Happy 2013 Sisters!
Christmas Party photos from Omega
(top) and Alpha Beta (bottom)
Pi Alpha Kappa Sorority
Keynote
Christmas Party photos from Omega
(top) and Alpha Beta (bottom)
News from the Chapters……
I haven’t heard from our sisters in
Denver Delta. Our thoughts and prayers
are with all of you. I hope this finds
you well and happy and perhaps too full of Christmas cookies to get around to
writing!
Vicksburg
Alpha Beta
Toni
Stanchfield is an assistant den leader for the Cub Scouts and went on
an Outdoor Wilderness Leader training at Camp Wilkerson here in town.
This training Taught her how to safely and efficiently choose a camp site and
get set up. There were demonstrations on how to cook outdoors, breakfast,
lunch and dinner for a den group. Being responsible for a group of scouts
while camping is a huge responsibility and hopefully after this adventure I
will have passed the training with flying colors. Maybe the ladies from
PAK would like to do a camping outing one weekend........just kidding! That definitely would make for some fun
Keynote stories though for next time! Her only request when camping is a
place to shower off at the end of the day.
Tracy Trichell writes that Thomas and James have started
basketball. This year they are on different teams. Both teams are
doing very well. It is going to be an exciting game when they play each
other. Alexandra has just finished up her college session for this
semester and is ready for a break. We are all looking forward to spending
Christmas with Tommy's and my families. Happy New Year to all of
you!
Margharita Davis's family came home for
Thanksgiving. All but their two grandsons gathered around the happy little
table this year. Thankfully, the guys will be home (on leave from the Army) for
our Christmas celebration at their home in Brandon.
She had fun playing
hostess again at Rosalie Mansion in Natchez during their fall pilgrimage. Again everyone was able to attend the
November wedding of nephew Bryan Green in Southaven. The reception was at the
Memphis Train Terminal. Really nice and different. Bill and Margharita celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary in December with much love and dismay that all those years
had passed so fast. Feeling really blessed.
Pam Gee just returned from a trip to Germany and the
Christmas Markets. It was a festive time
with lots of snow which really enhanced her Christmas spirit. She and her traveling buddy, Meredith
Mahalak, visited the markets in Munich, Wurzburg, Nuremburg, and Rothenburg, as
well as Innsbruck, Austria, and Strasbourg, France. The food was fabulous and all the handmade
items were a shopper’s dream! The
highlight was a small candlelight Christmas concert in an old church in the
Black Forest.
Vicksburg
Delta
Along with four carloads
of Openwood Garden Club members Joan
Morgan traveled to Crystal Springs for their Fall Truck Garden event in mid
October. The weather was perfect for
wandering around the lush fruit, vegetable, and flower beds. It made them want to start spring all over
again and put their green thumbs to work.
In mid October she and Hal flew to Washington DC on an Air Force C
17. They celebrated their 46th
anniversary touring the National Air and Space Museum by Dulles Airport, Naval
Museum, parts of Smithsonian, World War II Memorial, Arlington National
Cemetery, etc. Hal's great nephew is
stationed at the Pentagon, so he gave them a tour, including the chapel inside
the building and the memorial garden on the outside. Joan wrote, “I can see where it could be
true, that someone could live in the building, as they have every conceivable
shop or facility for its employees. We
again visited one of our favorite statues, that of Albert Einstein. Our return flight was delayed a day, so we
went with Plan B and headed for Williamsburg for a visit with my brother and
sister-in-law. On our return trip
through the Shenandoah Valley we stopped at the Edelweiss, a Black Forest style
Restaurant for a typical German meal.
When we stopped for the night, we found a Mexican bakery and enjoyed
some breads and sweets. In November, we
spent 6 days in Huntsville AL to help Michelle after her carpal tunnel
surgery. A few days after returning, we
went to Madison to take care of the grandchildren for five days. Part of the time they were on Thanksgiving
vacation, so we got to do plenty of fun things with them....bowling, movie,
lunch, shopping, soccer practice. Our
Thanksgiving celebration adjusted to our sons' schedules. What could be better than two days of turkey
and dressing?”
In the early fall, Josephine Peterson’s son John invited
her for a visit in Arizona. As usual,
she saw many sights. On their first day
trip, they rode the Apache Trail, a two-lane road (mostly dirt) on the edge of
the mountain to Roosevelt Dam. They were
close to the Tonot Memorial Monument, so they hiked a half mile to the 14th
century cliff dwellings of the Salado Indians.
She has pictures to prove she made that climb! The Space Shuttle Endeavor made a low flyover
in Tucson. The last commander of
Endeavor, Mark Kelly, requested the flyover in honor of his wife, Gabby
Gifford, the former Arizona Congresswoman.
Josephine viewed the flyover and got great pictures. She and John drove to the White Mountains for
a weekend getaway. The scenery on the
highway to Globe was breathtaking. They
rode rugged mountain trails in John’s 4Runner and saw a herd of elk near
Pinetop/Lakeside. Saturday they rode
horseback on a trail at the X-Diamond Ranch.
At Greer Resort, they took fly-fishing lessons. Josephine caught Apache Brown Trout and
Rainbow Trout. The trip was a fun
adventure with spectacular scenery. In
early November, she traveled to her son Richard’s in South Carolina to attend
granddaughter Ella’s 11th birthday party, a cookout, and sleepover
at the other grandparents’ log home.
