Welcome to the Torch Club of Columbus, Ohio. Join us for intelligent and respectful discussion in challenging, even chaotic, times. Our club has people from many different professions and disciplines. They meet monthly in the spirit of good fellowship to share their knowledge and exchange points of view through the presentation and discussion of a Torch paper.
Meetings are at the OSU Faculty Club. (For directions, click on OSU Faculty Club Directions and enter your address as a starting point.)
Dues, which are payed annually, include a three course dinner, coffee and tea, and a subscription to The Torch, the magazine of the International Association of Torch Clubs. (See below)
For list of recent and upcoming programs, click here
Presentation by Nancy Verber on June 5, 2025
Rob Stevenson
Presentation by Robert Stevenson on October 2:
“Ohio Stadia 1872-1922: Vintage Buckeye Venues”
For more than a century, Ohio Stadium has been Ohio State University’s most famous athletic facility. The ‘Shoe overshadows the fact that for the 50 years before the stadium opened, the university’s student athletes played at five different locations as spectators gathered to watch.
Robert B. Stevenson III will reveal the stories of these various athletic fields in his Torch paper, “Ohio Stadia 1872-1922: Vintage Buckeye Venues.” Bob’s paper will be the opening program for the Columbus Torch Club’s 100th year on Thursday, October 2, at The Ohio State University Faculty Club.
“Only one of the early sites still remains,” Bob reports. “It is visible from the front steps of the Faculty Club. The other four erstwhile fields are all within walking distance of Mirror Lake, and each could have easily been viewed from the rooftop of the Faculty Club, if it existed then.”
In his paper, Bob will recount many notable people, events and dates, including when the Ohio State Marching Band first performed on the field at home games. He will recall the enthusiastic songs and yells commonly heard around the bleachers, such as Wahoo Wahoo, “Carmen Ohio,” and “We Don’t Give a Damn About the Whole State of Michigan.” He notes the university’s trustees were quite close to banning football after a player died from injuries sustained in a game.
Although these early athletic fields are gone, Bob reminds us that “the steady growth in sporting popularity led to construction of a grey, concrete coliseum in 1922 by the banks of the Olentangy River.”
Biography Robert Stevenson
Robert B. Stevenson III has followed his twin passions of dentistry and journalism with a long solo practice in prosthodontics in Columbus and the writing of numerous book chapters and articles on dental education and the history of Ohio State athletics. He has been a member of Torch since 2014.
Bob earned his D.D.S. degree from Ohio State’s College of Medicine in 1975 followed by service in the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps. He returned to Ohio State in 1978 to complete training in prosthodontics, the specialty concerned with the design, manufacture and fitting of artificial replacements for teeth and other parts of the mouth. He earned both his M.S. in dental surgery and his M.A. in journalism in 1980.
He taught part-time as a clinical assistant professor of prosthodontics at Ohio State and recently completed a three-year scholar-in-residence at the Ohio State’s Medical Heritage Center in the Prior Health Sciences Library sponsored by the Columbus Medical Association Foundation. He is the author of the book, A History of the Columbus Medical Association: The First Seventy-Five Years: 1869-1945, published in 2021.
[Note: The September edition of The Torch Lighter announced the speaker for the October meeting would be Professor Emeritus Paul Beck with his paper, “Analysis of the Presidential Election 2024.” Due to health concerns, Paul is no longer giving lectures.]
Two ways to support the Columbus Torch Club and its members The Board of Directors asks you to consider two ways to contribute to your Torch Club and to keep our fellowship strong as we look forward to our club’s centennial in 2026.
1. You may contribute funds directly to support the club by writing a check to “Torch Club of Columbus, Ohio.” Mail the check to our club’s treasurer, Kent Bermingham,521 RetreatLane W., Powell, Ohio 43065. (Donations to the club do not qualify as a charitable tax deduction.)
2. You may pay for the crudités or other foods served during the cocktail hour that precedes the monthly meetings. Anonymous donors paid for the crudités served at the October and November meetings and for the December meeting. The cost for the crudités is about $430, but there also are less expensive options. For information on donating the crudités or other options, please contact the club’s treasurer, Kent Bermingham who works closely with the Faculty Club on the menu and costs of the monthly dinners. Kent is at Kent1942@gmail.com
Torch Club’s monthly meeting agenda:
4:30-5:30 p.m. Board of Directors meeting
5:30-6:15 p.m. Cocktails and conversation
6:15-6:35 p.m. Business matters
6:35-7:30 p.m. Speaker
7:30-8:45 pm. Dinner and table discussion
Columbus Torch Club dues for 2025-26 Program Year
Good news! Dues will remain the same as last year.
As a result of a number of cost-cutting measures, the Board of Directors at its August meeting agreed not to raise the Torch Club’s dues for 2025-26. The dues will remain at $460 per person and $870 per couple. The cost for a guest, which should be paid by the club member inviting the guest, will be $45 (except for the December meeting when it will be $50).
To pay your dues, make your check payable to: Torch Club of Columbus and send to our Treasurer, Kent Bermingham, 521 Retreat Lane W, Powell, Ohio 43065. Or bring your check to the first Torch Club meeting on October 2, 2025 at the OSU Faculty Club.
Options for club members not attending Torch due to COVID
Although most Torch Club members have attended the in-person monthly meetings that resumed in October 2021, there are a few members who have been reluctant to attend in person due to ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. These members or persons in their households may be at greater risk for the illness for a variety of reasons. As a result, the Torch Club at its March 3 meeting set aside an area of socially distanced seating for members particularly concerned about COVID-19. This will permit them to hear the Torch paper. In addition, the Faculty Club will prepare a take-home dinner for these members. If you require a takehome dinner, please indicate that in your RSVP to Thom Seelbach’s monthly Evite.