The Kadenza

Happy Holiday Season from your Brothers of Alpha Delta!

Now is the time of year when we gather with our families back home and spend some quality time with the ones we love dearly, but that is not the case for our busy Chapter. Ever wonder how the Ohio University Marching 110’s uniforms look so clean, Alpha Delta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi is responsible for cleaning all 200 plus uniforms.

Dry cleaning for a large group is a big task, especially when the amount of Brothers that take on the job is not 10% of the uniforms turned in for cleaning. One important measure to take when preparing to take on big tasks is to be thoroughly organized. This year, dry cleaning has been a trial and error based organization method selection. First off, the dry cleaners give us dry cleaning tags and safety pins, it is our job to get a tag to everyone and record that number on the tag. This year, we have discovered that getting ten different colors of tags and color coding each section is a big help and saves time and energy. We collect the uniforms and turn them into the cleaners and later that week, depending on how quick the uniforms are cleaned, pick them up as soon as possible.  After picking up the uniforms, we sort the uniforms by section using the color of the tag and a computer database when needed. When all uniforms are sorted, we bring them to the band by section and redistribute the uniforms in a timely fashion.

For twenty plus years, our Chapter has been held accountable for dry cleaning the Marching 110’s uniforms. This is one of our longest running service projects to our college band, the Marching 110. In the beginning of the year, we make a flat rate fee for band members and the fee is equivalent to what they would pay if they chose to dry clean their uniform on their own. The benefit of dry cleaning through our Chapter is that each uniform is collected at the same time and no one has to find a way to get their uniforms cleaned on their own if they turn it in on the collection dates. We normally have four to five dry cleanings a year and they are held before major performances and after the marching season is over.

The Marching 110’s season this year is longer than normal and has been spiced with a Championship and a Bowl Game both held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan and the much anticipated Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Over our break, members of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma Alpha Delta Chapters have volunteered their break time to get all of the Marching 110’s uniforms cleaned and ready for our next important performances. About 20% of our Alpha Delta Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and several members of our Sister Chapter of  Tau Beta Sigma are helping out with dry cleaning. Normally the Alpha Delta of Kappa Kappa Psi solely completes dry cleaning of the Marching 110’s uniforms, but this year we have discovered that the more the merrier.

So even though our break at Ohio University has been shortened a little bit, we are still spending it with friends and family the Brother and Sister way.

Tags: Alpha Delta, Kappa Kappa Psi, Service