Brothers,

Let me begin with a hardy Happy New Year and best wishes to you and your families in this coming year. I hope everyone had a save holiday season filled with much rejoice. I would be remiss if I did not apologize for my lack of communication to you all over the past three months. My efforts have been directed more at undergraduate successes and overseeing the improvements at our beloved house. This is no excuse for not informing you, our alumni Brothers, as to the conditions at 520 S Ridgewood via monthly e-mail updates. I will do all I can to correct these action in the months to come. I appreciate your patience and continued support over the past year. If you have not received any monthly updates I implore you to visit www.Etaiota.org and update your email/contact information. We, your House Corporation, continue to be steadfast in our mission to improve the living and educational experience of the current undergraduate chapter. We will continue to build toward tomorrow while respecting our historical legacy.

The undergraduate chapter initiated 23 Brothers this past November. On behalf of all the alumni, I wish to welcome our newest Brothers to our Order and Eta Iota family. With these new Brothers our roll now totals 767 men. Congratulations pledge class Gamma Lambda on your success, I know the White Cross of Sigma Chi will gain new luster by your lives.

I welcome all brothers and their families to visit Daytona Beach on March 26-28th for Eta Iota’s 39th Birthday celebration and House Corporation meeting. Keep an eye out for more information as we finalize details for 2010 and out 40th Birthday in 2011.

As for our Chapter House, we have been working on correcting issues with long term solutions. I would like to publicly thank each and every House Corporation officer, trustee and chairman for their endless support over the past months. Their vision of a cleaner/improved Chapter House should be an inspiration to the Undergraduate Chapter and House Corporations in years to come.

The central air/heat in the north wing has been working flawlessly since its installation. The Brothers in the south wing are looking forward to the installation of their system some time in the summer 2010. We are also looking into the possibility of replacing out the two central units in the main building and adding returns. All of these units could be removed and reused in any new structure when the time comes.

We also have just completed the extermination of thousands of termites throughout the buildings structure. By completing the tenting process we have become bonded (insured) against termite re-infestation for at least the next ten years. This problem had been getting progressively worse over the last decade, finally culminating this fall when we discovered damage to roof trusses and/or load bearing supports.

The State of Florida now has some new laws about direct suction pools. This issue has been prompted by State Health Department legislation. Our pool drain cover was recently changed to be in compliance with an interim standard, but we need to comply with the final regulatory configuration by 2013. We will be discussion the future of our pool drain system at this years House Corporation meeting.

The main house security has been improved with exterior combination locks on all common doors. This has been prompted by recent security events that have taken place at our house. We have also been forced to repair/replace the gate doors to the pump room and laundry room. During some improvement projects other leading-cause issues have been discovered, namely water leaks from behind walls or from grout issues in showers. As you would expect, as these issues are located and causes determined, they are dealt with as soon as possible.

These are just a few of the improvements to the property we have taken. The undergraduates have been doing their part also. The entire chapter has been working together to keep common areas, including exterior areas, clean. The former pledge class, with the assistance of a few Brothers, has improved our grilling area. For the most part, they have taken pride in the House we all call home. Several Brothers have taken personal interest in the holiday seasons and have donated lights and decorations to the house over the past two years.

Some items that are being evaluated for consideration right now are, as previously mentioned; the central air, the repair or repaving of the front driveway, the elimination of the pavers between the rooms and concrete being poured in its place and a locking gate securing the backyard through the breeze-way.

I’d like to thank all of our contributors to the 1855 club and encourage everyone to join. Finally, thank you for your continued support of your House Corporation, the Eta Iota Chapter, and our Order.

Guard Well,
Brett Miller
Eta Iota House Corporation President

Happy Birthday this month to the following brothers:
01/01 Sky Brown ’70
01/01 Brian Hendrix ’80
01/02 Robert O. Talamo “Bobby ” ’79
01/03 William Jakeman “Jake ” ’71
01/04 Pete Perkins ’84
01/04 Erik Visser “Shakes ” ’00
01/05 Walter DeWitt “Walt ” ’74
01/05 Dave Gotwald ’71
01/05 Larry Robertson ’73
01/05 Scott Wareham “Bones ” ’97
01/06 Steven K. Robinson “Mouse ” ’86
01/06 Charles Brisbane “Chad ” ’77
01/06 David R. Biddiscombe “Dave ” ’80
01/09 Bryan Cody “Hot Garbage ” ’97
01/10 Paul Smith ’06
01/15 Bob Weisenseel “B-O-B ” ’94
01/16 Philip Holloway “Brick ” ’08
01/16 A Clay Wilson ’88
01/16 James Lee ’89
01/17 Marius S. Alecsa “Goat ” ’04
01/17 John Hall III “Goose ” ’95
01/18 Michael A. Day ’86
01/19 Brent von Stein “Sparky ” ’04
01/20 Tony Vaz ’87
01/22 Dan Eberhardt ’86
01/22 Tim Hyland ’87
01/22 Scott Curll “Vanlier ” ’92
01/23 Theodore D. Sheyda “Ted ” ’72
01/23 Frederick W. Burton “Fred ” ’72
01/23 Dave Klase ’74
01/23 Joe Di Pietro ’74
01/23 Peter Moriarty “Pete ” ’90
01/23 Robert M. Toups Jr. “Tex ” ’91
01/24 Ross Giamportone ’94
01/25 Fred Block ’93
01/27 Don David Weiffenbach “Bump ” ’81
01/28 Sean Carey “Scarecrow ” ’99
01/29 Chi Pyon “Ray ” ’99
01/30 Hubert Harrison ’74
01/31 Dan Kelley ’72