Chef Hewins has worked with Ronnie to design menus, cook food from scratch, spend time teaching other kitchen workers the way around the kitchen, incorporate other brothers of TKE in the designing of the meal plan, and make chapter meals a new experience.

With this new kitchen regime, the brothers of TKE have prospered with unique and healthy meals every day. The expectations put forth by Chef Hewins are very high and continue to rise with every meal. Due to the great meals, popularity has also risen at the house during meals. With the improved quality of the food, news of this has spurred many girls to joined the TKE meal plan for the summer are always just as excited as the brothers living in the house for every meal.

Since his start at the beginning of the summer, Chef Hewins has since fit in very well with the chapter and has been thoroughly enjoyed by all in the house.

To learn more about Steve Hewins and his journey until TKE Beta-Pi, Click Here to read about it on the TKE Beta-Pi Alumni Association webpage.