A Message from the Lehigh Home Club President

Dear Fellow Lehigh Alumni,

I am writing to share with you my decision to step down as Lehigh Home Club President as of June 30, 2010. I am proud to report that Diana Colahan ’04, the club’s Vice President, will become the first female President of Lehigh’s largest and most prestigious alumni club on July 1, 2010.

Without venturing into extraneous details, I will offer that recent events have required me to make some dramatic changes in my life. As a result of these changes, I am no longer able to fulfill the important responsibilities of this position.

I am thrilled, meanwhile, that we have in Diana Colahan an intelligent, poised, passionate, and charismatic natural leader who will help our proud organization grow and strengthen in countless ways. I am also proud personally that my resignation is leading to the rise of the club’s first female President. It is easy for people my age to forget that Lehigh became a co-ed university less than 40 years ago. As our most senior board member said recently about Diana’s upcoming term as President, it is about time.

My hopes for Diana and the Lehigh Home Club are essentially the same hopes I have had as President – for the club to gain a clearer understanding of its power and purpose and to gain strength from that understanding. I noted recently at the Lehigh Valley Career Networking Reception for alumni that there are at least 5,000 Lehigh alumni who work in the greater Lehigh Valley or call the region home. I also noted that we need to do a better job sometimes helping each other and those who call Lehigh home today.

I believe that the Lehigh Home Club’s membership can be a tremendous force in our alma mater’s campus and our community at-large. I believe we can help welcome more talented Lehigh Valley high school students into the Lehigh family. The local law firm of Cohen & Feely showcased recently its 2010 “Best of the Best” high school award winners in a newspaper ad. I happened to know some of these young people through my employment, and I know how talented they are. The ad listed these students’ college choices. Sadly, the name Lehigh University was not be found.

I believe the Lehigh Home Club can help its members and alumni from around the world re-connect with the university in a meaningful way. I believe that Home Club alumni can build a unique and powerful network of people sharing an important bond willing to come to each other’s assistance. I also believe that Home Club alumni can work together to help our neighborhoods stronger, safer, and more prosperous.

Diana has already begun this process. She has linked the Home Club with the HCM Foundation, a great organization that supports children and family members of Cancer victims. The Home Club and HCM will hold a 5K/10K race event in October that will benefit both HCM’s college scholarship fund and the Lehigh Home Club Scholarship fund. Alumni and friends will be helping others in this worthy endeavor and helping themselves live healthy lifestyles.

I have no doubt that the Lehigh Home Club will be better because of the changes we are making now. With that conviction, I step down as Home Club President in peace, grateful for the opportunity, and hopeful that all of us will rally around our great new leader. Thank you very much for your support, and long live the Brown and White.

Sincerely yours,
Dennis Zehner ‘99

Call It a Coincidence? Photo, Upset Start Tradition

When the Lehigh Home Club hosted the 2009 Lehigh-Lafayette Pub Night in advance of the rivals’ 145th gridiron meeting, Club President Dennis Zehner ’99 was hesitant to reprise his 2008 photo (immediately below) with the Lafayette Leopard. Then a fellow Lehigh alum reminded him that Lehigh won 2008 game and suggested that it might be good luck to do so again.

So the 2009 photo was snapped (see below), and less than 72 hours later, the Brown and White scored another upset over the Leopards.

“Coincidence? Probably,” Zehner said. “But a new Lehigh-Lafayette tradition has begun … at least until it stops working. But if the streak continues long enough, I expect my successors to carry it on.”

Home Club Welcomes Lehigh’s Class of 2013

The Lehigh Home Club welcomed Lehigh’s Class of 2013 Tuesday night during the club’s annual Freshman Sendoff at Lehigh’s Alumni Memorial Building.

About 180 people attended, including dozens of alumni and 40 members of the Class of 2013 who hail from the greater Lehigh Valley.

The evening was highlighted by liquid nitrogen ice cream making by members of the Air Products Lehigh Career Connections group, led by group President Tony Colalillo ’90 (right).

IronPigs Outing Kicks off Patron Program

The Lehigh Home Club kicked off its Patron program July 18 with an outing in the NicZHomes corporate suite at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.

Patrons enjoyed the evening’s doubleheader between the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Rochester Red Wings with comfort, free food, and free beverages courtesy of Martin Zawarski ’79. The legendary Phillie Phanatic also visited Coca-Cola Park that evening and enjoyed some of the Home Club fun.

Photo: Lehigh Home Club President Dennis Zehner ’99 welcomes the legendary Phillie Phanatic as a new Friend of Lehigh. Photo by Edward Giering ’66.

