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Greek State of Mind

Some Photos and a Video of a Relaxing Day at the Beach in Asbury Park

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Last week, Governor Chris Christie told everyone to “get the hell off the beach” in Asbury Park. Well, this weekend the Governor wants everyone to get the hell back on the beach all over the Jersey Shore! Since I was already on a staycation for the last week, I decided that I would contribute a little bit to the local shore economy in my area of the state and spend some quality time on the Asbury Park beach and boardwalk. So… the pictures and video below are from my trip to the beach this past Wednesday afternoon. It was great – very quiet and very relaxing (I got to the beach before the tourists).

And here’s a nice, relaxing video of the waves crashing onto the beach while I was relaxing in Asbury Park.

Nothing like a nice, relaxing day on the beach. It was great.

Asbury Park Brings in Big Bucks from Parking

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Who would have thunk it? Asbury Park brought in over $100,000 in parking costs alone in the last three months. The Asbury Park Press reports:

The city brought in close to $1,200 a day in three months of the new paid parking on the waterfront, City Manager Terence Reidy said in a recent report to the City Council.

Reidy said the system of parking pay stations using numbered parking spots brought in a total of $105,000 from the first two months of enforcement last summer and one month this summer.

For some reason that number strikes me as amazing. It’s the result of both people coming back to Asbury Park in the summertime and the town actually preparing to host these people in the proper way (which does include paying for beachfront parking). Also, this story is complimented by the fact that the downtown merchants have prepaid for consumers to use one of the city’s parking decks – free of charge – for the summer.

Asbury Park is putting together the right mix in their downtown and beachfront area. I hope the momentum continues and the City keeps bringing in more tourists and more dollars!

Looking for the Perfect Italian Getaway? Found It!

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You guys know that I do a lot of browsing around the internet. Well, in my latest surf around the web, I found some interesting information on a luxurious resort in Italy – the Park Hotel Jesolo. By the way, the link provided in the previous sentence will take you to the Italian version of the website – use the small flag icons in the upper righthand corner of the page to translate the site in a language you prefer. I used to be able to speak a minimal amount of Italian in college, but that was a long time ago, so I find the English version of the site better for me! [Read more…]

Sigma Pi Fraternity’s 49th Biennial Convocation

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So by this point you know that I traveled to California last week to attend Sigma Pi Fraternity, International’s 49th Biennial Convocation. For the profane out there, “biennial” means once every two years. The entire visit and the event were absolutely amazing for so many reasons!

To start, this was my first time in California and the minute that we touched down, there was a 5.4 earthquake! How crazy is that? Luckily, we really didn’t feel the earthquake in the plane, but there were a lot of people huddled around television screens in the airport. It was pretty weird, but definitely a fortuitous event in terms of how my delegation and I fared at the national convention.

As for Long Beach itself, I wasn’t overly crazy about the location. Granted, the temperature was nice and there was nearly no humidity, but there was no “beach” in Long Beach. The closest beaches were 20 minutes away north or south by car. There was a nice tourist area with a Hooters and an Outback and some other places that you can find across the country, but only a few places with local flavor. We did spend one night in something called GameWorks and that was a blast. However, I find that as I get older at these events I want to go to the bar less and less and I enjoy the time I get to hang out with my friends from far away more and more. The last thing that I’ll say about the location is that the convention two years ago was about a 3 minute walk from Bourbon Street in New Orleans and I don’t know how anyone can top that scene!

Once again, my undergraduates and alumni volunteers wiped up the awards. I have 7 chapters out of some 130 that are under my direct supervision. Of those 7, THREE were awarded as among the Top 25 chapters in the nation! Better yet, of those 3, TWO were listed as among the Top 12 in the nation. The culmination of the event came when my chapter at The College of New Jersey won an award for being the #1 chapter in the nation. Absolutely amazing.

I was extremely proud of my chapter at Rowan University which won the Most Improved Chapter Award. In 2002 when I attended the convention as an undergraduate, my chapter won runner-up for the Most Improved Chapter. It only took four short years for us to rise to be the number one chapter in the nation and I expect the same thing will happen with our young men down at Rowan University. They have great leaders, great brothers, and a plan for success that is unmatched.

Our alumni volunteers also did a magnificent job of bringing home some awards. Each of our chapters has a direct advisor which we call a Chapter Director and the gentleman who advises our group at The College of New Jersey won the award for being the #1 Chapter Director in the nation! Each chapter is also required to have a Faculty Advisor and the professor who serves for our Monmouth University chapter won the #1 Faculty Advisor in the nation award! And the hits just kept on coming as I was honored and humbled to be awarded the #1 Province Archon in the nation award (we have 33 different regions in Sigma Pi, each with a Province Archon). We didn’t expect to receive so many awards and even though we’ve been building a history of success in New Jersey, this was a beautifully shocking event.

Also, I decided to run for a seat on the Board of Trustees on our Educational Foundation and thanks to the support of my brothers from around the nation I won the election. Once again, I am in debt to my fraternity brothers both local and far and I thank them for their support. I pledge NEVER to let them down so long as I serve on this Foundation!

Two more somewhat significant events took place for the New Jersey guys at Convocation. First, our delegate from the William Paterson University chapter proposed (and passed) a major new merit reimbursement program for the fraternity. That’s awesome. In a world where costs are going up and responsibilities are increasing, Sigma Pi Fraternity has decided to provide financial incentives to those chapters which adhere to their commitments to our National Organization. Second, our delegate from Monmouth University proposed (and passed) a new awards program that awards those chapters which perform the most outstanding events for the Sam Spady Foundation, our international philanthropy.

For some pictures of the event, you can check out my galleries on Facebook or on Google’s Picasa Web Albums (both have the same pictures in them). And, as I always say at the end of these events, this was one hell of a good time and I can’t wait to go to the next convention in 2010 in Boston!

Going to California

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This Tuesday I’m heading out to California for the first time ever. The core purpose of the visit is to attend Sigma Pi Fraternity’s 49th Biennial Convocation (our national convention). It’s exciting – I get to see my fraternal colleagues as well as help advocate on behalf of my New Jersey guys. It’s really fun stuff if you’re as heavily involved as I am!

I’m also looking forward to seeing the great Eddie T – the webmaster of TBLWrestling.com. Eddie and I have formed a great friendship while he’s operated my wrestling website, but I’ve never had the opportunity to actually meet him. I’m looking forward to getting a beer with him on Tuesday.

One of my former New Jersey guys also moved out to California so I’m happy that I get to see him, too!

And, of course, let’s not forget that I’m going to be in Long Beach, California. I’m looking forward to getting some quality beach time and looking at the lovely ladies that I hear so much about!

Anyway, I’ll be back in New Jersey and back blogging again starting the following Tuesday, August 5th. Until then, go back and read some of the archives!