​Our brothers’ careers have been productive, constructive, spirited, and prosaic. They displayed impressive skills, talents, and abilities They were, and we continue to be, a beautiful and lively expression of our enduring fraternal beliefs, and that underlying harmony is far-reaching in expectation for all brothers’, undergraduate and graduate. It is the core of what our fraternal founders asserted in 1848 and 1874 and 1899: to live active, commendable, and responsible lives, and to build up community. Clearly and compellingly, they added, and continue to add, positive value at the local, state, national, global, and fraternal level because they engaged life fully and responsibly. In short, they were authoritative pillars throughout life. They were-are exemplary in their citizenship, character, and their sense of dutiful responsibility, and, in many instances, they were leading voices in their career fields. In many cases they made extraordinary accomplishments in their respective professional careers. They prove that success of any kind does not occur by luck or accident, and we remember them because they continue to provide that message for our time. We have long been, from one generation to the next, proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. We continue to cherish our fraternal friendships, our shared memories, and our evolving, forward-focused history at the University of Maine. These things, above and beyond everything else, are the underlying rooted connections that make us proud to be Omega Mu Fijis. Why, after all, should we believe otherwise? We have been doing it well since 1874 years, and we will continue to do so with hard work, perseverance, and historically-rooted optimism. Perge.

Walter Balentine's childhood home in Waterville, Maine. 

The United States Department of Agriculture, left, Washington, D.C., 1879. In the distance is the unfinished Washington Monument. Walter Balentine was appointed to the USDA to be an assistant chemist in 1880. It is interesting to envision the Lincoln Memorial behind the Washington Monument, a building which was designed by architect Henry Bacon, the younger brother of our Q.T.V, brother, Francis Bacon, who designed the repository for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as furniture for the White House. 

We all have our personal memories of the traditions that we enjoyed while we lived together in the Castle. First and foremost, they have stayed in our memory, astonishingly. They rise effortlessly and cause us to smile and chuckle with gratitude each time we think about them. They resonate in our memory, still. They glow in our minds-eye, and we do not brush them away, much less suppress them, for each memory is a journey home, a return passage; even better, a homing instinct to a particular place, event, brother, or a group of brothers when you were undergraduate living in the Castle. They all create a great collective story filled with genuine fraternal sentiment, and all the memories cover the emotional spectrum of our years living in the Castle. Take a moment and recall your memories about our Christmas parties, Fiji Island, Pig Dinner, mud bowl, The Fiji 24 Hour Relay Marathon, our formals. Not difficult to do, is it? They give you a sparkle in the eye and an easy smile, I know. It is safe to say that we loved all of them. With each tradition and event, something wonderful happened. These events were the distinctive, fundamental core of our Omega Mu culture. They helped define priorities, daily, weekly, and monthly. Because of the them, we lived with assurance and stability, generatively so. We were deeply tied to these traditions and activities, our uniting chain of events. And, in retrospect, we all believed, appropriately so, that all of our daily and seasonal traditions were structurally important in creating the wonderful fraternal life that we lived in the Castle. They were, and they continue to be the be-all and end-all of our long chain of sustained fraternal good at the University of Maine.

Although there have been many different iterations on our fraternal traditions and activities, all the variant expressions, for the most past, created the basis for the sustained human grace and strength of our fraternal life, all the while knowing that fraternities fare less well when they do not have sustaining traditions. That is painful truth. Our traditions were, and they remain, our sustaining hope because they exist for the common good. The tradition, activities, and duties set the daily, weekly, and seasonal tone of our fraternal life together, in every measured way. Thematically, the traditions, activities, and responsibilities were different. Some were very mundane because the were concerned with daily practical matters, whereas as some were more suspenseful, mysterious and fun like the RAM and Fiji Island, and some were magisterial and dignifying like Pig Dinner and escorting the housemother into dinner. However, all of them made things work within the house and preserved the cooperative and enjoyable world of our Omega Mu life. We enjoyed all of them, and we did not discuss whether they were their relevant, old-fashioned, or out-dated. On the contrary, and I think we would all agree, they were all sensible, reasonable and enjoyable. In retrospect, all of them are the underpinning of our historic success, and they remain relevant now. They established, collectively so, a balanced and cooperative fraternal life for everyone that was satisfying. And, perhaps, it is not far-reaching to say that they shaped us a little for the better. I believe they did. They certainly did not hurt. Simply put, our Omega Mu memories resonate powerfully with all of us, still, because they link generations of Omega Mu Fijis. ​

Clear and distinct Omega Mu memories still cause us to smile and be proud that we are Omega Mu Fijis. We are, as you all know, an exemplary brotherhood. Upon that fact there is no debate. We remain proud of this fact through life, and we have no problem telling others, with fraternal, evangelical pride, that we lived in a beautiful fraternity home with a great group of men during college, and we continue to champion the fraternal life. Furthermore, I am equally sure that we are all thankful for whatever coincidence brought all of us to the front door of the Castle, our historic fraternal home. Thank God we did not turn back!​

We are, rightly so, a brotherhood family. That being said, I believe all Omega Mu Fijis will smile with understanding, in the truest way possible, what Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated about home in Letters and Papers from Prison and; second, what Thomas Jefferson said about lifelong friends:

“Most people have forgotten nowadays what house can mean, though some of us have come to realize it as never before. It is a kingdom of its own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amid life’s storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

