Beta Theta Pi - University of Wisconsin

4 BETA THETA PI THE CANOE HOLE A Relic of Alpha Pi History O ne of the surprises I noticed at last year's 150th celebration was that none of the undergraduates had any idea why we older brothers referred to the area that's now the Pagel Recreation Facility as 'The Canoe Hole.' We tend to forget that when you've been around for 151 years, you go through several fads. One of the bigger fads, particularly for the only Beta house on water, were canoes. The Height of Canoeing The Wooden Canoe Historical Association considers the golden age of canoeing in America to be from 1890-1925. Canoeing was such a way of life that it's been said you could walk across Boston's Charles River without getting your feet wet. There was a good reason for this fad! The chastity of women in colleges during the 19th and early 20th centuries was as controlled as class I drugs. At Wisconsin as late as 1968, underclass women had to reside in dorms and were required to be in these dorms no later than midnight on weekends (earlier during the week). As a result, young men looked for anything that would get them some alone time with a woman beyond the prying eyes of their chaperones, hence the canoe! The concept was so refined there was even a design called 'the courting canoe' that featured long wood decks fore and aft and just two places in its cockpit: one for a paddler and one with a slanted backrest for the woman to recline. History of the Hole Our house was designed in 1925, with construction completed in 1926. In their infinite wisdom, the architects designed a walled space behind the bar room with a built-in concrete ramp and a five-foot door to the outside so brothers could store canoes over the winter. Behold, The Canoe Hole! Sadly, canoeing lost its luster during the late 1920s due to the increased popularity of automobiles and the Great Depression; however, the space remained. By the time I arrived in the late '60s, it had become the area where we stored our kegs as well as the sections of the pier. It also had a more notable use within the Beta house. Since the room had a gravel floor and was, of course, two floors below the nearest bathroom, it became the number one place for, well, number one! Disgusting? Somewhat. Practical? Without a doubt! This use all came to a head during a 1971 chapter meeting when our President, 'Honest Bob' Feind '71, announced we needed to clean up the canoe hole and henceforth do our business in the bathrooms. Brother Al Kaniss '72 jumped up to agree with this suggestion, closing by saying, "The Canoe Hole is such a disgrace that I had to throw four empty half-barrels out of the way just to pee on Ed Albright '71's motorcycle!" It almost goes without saying that in the ensuing pandemonium, the motion was completely forgotten. Yours in _kai_, Roderick Taylor, #1448, UW 1972 WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS Henri Clarke '26 Matteo Dalessandro '26 Samuel Lagowski '26 Eli Plawker '26 Simon Ball '27 Ethan Bartos '27 Ryan Boyes '27 Braden Carlin '27 Miles Corcoran '27 Jack Fannon '27 Samuel Forero '27 Calvin Frerichs '27 Luka Givelber '27 Robert Hall '27 Charlie Hansel '27 Evan Head '27 Benjamin Hudson '27 Charles Hughes '27 John Kaiser '27 William Kessler '27 Billy Krumsiek '27 Timothy LaRosa '27 Jack Lueck '27 Matthew Malloy '27 Lawson Meier '27 Samuel Neubert '27 Aidan O'Brien '27 Conner Reid '27 Benjamin Schneider '27 Owen Schneider '27 Holden Smith '27 Patrick Smith '27 Troy Stephenson '27 Justin Torrey '27 Joseph Tortorella '27 Brody Van Eperen '27 Jack Vosters '27 Evan Weber '27 Henry Weber '27 The current canoe hole has two rooms. Undergraduates use shelving in the first room for their hockey equipment.

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