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Sam Stinner - Class of 1951
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Tony Detato - Class of 1975
Tenure - July 1997 - August 2001 The early challenges of the new Annapolis Chapter was to get the word out to the local alumni and to grow our membership. The 1st year of the Chapter, we had less than 50 members. With the help of the board and the football games hosted at Shooters Sports Bar, we grew the membership to almost 150 members. For those that can’t remember, in the late ‘90’s, there was no BigTen network and very few PSU games were telecast in the MD/DC area. So, we worked a deal with Shooters, who had the old roof top, huge satellite dishes, to host our PSU games. The results were amazing as we often drew more than 100 people to Shooters and on the big games like Ohio State, we filled the place with over 200 people. It was an awesome time at Shooters for friends and family of Penn State. “WE ARE PENN STATE” cheer could be heard for miles around. At every game at Shooters, we would raffle off PSU clothing and other paraphernalia to our very large & supportive PSU fans. The success of the raffles allowed the Chapter to begin to build a very strong bank account and eventually lead the Board to decide to build that fund to $25K to begin offering a scholarship. That took years to achieve but because of the large crowds at Shooters and alumni donating additional money to the scholarship fund. In addition to football games we had some very exciting events, perhaps the most memorable was the “live concert” of State College’s famous, Phyrst Family, at Shooters. We also held our annual meetings every June with an invited PSU guest. With the growing success of the Chapter, we had the honor of hosting Dr. Bundy, director of the Blue Band. We purchased kazoo’s for the members and Dr. Bundy led us in playing the PSU Alma Mater & Fight On State! It was a really fun meeting! One other annual meeting was a treat for all. The Director of the PSU Creamery was our guest speaker, along with many gallons of our favorite Creamery ice cream for all. Everybody enjoyed the presentation followed by enjoying the best ice cream on the planet. In 1998, along with the Baltimore Chapter, we had the honor to have Joe Paterno come to the Inner Harbor for a night with Joe. It was a small crowd of about 100 local alumni that spent the evening with Joe. Joe mingled thru the crowd getting a chance to meet many of the people there. It was at this event that I asked Joe to sign our Chapter banner. I don't know if that banner is still the one used, but if so, Joe agreed with pleasure to sign our banner. A night I will never forget! My thanks to the dedicated Board members for helping take a dream of an Annapolis Chapter to a successful and often recognized alumni chapter by PSU. Great memories for all! |
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Jeanne Kosch - Class of 1992
Tenure - August 2001 - August 2003 I was happy to be part of the beginning of the Chapter at the 1st meeting at Heritage Harbor. So many memories in the last 25 years. However two stand out for me: Signing and delivering the official papers to the University thatestablished the Annapolis Chapter Scholarship Fund. Everyone worked so hard to raise the initial $25,000 in 7 years. Marching in many Homecoming Parades even in the snow with our crab and sailor hats – one year led by John Paul Jones and another year a float. We had so much fun especially when we won, plus the celebration at the Post Parade Party at the Alumni House. |
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Jack Berezniak - Class of 1997
Tenure - August 2003 - July 2007 A few of my fondest memories include attending the early chapter meetings under Sam Stinner, the 1st Chapter President, hearing him discuss his vision for the chapter; and experiencing the tremendous growth and development of the chapter under Tony Detato, the 2nd Chapter President; and Jeanne Kosch, the 3rd Chapter President and watching the chapter grow from just a darn good idea to a Chapter of Distinction as designated by the Penn State Alumni Association. As president, I inherited a Chapter that was vibrant, relevant, enthusiastic, and financially sound with a record of recognition, achievement, and accomplishment. Although it is hard to argue that the endowment of the Annapolis Chapters scholarship, which just coincidently occurred during my tenure, as a favorite and notable memory; and it is. But an equally significant memory was our “Campaign for Literacy” drive, which also occurred during my tenure, that resulted in the enhancement of the library at Hilltop Elementary School in Glen Burnie. The Chapter added 250 Scholastic Readers to the library’s collection at the elementary school for the purpose of enhancing reading proficiency at the school. This project was completed through a lot of hard work by Chapter members Alyson Figlioli and Karen Cropper and through generous donations from numerous Chapter members. In a commencement speech to graduate students at Penn State University on May 10, 1996, then President Clinton emphasized the shared responsibilities of citizens and government to address the problems of society. "No matter what you do or how busy you are, there is always a way to serve a larger community," Clinton said. "The story of your generation should be the story of how we restore broken lives and shattered promises through citizen service." The Annapolis Chapter was formed the very same year President Clinton gave that commencement address at Penn State University. It is hard to believe, but twenty-five years have passed since the President of the United States came to our University and challenged us to serve a larger community. The Annapolis Chapter has undoubtedly accepted that challenge and may they continue to serve a larger community, as well as Annapolis area alumni, for the next twenty-five years and beyond and have fun, fellowship, and a lot of football wins along the way. As for the Annapolis Chapters accomplishments for the first twenty-five years, I would be remiss if I did not use some Naval slang, so BRAVO ZULU Annapolis Chapter. Stay the Course! |
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George Gayno - Class of 1987/1994