“Friends we have, if we have merited them. Those of our earliest years stand nearest in our affections. Our college friends are the dearest.” (Thomas Jefferson)
​
The Fiji Island Party was an Omega Mu fraternal rite-of-spring celebration, a gift if you will, for generations of Omega Mu brothers, and I suspect that every Omega Mu brother has a Fiji Island memory. It was a signature fraternal event each year, and it is certainly an essential memory, still, with all of us, rich and vital. Starting in the early the 1940’s, one tradition, the Fiji Island Party, was borne out of a simple desire for unbridled revelry, and for over forty years it continued. Initially, the location for the party was in the Castle, but by the 1960’s Fiji Island occurred on the lush, sweeping, boulder-strewn beauty of an actual island off of Stonington. In a primitive existentialist sense, it was a blast from Friday to Sunday with something happening throughout the island. It was a special weekend that we were all grateful for. There was a great deal of wanderlust, loose, casual and free-form, in the intimate environment of the island. Brothers walked everywhere, camped everywhere, and simply enjoyed being together on the island. There was always a relaxed energy that was simply fun. It was a well-spent weekend, and it was certainly worth the boat ride to get there and back. It was a spirited, happy, memorable time. Or, as I see it, an adventurous holiday grace of a special sort in our brotherhood. In any case, it was always captivating, and it never disappointed.

The memories of Fiji Island, like the memories of Pig Dinner, mud bowl, dinner traditions, formals, front lawn and Phoenix Lounge activities, and many others, collectively frame a good portrait of our fraternal brotherhood. We sustained these traditions, and, in so doing, we grew stronger and more unified as a brotherhood. That is the simple truth, historically clear and to the point, and we remain unified. The pictures below chronicle the fraternal mood and emotion of our Fiji Island weekend, and as you do so, recall what Bonhoeffer said about home and what Jefferson said about friends. Surely they are accurate statements about our architecturally beautiful fraternal home at the University of Maine, the Castle, and the congenial, life-long fraternal friendships that were shaped by our well-intentioned, well-functioning fraternal traditions. The seamless gift of both has created an enduring brotherhood that has a unique fraternal character all its own, and we cherish both gifts. That is our Omega Mu way. We remain proud of our distinctive history, but we do not rest on our laurels. We press on and continue into our 147th year with enduring Omega Mu persistence and historic sensibility, always looking forward with a determined, restless enthusiasm. That is the heart and soul substance of our fraternal charisma since 1874, an enduring fidelity. Perge.​

Four Omega Mu Brothers on Fiji Island: L-R (males) Pat Ladd (in back, white shirt), Bob Mennealy (holding a cup), Paul Wood (bandana), and Bill Soloby (sunglasses)

A portion of the 1891 map of the campus. #9 is Coburn Hall, #10 is the second Q.T.V. Chapter Hall, and #11 is Holmes Hall.  

Senior speeches at the 1888 Maine State College graduation.

TAfter working one year in New Jersey, Nathaniel Wilson moved to Reno, Nevada, and taught at Nevada State, later the University of Nevada. Over the course of the next fifty years, Nathaniel Wilson became a beloved citizen in Reno as an educator, author, civic leader, and business owner. He was a rugged individualist who succeeded in the aforementioned fields because he believed in the dignity and worth of hard, honest work. And, from all indications, Nathaniel Wilson was a great man, a humanitarian. He was poised and authentic, and he exhibited a soundness of good judgement and a steady fidelity in all of his professional endeavors, undergirded by an inborn grace and depth of human feeling in dealing with his students, colleagues, business associates, and the citizens of Reno. And, to be honest, to do both is an accomplishment. Consequently, he had a far-reaching effect in always working for, and ultimately achieving, the greater good for the University of Nevada, the city of Reno, and his business, The N.E. Wilson Drug Company. He contributed to the welfare of so many people that he established a positive, enduring public image, acclaim even, and it was authentic. If truth be known, in my view, Nathaniel E. Wilson unswervingly lived up to our conventional fraternal wisdom, our shaping fraternal wisdom, that we always embracingly claim we believe in as Omega Mu Fijis: persistence and determination. These two words comprise the beautiful historic arc of our fraternal success at the University of Maine. They are simple, wise words, and we are unwilling to give up in believing in them. Broadly speaking, time and again, these bedrock fraternal words of courage that demand work and effort have produced outstanding accomplishments in our brotherhood, whether as undergraduate or graduate brothers. Single-mindedly, as Omega Mu Fijis, we would not have it any other way, and we are better off for it. Quite simply, we do not give up, and with faithfulness, patience, and good work we continue into our 147th fraternal year because there is no alternative, and there never will be because that is not our way. Nathaniel E. Wilson understood them, professed them, lived them, and increased them throughout his life, and he lived a long and dignified life, dying in 1961 at the age of 94. One of Saint Paul's best assertions in the New Testament encapsulates the ideal and the reality of  our Omega Mu history and the lived-life testimony of Nathaniel E. Wilson: "You are the evidence of which you speak." Below is a small portion of a newspaper article about Nathaniel E. Wilson that echoes the sentiment of Saint Paul and our enduring fraternal beliefs:

“The influence he wields point to him as an outstanding example of what a man earns when he lives his life as a trust, set up in accordance with certain definite principles from which no deviation is permitted. For though he is not rich in world goods, he is one of the world’s wealthiest men in public esteem, confidence, and reputation for honesty and integrity which no man can attack…the reputation of Wilson must be earned, and there’s only one way it can be earned, by being the kind of person he is.”