The 2023 Fresno Sigma Chi Wine Tasting was enjoyed by 100 participants. As we meandered around Susan and John Ballinger’s (65-S) backyard, one of the most beautiful in Fresno, we snacked on hors d’oeuvres from Sam’s Deli. T.A. Heckel (82-F) poured wine from his personal wine cellar which we tasted as we chatted with our Sigma Chi brothers, some of whom we had not seen for years.
Tom Kusaka (79-F) sponsored (6) undergraduate brothers who helped immensely at the entrance giving out name tags after helping set up the tables and chairs. Although the event is really a brotherhood event, the silent auction and wine raffle raised $28,485 for our endowment which is managed by the Fresno State Alumni Association. Epsilon Eta’s endowments has more than $50,000 for scholarships to Fresno Sigs. The amount given to each brother was raised to $3,000 for the 2023/2024 school year. Our scholarships are given to reward academic excellence, and 40% of the Active Chapter are on the Dean’s List.
2023 Registered Attendees (100 Total): Jerry Bender (56-F), Tony Flores (56-S), Gary Renner (62-S), Tom Downing (62-F), Alex Audelo (63-S), Mike Patton (63-S), John Ballinger (65-S), John Marinovich (68-S), Tom Beggs (68-F), Michael Elliott (68-F), Jim Norquist (69-F), Dave Reuland (69-F), Mark Scott (69-F), Larry Calvino (69-S), Dennis Schmal (69-F), Peter Britton (70-F), Tom Licouris (70-F), Bill Robinson (70-F), Mark Sanchez (70-F), Marv Helon (71-F), Chris Visser (71-F), Bill Smittcamp (73-S), Patrick Beggs (72-F), Paul Porter (74-F), Serge Tomassian (74-F), Kirk Wethey (74-F), Kevin Wren (74-F), Blake Gunderson (75-S), Darryl Horowitt (75-F), Rob Hauser (76-S), Steve Coleman (78-F), Brad Fischer (78-S), Steve Bachand (79-F), Jon Hollenbeck (79-F), Tom Kusaka (79-F), T.A. Heckel (82-F), Joel Armstrong (87-F), Sergio Ilic (87-F), Rob Bell (95-F), Mark McCullough (96-S), Ravi Batth (97-F), Pat Geil (97-F), Brandon Cohrs (98-F). Matt Garcia (00-S), Dustin Gallegos (00-S), Brian Stenklyft (00-S), Brian O’Rourke (01-F), Mark Springer (09-F), Mike Colgate (14-F), Trenton Benevedes (20-F), Christian Cruz (20-F), Logan Mann (20-F), Bassel Khoury (21-F), Cooper Lilles (21-F), Austin Tuell (21-F) and Tito Gomez (22-F).