As previously reported, John Wright ’69 is being inducted into the Wheaton High Schools Hall of Fame this evening. Here’s a throwback picture of John from when he was staring for the Illini in about 1966. Congrats John!
Author Archive: Alpha Tau Omega - Gamma Zeta Chapter
Congrats John Wright ’69 – Selected for Wheaton High Schools Hall of Fame
The Wheaton Community High Schools Alumni Club just announced their 2015 Hall of Fame inductees which include John Wright (Gamma Zeta ’69).
John was a three sport athlete who received All-State accolades in football and track and field. He was the state champ and record holder in the 180 low hurdles in 1964. John excelled in football and track at the University of Illinois garnering six letters and reaping both All- American and Academic All-American honors. Upon graduation, John was the all time U of I and Big Ten historical leading receiver and ranked 5th in NCAA history. Following college, John was drafted at the top of the second round in the NFL by the Atlanta Falcons. Subsequently he was traded to the Detroit Lions where he played for six years. As CEO of the Wright Financial Group, he grew his office from $750 million to over $9 billion of insurance. He was voted the top speaker at the NFL National Rookie Symposium six times. He’ll be formally inducted at the Wheaton High Schools Alumni Association annual dinner and golf outing on September 10 in Wheaton. Congrats John!!
Name this Gamma Zeta Illini Freshman All-American tackle
Throwback Thursday pic of the week – Bruce Dobson ’75
Mike Stine’s ’84 team pre-season #1
Naperville Central head football coach Mike Stine ’84 and his Redhawks open play this weekend as preseason favorites to win arguably the toughest conference in the state. Good luck Mike!!
http://football.dailyherald.com/…/20150826/sports/150829126/
Joe Grazioso ’16 and the Gamma Zeta Mentor and Internship Matching Programs
Joe Grazioso ’16 worked as an intern this past summer at Belmont Bank whose CEO is Bill McCarty ’79. Joe was referred to Bill by his ATO Mentor John Aymond ’80. The following is an excerpt from a note that Joe’s supervisor at the bank passed on about his experience.
“Joe has a tremendous work ethic, with great attention to detail, and routinely demonstrated a self-starter approach to his day-to-day responsibilities at the Bank.
He is a gentleman, someone who listened closely and took notes whenever a new concept was being presented to him.
The Gamma Zeta chapter of ATO is fortunate to have him as a member and I believe his commitment, dedication, and hard work sets a great example for the qualities that ATO promotes as “America’s Leadership Fraternity”, and will continue to contribute and prove beneficial to the long-term success of the House.”
Great work Joe!!
We’ve got some great guys in the house. If you know of internship opportunities at your companies, please pass them on to Dan Passarella ’13 (dpassarella16@gmail.com) and Jim McGuffin ’96 (jmcguffin@2020-4.com) who are the alumni overseeing our Mentor and Internship matching programs respectively and they’ll help match up appropriate candidates with the opportunites.
Gamma Zeta 80’s gather for their annual golf retreat
Gamma Zeta ’80s gather for their annual golf retreat. I don’t even know what to say about this picture. This is taken at Turnberry Castle in Scotland. Pictured are Brothers Neil Bresnahan, Mike Sullivan, Jim Cavoto, Cary McMillan, friends Mike Cavoto and Dwight Ekenberg and brothers John Aymond and Dan Touhy.
The ’67’s??
Throwback Thursday – the 67’s??
Greg Wright ’68 and his band Comstock Lode to play at Bub City on October 26
Mark your calendars! Greg Wright (Gamma Zeta ’68) has a four piece Country Band called Comstock Lode which will be performing at Bub City (435 N. Clark St. Chicago) from 9:00 PM – 12:00 on Monday night October 26th. Check them out on their web site at www.comstocklodecountryband.com. They play lots of current and past country hits and some originals from Greg. Looks like a lot of fun. Please stop in, have a beer and say hello to other Gamma Zetas!
Gamma Zetas host Rush event at Rolling Green Country Club
Yesterday, under the sponsorship of Jack Klues ’77, a Gamma Zeta rush team of Sam Selby, Mike Bosco, Cole Kirsh and Jimmy Kowalczyk hosted a rush event at Rolling Green Country Club in Arlington Heights. Great job guys!!
RG Swedo Outing ups scholarship total to $250K. John Bucklar ’96 team wins Heldman Trophy!
We just wrapped up the 14th Annual R Gregory Swedo ’96 Foundation Golf Outing. We had over 110 golfers + a great group of volunteers. Based on our bar tab – it looks like everyone had a great time….In total – we raised over $10k, putting our 14 year total at $250k. We awarded our 11th scholarship this year!
We added a new twist – awarding the Matt Heldman Trophy – to the highest finishing ATO team. In total, we had 25 ATOs play, and 10 of the 27 4somes were in the hunt for the trophy – including 4 undergrads (special thanks to Bill Barry ’77 for sponsoring the undergrad team).
Congrats to John Bucklar for winning this year! There was a 3 way tie at -15, which included John Bucklar 96, Brian Grady, Andy Clark, and Chip Aubry. They lost in the 150 yard shoot-out by about 2 feet, and finished 2nd overall. John also did a phenomenal job putting together a video with pictures and music full of mid 90s classics. Here’s a link –
For anyone that knew Greg, it is a must watch.
Mark your calendar – next year’s event is tentatively scheduled for 8/27. We definitely need another 10-20 ATOs next year.
Thanks again to our volunteers & sponsors:
– Pat & Jenny Kernan
– Amanda Massucci & Mike Wokosin
– Brian Welch – State Farm
– Massucci Blomquist Anderson and Dunn
– Bevery & Doug McMillen-Reid Family
– John McMillen & Laurie Hutchings & Family
– Hirewell
– Sayers
– William A Randolph
– CMC Advisory
– Chicago Beverage System
– Commonwealth Bar
– Schultz
– Lakeshore Beverage
– Sierra Nevada
– Careerbuilder
– Reliable Computer
Here’s a link to a brochure with additional info about the event – RGS Brochure Final 2015
See you next year!
Matt Massucci ’96