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| Omega Delta Phi Alumni Association Dallas - Ft. Worth
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Omega Delta Phi Alumni History
The Beginning... The Omega Delta Phi Alumni Association first met on Saturday, November 16, 2000 at La Margarita Restaurant in Irving, Texas. The first attendees were as follows:
These brothers believe that that they were all drawn together from the void of brotherhood and the desire to continue to help grow the fraternity.
It
all started through a casual discussion Fred and Jorge had more that a
year earlier when they discussed how amazed they were how much the
fraternity had grown and developed. They both had an interest in
recreating a relationship with the fraternity but as professionals. They
logically believed due to the size of the fraternity that an alumni
association would already be in place in DFW and nationally. Their first barrier
was how to get in contact with the fraternity after 8 plus years of losing
touch. They were so separated that they even had lost contact with their
own Alpha brothers since graduating in the early 90's. He did this for about a year in order to get a feel of the new active brother community and its hierarchy. The biggest concern that caught his attention was the lack of alumni issues discussed in this media. It was very obvious during the 2000 National Convention in Las Vegas when the alumni events were posted and there was not much of a variety available.
Later that Fall while watching a Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M football game with Jimmy Realzola and Mauricio Salcido (Alpha), they discussed how Omega Delta Phi lacked an alumni association. They knew that there were other alumni in the Metroplex but didn't know how to bring them together. Jorge
later discussed the idea with Fred and strategized how they could contact
brothers locally to form an alumni association. They both decided
to work together on different areas. Fred was responsible for researching
to see if there was a national alumni association in place and what guidelines
or infrastructure we would have to follow. Jorge was responsible for
finding interest from alumni brothers and to form a local association
here at Dallas/Fort Worth. Although
it was a small showing of 5 brothers, most stayed until 10:00 o'clock
that night having arrived earlier than 2:00 o'clock that afternoon. It
was the start of two chapters, Alpha and Delta, coming together to unite
as Omega Delta Phi Alumni. Our First Year: A Year of Growth and Development... At the third gathering in January 2001, it was time to go to the next level and build a structure to the organization. The alumni gathering was hosted by Eugene Dominguez (National Fraternity Founder) and his family at their home in Arlington, Texas. We had our largest turnout of twelve alumni as we held our first Executive Council elections. This definitely was a turning point in our existence. We now had specific officers showing commitment to the concept of an alumni association. It was also the representation of brothers from different chapters coming together and working as one. These are the following brothers who were elected to the first Executive Council:
This would help establish our existence as an alumni association in DFW. The first Executive Council Meeting was held on February 3, 2001 at La Margarita Restaurant. At this meeting goals were set for the year and they were as follows:
Our fourth gathering in February was hosted by Jorge Rodriguez at his Dallas apartment. Michael Vega resigned as Public Relations Coordinator and Jimmy Realzola (Alpha) was voted in as the new officer. We also had a strong showing of twelve alumni brothers. After our gathering we met with Sigma Chapter actives at Dave and Busters for a social gathering. The fifth gathering in March was held at Tau in Arlington. We had our largest showing of alumni ever for the year with 17 alumni and one undergraduate. This was a crucial gathering as the treasurer presented the proposed budget. Members voted on alumni dues of $240 a year. We also reached our goal of a $500 Kick off Fund at this meeting.
The DFW Alumni Association held our first service project of the year on April 8th as we chaperoned junior high school students from the Fort Worth school district to a Ranger's baseball game. Clint Beauchamp, Service Coordinator, and Mike Torres (Delta), the students' teacher, coordinated the successful function. Our first event in which our families got the opportunity to take part of was our La Coneja Picnic on April 28th. Alex Cecenas, Social Coordinator, was responsible for organizing this successful event. We believed that the alumni association should also be a family experience. Because of its success, the La Coneja Picnic has become an annual tradition. Unfortunately, we also sad to receive the resignation of Ruben Cortinas as Treasurer but had the privilege of announcing the appointment of our new treasurer Arturo Elizondo (Tau).
We started the month of May with a happy hour in Dallas at Bone Daddy's. It came with a pleasant surprise to have Tommy Hurtado (National Fraternity Founder) join us as well as Sigma alumni. We held our monthly gathering in Irving at La Margarita Restaurant on May 12th which became a San Antonio Spurs vs. Dallas Mavericks watching basketball game.
