RSE Alumni Clean Out the House on July 15th-18th Weekend

August 12, 2021April 25, 2022 (0 comments)

Thirty-one RSE alumni and numerous friends gathered at 1501 Sage Ave to clean out the House. The effort, organized by Trustees Vice President Charlie Adkins ‘94 and Real Estate Officer Joe Spinazola ’15 spanned four days, Thursday through Sunday. Alumni from fifteen (15) states attended with Classes from 1963 (Doug Koop ’63) through 2021 (Zach Alexander ’21 and Joe Stillo ’21) being represented.

The main objective was to clear the House of any remaining items which were deemed as not needed or trash. An initial assessment on Thursday July 15^th indicated that a lot had to go! Originally, two 30-yard dumpsters were ordered but that order was revised after witnessing the situation firsthand. The first dumpster arrived on Thursday afternoon and was promptly filled on Friday morning by some early arriving alumni. This dumpster was emptied Friday afternoon and returned to the House along a with a 40-yard dumpster.

Most alumni arrived on Saturday. The group was quickly organized by Charlie Adkins ’94 and Joe Spinazola ’15 and set to work. Using his experience from the previous day, Eric John ’95 supervised the efficient hexagonally close packing of the dumpsters. An amazing amount of “stuff” flowed out of 1501 Sage Ave. The two dumpsters were filled by early Saturday afternoon.

The refuse continued to flow out of the House. After both dumpsters were filled by early afternoon Saturday, another approximately 40 yards of trash was removed from the House during Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Joe Stillo ’21 trucked nineteen (19) automotive tires, some with rims, to be recycled. Several bicycles were taken to Troy Bike Rescue. A local RPI alumni took a lot of the 2x4s that were being discarded. Several small refrigerators and freezers were recycled as well by Joe Stillo ’21 and Ed Herger ‘72.

Al Silvia ’75 took on the significant task of returning the Coat Room to a coat room, repairing, and painting the walls. He spent two days repairing the plaster and preparing the walls before painting.

The kitchen was cleaned thanks to a notable effort by Tom Keating ’75 on the stove, countertops, shelves as well as washing the floors. Claire McGinnis, after cleaning the dirty pots, pans, and dishes, tackled cleaning the refrigerators and freezer, inside and out. She then cleaned everything in the pantry: milk dispensers (the cows), the Keurig and the counter tops. Steve Blinder ’87 removed the March 2020 milk containers.

Chris Brown ’94 and daughters Noelle and Chloe took at least a half dozen bags of clothing to the Salvation Army.

With the 40-yard dumpster in the foreground, alumnus Jed DeFalco ’78 disassembled items to maximize the packing efficiency.

Bob Mooney ’71 was the on-site “toll collector”, scooping up the loose change found throughout the House. We added the collection to the House account.

The chainsaw crew of Adam Orsi ‘03, Eric Stoever ’04, Kevin Ahearn ’84 and John Roddy ’87 removed several lofts. Other items were removed as well, some with emotional attachment for particular alumni, and to the dismay of their significant other.

Following the cleanout on Saturday, Charlie and Joe assembled the alumni to recognize the substantial effort put forth. At the end of the weekend, “it was a big job, but many hands make for light work.” was clearly the case.

On Monday, we hired a local junk removal company to remove all trash that couldn’t be packed into the dumpsters. Not shown in the photo is another 8-yard dumpster filled with trash and a 2-yard dumpster packed with cardboard. All total – 150 yards of refuse was removed, not counting donations or recycled materials. (The three blue dumpsters contained 9.5 tons when loaded!)

The dumpster company was able to remove the 40-yard dumpster but would not haul the 30-yard one because it was too high. Mark Anderson ’79 made some precision adjustments of the load with his chainsaw. The dumpster was then legal and was hauled away.

The July 2021 cleanout crew included:

1960s Doug Koop ’63

1970s Bob Mooney ’71, Ed Herger ’72, Al Silvia ’75, Tom Keating ’75, Mark Vince ’75, Cary Nadel ’77, Jed DeFalco ’78, Mark Anderson ‘79

1980s Don Thoma ’83, Kevin Ahearn ’84, Randy Knuth ’87 and Serene Wettstein ’86, Steven Blinder and Claire McGinnis ’87, John Roddy ’87, George Chrisbacher ‘89

1990s Charlie Adkins ’94, Chris, Chloe and Noelle Brown ’94, Mike and Cam Tillou ’94, Eric John ’95, Mike Trbovich ‘96

2000s Adam Orsi ’03, Scott Galbiati ’04, Eric Stoever ‘04

2010s Humza Ahmed ’14, Joe Spinazola ’15, Mark Beasman ’15, Antonio Fiol-Mahon ’19, Dan Lannan ’19, Carson Fillion ’20, Jake Hodgson ’20, JT Swetman ‘20

2020s Zach Alexander ’21, Joe Stillo ‘21