Sigma Chi - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

3 SIGMA CHI brothers in preparing the house for the new school year. Our foreman, Bob "Beo" Bedard '75, and chief home remodeler, Alan "HJ" Hanbury '74, have compiled a task list for Work Party 2015 with jobs for everyone. Professional skills are not needed; just a desire to work alongside our active brothers in caring for our house. But wait, there's more! Let's not forget about the Friday golf outing, the Friday evening active/alumni dinner, the weekend of camaraderie, the Saturday night ritual house meeting, the chance to strengthen our bonds with each other, swap stories, and tell tall tales of bygone days. To sum it all up, it's simply a good time! This should be on everyone's bucket list. Join us this year and check it off yours. Please let us know if you plan to attend so we can plan accordingly. We look forward to seeing you all back at 58 Pinewoods soon! In Hoc, Thom Kouletsis '76 (717) 805-2618 tkouletsis@comcast.net Celebrate Camaraderie (Continued from page 1) Alumni and actives plan the next task. Brothers work around the grounds during the 2014 work party. D uring April 2015 at Pomeroy Chapter House, 58 Pinewoods, Ruth Harvie revisited her home from 1942, which her father sold to the Phi Epsilon Phi Fraternity. John Pfaff '71, president of the Phi Epsilon Phi House Corporation, was present for this historic visit. I was in town for a long weekend doing house corporation and other business. It happened to coincide with the chapter's spring alumni weekend, which draws mostly younger alumni. Around 3 p.m., I was standing on the front porch talking with brothers Bob "Justa" Eckart '73, C-Ray Allshouse '70, who was on the east coast for business meetings, and Kurt VanWagenen '86, who was also in town for business from California. Larry Heininger '77 worked on digging a trench over the old driveway to continue the privet hedge in the front yard. A small car drove up to Larry with an old lady who spoke to him and he directed her to pull up to the curb. She got out of the car and walked up to the front porch and said hello to us, announcing that she was Ruth Harvie and that she had grown up at 58 Pinewoods. Her father was Dr. Peter Harvie, chief of surgery at Samaritan Hospital. He bought the house in 1929 and sold it to Phi Epsilon Phi in 1942, moving his family to a farm in Tamarack. Ruth was smartly dressed, spry, and had a firm handshake. We learned that she was soon to be 87 and was in town to celebrate her 70th reunion at Emma Willard. She went to college at Russell Sage. We proceeded to give her a tour. Or rather, she gave us a tour telling what the house looked like when she was growing up. As soon as she entered the front door, she asked about the grandfather clock. It turns out that her father had left that clock as a gift to the fraternity. We told her the sad story about the original clock, but then showed her our new clock given to us by Bob Jones '73 and Larry Mentz '68. She said the entrance hall, living room, and library were almost as she remembered. The wall where we used to sign in as pledges was one big book case and the library was wall-to-wall bookcases. The house was heated by coal, regularly causing fires in the living room and library fireplaces. She confirmed that the kitchen entrance was opposite the first-floor bathroom with a pocket door, which we discovered when we renovated three years ago. The front stairway is almost as it was with the exception of the new walls at the top for fire protection. The first bedroom on the right (small bore range) was her brother's room. The next right side bedroom (land of giants) was hers, and she shared the connecting bath (sink and toilet) with him. Across the hall (the nursery) was her older sister's bedroom. The next room, which we used as a small bedroom, was originally a bathroom, and the next room (rogue's den) was the master bedroom. What we knew as the main head on the left side in the back was the master bathroom. At the top of the back stairs, the bedroom to the left (consul's corner) was a servant's bedroom, as was the bedroom to the right over the back stairs (bride's room). The connecting bathroom was also for the servants. We even went into the old basement, where she pointed out the window that was originally a coal chute and the area around the stairs that was the laundry room. Ruth told us that a woman came once a week to do their laundry. Just beyond the basement exit through the bulkhead, there was a walkway, just like we have now, but it was covered by a grape arbor going back to the garage. She said there was a small orchard of about a dozen fruit trees on the property surrounding the house. She reminisced about the pine trees along the driveway and the beach trees in the side yard on the living room side. Ruth told us there was a handy man that lived above the garage, flower beds all along the back fence, and about half of the front porch was screened. We have Ruth's e-mail address. She now lives in an independent living facility in Hanover, N.H. She said she would try to find some old family photos for us. As she left she was very excited and was looking forward to telling the rest of her family about her visit. To see photos, please visit www.sigmachi-rpi. org/news. Last Female Resident Revisits 58 Pinewoods Ruth Harvie Returns to Her Childhood Home 73 Years Later John Pfaff '71 escorts Ruth Harvie through 58 Pinewoods in April 2015. Harvie grew up at 58 Pinewoods until her father sold the house in 1942.

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