PAK Sorority Keynote

Pi Alpha Kappa Sorority

Keynote

From Your National President….Georgia Turnage

January 2012

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and now we are starting a brand new year , 2012. I wonder how many checks that I will date incorrectly until I get the hang of it. Anyway I wish all of you a fantastic 2012.

The old year really flew by so quickly. Let's take the time this year to be more active in our PI ALPHA KAPPA chapters, I've heard that some of the attendance has been low and that we really need to perk up.-Now is the time to get the ball rolling and attend every meeting.

"To Vicksburg With Love" is just around the corner - on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2012-- at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center. The food and the entertainment have always been so delightful. Our thanks goes to Frances Koury for that.

We will also be getting ready for Founder's Day in March. Details are being worked out and we’ll get them to you later.

Let us make 2012 an exciting and successful year for PI ALPHA KAPPA. Remember that it takes your effort for us to reach the stars!

Georgia Turnage

National President

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Next Deadline for Keynote

March 28 for the April issue

Save the date! “To Vicksburg With Love”

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 --- Southern Cultural Heritage Center

News from the Chapters……

Denver Delta

There was no meeting in December.

President Elly Danko spent the holidays with her son and his family. She is busy planning her next trip to Europe.

Betty Shea’s husband passed away on November 25th.

Walburga Salazar had not heard from her family in Germany and decided to call to check in with them. She was saddened to find out that her brother in-law had passed away. The family hadn’t called because they did not want to deliver the bad news during the holidays. He had been suffering from Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases, but he died of a heart attack.

Isolde Meyer baked Christmas cookies with her daughter, Heidi. They baked for two days and packaged 30 plates with the goodies for friends and neighbors.

Vicksburg Alpha Beta

From Marie Hernandez: Holiday greetings from Brookdale Place in Birmingham. It has been nap time each afternoon after all the festivities. Christmas day was a cold raining one but spirits were high with the family group at Susan and Jeff' Rays house for a Christmas Brunch. After a tasty Bloody Mary we indulged in all the delicious food highlighted in the Southern Living magazines. My bridge friends in Vicksburg will be disappointed that I have only played once since I have been here. Too many things going on. I still do not have everything in order. My old TV was too big for the small den so I had to buy another one. That has taken time and was delivered just after Christmas. I am ashamed to admit it I brought a small Christmas tree with me, Susan bought me a larger one and the box of ornaments are still in the middle of the floor. Thats my easy way to undecorate!! Best wishes to all of you for the coming year. I hope to hear of great progress for PAK in membership for 2012. God Bless you all.

Frances Koury is enjoying her second great-grandchild. Stephen Glenn Koury is now three months old. Of course, he is the cutest child and beautiful. Couldn't help but think of the miracle of birth at this season and the special birth of the "Christ Child," God's greatest gift.

I also enjoyed the special week in early December when Kathy came home. She had just gotten back from Hong Kong, China and Korea. Her job takes her to so many fascinating places, so i do my arm chair traveling through her travels. She always fills our home with excitement and joy and made even those gloomy, dreary, rainy days bright. She even left here and went to the British Virgin Islands for a week! Connie and David had us all out to their home at Christmas. About 20 people and food, food, and more food - and a great time by all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year will be filled with joy, love and God's continued blessings.

Pam Gee enjoyed a visit with her sister-in-law who traveled from Iowa to visit in late October. They toured Vicksburg and Natchez and drove to Atlanta to visit her son Scott and his family. She enjoyed Thanksgiving in Atlanta and Christmas split between Ridgeland (daughter Cathy & granddaughter Anna Catherine) and Richmond, VA (son Chris and grandchildren Michael and Addison.)

Leigh Cook celebrated her birthday at the Grand Hotel at Point Clear, Alabama in November. She will also travel to Nashville to watch Mississippi State University play in the Music City Bowl.

Vicksburg Delta

At the October meeting we collected food for the Community Cupboard.  Members met for lunch at Martin's at Midtown in November, where gifts for the CAP center and show boxes for Samaritan's Purse were collected.  The Christmas Pot Luck Dinner was held in Josephine Peterson's home.  Her beautiful holiday decorations put us in the Yuletide Spirit.  Members prepared their favorite recipes and a rousing Dirty Santa game concluded the meeting.  May the Blessings of the season continue in 2012 and bring Peace and Good Health to all.

In November Hal and Joan Morgan drove most of the Blue Ridge Parkway on their trip through North Carolina and Virginia.  Most of the colorful foliage was well past its peak, giving a clear view of the majestic scenery.  We stopped in Stuart's Draft for shopping in the Amish Cheese Store and furniture shop.  Daughter Michelle flew into Williamsburg and joined us for a reunion with Joan's brother and his family.  The women enjoyed shopping at the large outlet malls and along the historic Duke of Gloucester Street, followed by a family tour of the Williamsburg Winery.  Once back home, we spent a fun afternoon when we took our grandchildren to see New Stage's production of "Annie". They enjoyed having the whole Morgan clan, plus three dogs, home for Christmas.

Josephine Peterson enjoyed a wonderful holiday in South Carolina. She was joined by her son John from Arizona for the drive up. On their way, they had a visit with Will’s family. They enjoyed the grandchildren: Skylar, 11, Ella, 10, Anders, almost 6, and Aspen, 3 ½. Christmas is always fun through the eyes of little ones. Uncle John was the hit of the week since he a major player of Wii and EBox video games. As usual, John and Josephine attended midnight service on Christmas Eve and again celebrated the wonder of the birth of Jesus Christ. They enjoyed seeing Jodi’s mom’s log home (almost completed) and enjoyed spending time with Jodi’s family. On their way home, they had an early lunch and delightful visit with John’s godfather Frank Townsend, and wife, Marvel. Some of you may remember them from First Presbyterian in the late 70’s and early 80’s. John and Josephine celebrated New Year’s before John returned to the desert.

