"Here's to the nights that turned into mornings, with friends that turned into family."
"We didn't realize we were making memories,
We thought we were just having fun."
~Unknown
"I don't like to think before I speak ........
I like to be just as surprised as everyone else about what I say."
~Old Irish Saying
When I created my Updated Bucket List for YEAR 77 I included an item to continue promoting and assisting in the organization of Sigma Zonk activities, including periodic gatherings of our group of friends and working with the Sigma Zonk Scholarship at USU. At our gathering of friends over the New Year's Holiday we all agreed to hold a Mini-Zonk gathering in Mesquite over the last weekend in March (not realizing at the time that this was the Easter Weekend). For people not familiar with Sigma Zonk, see A Little History of the Sigma Zonk Fratority below for additional information.
Friday: Susan joined Bonnie & I and we traveled to Mesquite on March 30th to attend the Mini-Zonk on that weekend. It was an enjoyable drive with relatively light traffic for a holiday weekend, except for considerable road construction through the North Las Vegas area. We had a small group this year and most of us stayed at the Highland Estates Condo Hotel. This included Susan, Bonnie & I, Quent & Barbara, and Paul R & Geneal. Walt & Bev, along with their canine family, Josie, Ev and Scout, stayed with Linda at her home. A few photos from Friday afternoon are below including special photos of Bev and my traveling chair. Bev was in Chino, CA in mid-March for Ev to participate in Sheepdog Herding Trials there. Bonnie & I, and the girls, went there to watch. In a demonstration of my sharp memory, I left my folding chair behind when I went home. Bev kindly took it with her to Phoenix and then brought it to Mesquite when they came for the Mini-Zonk. As you can see below, she decorated the chair for Easter. The decorations were quite compelling - I had to try on the Easter Bunny mask.
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That evening we had a delicious dinner (except for the dish that Linda ordered) at Cucina Italiana. Paul R & Geneal had eaten dinner before arriving in Mesquite so they just had a soda and joined in the conversation.
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Saturday: Linda invited us all to her home for brunch on Saturday. She provided a wide variety of delicious food and everyone enjoyed the meal and drinks - Bloody Marys for some, Bloody Shame for others, and of course beer, soda, water, etc. Forrest & Terry, and their daughter Megan, drove from St George to join us for brunch.
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Photos below show Covert and Forrest studying maps for a route to take on the coming Summer Scooter Ride. The first photo in the second row shows Paul R and Bonnie (with Geneal looking on) looking through old Hicken photo albums talking about how cute they were as children. The last photo shows Linda demonstrating her skill with a Flipper as she takes down lizards encroaching her yard.
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In the late afternoon I suggested that I would like to renew my Sigma Zonk vows as part of my Year 77 activities. I proposed that our most recent Grand Dope Bevie perform the swearing in ceremony. Then, in a surprise revelation, Linda said that Mel had delighted in keeping a secret all these years that he had never been officially sworn in as a member of Sigma Zonk. We all agreed that he should be sworn in posthumously. Photos below show the ceremony for me, and
for Mel with Walt acting as his stand in. We used the original procedure of the vodka taken
from the bottle cap.
"I Promise Never to Honk,
Except at a Sigma Zonk."
(Down the hatch)
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We left Linda's home and went to Hugo's Hilltop Restaurant for a nice dinner and visit.
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Sunday: We all met Sunday morning at the Conestoga Golf Club for brunch. Then we went a number of different ways - the Murray's headed home to Phoenix, Paul R & Geneal went to Beaver Dam to visit some relatives, and Bonnie, Susan, Barbara and Linda went to play a little Bingo. Covert and I relaxed and looked at the maps some more trying to choose a route for the Summer Scooter Ride.
Sunday afternoon we re-grouped at Linda's home for a report on the days activities: Susan had missed winning $1,000 at Bingo by one number and Geneal had lost her cell phone. Before dinner she had also lost her purse.
