‘It’s our Fall Barbeque,’ said Culkowski, a 1973 graduate of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the college’s director of alumni relations for the past 33 years.

Seven organizations, including the offices of Alumni Relations and Student Activities, will host the barbeque this Saturday as part of the college’s the Alumni and Family Fall BBQ, Culkowski said. This year’s barbeque will feature hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs and, of course, barbeque chicken.

The barbeque tradition began in 1913, originally held annually on a weekday afternoon at Green Lakes State Park. The campus would shut down so faculty, staff and students could participate in sporting events and enjoy a chicken barbeque, Culkowski said.

Arthur Eschner, who graduated in 1950 with a degree in general forestry, recalled attending the barbeque as an undergraduate and when he returned to campus in the 1960s as an adjunct faculty member. Members of the various classes would form teams and compete against each other in tug-o-war and horseshoe competitions, as well as timbersport events such as the pulp toss, in which participants throw pulpwood logs to each other, and the cross-cut sawing event.

The atmosphere of ESF was ‘neighborly,’ said Eschner, who came to ESF as a student after he served in World War II like many of his classmates. He described his coursework, which focused on science and mathematics, as rigorous and structured. But Eschner also describes his time at ESF as enjoyable and filled with experiences that brought the ESF community together.

‘It was a friendly place,’ Eschner said. ‘Everybody seemed to know everybody else.’

In 1980, when changes to the academic calendar meant the administration could no longer dismiss classes for an entire afternoon, the barbeque became part of Parents Weekend, Culkowski said. Then, in 2004, the tradition changed once again when the barbeque was incorporated into a weekend-long reunion and campus celebration for alumni, current students, friends and family members, he said. Some aspects of the barbeque have changed with the times.

‘It still exists but not in the same form it used to be,’ Culkowski said.

Last year, ESF’s Green Campus Initiative added an environmentally friendly aspect to the barbeque by distributing compostable plates, silverware and napkins. The group also set up garbage cans that collected and separated what people disposed, said Meagan Pepper, a senior environmental studies major. She said the green efforts will be continuing at this year’s barbeque.

Alex Bishop, a senior environmental resources engineering major and head orientation leader for ESF this year, will be helping out at this year’s barbeque. He said it is an opportunity to celebrate the new additions and improvements to campus with alumni and family members.

For Bishop, ESF is a place with unique culture and its own close-knit community.

‘I love everything about ESF,’ Bishop said. ‘It’s a school where I’ve met probably some of the smartest people I’ve ever encountered. Everyone I’ve encountered has some unusual fact. It’s a very unique type of culture.’

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

— Managing editor, Amrita Mainthia, contributed reporting to this article.

Published on September 21, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Dara: dkmcbrid@syr.edu | @daramcbride