Helene Benson traveled to Atlanta in November to see her oldest nephew, Matthew, participate in senior night activities at Collins Hill High School. Matthew plays trumpet in the band and was honored in a pregame ceremony.  She also finished her coursework for her Master of Theological Studies at Spring Hill. She is on track to complete her comprehensive exams in March and will graduate in May. She is excited to put her new education into practice at St. Michael Catholic Church. All of Helene’s family (siblings, spouses and grandchildren) gathered at her parents in Baton Rouge to celebrate Christmas. It was the first time they had all been together in over twenty years.

Member-at-large Peggy Ward writes: “Early in October, Dan and I journeyed by auto to Lancaster County, PA. Our first stop was Shaker Village near Parkersburg, WV to spend the night at the historical, beautiful Blennerhasset Hotel. After many stops at antique shops, we arrived at our final destination, the Bella Vista Bed & Breakfast in Akron, PA. During our week in Akron, we took many day trips to surrounding towns, including Bird-in-the-Hand, PA, and Hersey, PA (yum, yum!) I loved the Amish quilt shops and passed many black buggies pulled by trotting horses. We ate dinner with an Amish family at their farm. The widowed Amish mother opens her home to selected guests (selected by the B & B innkeepers.) There were four couples at the table enjoying the delicious meal. After the meal, we all departed and then she served her family. They were milking and doing other farm chores while we were eating. Our trip home included a tour of Gettysburg and a stop at an apple farm. Back home we are getting ready for the holidays (well, I am, while Dan is away on his annual hunting trip!)

Vicksburg Omega

Becky Towne’s Mother passed away and was buried on December 17, 2011, in Yazoo City. Please keep her and family in your prayers as they morn their loss.

Joan Donovan – Joan and Mike Donovan, their granddaughter, Jennifer, and friends from Tulsa, OK, traveled to Baton Rouge, LA on Oct 14-16 to a model airplane contest. Monday, October 17-20, the traveled to the Smokey Mountains to see the leaves change colors. The colors were at their peak and so beautiful. They also saw a lot of wildlife. The weather was perfect October 21-23 when they traveled to an airplane contest in Huntersville, SC. It was their first trip there and was very nice. They met some new friends. Everyone had a really good time.

Marian Love Phillips is looking forward to a hunting trip to the famous Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club in the MS. Delta to deer/hog hunt for a few days after Christmas. It’s a family owned hunting camp by the Howell’s and is located near Eden, MS, with 2,500 acres of land and a 40 acre lake. It also has eleven Indian Mounds on the site.

Ina Lott Whittington – Please keep Ina’s daughter, Rhonda, in your prayers. She has recently been declared legally blind by her Dr. and he has advised her to apply for disability. She can see a little more but not enough to read and drive or go back to work.

June Emerson spent the Christmas holiday with her son and daughter-in-law in Pearl, MS.

Vera Brown’s grandson, David Walker, just produced his first film at Watkins School of Art and Design in Nashville, TN. It was a documentary on Robert Johnson, who was a Jazz Singer and Guitarist. He won four first places and Best overall Film and best in Show. They are really proud of him and his accomplishments.

Anita and Jim Hossley's daughter, Marcia, and family visited them for their Christmas holidays. Marcia, husband Bruce, and children Rob, Meg, and Mary, live in Evans, Georgia which is a suburb of Augusta. Marcia's husband and son went deer hunting in Amarillo, Texas, Christmas afternoon. We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with our three children Matt, Marcia, and Margaret, and their families.

Janey Seabergh wrote: “In November, we visited our son Nick, who is the executive chef at Giardinia's in Greenville. We got to sample Nick's efforts as well as those of numerous other chefs at "Boudin and Beer", sponsored by Emeril Lagasse to benefit his charitable foundation. All the food was wonderful but ...guess what ... Our favorite was Nick's ginger sage sausage biscuits with apple butter. Christmas was really fun as we went to Salem, Oregon, for a Christmas time visit with our daughter, Hilary and grand-daughters, Madeline and Sophia. We spent four days in the mountains near Mount Hood where the girls got a chance to go skiing and snowboarding. We spent the next week with them in Salem and had an early Christmas celebration on the 20th. We returned to Vicksburg on the 23rd and Nick came down to celebrate Christmas day with us. Now I have to rest up and get ready for a great New Year.”

Our Christmas Party - We had our Omega Chapter, Christmas Party at Roca’s on Wednesday, December 7, 2011. We really enjoyed ourselves and were accompanied by our mates/guest. After we ate we got to exchange our gifts with our secret sister and drew names for our new secret sister for the coming year. You can view photos of our Christmas party at http://pakomegachaptersnapshots.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-christmas-party-rocas.html#links

We hope each and every one of our PAK Sisters had a very Merry Christmas and we wish everyone a safe and happy 2012!

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Shared by Alpha Beta sister Marie Hernandez. She said it came from the innovative Senior Care people at Brookdale.

We wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

We wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

We wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

We wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life

appear much bigger.

We wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

We wish you enough loss to appreciate all you possess.

We wish you enough hellos to get you through

the final goodbyes