We agreed to meet at Los Lupes Mexican Restaurant for the Last Supper. We had a good meal and a final visit before saying goodbye to everyone. By this time Geneal had found both her purse and her cell phone.
Our group is getting a little smaller at these gatherings. We missed some of our regulars - Jon & Maridee, Grant & Finch, Jack & Dee, Ted & Dixie and Marilyn. Hopefully they will be able to join us next time. I think everyone enjoyed the visit and look forward to our next gathering.
A Little History of the Sigma Zonk Fratority: During the winter of 1959 - 1960 a few of my friends and I were trolling for women at the girl's dorms on the USU campus. We began chasing around with a group of girls and we soon became good friends. When the girls moved off campus, we began hanging out at their apartments - eventually at their most famous location, the Canyon Road Apartments. By that time we had begun calling ourselves "The Gang."
The Gang was the predecessor of Sigma Zonk. During Greek Week in March 1962 a bunch of us were making fun of the fraternities and sororities on campus and we decided to form our own organization. We called it Sigma Zonk Fratority -- "Fratority" because our group consisted of both men and women. It was done as a joke, and we created a bunch of silly rituals, all patterned after the established Greek organizations. The first photo below includes most of the original Gang during college days - from the left, Dixie, Ted, Bubbles, Mary Ann, Finch, Neil, Bonnie, Ron, Covert and Crocket. The sign is the Grand Creed of Sigma Zonk, which was created from the word GANG.
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At the time Sigma Zonk was created we probably expected it to last no longer than the weekend - or maybe that semester. The surprise benefit, that none of us foresaw, is that it has helped keep a group of friends together for over 55 years. We held our first major reunion in Las Vegas in 1972 and have held reunions every five year ever since. Somewhere along the way we began having informal gatherings every year and called them "Mini-Zonks."
We held the 55th Anniversary of Sigma Zonk in April 2017 and marveled at how an organization put together with such silliness has managed to keep a large group of friends in contact for so many years. It was noted that as of the previous reunion, 207 persons had been sworn in to the Fratority. We're proud that we created a Sigma Zonk Scholarship fund in 2008 and have now assisted 12 deserving students in getting their college education.
Below are the attendees at the 2017 Reunion:
Back row- Ron, Nancy P, Covert, Ted, Bill, Cheryl, Mary Ann, Nancy H, Betty, Finch, Dottie, Al, Dee, and Jack (looking a little ornery).
Middle row- Jon C, Bruce P, Barbara, Dixie, Bubbles, Nel, Susan, Bonnie, Linda, Geneal, Walt, Gary.
Front row- Amy, Evan, Hattie, Seanann, Bev, Grant, Gina, Michael C, Paul R, Art W, Connie W.
We had a brief visit and a few words by President Trump (in the form of Walt) who was led in to the room by Linda playing "Hail To The Chief."
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Everyone enjoyed the speeches given as Grand Chronicler Grant summarized the Zonk activities at, and since, the last Reunion, and Grand Dope Bevie amazed us all as she gave the State of the Zonk Address.
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We distributed a brochure prepared by USU covering the Sigma Zonk Scholarship. The brochure gave a good summary of the purpose of the Scholarship, the award recipients, and the balance in the Fund. The reverse side of the sheet gave credit to all those who have been supporting the scholarship.
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At each 5-Year Reunion a Sweetheart of Sigma Zonk has been selected by popular vote. The first photo below shows the 2017 Sweetheart Mary Ann, being serenaded by the Sigma Zonk Quartet. We have had an Awards Program at every Reunion and one of the most popular awards has been the Pig Award. Tradition has been that the prior reunion winner presented the award at the following reunion. The 2012 winner, Finch, elected to end the Prestigious Pig Award in 2017 and the plaque shown below will be maintained along with much other Sigma Zonk Memorabilia.
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Below is the swearing in ceremony for two new members - Cheryl and Jon C are taking the oath.
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The Sigma Zonk Grand Seal was developed and presented in the 1972 Reunion.
