Shocker Melodramatists
Wichita’s Mosley Street Melodrama has engendered hours of booing, hissing and lighthearted entertainment in its successful 14-year run. And the theater runs rampant with Shockers, including owner Patricia A. Reeder ’83; Scott D. Noah ’94, who was at one time a co-owner and continues to perform on occasion; and Tom R. Frye ’71/84, who performs and is a prolific melodramatist, having produced 21 plays, which Reeder unabashedly labels “dependable, mindless humor.” To achieve that humor, the crew has to do what it was taught at WSU not to do, such as talk directly to the audience. Says Reeder, “I sometimes think we should be perpetually apologizing to (WSU theater legends) Dick Welsbacher and Joyce Cavarozzi.”
Baseball Honors X2
Baseball is full of stats, facts and figures. Consider: In the 64-year history of the College World Series, there have been only nine father-and-son duos to have taken part in the storied competition — and one of those pairings involves a Shocker, Jeff Bonacquista ’90, who played outfield for WSU, including a stint in the 1988 CWS. (He was injured in 1989.) His dad, Joe, played in the 1962 CWS for the University of Northern Colorado. The Bonacquistas, who live in Colorado, share another honor: Both have been inducted into the Greater Pueblo (Colo.) Sports Association Hall of Fame.
It’s in the Card
Julie (Dredge) Conner ’94 put a trip to Walt Disney World to good use. Conner, who works in marketing at Wichita’s Pioneer Balloon Co., entered a Hallmark Cards birthday card caption-writing contest. The subject was her sickly looking husband, Chris ’93, on a spinning teacup ride. “Now that you’re older, it might be best to avoid the spinning rides. Hold on tight and have a great birthday!” is the caption she wrote. Conner, one of 39 winners nationwide, got $250 for her efforts and the chance that her caption will be used on a greeting card. If it is, we suspect her husband knows what card to expect for his next birthday.
Hoops Activist
Lyle Timmons fs ’53 puts active in the phrase “active aging.” At 81, Timmons — who played on the 1952-53 WU hoops squad under coach Ralph Miller — continues to play basketball and softball, too. He recently won two gold medals in three-point and free throw shooting at a senior games event. He also plays on two softball teams, one with seniors and the other with players who could be his grandsons. Timmons, who lives in Utah, has no plans to slow down either. His wife, Jeanne, knows where to find her husband when she needs to: he’s likely at the local gym, shooting baskets — sometimes late into the night.
It’s a Scorcher
This has been a scorcher of a summer in Wichita, with 53 days of 100 degrees or more — the most in the city’s recorded history and melting the old 1936 mark of 50 days. During the midst of the 2011 heat wave, Samantha L. (Vitt) Corcoran ’04/10, assistant dean of the WSU College of Engineering, led a team of reporters from the Wichita Eagle on a blazing afternoon tour of Wichita’s College Hill district to measure the intense heat with an infrared temperature gun. They found temperatures far in excess of 104 degrees, including a steering wheel that registered a roasting 179.9 F. Corcoran, whose degrees are in industrial engineering, was good-natured about the sweaty, uncomfortable assignment. As she puts it, “Real engineers like to get their hands dirty.”
Overseas Adventures
It’s not just sailors who see the world, Shocker basketball players have been exploring far-flung locales in our orb, too. The men’s team, which capped off last season with a national title by winning the NIT, played games in Brazil during August as part of its first foreign trip since 2006. Coach Gregg Marshall called the experience a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip for his players. The women’s team, with coach Jody Adams at the helm, headed east across the pond to Italy. Photos, videos and blogs about the jet-setting Shockers are at www.goshockers.com.
Ides of March
It may seem as if the Ides of March are in the distant future. But if you’re the parent or grandparent of a potential WSU Legacy Scholarship recipient, then it’s not too early to begin planning for the March 15, 2012 application deadline for 2012-13 academic year awardees. The WSU Alumni Association Legacy Endowed Scholarship Fund was established with contributions to the WSU Foundation so that scholarships can be awarded annually to students enrolled at Wichita State who are children or grandchildren of individuals who have completed 30 credit hours or more at WSU and are dues-paying members of the WSU Alumni Association as of Jan. 1 of the year the recipient receives the scholarship. This academic year, three scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each were awarded. For additional details: www.wichita.edu/alumni.
Go, Shocks!
Shockers Forever, the WSU Student Alumni Association, certainly has a formal mission and mission statement, but the student group, especially under the spirited leadership of Britaney Wehrmeister, president, and Tia Bodine, vice president, is at heart a Shocker spirit group. Go, Shocks! For more info about the organization and its benefits of membership, visit www.wichita.edu/ shockersforever.
