Chapters assist with Sibs Weekend

Rick Fatica Ohio University students and their siblings get down at a disco party in Bromley Hall. Regional Alumni Association chapters brought 20 busloads of siblings to Athens for the special weekend.

Many Ohio University students spent a fun weekend with their siblings in February, thanks in part to an annual Alumni Association effort that brings family together for Siblings Weekend.

Alumni chapters in Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus, Toledo, Youngstown, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh transported 20 busloads of children to campus to participate in weekend activities.

"It's a fun weekend for the children and for us," says Marilyn "Mickey" Montesanto, president of the Ohio University Women's Club of Greater Cleveland, which chartered about 12 buses to bring siblings to Athens.

Weekend activities included a variety show, bowling, a hike through Old Man's Cave, a performance by the group The Roots and a game night at Baker Center. Students and sibs also attended hockey, basketball and wrestling events on campus.

While students took their younger siblings to organized events, Cleveland chapter members met with scholarship recipients. Money collected from bus fees finances scholarships awarded to select female high school seniors in the Cleveland area.

"It's very rewarding to see how the scholarship recipients are doing and to know we're making a difference," Montesanto says.

Other chapters also use bus trip profits for student scholarships.

Siblings weren't the only family members hitching a ride to campus. The Cleveland and Dayton chapters sponsored buses for Moms Weekend May 5 through 7.