Mr. Fraternity 2010

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Mr. Fraternity noms raise funds, temperature
By Sara Breau
Posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010, 1:32 am

An expectant crowd filled Room 100 in Donald P. Corbett Business Building Wednesday for the eighth annual Mr. Fraternity competition, hosted by the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi. Lively chatter filled the lecture hall as the audience waited for the competition to begin, with trendy beats from Ke$ha, Rihanna and Black Eyed Peas emanating from the sound system.

Mr. Fraternity is an event hosted by AOII to raise donations for its national philanthropy, Juvenile Arthritis Research, and is a competition among members of University of Maine fraternities who nominate a member of their chapter to participate.

“Most of the chapters tend to give it to the older brothers, so it’s kind of seniority,” said Caitlin Conroy, external operations chair for AOII and an organizer of the event.

The contestants were judged on performance in four different categories, similar to the structure of the Miss America pageant. This year’s theme was “The Hangover,” from the popular comedy about a 20-something groom and his three friends, who, through the various disasters they encounter, just can’t handle Vegas.

“We chose ‘The Hangover’ because we try to pick a new, fun, popular movie or theme each year. In 2008 for the sixth annual, we did ‘Superbad,’ and last year in 2009 we chose ‘Batman’ (Fratman),” Conroy said.

Judges this year included Greek Life advisor Kevin Taschereau, panel president Tanya Ubeda and representatives from seven sororities. The judges rated each contestant’s performance on a scale of one to five.

Fifteen brothers from 11 fraternities competed in categories with themes based on “The Hangover” — Casinowear, Poolside Attire, Tyson’s Talent and Little White Chapel.

The lecture hall was transformed into a Vegas-style getaway, with black casino signs adorning the walls next to oversized playing cards that helped set the scene for the night’s festivities. Red and black streamers were draped over the railings leading down to the stage, and brightly-colored balloons festooned the tables near the entrance. Each balloon could be purchased for $1 each, containing a slip of paper with either a prize listed on it or simply a message thanking the recipient for donating to the sorority’s philanthropy.

“We’ve tried to get creative on this, and the balloons were also a good way to decorate the room,” said Emily Bellmore, internal philanthropy chair for AOII.

When the competition began, the brothers dressed according to the theme for each round.

For the first round, brothers were told to incorporate their fraternities’ Greek letters into whatever they interpreted casinowear to be. This resulted in everything from dress suits with letters on the back to one contestant from Theta Chi wearing his fraternity’s colors in a toga-style ensemble as he marched proudly across the stage.

“Casinowear in the past has been called letterswear, but we tried to tie the round names into the theme this year, so we renamed it casinowear for ‘The Hangover’ theme,” Conroy said.

Poolside attire consisted of a parade of brothers wearing everything from traditional Hawaiian-patterned swim trunks to risqué speedos and snazzy sunglasses. There was also a prop box on stage that contestants were asked to incorporate into their act. In the box were items such as pool toys, angel wings and a small baby doll.

“The prop box was new this year — we were just trying it out to add something new to the show,” Conroy said. “We just had a box of random items that the boys only saw right before the show. When they got on stage for the swimwear portion, they were supposed to choose an item and improv with it, which turned out to be quite interesting.”

Several brothers chose to do guitar performances for the Tyson’s Talent segment of the competition, while others showed their soft sides through poems professing affection toward the sorority sisters and particularly the judges. Some stuck with the theme, such as Robert Collins from Sigma Epsilon who played keyboard and sang, “What do Tigers Dream Of,” in reference to a scene in ‘The Hangover’ in which the four friends discovered a tiger shut in their hotel bathroom after a long night of drinking and gallivanting around Las Vegas.

Others addressed common stereotypes regarding fraternities, as Jayson Neault did in his poem aimed at dissolving the stereotypes associated with Pi Kappa Alpha brothers.

“I’m kind of talentless, so I wrote a poem about the PIKE stereotype,” Neault said.

