Here is a summary of our efforts for "A Day in the Country" at the 1985 SpritFest. This article and photo appeared in the Kansas City Star, July 14, 1985.The highlight of the festival on our end was watching Chelepis navigating multiple forklifts loaded with pallets of cold Miller Beer through the crowd of 50,000+ people to our icy troughs. The late Jim Jacobs (SpiritFest Executive Director) could not believe the amount of beer we sold.
To top off the night, Jay Donohue lost the bags of tickets we would need to redeem for our earnings. Jay and a few others made a mad-dash to the old Southeast Landfill and cut off the KCMO trash trucks and saved our loot.
The proceeds were among the first that OEE contributed to the Ronald McDonald House.
Hail, Hail, the gang is all here....
Here is a group shot taken about the time of the SpiritFest (before November 1985). Conspicuously missing are Donohue, Morgan, Riley, and Burke.
Front Row: Kurt Wiedeman, Brian Greenlee, Tom Mullender, Steve Heeney, Bill Venable, Geary Lynch
Standing: Mark McKee, Pat Boppart, John Mulvihill, Marty Clem, Brad Steinbach, Bill Meeker, Steve Dillman, Wayne Mertel, David Freeman, Tom Hall, Ray Evans, Britt Alexander, Randy Knotts, Randy Smith, Octavio Viveros, Tim Schaffer, Andy Smith
O-She-Ellis?
Yes, it was there from the start and by no real plan. As the group grew it became increasingly harder to separate OEE from family. Paige Greenlee (Brian's daughter) still wears the emotional scars from "Uncle" Steve Dillman "beaning" her with a water balloon from what was believed to be a "safe" 200 yards away. This was at an OEE family picnic at Loose Park and the Greenlee toddler was not actually hit with the projectile (but you knew the minute Steve let go of the tubing on the launcher that this was not going to end well). Paige got wet, Celeste got really mad, and we all lived happily ever after. If anyone has a photo of this - please post it right away.
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| Susie, Sherri, Kim, and Julie |
To this day there is rumored to be a clandestine network of O-She-E's, but documentation is hard to come by.
There sure are a lot of BOTAR Escorts in OEE
In the this shot from the KC Star on November 3, 1985, BOTAR Ball Escorts Bill Venable and future OEE member Bucky Brooks had their eyes on the big screen at the Westin Crown Center as the Royal's were about to take the lead in Game 6 of the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. The photo was taken by Star Photog Mark McDonald, who's brother Scott was an original member of GOB....small planet. Katie Kessinger and Cynthia Pistilli were presented at the Ball, the real highlight of the evening.
Monty Spradling, a KC BBQ guru and friend and patron to many an OEE event since day one, is pictured at right. Other OEE members and future members who served as escorts that year included Britt Alexander, Pat Boppart, David Watkins, and Mark Hassenflu.
Do you remember the "Breakfast Club" .....
In the days after OEE started forward, several other groups emerged that had mutual members and served as a networking opportunity. The Breakfast Club was one such group and in 1985 OEE Charter year Member Mark Faber was its treasurer. In his monthly dues notice on November 27, 1985, he was introducing Joe Kessinger as a new member, and ironically congratulating Jayhawk fans on the previous weekend's victory over the Mizzou Tigers. OEE members and future members in the club included Alexander, Blackburn, Brooks, Burke, Chelepis, Crooker, Donohue, Evans, Faber, Tom Hall, Hassenflu, Venable, and Watkins. Other early members in the group included Bob Kennedy, Whitney Kerr, Brian Luger, Kevin Pistilli, Grover Simpson, Bob Sniezek, and Bernie Zarda.
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| Roy's initial KU press conference July 8, 1988 |
The group met monthly at the Alameda Plaza Hotel and brought in notable speakers. Kansas Coach Roy Williams made one of his first speaking engagements in the KC area when he joined the group for breakfast in August 1988. Even the MIZZOU guys were polite.
OEE Archive Material
Jay Donohue's main strength is his ability in strategic planning. In the early days of OEE we were his guinea pigs as he honed his management skills. The following are notes and the resultant survey that was used to fine tune this growing organization in advance of commitment to SpiritFest '86:
During this era there was always the recurring nightmare and innate fear that we might become too much like the Junior League....oh well, it worked!
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