Kappa Alumni of Sigma Phi Delta, Inc.

Spring EOT: A 70th Anniversary to Remember

On the weekend of April 8th, 2017, the Brothers of the Sigma Phi Delta Kappa Chapter hosted their Spring EOT Alumni weekend. Saturday was a full and eventful day of celebration, remembrance, and memorial as it recognized the 70th anniversary of the founding of Kappa Chapter as well as the 20th anniversary of the passing of Brother Mason Michael Foor, who passed away while still attending college.

The weather was uncharacteristically cooperative for the time of year, and the events of this beautiful spring day began at noon with a lunch at the Castle (fraternity house). The lunch was generously donated by Brother Joe Fulcher ('10) and was hosted by the Actives. Following the lunch, the Semi-Annual Meeting of Kappa Alumni of Sigma Phi Delta took place led by the President of the Board of Directors, Brother Mike Votaw ('91). The meeting included close to 30 participants with a fairly even distribution of Alumni and Actives. The bulk of the discussions included completed, ongoing, and future house projects and lasted just under an hour and a half.

In the mid-afternoon, after the conclusion of the meeting, a memorial was held for Brother Foor, who passed away on April 17, 1997 from a congenital heart defect. He was an Active Brother at the time who was studying Mechanical Engineering at Tri-State. His picture, which is hanging on a memorial wall inside the house, and a memorial tree (with plaque) in the front yard of the house have been familiar to generations of Sigma Phi Delta men. Unfortunately, storm damage destroyed the tree last year so a new one was planted in its place, and it was re-dedicated along with the original plaque during this ceremony. The memorial ceremony was led by Brother Keith Hileman ('97), who remembers Mason as a free spirit and generous soul. Additionally, it was an honor to have his father, Brother Steve Foor, in attendance, who became an Honorary Brother at the time of the loss.

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I Am IRONMAN

Being in an engineering fraternity, we are usually celebrating intellectual or professional achievements of our Alumni, but sometimes we get the chance to celebrate physical achievements. That's the story with Kappa Alumni Nathan Turner (Mechanical Engineer '04) and Joel Reed (Mechanical Engineer '02). Both of these Phi Delt men have been heavily involved with marathons and triathlons, including the IRONMAN competition in the past few years. Not only do these competitions require physical strength, but they also require mental strength. For those who are unfamiliar, a triathlon includes three separate portions: swimming, bike riding, and running, and an IRONMAN competition is a type of triathlon that consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run totaling 140.6 miles. Each segment has its own time limit, and the participants are required to cross the finish line by midnight on the day of the competition. These competitions take place all around the world, and every year, the top finishers compete in Kona Hawaii at the world championship. Each race allows a maximum of between 2,500 and 3,000 people, but only 2,000 people total are allowed to compete in the world championship.

Both Nathan and Joel started their journey in similar manner by trying to make life changes to get into better shape. Nathan made a new years resolution 4 years ago to lose some weight. Just by changing his diet, he was able to lose 30 pounds in just a few short months. Continuing the trend of being healthier, he decided to sign up for a mud run with a friend. Nathan had a great time doing the mud run, and he ended up making a deal with his friend to try a triathlon. He signed up to do the smallest of all the triathlons, a sprint triathlon, which consists of a 0.5 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run (16 miles total). It was a daunting task, but it was only the beginning. "I ended up doing that race in October of 2012 and never looked back. I fell in love with the sport. I realized the challenge of the whole thing, the fitness level required, and the inspiration the whole thing provides to me. I have done sports all my life and love competition, but triathlon is just something totally different. You get to compete against others, but also yourself. Trying to push your body at a hard level (the level the average person would do for 30 min tops in the gym) for 13-15 hrs to me is insane, and I love every minute of it."

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