He went on to say that the only true stereotype was that PIKE brothers love sorority girls.

Another rising star sang of his own life experiences in a remake of singer Kid Cudi’s popular hit “Soundtrack to My Life.”

“I got 99 problems and they all sisters,” sang Nate Rutter of Phi Kappa Sigma.

The brothers also competed in a Little White Chapel segment of the competition — a question and answer challenge made up of questions outlining scenarios similar to those in “The Hangover.” The contestants were asked how they would react and were asked to dress in formal clothing for this session.

“Little White Chapel attire has been formal wear in the past, so it was Vegas wedding-themed clothing,” Conroy said.

Contestants had to think quickly and decide how they would get themselves out of various sticky situations.

One brother was asked to decide how he would get a tiger to fall asleep if he didn’t have tranquilizers on hand.

“I’d do what anyone would do and sing it a lullaby,” said SigEp brother Daniel Fournier.

Kevin Parsons from Kappa Sigma said he wanted Sisqo’s “The Thong Song” turned into a slow song and played at his wedding reception.

Others took logical approaches to solving dilemmas they may one day find themselves in. When asked for his strategy to beat a child in a staredown, Matt Sevey from Beta promptly responded that he would “give it candy and tell it to blink.”

Each contestant had a personal coach — an AOII sister who carried a bucket up and down the rows of seats during the performances collecting donations for her assigned brother. The amount of donations each brother had in his bucket was factored into the decision of who would claim the title of Mr. Fraternity 2010 at the end of the show.

“Whichever brother has the most donations is the most likely to win,” Conroy said.

“It’s good because we’re getting to know other Greeks and all of the guys have a meeting with us beforehand, so we’re kind of getting to know each other. It’s huge Greek involvement,” she added.

The audience was generous in their initial donations at the door and in their support of the brothers and the debauchery that ensued over the course of the evening.

Emily Bellmore, internal philanthropy chair for AOII, said the final count on donations was $1,752. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the sorority’s national philanthropy for Juvenile Arthritis Research.

“It’s become our main philanthropy event. It’s our main thing every year,” Conroy said.

After all rounds were completed, anticipation was thick in the room as the audience jammed to tunes such as “Can’t Touch This” and Rihanna’s “Rude Boy.”

Once the other contestant was awarded a sash, hosts Rachael Rogers and Maryann Muscente announced the winner — Daniel Fournier from Sigma Phi Epsilon. Fournier’s fans erupted in applause and support as he accepted the trophy and crown.

What was it that won him the title of Mr. Fraternity? It could have been his provocative dance performance, the plan to steal one of Angelina Jolie’s babies to add to his wolf pack, or perhaps the judges’ approval of his nurturing care of a young baby doll, Carlos, that he kept strapped to his chest throughout the competition.

Bangor Area Homeless Shelter's Hike for the Homeless

News |
Locals help homelessness take a hike
By Sara Breau
Posted on Thursday, April 8th, 2010, 1:28 am

The outdoors is more than just a place to get fresh air. It is also a retreat from the busy routines of careers and classes. Tessa Prest-Berg is using this love for nature as a gateway to introduce her beliefs and passion for service to others.

Prest-Berg, a University of Maine graduate, will be participating in the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter’s 15th annual Hike for the Homeless April 10. The hike is organized to help raise money through donations and pledges and to boost awareness about the increasing percentage of homeless people living in Bangor and the surrounding community.

The hike is an annual fundraiser sponsored this year by local sponsors Bangor Daily News, WLBZ-2, Bangor Savings Bank, Eastern Maine Community College, Sutherland-Weston Marketing Communications and Trans Tech Industries Inc. of Brewer.

“I think just bringing awareness to the issue is so important, because before I looked into it after hearing about the hike, I had no idea what an issue it is here,” Prest-Berg said. “You wouldn’t expect it in a small town like Bangor.”