On June 16th, Jorge Rodriguez hosted the alumni gathering at his apartment. His lovely wife made some delicious lasagna for 10 hungry alumni that afternoon. Jorge presented the DFW Presentation that was to be shown at the national convention in Houston in July. We announced the purchase of our official alumni association shirts. We further discussed the June/July electronic newsletter and the progress of the creation of our web page set to be out in September. It was a great opportunity to take care of some business and come together to socialize for an afternoon.
The Executive Council met on June 30th to discuss the final preparation for the national conference. This allowed us to make plans for brothers who were traveling and to strategize the presentation in Houston. We discussed plans for the next gathering to be held on August 11th. We met with Tau President James Guzman to discuss possible joint events. We took advantage of the July 4th holiday by having a happy hour on July 3rd at La Margarita. We had a great time as 7 alumni and two wives met for some drinks and laughs. It was a great opportunity for two wives to experience the alumni association in a comfortable social atmosphere while allowing us to unwind. We did not have a gathering in July due to the national conference.
On August 25th, we met at Tau Chapter in Arlington. The chapter asked the alumni association if we would be interested in donating a flagpole for their house. We had ten alumni in attendance and four undergraduate from Tau and one from TAMU Commerce colony. One of the topics of discussion was the outcome of the national conference and the recognition of the alumni association. We also introduced Orlando Chavez (Kappa) as our new Service Coordinator after the resignation of Clint Beauchamp in June. Our second service project of the year was a school supply drive for students at Fort Worth Can! Academy. This service event has become an annual tradition. After the alumni gathering, we met at Eugene Dominguez's house for a barbecue between DFW Alumni Association and Tau. The barbecue was a huge success as we had about thirty attendees. It was a great opportunity for the alumni to bring the wives and girlfriends to our social once again. This event has become our annual End-of-Summer Barbecue.
We started the month of September by attending TAMU Commerce interest meeing on the 5th. Jorge Rodriguez, Eugene Dominguez and Jimmy Realzola represented the alumni association to show support to their brothers in recruitment of future brothers. On September 8th we had our third service project in Dallas with Hearts and Hammers. Jorge Rodriguez, Octavio Rojas (Delta) and Orlando Chavez (Kappa) helped scrape off old paint at an elderly woman's house in Oak Cliff. On September 15th, at our alumni gathering, we met at Jimmy Realzola's (Alpha) apartment in North Dallas. We started with a moment of silence in remembrance of the September 11th tragedy and Jimmy spoke a few words of wisdom. Topics of discussion included Aug/Sept electronic newsletter, who would deliver the school supplies for Fort Worth Can! Academy, and our next service project American Heart Walk for Life in Fort Worth.
In October, we started the month with our fourth service project by participating in the Amercian Heart Association Walk for Life. Octavio Rojas (Delta), Arturo Elizondo (Tau) together raised over $700.00 in donations. Jorge Rodriguez also attended the walk and raised $75.00 for the good cause. At our alumni gathering on October 13th, we met at Tau Chapter. We had twelve alumni brothers in attendance as we had nominations for Executive Council officers. In November, we had our first Thanksgiving Food Drive and provided complete meals for 5 families in need from a local elementary school where Orlando Chavez's wife works as a school teacher. We also began collecting toys for our Christmas Toy Drive. Both of these events have been traditional annual events.
In December, we closed the year with our first Christmas Banquet that was held in Dallas. The banquet was the last event to a successful first year. It was a great setting for all of our brothers to come together with their wives and girlfriends to help celebrate the conclusion of the first entire year for the alumni association. The banquet had two speakers for the evening, Eugene Dominguez (National Fraternity Founder) and Fred Pecina (Charter Member). The 1st Executive Council was recognized with plaques for their dedication and hard work for the year. The founders were recognized with plaques as each one signed the constitution and ratified it as our official document. The evening ended with a power point presentation recapping the first year events. We also had our final collection of toys for our Christmas Toy Drive.
We have come together to take on new challenges as brothers. We are fulfilling a need and are going to change this fraternity and community forever. The Alumni Association of Dallas-Fort Worth is setting the standard for all future associations to follow as we have established the ALPHA of Omega Delta Phi Alumni Associations. The rest, as they say, is history... |
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©
2007 Omega Delta Phi Alumni Association of Dallas-Ft. Worth Omega Delta Phi Alumni Association of Dallas-Ft. Worth is a 501 (c) (10) Non-Profit Organization |
