The Valley Buckeye Fall 2010 Need Buckeye Gear this Year?
The Valley Buckeye www.sacvalleybuckeyes.com Fall 2010 Need Buckeye Gear this Year? Calling all Buckeyes: Inside… 2 The Holiday Silent Auction is planned for Dec 9th. Board Bios: Ralph 4 Cornwell and Sharonlee Johnson Hey area Buckeyes, are you planning to buy Buckeye clothes, music, or a big inflatable Brutus this year? If so, buy from the store that gives a hefty sum back to our club. College Traditions (www.collegetraditions.com, 800-628-4678) has a program where our own Sacramento Valley club receives 15% of your total bill just for shopping with them. So, if you are thinking about buying something, ANYTHING, that is Buckeye related, check with College Traditions and you’ll be giving back to the club. All you have to do is give them our club code: AL9563 You can order by phone or on the ‘net. If you order by phone, provide the code or let them know that you are from the Sacramento Valley club. We’ll see a portion of your purchase to use for our Updates to the Sac Valley Website www.sacvalleybuckeyes.com Holiday Social, Silent Auction and Board Elections When: Thurs, Dec 9th Where: Lion’s Gate Hotel at the former McClellan AFB Why: Our holiday social is a great time to wind down the year and peruse the great silent auction items we have for sale. All auction sales help our scholarship fund. Cost: $30 per person Auction items include: • • • • 2 OSU Alumni logo wine glasses Handmade OSU Christmas ornaments OSU t-shirts Gift cards/certificates GO BUCKEYES! Club Website Our club has an amazing website to keep everyone up to date on club events, Buckeye news, and fun photos of Buckeyes in action. Thanks to board member Gary Penwell for putting in countless hours and volunteer work to keep it up and running. Gary has updated the information on the website, created a PayPal link for dues and event payments, as well as uploaded pictures of our events. If you go to a Buckeye event and have pictures you’d like to show off on our club website, contact Gary Penwell, our Webmaster! Come visit us at www.sacvalleybuckeyes.com. We have links to all your favorite Buckeye related sites, including traditions and trivia about OSU. There is a page about all the events the club sponsors. We have posted words to our beloved Buckeye songs and there are mp3s so you can also listen to the songs. Check out all the links to vendors who also sell OSU related merchandise. There are over 100 pictures of our members from club events and games. Visit the website to see if you are in a picture! There are dozens of jokes and funny pictures about Michigan and other foes, a Buckeye candy recipe and much more. Call Gary at 916-722-3368 or email him at [email protected] if you have ideas, pictures or other information to post. BIG-10 Picnic: This year the Big-‐10 committee held the picnic at the William Pond park in Carmichael. We hosted about thirteen club members at the event and we had fun socializing with the other Big-‐10 clubs. Club members brought food to share, we had burgers, brats, and hot dogs for everyone too. It was a wonderful afternoon of great fun with fellow Big-‐10 alumni! We look forward to the event again next year! The Valley Buckeye :: Fall 2010 The Valley Buckeye www.sacvalleybuckeyes.com Press from the Pres: Hello Sacramento Buckeyes! I’m excited that my first year as club president has gone well. We’ve had some change and new direction throughout OSUAA and our local club but we’ve done well this past year. Archie Griffin announced, during his visit, that OSUAA and the university would band together to become one. He has transferred from being the alumni association president to being the Vice President and CEO of Alumni Relations at Ohio State. Our first change is our new game watching location at the New MVP Sports Bar and Grille on L Street. As a club we appreciate the owner’s willingness to display our school spirit on a weekly basis and allow us to decorate tables, walls, and inflate LARGE mascots throughout the second floor. It was a big change from our last location, and we’ve had some growing pains. As a club we have taken great strides to continue our membership drive and want to continue to grow. It’s always exciting to speak to members, new and old, and find out the similarities among each of us – having grown up in the same areas, going to the same “hole in the wall” pizza place on campus, spending time in the library coffee shop or just being the #1 fan in the land for the BUCKEYES. That sharing is what is so important – and keeps us growing! Please renew your membership on our website or ask a board member for a membership form and we’ll get you in the loop. In 2010 we were able to offer three scholarships to area students enrolling at OSU. We would love to continue the tradition of providing scholarships but need your help to do it. 3 At each of the game watches we have raffles to raise money for our scholarship fund, a donation option with our membership forms, and a silent auction -‐ which is our biggest fundraiser. We are also looking to expand our offerings of other activities, both with the other Big-‐10 clubs and throughout the year with our club. We also like to host athletic teams that come to town (softball, crew, etc...). On the nonathletic front, our members have enjoyed a walk through an arboretum, a photography workshop, and provided Christmas meals and food to a local needy family. These are all ideas from the members and we would be happy to hear about activities in which you would like to participate. If you are not yet a member, take a little time and see what we can offer. In closing, remember what our club is all about: sharing a common experience, helping to send area students to Ohio State, and serving our community together. With your help, our club can grow, fulfill our goals, and enjoy our time together. Please let any of the board members know if you have any suggestions. Go Bucks! Disa L. Banker President, Sacramento Valley Alumni Club [email protected] The Valley Buckeye :: Fall 2010 Board Member Biographies: Sharonlee Knepshield Johnson: I am Sharonlee Knepshield Johnson and graduated from The Ohio State University in 1964. My major was Home Economics Education. I held a teaching certificate and vocational certificate in Ohio for over 30 years. The first year after graduation I was a Home Service Advisor with the electric company in Columbus. After one year of that job I was so poor I jumped at the chance to accept a teaching position in Upper Arlington and stayed for 30 years. After retirement my husband and I traveled in our Airstream trailer through the US and Canada, and traveled to Europe numerous times. After Gene, my husband, died in 2003 of pancreatic cancer, I sold the house and left Ohio for beautiful California. I have been in California ever since and enjoy being closer to family. Last year I ran, unopposed, for the office of Secretary of the Sacramento Alumni Club and won by an overwhelming margin. It has been fun being associated with fellow Buckeyes so far from Ohio. I enjoy the club and other alumni activities. 