2011-2012 Alpha Delta Officer Team

            As the fall semester here at Montana State University is winding to a welcome end, so too are the terms of current Alpha Gamma Rho Officer Team.  To fill their place come willing and ambitions individuals sharing the same desires and hopes for the house’s betterment.  I feel confident that the officer team elected this past Monday will carry out their respective duties with the diligence and principles congruent to the AGR. 

      With that I give you your 2011-2012 Alpha Gamma Rho, Alpha Delta Chapter Officer Team:

                       

Noble Ruler:  Josh Caroccia

                        Finance Chair:  Max Grier

                        Risk Management:  Joel Pratt

                        Operations:  Tycer Haugland

                        Scholarship Chair:  Ben Johnson

                        Alumni Relations:  Lane Nordlund

                        Philanthropy:  Clay Bott

                        Activities Chair:  Cody Fulton

                        Membership Development:  Paul Wichman 

                        Public Relations Chair: John Nesbitt 

           

I wish all of these officers these officers the best of luck but stress that luck occurs when hard work meets opportunity.  Congratulations on your office, hold it with dignity and purpose. 

Fraternally,

Chisholm B. Christensen ~1219

Fall Activation

November 1, 2011

            Finding ourselves in the middle of this fall semester, we brothers are as busy as ever.  Campus Activities are at a high, school classes are as demanding as ever, and A.G.R. has been busy planning and carrying out the many various activities of the fall season.     

           One such activity is Fall Activation and this year the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity was fortunate 

enough to add nine names to the brand board during this fall’s activation.  Those inducted names include

D.J. Stockwell from Glendive, MT pin 1244,

Brad Holden from Valier, MT pin 1245,

Gage Iverson from Winnett, MT pin 1246,

T.J. Baroni from Jackson, MS pin 1247,

Ben Reed from Minden, NV pin 1248,

Blake Reynold from Fairview, MT pin 1249,

Laramie Kyhl from Sidney, MT pin 1250,

Mike Merryman from Sparks, MD pin 1251,

and Aaron Avila from Red Bluff, CA pin 1252.

Fraternally, 

Chisholm B. Christensen

          With those new names, the total number of actives is brought up to 43, with 27 of those living in the chapter house on Greek Way. 

Coming Back

One week of classes have concluded here at Montana State University, and a feeling of hope and anticipation live inside each attending student.  These feelings are the same for the Alpha Gamma Rho men coming back to school, but all of that excitement for a new semester is masked by a cloud of longing despair for a fallen brother, Mr. Clay McDonald ‘1171’.   Clay, son of Dennis and Sharron McDonald, was taken from this world to be with the Lord on August 21, 2011 in a motor vehicle accident near his home of Melville, Montana. 

                There was a Memorial service for Clay here in Bozeman on August 27^th with a reception following at the AGR house where food, community, and stories of clay were abundant.  All of the stories had a commonality and that was that clay was a considerate, fun-loving, son of a gun who cared most about his family and friends and that everyone around him was having as much fun as he was.  As an AGR Clay was extremely active having held three major offices in VNR of Finance, Noble Ruler, and VNR of Activities.  Clay managed to cram more living into his 24 short years here on earth then most people do in a lifetime.  He will be dearly missed by all of us lucky enough to know him and his memory will live on.    

                So as we here at the AGR continue to plan for events and the busy schedule ahead we are reminded of what truly matters in life.  The memories we make, the friends we keep, and the people we love are the necessities of a good life.   

Coming to an End

As the semester winds to an acceptable end, the Alpha Delta House looks back on a year well done, and looks forward to the year to come.  I think I speak for all my brothers in saying that the summer vacation months will be embraced.  For many of us it is simply a change from one type of work to another, but a change is sometimes nice.  Only a few of the brothers will be living in the fraternal house over the summer, but they will be an asset to house care and upkeep.  

I wish all of my brothers the best on their months away from Montana State University, and hope to see them well when the fall semester starts up again in late August.  We congratulate and bid brothers Jon Sheehy, Neil Mauws, and Trevor Schock good fortune in their future endeavors as they will be graduating this coming Saturday the 7th of May.  We also say goodbye to a friend, Mr. Paul "Smokey" Dowling, our brother from Chico State will retire from gracing us with his presence here at MSU, but we will remember the good times and thank him for the time he gave us. 

