Little did Rhonda and Steve Melchi know when they decided to attend BGSU that they would be forever Falcons.
Rhonda, from Lakewood, Ohio, majored in business and finance, while Steve, from Sylvania, Ohio, majored in education.
“I was always going to come to Bowling Green,” he said. “My dad went to BG.”
The falcon flames met their sophomore year while working at McDonald’s and were married by the end of their junior year in 1980.
After graduation, they decided they were tired of being students and wanted to move out of Bowling Green. They ended up moving to Toledo.
After a couple years, the Melchis started attending basketball, hockey and the occasional football game to support their alma mater.
“I was always a sports fan, she never was,” Steve said. However, Rhonda soon caught the BGSU sports bug.
” So, when I decided to finish off the basement, I asked, ‘What if we make it into a BG basement?’ “
— Rhonda Melchi
After only a few years in Toledo, they started looking at houses in Bowling Green and decided to move back.
That’s when they really started getting involved with BGSU athletics.
After 10 years in their previous home, the Melchis moved to the Stone Ridge community and have lived there for 18 years.
They continued to attend athletic events and started collecting souvenirs wherever they went.
“We just had stuff and would end up shoving it in a box somewhere,” Rhonda said. “So, when I decided to finish off the basement, I asked, ‘What if we make it into a BG basement?’” She did just that.
She had walls built, painted the ceiling, put in lights, had a bar made, put carpet in and hung a few pieces of memorabilia on the walls.
She also handpainted the exposed brick walls orange and white. Rhonda said that Steve didn’t want much to do with the renovations.
“He wasn’t down here for about 6 months,” she said. She unveiled the basement to Steve and since that day the collection of BGSU pieces has exponentially grown.
From pictures, to programs, to art, to blown-up cardboard heads, the Melchis seem to have it all.
“There are stories for most of this stuff down here,” Steve said. “Some things were given to us from people that know we have this basement.”
” Little did Rhonda and Steve Melchi know when they decided to attend BGSU they would be
forever Falcons. “
They aquired a chair from Anderson Arena when the basketball program moved from the Stroh and bid on the table at the women’s basketball golf outing, which serves as a centerpiece to the space.
“When Dace Folly, the artist, saw where it’s home was going to be, he was really pleased,” Rhonda said.
“Basketball was our first love,” Steve said about their basketball-themed basement pieces.
However, since the basements initiation, Rhonda and Steve could count off several teams now represented in the space including golf, football, swimming, volleyball, baseball, gymnastics and hockey.
” Our support for athletics has grown,” Steve said. “ A lot of that comes from meeting the quality student-athletes at BGSU “
The Melchis continue to support BGSU athletic programs financially and have created strong relationships not only with the basketball teams, but also with the women’s golf team and swimming team as well as within the athletics department.
“Our support for athletics has grown,” Steve said. “A lot of that comes from meeting the quality student-athletes at BGSU.”
“We like to support the academic side,” Steve said. Rhonda agreed and said,
“Academics is what it’s all about really. That’s why you are all here; to get an education.”
Whether supporting athletics or academics, Steve and Rhonda Melchi bleed orange and brown and continue to be unwavering cheerleaders for many studentathletes at BGSU.