4 Ralph Cornwell: Ralph was born in Portsmouth, Ohio and grew up in the hills of Minford, OH. He attended Minford High School where he was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and baseball. Upon graduation he worked at Williams Shoe Factory and continued playing baseball until Uncle Sam called and he enlisted in the Navy. He and Patsy met on a blind date in June 1970 and married in August of 1970. In the summer of ’70 he met Johnny Edwards, catcher for the Houston Astros (Ohio State Alumni 1960). John helped him sign with Houston and after the Navy let him discharge early he reported to Spring Training with the Astros. After playing a year he had a decision to make about his career in baseball and decided give it up. In the fall of 1971 he enrolled in a tech school for Electro Mechanical Engineering. After one year he choose to attend Cedarville University (college at the time) where he majored in Physical Education and Health. Upon getting his degree he taught in Madison County Ohio. At the same time he enrolled at The Ohio State University for classes in Special Education and Adaptive Physical Education. In 1982 he took a teaching job at London Middle School in the London City School District. There Ralph taught and coached for London schools. He retired after having a heart attack in November of 2002 and completely retired at the end of the 2003-04 year. Now he and Patsy volunteer and raise puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, an organization that trains Golden Retrievers, black, and yellow labs to be assist dogs for people with handicaps. Ralph has been a lifetime member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association for eight years and a member of the Sac Valley Alumni Club for about four years. What a great, strong alumni group we have here! The Valley Buckeye :: Fall 2010 Archie Griffin Ohio State Senior Vice President for Alumni Relations Alumni Association President/CEO F all is always an exceptionally active time of year at Ohio State and this one has been no different. There are two recent events I wanted to spotlight because I felt they represent the challenges and promise that are in front of Ohio State and its accomplished alumni. The first event was our Alumni Leaders Conference, which we hosted at the new Ohio Union in early October. The conference is one of our signature events because it gives us a chance to recognize the important grassroots efforts that alumni groups lead around the country. It is so important for us to show our appreciation for our volunteers. They carry the ball for the Alumni Association and do it with an admirable level of Buckeye spirit and enthusiasm. I had a chance to talk with many of our club and society leaders at ALC and I came away 5 encouraged by the level of commitment they have to helping their university. My staff and I have a great deal of appreciation for the work that happens in the name of Ohio State, but in my mind ALC provided us with an important reminder of the key role these folks play and will continue to play. Another event worth mentioning was the first-‐ever meeting of the all-‐Advancement team in September. This meeting was noteworthy because it was the first assembly of all key staff members involved in Ad-‐ vancement. We had more than 375 staff members from the Alumni Association, University Development, University Communications, and other units within the Ohio State community, including many reps from our regional campuses. The meeting did a wonderful job of illustrating the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, and the response we received from those in attendance was overwhelmingly positive. Our team members clearly recognize that a more cohesive approach is going to be good for Ohio State and its broad base of constituents. In regards to the work being done, much of it is still of an internal nature. To be successful in this endeavor we must work from a solid foundation and that base is being constructed now. Our four action teams reported to the Board of Trustees Advancement Committee in early September, and those teams are now working on concrete plans that will form the foundation of our efforts. What is clear to all of us is that this effort will require a concerted approach that involves people both within the university and around the country. At our Alumni Leaders Conference I issued a challenge to our leaders regarding advancement and told them that, “It starts with you.” Now, sitting here today I cannot issue a list of tasks and goals for our groups to tackle. But I do know that success will be defined not only by internal accomplishment, but also in the way that our alumni groups interact with each other and their own specific Definition of University Advancement: The strategic, university-‐wide integration and coordination of alumni relations, communications and marketing, and development functions to foster positive relationships with students, alumni and other key audiences, provide multiple opportunities for engagement, and generate involvement with and support for the mission of The Ohio State University. twitter.com/OSU_Alumni www.facebook.com/OSUAA www.ohiostatealumni.org The Valley Buckeye :: Fall 2010 Special Guest Appearances The OSU Alumni Club of the Sacramento Valley hosted a Reception in March for Dr. E. Gordon Gee and Archie Griffin. The event was held at the Holiday Inn downtown. Both Dr. Gee and Archie spoke to the members present and told about current events at OSU. At that time the new Ohio Union on High Street was just opening. Two students from the Fisher School of Business also made the trip to Sacramento. Archie and President Gee signed many autographs and answered a number of questions Alumni had to ask. Archie stayed well past the hour allotted for the evening, chatting with everyone and graciously posing for pictures. The Club gave each guest welcome baskets and a beautifully framed photograph taken by member Mark Zablotzky. Everyone enjoyed the evening and appreciates the University sending these special guests to our area.
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