Nothing Keeps Brotherhood Alive Like a Boys’ Weekend on the Lake

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Dave Tumbas ’74 Shares How He Keeps Connected

You’d be hard-pressed to find Lake Kamwakasach on any top 10 destinations on Google, but for Dave Tumbas ’74 and his fellow Delta Tau Delta brothers, it is a very special place—one that they descend upon each year for their annual fishing trip.

Since 1974, the trip has included the usual suspects: Dave Tumbas, Rollie (Rick Rollins ’76), Ricky (Rick Record ’74), Strack (Bruce Strachan ’75), Dr. Mintos (Steve Mintos – an honorary Delt by association), “D” (Dale Layton ’73), Kooks (Gary Kuklis ’74), and Bluhmer (Steve Bluhm ’73).

With a thirst for adventure, the group’s first fishing expedition led them to drive nine hours into Canada to Lake Nipising in Ontario. After a decade, they changed location to the White River region of Ontario.

“There we could get fly-ins and catch more, bigger fish,” Dave explains.

Finally, in 1987, they found their holy grail of fishing locations and haven’t gone anywhere else since.

“We finally discovered that the secret to a truly amazing fishing trip was to drive north into Quebec 24 hours, above civilization,” he says. “Lake Kamwakasach is in the Cree Territory in Northern Quebec and is only open for fishing four weeks a year. You have to take a float plane to get there—no village within 200 miles. There are few places in this world we will fish anymore that are up to our standards.”

In addition to this unique tradition, Dave sees many more of his brothers each year at their annual reunion held at Hueston Woods. For the past decade, nearly 70 brothers have attended this three-day event each year.

Few experiences in life can create such a deep connection between such a large group of people, but Delta Tau Delta is one of them. For Dave, joining the fraternity was a life-changing decision.

“I was drawn to the brotherhood,” he says. “The years living in Delt house were the best years of my life. Words cannot do it justice.”

While he only lived there for two years, making way his senior year for the younger brothers to share the same experience as he had, Dave made the most of his time.

“The house was action-packed, fun, alive!” he exclaims. “The brothers shared their knowledge and it taught me the social skills I would not have otherwise had.”

Taking those skills and applying them to life after college, Dave is currently CFO at Hy-Tek Material Handling, Inc. He is married and has two daughters and one grandchild. When not working or fishing in the Cree Territory, Dave enjoys his Serbian Church, construction, and spending time with his friends.

Today, Dave is happy to see the house when he returns to his old stomping grounds. While things may look the same, Dave does notice a difference from his undergrad years.

“The house seems to be the same, but the world the brothers today live in is totally different,” he says. “They have nowhere near the freedom we were used to!”

Dave hopes that the current brothers embrace their experience and “stop to smell the roses.” And as things change and generations pass through the doors of the Delta Tau Delta house, Dave knows one thing will always remain: the sense of brotherhood.

“It’s great to know that our brotherhood will be here long after we are gone.”