Tenure - July 2007 to June 2017 I moved to Annapolis from Nebraska in late 2003. The next summer, I saw an ad in The Capital about our chapter’s annual Penn State student send-off picnic. Since I did not know anyone in the area, I thought it would be a great way to make some new friends. There must have been over 100 people at the picnic! I was surprised at how many loyal Penn Staters there were in my new home. Shortly thereafter, I joined the chapter board before finally becoming president a few years later. Some of my fondest memories as president - besides the annual picnic - were gathering to cheer on the Lions each fall and marching in the Homecoming parade - where we won the award for best chapter two years in a row! I want to congratulate the chapter on its 25th birthday. May there be many more! |
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Mike Long - Class of 2001
Tenure - June 2017 to August 2018 Soon after the 10th Anniversary cruise, I joined the Board and quickly took the role of Social Committee Chair. Helping plan annual events such as our holiday party, student send-off picnic, and football viewing parties, as well as creating unique events that brought the diverse interests of our chapter members together, were things that I will always remember fondly. Some of my favorite events that I spearheaded were our crab feast with Coach Larry Johnson, paint night with a local Baltimore artist, beer tasting with Fordham Brewery, multiple wine tastings, and a dinner with Coach Bill Kenney. There are so many more events that occurred over the course of a decade and I could never remember them all. Social events were obviously enjoyable, but the service in our communities and support of local Penn State students are what makes us who we are. As time went on, I became the Vice President of the Chapter and finally, the President. When I took over, I had massively huge shoes to fill, as I followed George Gayno, who served so selflessly as President for 10 years and continues to serve on the Board today. While my time as President was brief, as I made the move to our beloved Happy Valley a year later, I will never forget the people who make our Chapter what it is. I was so proud to work side-by-side with fellow Penn Staters, espousing the beliefs of our beloved alma mater, spreading our name throughout the Annapolis area as a stalwart and unmistakable member of our community. Looking back, I can’t believe that I spent 11 total years serving on the Board. It seems as if I blinked and my time in Maryland was over. I very much miss everyone down there, even though I live right in the place where our hearts always gravitate toward. My family and I will forever treasure the memories made. A very wise man once said something similar to this, so let me borrow and tweak his words: “They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Annapolis a better place, not just that I was a good Board member.” So it is from the bottom of my heart, that I thank you for allowing me to serve the Chapter! We are...Annapolis and we are...PENN STATE! |
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Scott Davis - Class of 1980
Tenure - August 2018 to June 2020 I started my PSU journey in 1976 at the Wilkes-Barre campus, then to University Park. For me “Happy Valley” provides stress relief whenever I return. In 1978, my career took me to the Cleveland, OH area, where I met my wife, Nancy (Lehigh Univ. 1974). Due to quite a bit of work travel, I was minimally involved in Penn State alumni activity in Cleveland...but PSU remained deeply imbedded in my soul. Career changes brought us to Annapolis in April 2010 and in late summer, while looking for ways to connect to the area, Nancy found a link to ACPSAA’s website. We attended a few football parties shortly thereafter and [then] President Gayno invited me to attend a Board Meeting. After my third meeting he said “... since this is your 3rd meeting in a row, does it mean you might be interested in serving on the Board?” Realizing that I had separated myself from giving back to the University that was/is so much a part of me, my reply was an easy “YES”! It has been over a decade now and I’ve had the honor to serve on your Chapter Board as a Board Member-at-Large, Fall Service Project Chairman (Wreaths Across America) for seven years, Webmaster and as Chapter President. It is my sincerest hope that my contributions have helped us honor our Chapter’s past, better support the needs of our local Penn State family today and strengthen its foundation for an even greater tomorrow. After all … We ARE Penn State and we do make a difference! Congratulations to the Annapolis Chapter on its 25th Anniversary! |
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Lynn Delphus - Class of 1989
Tenure - July 2020 to June 2022 My husband Brian (Class of 1984) and I relocated to the Annapolis area in 2015. Coming from West Chester, PA, it was a culture shock to NOT see Penn State magnets, license plates, and clothing everywhere - something that I personally took for granted all my life! Being surrounded by all things PSU, had never felt the need to be active with a local alumni chapter, but moving to Maryland quickly changed that. Soon after moving into our new home, we found the Annapolis Chapter online and joined. Our first event was that summer’s Chapter Picnic and Student Sendoff, which had an enthusiastic and welcoming crowd- which led to football parties, service projects, and a seat on the Board of Directors. In getting involved with the Chapter, one of my favorite activities is our football game watch parties. Coordinating and hosting football parties for the 2018 and 2019 seasons was an amazing opportunity to get to know many of our usual attendees, both alums and friends of Penn State - and to welcome visitors to our area who were usually coming from a Navy game and now wanted to watch Penn State! There is nothing better than the collective energy of Penn Staters! I’m proud to be part of a lively and energetic Board of Directors, and congratulate our founding members for their brilliant idea to represent Penn State here in the Annapolis region - 25 years young and going strong! |
They led us - so we could serve our community!