Thanks to the efforts of our House Manager Matt Marano, great progress has been made towards improving the Chapter Room (and much more). The attached photos tell much of the story, but I want to tell you the story behind them because it highlights how much the active chapter truly does care about the house.

After Homecoming, the active chapter agreed that something had to be done about house cleanliness. It was observed by many alumni and actives alike that the chapter room especially had fallen into a state of disrepair. The car seat that had found its way there was the metonmyic image towards which all wrath was directed.

On Thursday evening, I attended dinner at the house and spoke with a number of actives. Following the historical example of Nixon and Khrushchev and their famous "Kitchen Debate" of 1955, I called together the actives for what I lovingly call the "Broomstick Debate" of 2011 Points raised by alumni were presented to the actives. Responses were heard. A productive dialogue ensued. In the end, we all agreed that something needed to change.

I worked with Matt Marano over the last few days to highlight areas that needed the most improvement. We used text messages and the cell phone calls to communicate. Modern wonders! He set the time for Sunday at 1:30 pm for the clean-up, but, showing the flexibility of good leadership, he changed the time to 3 pm to accommodate brothers who would otherwise be at intramural soccer. This proved to be important in getting more brothers involved.

At three o'clock Brother Marano called together his clean-up crew. Matt, who was nursing a knee injury, acted as the architect of the project. He wisely called upon the brothers who are more at home in the weight room than at the Library Archives to help lift, and we had plenty of manpower. (Before hand, I might add, Matt cleaned up little things and allowed for easier access to the room). The two couches were removed from the room. One was moved to the basement to replace an even more dilapidated piece there. The second was deemed no longer suitable for Acacia and set outside for bulk pickup later in October. The two desks that were in the room were placed into the Wing, thus equipping the rooms properly as doubles. The car seat--oh, the ever infamous car seat--was promptly discarded!

Feeling in the mood, we then took it upon ourselves to clean up a number of other areas of the house. We cleaned out the hallway closet and moved the board games and extra blankets into it. We also removed the COMPLETE 1957 Encyclopedia Brittanica from the Chapter Room, thus exposing the woodwork in the closet last fully exposed in the '60s. Those shelves were quickly filled with photo albums, which were removed from the low coffee table. The coffee table was claimed as a prize for the Dormer, where Brother Marano hibernates with two others from his pledge class! As the photos show, the Chapter Room is now ready for the proposed conference table and captains chairs (learn more by asking your CACO or me later).

The service area was valiantly cleaned by Kenny Holstad '14 and I. Removing a bucket or two, we found remains from the charred flaming boxes. Ah, good times!

The extra bed ends were moved into the dormer closet. In the process, and now nearing 8 pm, I realized that the poor trio in the dormer were living in an unacceptable condition. As an officer of the corporation board, I decided immediate action was needed. We cleaned out the closet on the hallway to the dormer, throwing out uncountable objects that should have been properly discarded ages ago, moved the weight equipment into the closet, and reclaimed the Pinwheel (room 42) as study space. Poor Matt Miller! He didn't even have a desk chair in his room. He lives in the left eave of the dormer. I told him in no uncertain terms that he should use the 3rd Floor Office as his own. I apologized for the state of their room, but it was somewhat inevitable since we had a boarder (Eric Fish '08) crashing in that room until this afternoon.

When I left, I was scratching my arms from the insulation on my skin (going into the dormer closets to pull out a chair for Matt Miller was worth any discomfort), but I felt totally accomplished. The dormer still needs work. Our trio of sophomores are not suitably equipped. I promised to help them next weekend. This story is not over yet.

And there is more to do. Our House Manager Matt Marano is going to tackle next the other closet on the third floor, the laundry room (which needs work), and also the job of keeping the house cleaned regularly. He is a really good kid. We should all give him more credit and more support. I submit this to you alumni as evidence of mine.