Photo: Sydney Eltringham Jr. ’78G, and his wife, Julia, share a moment with FeFe, girlfriend of IronPigs mascot Ferrous. Photo courtesy of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Photo: The evening’s host, Martin Zawarski ’79, spends a moment with Fefe in the NicZHomes suite at Coca-Cola Park. Photo courtesy of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

A Letter from the Lehigh Home Club President

Dear Alumni and Friends,

Oct. 29, 2008 will always be a special date for me for two reasons. One reason is that this lifelong – and often long-suffering – Philadelphia Phillies fan witnessed a World Series Championship I will always be able to remember. The other reason is that I had the honor of becoming President of the Lehigh Home Club – Lehigh’s largest alumni club – about three hours before Brad Lidge threw the final strike.

Since Oct. 29, I have held two goals as Lehigh Home Club President -to help the club gain a greater clarity in its purpose and build a greater strength in that purpose. My unofficial third goal, of course, is to see the Phillies repeat as champions.

First, the club’s Board of Directors and I have asked deeply fundamental questions about the club’s existence – such as what it means to be a member of the Home Club and what exactly is the value of the Home Club to its members.

As to the question of what it means to be a member, here is our answer: If you are an alumnus who lives or works in the greater Lehigh Valley area, you are and will be a Lehigh Home Club member as long as you do so. In our recent decision to suspend the collection of membership dues, we are confirming your membership with clarity.

As to the question of the Home Club’s value, the process of answering continues, and we hope you become part of it. We believe that the Home Club can be your most valuable link to each other, to the university, and to the community in which it lives and breathes.

We link ourselves through the Lehigh Home Club Scholarship, which helps a deserving local undergraduate join our alumni family. A large portion of the Home Club’s treasury and proceeds from 2009-2010 events benefits the scholarship fund. The Home Club is proud to congratulate its latest scholarship recipient, Daniel Frank ’09, on earning his degree, and looks forward to meeting its new scholar in the fall.

We will link ourselves in camaraderie through great events such as the annual freshmen sendoff, our new monthly happy hours, and our annual golf outing. Our most impressive event this past year was our EIWA Sendoff for nearly 100 alumni at the Weyhill Guest House at Saucon Valley Country Club. The evening celebrated Lehigh’s 100th wrestling season and was made possible by Dr. John Dobrota and fellow Class of 1961 alumni.

The strength in the Lehigh Home Club’s purpose, of course, comes from you, our members. There are nearly 5,000 alumni in the Home Club region, and we ask each of you to help strengthen these links. You can participate in a Home Club activity or become a volunteer. You can provide your ideas by writing to lehighhomeclub@gmail.com.

The new events we are planning for the upcoming year will provide deeper links to Lehigh life. As you will read in this newsletter, they will include a professional life skills event, a 5K walk and run, a campus cultural event, and events tailored to young alumni. We will link ourselves by continuing to support a stronger Lehigh Valley community around Lehigh’s campus – including the Home Club’s sponsorship of its official service project, Jessica’s Race Against the Sun, and support of other service activities.

We will link ourselves by continuing to bring our voices to the university and to its alumni association. As Lehigh’s largest alumni group and the alumni group that shares Lehigh’s home, the Lehigh Home Club can hold a vibrant position of stewardship.

Perhaps most importantly, you can support the Lehigh Home Club through your contributions. While it will not hold a dues campaign, the Home Club continues to require financial support from its members to underwrite its annual scholarship, create a wider variety of alumni events, and maintain its strength within the Lehigh alumni community.

Members who support the club financially will receive the new Lehigh Home Club Patron Card as a token of our appreciation. The card will provide Lehigh University Bookstore discounts and reduced pricing for club events. Alumni who paid “Lifetime Dues” in previous years will receive a Patron Card each year.

The Home Club was the first Lehigh alumni club to allow members to make payments online with a major credit card, and the Home Club welcomes you to provide your 2009-2010 support through our web site at www.lehighhomeclub.com. By the way, the Lehigh Home Club also is on Facebook and Twitter.

While there is still work to be done, I believe the Lehigh Home Club has made significant progress toward achieving our goals, and I am excited to invite you to help us build upon this momentum. While our work may not be followed by a championship parade, it can have a deeper impact on those who love the Brown and White. It has been my pleasure to serve you, and I thank you for your support.