The Bangor Area Homeless Shelter has provided overnight shelter to approximately 449 people in the past year, according to executive director Dennis Marble. He said that added up to “about 11,800 cumulative nights” in the past year.

An additional estimated 1,500 local low-income people have visited the shelter for basic services including daytime shelter, referrals, crisis containment or simply a hot meal.

This is Prest-Berg’s first year participating in the hike, but she is by no means a novice to the concept. She has been giving back to the community through service for years, volunteering at Manna Ministries Inc. and working with Meals on Wheels affiliate, Meals for ME.

Prest-Berg is a full-time employee at Lifelines Ministry on campus, an organization focused on its beliefs of ministering the community by helping wherever there is a need. Lifelines uses outdoor activities such as rafting, hiking, sledding and rock climbing as common ground to connect with others and to help them grow as individuals and leaders.

“Basically the Lifelines mission statement is to use the outdoors to grow people and their relationship with God and each other, and to grow in leadership and character,” Prest-Berg said. “It’s about using the outdoors and relationships with God to talk to people about spiritual stuff.”

An outdoors enthusiast, Prest-Berg spoke of love of nature as a bond that allows her to connect with people and use the opportunity to discuss religious beliefs and encourage others to explore their minds on a spiritual level. She spent a recent Saturday morning fishing, and is also a fan of hiking and any activity that allows her to spend time with others getting active in the outdoors.

Prest-Berg learned of the hike when she saw an informational poster at the campus climbing gym, and immediately knew it was a perfect fit for her.

“Lifelines is like an outdoor Christian ministry, so when I saw the word ‘hike’ I was excited and knew I wanted to do it,” Prest-Berg said. “When I saw that it said Hike for the Homeless, I was hoping that it would be like a hike up a mountain, then I heard that it starts in Veazie, which is still cool.”

Mountain hiking or not, the opportunity to do an outdoor activity that would benefit other members of the community was too good for Tessa to pass up.

According to the Hike for the Homeless Web site, participants can begin at one of four locations in Bangor, Brewer, Veazie or Hampden. The hike will end at the Bangor Waterfront with a cookout, raffle prizes and information sessions about further volunteering opportunities with the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. The minimum donation for those participating in the hike is $5, but the homeless shelter is encouraging volunteers to raise as much as they can by advertising the hike within the community.

“I think if I were just to go and hike it wouldn’t make that much of a difference. That’s why I’m trying to get all of the pledges,” Prest-Berg said.

There are currently 17 employees at the shelter, according to its Web site.

“I’m just thinking that they rely a lot on volunteers and I feel like an organization like that would help so much by any little amount that I can give. I feel like there’s a lot of bang for people’s bucks when they donate,” said Prest-Berg.

She attributes much of her motivation to help others from her desire to live what she sees as an active Christian life.

“When I was growing up, there were the Christians who just went to church every weekend and I was like okay. Then when I got deeper into it and read the Bible a little more I was like, hey, it’s way more than just going to church,” Prest-Berg said.

Since feeling out her personal beliefs regarding Christianity, Prest-Berg has become a member of the Lifelines Ministry and taken a more active role in reaching out and spreading the word within her community.

“The whole thing about Lifelines is that we want to be outdoors and help people,” Prest-Berg said.

She added that with the hike, she can “basically do what Jesus did, and help the homeless.”

Prest-Berg spent her day tabling outside Starbucks in Memorial Union on April 7. People could stop by for information about the hike or make a donation.

Because the shelter also offers support services, they see more than just people looking for a bed. In the past year, more than 2,000 people have stayed at or visited the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter for support, Marble said.

Prest-Berg is hopeful raising awareness about the issue will lead to a decline in the number of homeless in the greater Bangor area.

“When I looked into it, it surprised me, just the fact that there’s so many homeless in Bangor and I don’t ever see them,” Prest-Berg said. “I didn’t even know about it, I think I just walk by them a lot of times and have my blinders on. This is an opportunity to take the blinders off.”