The Great Cup Caper

The [APO] regional convention was at Yale (1965?). In the discussion of preparing for the trip somebody mentioned coats and ties. President Denny Myshrall responded, "Tie? Not I."  (Denny was an Air Force Veteran and one of the "old men" in the Chapter) By that statement, Denny set up the circumstances for the Great Cup Caper.

One evening during the regional meeting everyone was invited to Mory's to experience Yale hospitality. There we were introduced to the Cup ceremony. There were two Cups, a red Cup and a green Cup. The red Cup was rum and other ingredients, the green was champaign and other ingredients. They were priced accordingly, but the tradition was the same for both.

When the tradition was explained to all the guests we were invited to take a Cup home with us -- if we could succeed in getting away with one. We were challenged that nobody had ever managed to get away with a Cup in the history of Mory's. From that moment, I wanted to be the first and began considering all options.

Each table with a Cup was carefully watched by a waiter, and as soon as the Cup was finished it was immediately whisked away. The opportunity struck suddenly and without warning. Our table had a Cup, a waiter came out of the kitchen near our table and the waiter watching our table moved into the next room; but the waiter from the kitchen abruptly turned on his heel and went back into the kitchen! At that precise moment the brother drinking  from the Cup finished, raising his hand in the traditional gesture...and without missing a beat (this looked like the only chance we were going to get!) I grabbed the Cup and put it behind me (I was sitting in the corner of the booth with a convenient space behind me.

Only one brother saw what I did, and started to inquire loudly what I was doing before he caught on and bit his tongue. The others didn't notice. And at that fateful moment somebody announced that it was closing time and everybody in the place got up simultaneously!

We KOs were the only guests at Mory's wearing ski jackets instead of coats and ties, thanks to President Denny Myshrall. It was easy to grab the handle of the Cup through the back of my ski jacket and make it look like I was only carrying the ski jacket. The brother who saw what I was doing grabbed another brother and they began supporting me on each side as if they were helping me to walk as I staggered along with the departing crowd, dragging my ski jacket with the Cup concealed underneath ... right past the watchful eyes of the waiters, carefully inspecting the departing guests. We took the cup straight to the car and put it in the trunk, not daring to look at it again until we were safely back at UMass.

Those of us who brought the Cup back got together at the house at 18 S. Prospect Street, where I was living with 3 other brothers, and devised the concoction for our new Cup Party tradition. It was rum and OJ, and other ingredients in precise measurements. The mixture was kept secret. The photos of the brothers' Cup Party at the web site was probably the first one, where we introduced the Fraternity to the tradition. Other than Denny, I don't remember who was in the group of brothers who brought back the Cup or how many of us there were.

There's the story.

Bill '67