14 Jun 2026 Bears, barbeque and brotherhood
By Mark Oliver
Some friendships fade with time. Others stay with you for life. For the men of Phi Sigma Epsilon at the University of Central Arkansas, the bond they formed together in the late 1960s has only grown stronger. And every last Saturday in July, they gather to pick up right where they left off.
The Phi Sig Summer Gathering began almost by accident. In 2009, fraternity brothers Jerry Webster and Robert Toney helped organize a small backyard cookout for a friend returning home for his 40th high school reunion. Ten or 12 men showed up and stayed until 3 a.m., laughing, telling stories and realizing that the years hadn’t changed a thing between them.
A few days later, Toney called Webster and said, “Let’s do it again.”
They’ve done it every year since.
What began as a handful of men around a grill has become a tradition built on brotherhood, loyalty and the simple joy of being together. Today, the gathering draws more than 100 people, including fraternity brothers, their wives and their friends from across Arkansas and as far away as Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and California.
For Toney, who pledged in 1970 and hosted the event at his home for more than a decade, the magic is in the commitment everyone brings to keep the tradition alive. “We tell the same lies we’ve told for 50 years,” Toney said. “But the friendships are real. You can go years without seeing someone, and when they walk in, it’s like no time has passed.” As the gathering continued to expand, it eventually moved from the Toney home to the Centennial Valley Event Center. The new space made room not only for the crowd but for the wives and families who have become part of the extended Phi Sig family. “At my house, 75% of the group was outside in the hot summer heat and we were starting to run out of room,” Toney said. “The new place made it better for everyone.”
He and his wife, Cathy, still cook the meal each year: 10 pork shoulders, 10 racks of ribs, 25 pounds of sausage and all the sides. “It’s our way of serving our friends,” Toney said. “That’s what this whole thing is about. We’ve been cooking the same thing for 15 years. Everyone knows what they’re going to get.”
For Eddie Glover, who pledged in 1969, the event has taken on a deeper meaning with age. “At 76 years old, it means more now than it ever did,” he said. “The memories are sweeter, the stories are funnier and remembering the guys who aren’t here anymore brings you back to your roots.”
Glover leads the memorial service each year, reading the names of brothers who have passed. “You can feel the room change,” he said. “It’s a reminder of how short life is. One day, our names will be on that list too.”
Webster, the unofficial architect of the gathering, keeps the communication flowing year-round. Every spring, he begins sending emails and RSVP lists, and each update sparks new interest. “A guy will see the name of someone he hasn’t seen in 20 years on the list and say, ‘I want to go if he’s going,’” he said.
Webster met many of his closest friends, including Toney and Glover, in 1968. “We’ve been buddies for 60 years,” he said. “Back then, we all lived on the same dorm floor. We walked to class together, ate together and went to games together. You watched your friends live their lives every day and you helped each other when they needed help. That’s what brotherhood is.”
Now 75, Webster sees the gathering as a chance to say the things men often leave unsaid. “Brotherhood is telling people who meant something to you how important they are,” he said. “As you get older, you realize just how much these friendships mean.”
As the emcee of the event, Baylor House helps set the tone of the evening: laid-back, genuine and centered on conversation. “We have a rule: no music, no speeches and no solicitations,” he said. “We want people to talk to each other. The night is about them.”
He pledged in 1968 and remembers being taken under the wing of an older Phi Sig who had a car when he didn’t. “He big-brothered me,” House said. “Every one of those guys treated me like family. And they still do today.”
What strikes him most after all these years is the equality within the group. “Some of us have been very successful,” House said. “Others have lived a good, honest life without being in the upper echelon. When we get together, everyone treats everyone the same.”
The men agree that younger generations could learn something from their example. “You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends,” House said. “And the ones who last a lifetime are greater than gold.”
“These are the guys who were there when life was happening,” Glover said. “You don’t make friends like this later in life.”
And every July, in a room filled with laughter, barbecue and the familiar faces of men who have walked through life together, the truth of that statement becomes unmistakable.
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