Sigma Phi Epsilon - Oregon State University

S IG MA PHI EPS IL O N t O R EG O N AL PHA CHAPT ER t O R EG O N S T AT E U NIV ER S IT Y SPRING 2021 THE SECOND CENTURY CAMPAIGN: InvestIng In OregOn AlphA's Future the CrAIg lehmAn FAmIly, the ClAss OF '69, And OregOn AlphA's dInIng rOOm By Tyya N. Turner, SigEp Journal Editor, and Steve Cook '76 S ince 1967, we have bonded while breaking bread together in the chapter house dining room—on nine hand-crafted tables made especially for us. They were first created as a father's expression of love for his son, and now, more than 50 years later, Oregon Alpha has received another extraordinary gift, this time from the son in honor of his father's memory. It began more than 50 years ago, when Craig Lehmann '69 was an undergraduate. He recalls telling his father, Richard, that the dining room tables at the chapter house were in pretty shabby shape. It was a fairly casual conversation, as he remembers it—just a brief mention before heading off to class. Nevertheless, the discussion must have made quite an impression on the elder Lehmann. His son remembers being in class one day when a brother told him a set of brand-new dining tables had just been delivered to the chapter house, courtesy of his father. Thanks to his years of experience in the timber industry, his father was able to commission the tables from the plant where he worked as a production manager, and Craig believes he undoubtedly helped make them as well. In the decades since, thousands of Oregon Alpha brothers have shared many wonderful times and good food at those tables. All the while, Brother Lehmann kept a watchful eye on their condition. When he paid a visit to the chapter house in the fall of 2019, he saw they were clearly past their prime. It was then that he decided to make new ones to replace them. "I saw the tables, and they were in really bad shape," he recalled. "One had collapsed, and some of the others had cracks. I figured, why not honor my dad's legacy and take care of the young brothers?" He took some measurements and reached out to Don Statsny '65, an architect and member of the AVC, to discuss how many tables were needed. With his father being in the timber industry, Craig became interested in woodworking at a young age. Although he humbly calls woodworking his "hobby," in reality he's a skilled craftsman who could have created his own line of furniture if he hadn't decided to become a pharmacist. The now-retired pharmaceutical development consultant said the original tables were made of fir. However, he decided to build the new ones using white oak. "I wanted to brighten up the dining room. The old tables were a dark brown and kind of diminished the brightness of the room," Craig explained. Each of his 8-by-3-foot tables is sturdy, with legs measuring nearly four inches on each side. Brother Lehmann designed and had fabricated concealed steel support braces at the corners; it is a fraternity house, after all. Nine tables were built at his home woodworking shop in Austin, Texas, and the 200-plus-pound tables shipped 2,100 miles to the chapter house in Corvallis. A steel SigEp emblem in semi-gloss black enamel adorns the skirt of each table. The first couple of tables took about six weeks each to build, as crafting something of this quality required a well-thought-out process. There was also quite a bit of legwork involved: the design of the tables, sourcing and hauling the lumber, and the creation of templates before construction of the first prototype could begin. After he had completed the first two tables, he was able to get the construction time down to around three weeks for the remainder. The overall time frame for the project lasted from November 2019 to August 2020. Ever modest, Brother Lehmann is quick to point out that chapter brothers from his undergraduate days were instrumental in helping to fundraise for this project and that he could not have done it without them. "I've been interacting with my classmates, and they've helped with the cost of it. It's brought us all together, and that's been fun," Lehmann stated. Through Zoom calls and emails, he kept in touch with the brothers on a weekly basis to update them on the status of the project. He was probably on table three or four when he started to wonder about the state of the dining room chairs. They too, had seen better days. Brothers from the class of '69 formed a fundraising committee and they, with a few others from adjacent classes, provided funding for 80 chairs to complement Brother Lehman's fine work. The chairs are custom-made of ash and coated with black lacquer to offset them from the white oak tables. The new chairs are now in the dining room of the chapter house with the tables. Those making (Continued on page 2)

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