Sincerely yours,
Dennis Zehner ’99
Lehigh Home Club President

Charlie Lieb ’70 Elected Conneen Award Winner

The Lehigh Home Club’s Board of Directors elected Charlie Lieb ’70 of Bethlehem winner of the club’s 2009 Jack Conneen Award, its highest alumni honor, during its June 3 Annual Meeting. Lieb will receive the award formally at the Home Club’s Class of 2013 Sendoff on July 22.

The Jack Conneen Award is given by the Home Club Board of Directors to recognize exemplary service to the Home Club, enthusiastic support for the Lehigh University Alumni Association (LUAA), and commitment to the goals and long-term success of Lehigh University.

Lieb has a rare distinction of serving as an officer for two different Lehigh alumni clubs. He was Treasurer and Vice President of the Lehigh Club of Pittsburgh from 1971-1978 and Lehigh Home Club President from 2001-2006. Lieb is credited with leading the Lehigh Home Club into a Renaissance of participation and activity.

Board Creates Lehigh Home Club Patron Program

The Lehigh Home Club’s Board of Directors ratified amendments to its Constitution and By-Laws during its June 3 Annual Meeting which established its new Patron program, clarified the membership status of all alumni living or working in the greater lehigh Valley, and extended officer terms to two-years.

Starting July 1, 2009, the Lehigh Home Club Patron program gives members a chance to continue providing support for the club’s operations and the Lehigh Home Club Scholarship while enjoying a deeper link to the university and the Home Club.

Home Club members, which include all alumni who live or work in the greater Lehigh Valley, who contribute $10 or more as of July 1 will recieve a 2009-2010 Lehigh Home Club Patron card, entitling them to the following benefits from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010:

- A 10% discount off all merchandise with a Lehigh insignia at the Lehigh University Bookstore.
- Discount pricing on all Lehigh Home Club events.
- Advance email notifications about Home Club events.

Proceeds from the Patron program will support the Lehigh Home Club Scholarship and the club’s operations.

In creating its Patron program, the Home Club ended the practice of collecting what it had called “Membership Dues.”

“The creation of the Home Club Patron program and many of the amendments ratified by the Board of Directors make a clear statement that the Lehigh Home Club truly belongs to every alumnus who lives or works in the greater Lehigh Valley,” said Dennis Zehner ’99, Lehigh Home Club President. “Our strength – as made possible by the contributions of our members – shines in ability to link all alumni to their alma mater, to the community that surrounds us, and to each other.”

Zehner Re-Elected Home Club President, 17 Elected to Board Positions

Dennis W. Zehner ’99 was elected to a new two-year term as President of the Lehigh Home Club – Lehigh University’s largest alumni club – during the club’s June 3 Annual Meeting. Zehner will begin his new term July 1. Also elected to new two-year terms as officers were: Diana Colahan ’04, Vice President; John Berseth ’68, Treasurer; and Marta Sullivan ’96, Secretary. The Home Club’s Board of Directors amended the club’s Constitution during the Annual Meeting to extend the officers’ terms to two years.

The Lehigh Home Club board also elected the four officers and 13 other alumni to three-year board terms beginning July 1: Elaine Anderson ’75G; Trevor Colahan ’02; Oldrich Foucek, III, Esq. ’72; Donna Genay ’89G; Jennifer Gonzalez ’08; Sean Hart, Esq. ’90; Charlie Lieb ’70; Mark Parseghian, Jr. ’49; Michael Stammherr ’79; William H. Trotter ’67; Paul Wagner ’57; Stephen Wagner ’74; and Mark D. Yoder ’82.

Limited Seats Available for Lehigh Football Trips

The Lehigh South Side Boosters has a handful of seats available for its Oct. 30 bus trip to watch Lehigh’s football team take on Colgate in upstate New York.

The two-day trip includes one-night of lodging in Verona, N.Y., casino money, a continential breakfast, a tailgate lunch at the stadium, and, of course, game tickets. A $50 deposit is required by Sept. 19. Total trip cost is $260 per person, or $210 each for couples.

The South Side Boosters also offer bus trips to Lehigh’s Sept. 12 football game at Villanova, the Oct. 24 game at Bucknell, and the Nov. 14 game at Fordham.

Alumni and fans can call 610.837.2829 to make a reservation or contact Chip Walakovits, President of the South Side Boosters, at whochip@enter.net for more information.

Mark Parseghian ’49 Receives Greek Alumni Award

Lehigh Home Club Board Member Mark Parseghian ’49 was presented today the Lehigh Greek Alumni Council’s Al Pedrick Award for his outstanding service to his fraternity chapter and to the entire Lehigh Greek community.

Click here for details.