Another great year has come to an end, and the door of our shared home swings closed behind many an Alpha Delta, but everyone one of us knows the way back and will be welcomed with open arms whenever we choose to revisit.  

Fraternally,

Chisholm B. Christensen

Activation; Spring 2011

This past week was spent interviewing, bidding, and finally activating four of the initial seven Alpha Gamma Rho candidates into our Alpha Delta Chapter here at MSU.  The time we shared throughout this week, just as it seems to each activation session, brought the members of this house closer and reiterated the meaning of brotherhood to us all. 

            This spring 2011 Activation, saw us adding the pins 1240’, 1241’, 1242’, and 1243’ to the roster.  Those latest pins belong to Joel Pratt, Lane Nordlund, Shad Christando, and  Joseph Pigeons respectively.  Their names will be written among so many other preceding Alpha Delta AGRs.  What these four young men have accomplished is something they can be very proud of, just as we are proud of them.  Becoming an AGR is a decision and an achievement that they will not soon regret and one that will follow them far past their college careers. 

Congratulations Joel, Lane, Shad, and Joe you are the most resent in a long line of upstanding men to join a professional fraternity that will unmistakably provide you with more than you could ever hope to put into it.     

Fraternally,

~ Chisholm B. Christensen ~ 1219’

Sweetheart Competition 2011

            After an exciting week of early mornings and later nights, we have finally crowned our 2011 Sweetheart. All six of the candidates did extremely well and should be commended on a job well done. The six competitors are Sarah Grier of Alpha Omicron Pi, Talor Darfler of Chi Omega, Lacey Steinbeisser of Alpha Gamma Delta, Kayla Hofmann of Pi Beta Phi, and our two girls who aren’t affiliated with a Sorority, our “GDI’s”, Robbyn Reukauf, and Kelly Barb.     

            Through the dance, talent, roping, and trivia competitions, various girls stood out.  However, at the end of the week and after much deliberation, Lacey Steinbeisser found herself at the top of the pile.  Talor Darful was deservedly announced as the runner-up in the competition and the other four girls were left wanting. In the end, I think the judges were the only ones who had a very good guess at who was going to win. 

I believe my brothers would agree with me in saying that this year’s competition was one of the best in recent years.  The level of competition brought by the competing women, along with the hard work of Russell Quinlan, came together to make an excellent Sweetheart competition. 

            Thank you to everyone that made this week possible and exceptional.  An especially big thanks to the competing women; they all did a great job.  Finally, congratulations to Lacy Steinbiezer for winning the 2011 Sweetheart Competition.  She will carry that title and the bragging rights for the entire 2011 year. She will receive a commemorative Alpha Gamma Rho belt buckle, much like the one we Alpha Delta’s wear.      

Nice job ladies, you made all of it possible.

~Chisholm B. Christensen  

A New Year at A.G.R.

As the Christmas break wound down, more and more vehicles found their way back to the familiar Alpha Gamma Rho parking lot.  Of those cars, six new automobiles are parked in the lot for the first time.  Those vehicles belong to John Nesbitt, Max Grier, Ben Johnson, Drew Gaskill, Clay Bott, and Adam Heggelund, our new actives who were able to move in this semester.  A couple other names to be added to the roster are Trevor Schock, who is back from a semester at Kansas State, Jared Leveque joined us again after a semester off from school, and Paul "Smokey" Dowling, our exchange student from Chico State decided to stay with us for another semester.

All together we are twenty-nine living in the house on Greek Way, and total thirty-seven active Alpha Delta's; a number which hasn't been reached for quite some time.  This Spring semester at Montana State University our goals are to work hard on our recruitment and have an early Activation, work to stay in good standing with the college both academically and socially, and mainly work continue in this upward swing we have deservingly been experiencing.  

Thank you for your support of the Alpha Delta Chapter of the Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

~Chisholm B. Christensen