The East Alabama Alumni Club held its Founders Day banquet this year in conjunction with Memorial Day. Local alumni and other alumni from as far away as Texas and Penn State gathered at the Alabama Beta chapter house at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, to celebrate the Fraternity’s founding and to remember those brothers of Alabama Beta who died in past wars.

Preceding the banquet, a flag staff, which had been placed on the chapter house front lawn thanks to the efforts of Malcolm Marsh of Atlanta, was dedicated to honor all Alabama Beta veterans, living and dead. In a moving ceremony, Malcom’s father Buck Marsh of Auburn, one of Alabama Beta’s most loyal and respected alumni raised the flag. 
As a sergeant in the 36th Armored Infantry Division, Buck Marsh fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the assault on Cologne in World War II. On Memorial Day, the ninety-six year old Marsh received the City of Auburn 2019 Distinguished Veterans Award. Buck’s devotion to and love of family, country, and fraternity epitomizes the very best for which Phi Delta Theta stands.

Following a tour of the fraternity house to view current renovations and new furniture made possible by the generous donations of time and money by Alabama Beta alumni, the evening concluded with a banquet and well-received program presented by Booth Malone of Columbus, Georgia. Brother Malone recounted the story of the founding of Alabama Beta in 1879, one of the first two fraternities founded at Auburn.