Barfungo Sigmund Phi
Where Home Is Home and School is, well, Not Home
Mission Statement: To co-exist without conformance with non-Barfungos in a world made up of non-Barfungos and non-non-Barfungos; To be proponents of a passive Euchre Club; and To acquire and otherwise compile useless though whitty commentaries on the world as seen from Barfungian eyes.
History
Members of the Barfungo Sigmund Phi share a strange but obvious comradery amongst themselves. This intimacy has its roots in the late 1970's at a high school in Gallipolis, Ohio, namely, Gallia Academy High School.
Bandstand in the Gallipolis City Park
The name was coined by one of the future members during a band trip to a regular high school football game. During a particularily rowdy moment, the bus driver attempted to quiet the unruly gang: "You kids quiet down!" But to driver's dismay, the only response to this was "... But we're not kids, we're Barfungos!" And so the name stuck.
Originally, the little group was a coalescence of four bored high school students, namely Jake, Elwood, Boss, and Mugsy. Jake and Elwood were, of course, impersonators. The Boss wore a suit with red vest, and had a watch and whistle on a lengthly keyfob. Mugsy, as the name implies, was the rifle toting hitman, who ensured the Boss's safe passage to and fro rooms of rest, as well as the occasional restaurant jaunt. The original members found solidarity in what was considered their singular mission in life: non-conformity in the midst of those who would tend to find solace in those sporty jockstraps the so-called atheletic eletists wore.
Unfortunately, upon graduation from the Academy, Mugsy left the oftentimes rank lofts of Barfungiandom and his auspicious post was later filled by Bugsy.
Subsequently, all manner of informal and formal accutrements were
collected, created, and in some cases stolen, for the purpose of establishing a Barfungian
identity. These things included a fight song, an
Alma Mater, various cheers, and of course,
the two-dimensional Barfungo itself, an image conceived during a Latin I class (where many
of the authentically original artifacts of the group were discovered).
Events of note included the irregularily held "Barfungo Sigmund Phi Day", on which ceremonial garb was worn. Jake and Elwood, of course, went about their Blues Brothers impersonating ways. The Boss wore his suit and green tennis shoes. And M/Bugsy would don the typical outfit befitting his thug-like demeanor.
Life was not always a phungent rose bed for our beloved Barfungos. Once, while in
attendance at a post-Wind Ensemble Contest dinner/outing at York Steak House, in
Columbus, Ohio, the merry band was unceremoniously ejected from the premises. Reason:
"This is a family establishment." Go figure. In retrospect, this was no doubt
yet another perfidious attempt by the said establishment to coerce conformity.
And finally, the only existing portrait of the 1980 Barfungo tribe, with their chaplain, the Rev. William Myers, of the St. Louis Catholic Church:
Standing: Left to Right - The Boss, Rev. Myers, Jake
Kneeling: Left to Right - Ellwood, Thugsy.
The remainder of this page will follow (surely), as it is under construction.
This page last updated on February 18, 2000
The people, places, and events described on this page are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is completely coincedental.