It all started in 1975, when four recent TLU graduates—all of them Sigma Lambda Chi fraternity brothers—proposed the idea of a spring gathering so that they could stay connected with their fellow Bulldogs as the years passed. The first Spring Party took place the following year, 1976, and those four—Stephen “Whip” Wendel, Vance “Vy” Youens, John Miller, and Frank Burk, later joined by Henry “Dutch” Schonenberg and Belinda Schmidt—have worked to keep the Spring Party alive for fifty years now. Gaeylyn Burk, Frank’s wife who passed away in 2023 after a courageous battle with cancer, was also a driving force behind the party, and in fact, became known as the mother of the Spring Party, as the event is usually held at the Burks’ home, and she was known to be such a gracious hostess.
This year, some seventy-five friends came together on a Saturday in June, celebrating their shared histories at TLU and the bonds of enduring friendship. One has to wonder if they could’ve imagined, back in 1976, that they would still be faithfully gathering fifty years later.
As always, everyone chipped in to help cover costs—but with a generous donor choosing to foot the bill, the group once again was able to present a sizeable donation to TLU, this year benefitting the Frank and Gaelyn Burk Scholarship endowment fund, so that future generations of Bulldogs will live as a legacy, forging new paths, serving in new ways, and celebrating friendships yet to come.
