"WE HAVE HEARD THE CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT"
On the Occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the Cotillion Club

It is so good to have the Cotillion Club back together again, for the first time in a long time. I feel that with the establishment of the Cotillion Club Alumni Association, we have energized a locomotive that will keep the memory of the Cotillion Club alive for many years. I'm particularly glad to have a Cotillion Club meeting that includes representatives from so many different classes. It has been wonderful to meet and get to know these new Cotillion friends, and to realize that we are all kindred spirits, for we are all bound together by the blue and gold thread of Cotillion.

The Cotillion Club was very special to all of us. For me, as perhaps for you, the Cotillion Club was a life changing experience. On the night I was invited, I simply could not believe that I was receiving a bid to join the Cotillion Club, and I was the most surprised man in the state of Virginia when they slid that invitation in front of my eyes (I was at a full brace at the time . . .). The Cotillion Club, I knew then, and still know now, was a group of wonderful guys -- Virginia gentlemen, who liked to have a good time. As Sir John Falstaff said to his friend Master Shallow, "We have heard the chimes at midnight." And the chimes which we have heard - which we still hear, faintly but clearly, in the misty caverns of our memory - are the warm and wonderful memories of our time together at Virginia Tech with the Cotillion Club.

We have lots of tremendous memories of the Cotillion Club - the splendor of formal dances, staying up all night decorating for formals, the raucous and good natured Cotillion Club meetings (I think I remember them on Monday nights at the Squires Student Center) - these memories are shared by all of us, and they bind us together with the blue and gold thread of Cotillion. But, most of our memories center around the people that we knew and the good times we had with our friends. Tonight, Larry Ayres told me about Cotillion Club tea dances and mountain laurel. It seems that Larry and his class journeyed up to Mountain Lake and gathered a batch of fresh mountain laurel, which they re-potted for a beautiful garden, at the doorway to their formals that year. Elmer Rodes, a member of the Greatest Generation, graduated from Virginia Tech in 1944, then was sent directly to the Philippines, where he served under General MacArthur. Al Warwick was telling us this morning about the splendid Big Bands and vocalists that played at formals during his era, including Glenn Miller and Tex Beneke, of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" fame. And we are so glad to see Tom O'Neill here tonight. Tom was Club President in 1964, was the founder of the first folk singing group on the Virginia Tech Campus, the "Rum Sugar Ramblers," and could do the "hambone" like no one else!

And who among us will ever forget Forrest Rollins, our dear friend, and Cotillion Club sponsor for so many years. I remember one day a car load of us stopped by Forrest's house to pick him up to go someplace -- this must have been around 1965 or so. Kathleen stood in the doorway and smiled that beautiful smile of hers and said, "Be careful, boys, you're carrying precious cargo." Indeed. And how could we ever forget Laura Burrows, our Cotillion Club mother, who, even after so many years, always remembers our names and always has a story to tell about us. Around 1965 or 1966, Jenks Robinson rolled into town from the University of North Carolina. Jenks was a wonderful guy who endeared himself to everyone. He and Forrest worked together for several years and he became full time Cotillion Club sponsor shortly thereafter. Cotillion Club members from the classes of '66 and following remember Jenks more clearly, since he was there during their time, but his shadow looms large over all Cotillion Club alumni. When the Cotillion Club transitioned into the Epsilon Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, Jenks became the PiKA sponsor for many years, until his untimely passing. In his honor, the PiKA house at Virginia Tech has a special Jenks Robinson room, filled with memorabilia of Jenks, Forrest and the Cotillion Club.

In my own era, I remember my dear friend, Bill McAllister, who sponsored me into the Cotillion Club, way back in 1963. Bill is the driving force behind the Cotillion Club Alumni Association and we would not be here today, were it not for him. And, I remember some of our Cotillion Club friends who have passed away, like Archie Vipperman, from Stuart, Virginia. Before he became my Cotillion Club buddy, I was a lowly rat and he was an eager junior in Company H. One day, in the middle of rat year, he looked down at me and said in that quiet but firm voice of his, "Rat Seay, my name is Vipperman, and I am the Viper." Scared me half to death. Then, there is a long list of Cotillion friends that we would like to see here tonight, like Buddy Williams, Gene Maxey and Greg Hite. We all have our lists and it is my hope that the Cotillion Club Alumni Association will bring us all back together again. We remember Bob Schweickert, the Bon Air Bullet, who was not only an All American quarterback, but could play some pretty good rock 'n roll guitar and sing the songs of the Everly Brothers and the Beatles. Lynn Jones tells the story of playing golf with Bob one afternoon. Bob didn't use a golf cart and he didn't walk - he would hit the ball, throw the bag on his shoulder, and then take off at a sprint to hit the next shot.

Well, here we are tonight, lo, these many years later. No matter our class, no matter what paths our lives may have taken, we are all kindred spirits and we are all bound together by the blue and gold thread of Cotillion.

In Shakespeare's play, King Henry IV, Part II, two old friends were sitting in the dark, on a bench, overlooking the river, reminiscing about their lives together and the good times they have had. These two friends were Master Shallow and Sir John Falstaff. Shakespeare's words are slightly different but the conversation went something like this:

"What of our days, Sir John!" said Master Shallow. "Our call was always, come to dinner! Come to dinner! 'Twas nigh on fifty years ago."

To which Sir John replied, "We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow, and O, by Heavens, the days that we have seen."

Gentlemen of Cotillion, like Master Shallow and Sir John, we, too, have heard the chimes at midnight, and O, my friends, the days that we have seen.

Sandy