Josephine’s new neighbors have twin boys, so she got to help celebrate
their second birthday with all their extended family. This brought back lots of memories. Josephine celebrated Christmas in South
Carolina and wishes each of you good health and happiness in the new year.
Delta Chapter
held their annual potluck Christmas dinner at Josephine Peterson's home. Her home was well decorated and put us all in
the holiday mood. Delta certainly has
good cooks as the meal was delicious. We
played "Dirty Santa" but it was a more subdued game this year. We wish all our Sisters and their families
Peace, Hope, and Goodwill in the New Year.
Delta Chapter
has had several members on the "sick list". Helene Benson remains on a walker since she
broke her hip in a fall. Sally Riddle is
out of the hospital and nursing home after a long bout. She has returned to the meetings and looks
great and is in equally high spirits. We
are delighted to have her back. Mary Lee
was in Florida visiting her husband who is working there. She got sepsis and was in the hospital for
two weeks. She recovered at home. We hope to have both Helene and Mary back in
January.
Vicksburg Omega
Marian Love Phillips’ youngest daughter, Marian Suzanne (Suzi), 40 years
old, will be having a baby girl on April 2013.
She will be welcome by her big sister, Emma, who is five years old. They reside in Fredericksburg, VA, where
Suzi’s husband, Dennis, works for the FAA in Washington, D.C. They also drove home for the Thanksgiving
holiday and enjoyed visiting with families in Louisiana and Mississippi. While here Suzi was given a baby shower and
was held at the Pecan Ridge Apartment’s Club House and she received so many
nice gifts for the baby-to-be. Marian’s grandson, Michael “Ethan” Kelly,
graduated from basic training in San Antonio, TX, at Lackland AFB. Marian’s daughters, Kathy (Ethan’s aunt) and
Debra (his mother), Jay (his dad) granddaughters, Lucy (his sister), Stephen
(his brother) and Sonya (his cousin) attended the graduation on Dec. 1st. Airman Michael Kelly has been transferred to
Fort Lee, Virginia to continue his military duties. He wasn’t home for Christmas but was there in
spirit. Our family is so proud of him
serving his country.
Joan Donovan and her husband, Mike, went on weekend trips to
Memphis, TN, Baton Rouge, LA, and El Dorado, AR, attending the Control-Line
Model Airplane contests and visited with friends they made.
Ina Lott Whittington’s daughter, Rhonda, is attending the Addie McBryde
Rehabilitation Center for the Blind on the campus at The University Medical
Center, Jackson, MS. She is being trained
to learn Braille, adaptive equipment, handwriting, keyboarding, and use of the
personal computer utilizing both magnification and screen readers. She lives in a dormitory during the week and
tries to come home on weekends.
Vera Marshall Brown sang in The
Forgotten Carols, a magical family musical stage play by Michael and Scott
McLean about the hope and promise of Christmas.
Our Second Vice President, Sorority Sister, Cathey Lee, fell on November 15th
and broke her hip. She had a total hip replacement at Baptist Hospital the next day. We are all wishing
Cathey a speedy recovery and will be keeping her in our prayers. If
anyone wished to send a get well card her address is: 2737 Burnt House
Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180.
Last summer was "the summer of
the music festival" for Becky Towne
and her husband Scott. They started with the blues festival in Rolling Fork in
April (best barbecue). Then they spent three days at The Hangout Music Festival
in Gulf Shores in May. They returned to the coast for Bayfest in Ocean Springs
(her favorite). Of course they attended Riverfest here in Vicksburg. They
wrapped it up in June with the 40th anniversary Bentonia Blues Festival, a
historic event where they were able to hang out with the musicians and met
people who had been coming to the festival since it began.
Omega Chapter Rush: We
had our Chapter Rush on October 27, 2012 at the lovely home of Connie Greer and husband, Homer, on
Longview Street, Vicksburg, MS. We are
proud to present 10 new members to our chapter.
They are Brandie Lee, Dinnie Johnston, Emily Wolfe, Ellen Moomaw, Becky Artz, Ginger Berney, Lucy
Spangler, Shawn Mitchell Lee, Laura Love Ables and Glenda Betts LaGarde. You can view this joyful occasion on our blog
at: http://pakomegachaptersnapshots.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-omega-chapter-rush.html
One of our newest members, Glenda LaGarde, sang in two Christmas Concerts with The Vicksburg
Chamber Choir and the Mississippi Chorus’s concert with members of the MS
Symphony orchestra and brass ensemble in Jackson, MS. With her husband, Victor,
they traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Baptism of the latest
grandchild – Ambrose Stanley Linderman, by her daughter Glynnis and her
husband, Aaron, with relatives and friends celebrating this blessed occasion.
Laura Love
Ables, newest member, oldest
daughter, Sherri and family recently moved to San Antonio, TX, to start a new
life. Laura’s oldest sister is Marian Love Phillips.
Shannon Curro has moved
to the coast and will be missed by her sisters in Omega Chapter.
On December 5, 2012 our PAK Omega Chapter held
our Christmas Party at Roca’s Restaurant and everyone had a wonderful
time. We found out who our Secret
Sisters were for the past year and drew names for our “new” Secret
Sisters! A good time was had by all and
you can view pictures of our party on our blog at: http://pakomegachaptersnapshots.blogspot.com/2012/12/our-omega-chapter-christmas-party.html
DEADLINES FOR THE NEXT KEYNOTES:
Monday,
March 18, 2013
Mark your calendars – the Convention
will be Saturday, June 1, 2013!
