[PhiPsiRuss]

March 27, 2004

Dear Brothers,

On the occasion of last weekend's chartering of Pennsylvania Phi at Lycoming College , I rented a car for a few days and visited Phi Psi chapters in the vicinity of Harrisburg Pennsylvania enroute to Philadelphia and Trenton - Rowan New Jersey.

Pennsylvania Rho - York College

On Sunday evening March 21, I enjoyed the opportunity to attend the Pennsylvania Rho Chapter Meeting at York College in which the new pledge class also participated. I was joined by newly appointed Chapter Advisor Damien Lynch who is following in the great footsteps of retired advisor Ernie Thompson of who I had the pleasure of speaking by phone prior to the meeting. Pennsylvania Rho continues to be a very good chapter. Brother Jared Caracappa is an alumnus of the chapter and served recently as a member of the Hyparchos Network and is active on the York Pennsylvania Alumni Association which enjoyed a very good recent Founders Day event. I wish to thank Brother Damien Lynch and the Brothers of Pennsylvania Rho for their wonderful hospitality.


Pennsylvania Epsilon - Gettysburg College

The following morning I traveled to our Pennsylvania Epsilon Chapter at Gettysburg College for a visit to talk to chapter members and see Miller Hall the first chapter house built and owned by the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity in 1882. The opportunity to set foot in Miller Hall was a wonderful and memorable experience in which the chapter members explained the various historical facts surrounding its 120 year history. The Winter 2004 Issue of The Shield includes a wonderful article by past District One Archon Steve McDermott New Jersey Epsilon '00 in which Steve and Pennsylvania Epsilon House Corporation President Nick Modha and Fraternity Historian Mike McCoy Indiana Beta '57 undertook a restoration of fraternity archives stored at Miller Hall. The year 2005 will mark the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Pennsylvania Epsilon Chapter with plans now underway for a great reunion observance. After a quick visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield National Park I was again reminded of the great historical connection of our Fraternity and passages in our nation's history. On the outskirts of Gettysburg is a fairly new highway sign named Camp Letterman Road which is named in honor of Jonathan Letterman the older brother of Founder William Henry Letterman who both served as Surgeons in the Army of the Potomac. Jonathan Letterman and the Camp Letterman Gettysburg site is where the practice of battlefield medical treatment for the wounded was introduced and became the forerunner of Army M.A.S.H. medical units that has continued to evolve today.

Fraternally,
John V. Ciccarelli...
S.W.G.P.