Pansy Post

Founder's Day and Twenty Year Anniversary Celebration

Eighteen Deltas gathered at Bull Valley Golf Club on Saturday, November 3, 2007 to remember our Founders and celebrate our alumnae chapter's twentieth anniversary.  It was a splendid day in a glorious setting.  Betty Pollack, from the Ft. Myers, Florida chapter, traveled the farthest.  She was president of the Elgin Tri-Delta Alumnae Chapter when Bette Chwalisz (aka McCullagh) started the McHenry County Alumnae Chapter.  Barb O'Connell, a former chapter officer and friend, also joined us, traveling from her new home in Winfield, IL.   

We all enjoyed the lovely tables decorated by hostesses Jamie Crandall, Penny Kirchhoff and Jennifer Widger.  After lunch, Linda O'Bryant, Trustee of the Delta Delta Delta Foundation, presented an enlightening overview of the goals of the foundation.  Her enthusiasm added a spark to the whole event.  She also left us with a gift, and the card read: "A star shines brightly on Tri-Delta's Star Tree for McHenry County Alumnae Chapter because Linda O'Bryant made a gift to the Tri-Delta Foundation in your honor".

The program concluded with a special and symbolic touch. As we celebrated the past twenty years and looked forward to the next twenty, we each carefully unwrapped a pearl, made a wish and "tossed" it into a lovely fountain.  As tradition suggests, we then ended with the candlelighting ceremony with 13 chapters represented.  First Bette Chwalisz (our founder),  read and lit the Silver Candle in memory of our Founders.  Then Jennifer Kolarczyk (13 year member) read and lit the blue candle in graditude for the gift of Tri-Delta Friendships.  Finally, Blaine Brannon (one of our newest members) read and lit the gold candle to the Tri-Delta of the future.

The afternoon tea and celebration was a success thanks to our wonderful event committee, Jennifer Kolarczyk, Mary Frazier, Debbie Hayes, Kim Hines, Martha McConnell, Jennifer Streit, and our hostesses.

Here's to the next twenty years, friends!

Bette Chwalisz, 20th Anniversary Chairperson

Come & Dish was Delicious and Fun!

Our October meeting was held at Come & Dish in Algonquin, and I never thought cooking could be so easy and fun! Seven Deltas enjoyed each other's company, as well as drinks and appetizers, as we donned black aprons and assembled healthy meals for our families.  Come & Dish is a lovely place with wonderful ambiance.  Each month they offer fourteen entree selections, which you prepare as you rotate among seven food prep stations.  The ingredients were fresh and the instructions very clear.  It's so nice having several meals ready to go in my freezer!  Everyone donated at least one meal to our CCC family, so we have eight entree credits.  Once we have "adopted" a family, a group of us will return to Come & Dish and assemble meals of their choice.  As soon as we have a date, we'll let you know.  Everyone is welcome to join us!  Thanks to Linda Bowen, CCC for organizing this wonderful event.   ~Jennifer Kolarczyk     

Fall Rush Kickoff Meeting

We had a wonderful turnout for our Fall Rush Kickoff Meeting in September.  Seventeen Deltas celebrated old and new friendships, while reminiscing about rush with favorite stories from our collegiate days!  Veronica Campbell was the perfect "rush hostess", serving wonderful food and drinks, and decking out her lovely home with lots of Tri-Delta photos and memorabilia. 

The evening concluded with a short business meeting,  which included voting on and passing our chapter's annual budget,  and announcements from each of the officers.   Jennifer Kolarczyk, President, announced that our Chapter is sponsoring the Eileen Blaine Rudolph Scholar from Illinois State in honor of our Chapter's Founder, Bette Carlson Chwalisz, Illinois State.  Our Treasurer, Rachel Hockemeyer, asked everyone to please pay their dues by Founder's Day. Linda Bowen, CCC, discussed our October Meeting at Come & Dish, and asked whether anyone knows of a local family with a child fighting cancer that we could support.  Blaine Brannon, Collegiate Relations, shared with the group the idea of a new Alumnae Big Sister program, and passed around a sign-up for those interested in participating.  Finally, Bette Chwalisz, 20th Anniversary Committee Chair, reminded everyone about our High Tea Founder's Day Celebration on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. at Bull Valley Golf Club.  Invitations will be mailed soon!  ~ Jennifer Kolarczyk 

Chapter Goals for 2007 - 2008

Our Chapter Officers met in August and voted on these Chapter Goals for 2007-2008:

Membership:

1. Have 26 dues paying members

Programming:

1. Celebrate our Chapter's 20th Anniversary at Founder's Day

2. Schedule at least one new event

3. Participate in at least one volunteer effort

4. Recognize our Golden Circle Members

CCC:   

1. Support a local McHenry County family with a child fighting cancer

2. Sponsor up to two children to attend a cancer related camp

Collegiate Relations: 

1. Support our local McHenry County Tri-Delta Collegiates by implementing a new Big Sister Program.

2. Support a Collegiate Chapter by donating a "Sisterhood Night" gift basket.

Pansy Breakfast 2007

Pansy Breakfast was held on a beautiful Saturday morning at Jennifer Widger's loverly  home with 13 members able to attend.  The silent auction took place concurrently, since we had inclemental weather in Feburary cancelling the Casino Night/ Silent Auction Party.  Thank you to everyone who donated an item and for getting items donated for the silent auction.   We had a variety of fun items in the auction, including 4 White Sox Tickets, several restaurant gift certificates, babysitting services, Tri-Delta and pansy jewelry, a Longerberger Basket Gift set, and of course a batch of Maggie's delicious bar things!  Together we raised $800 for CCC and Delta Dollars.   

We'd like to thank the following businesses and individuals for their contributions:

Bone Fish Grill, Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano, Christopher's Italian Ristorante, Red Star Tavern, Read Between the Lines Book Store, Robbins Photography, Jason & Debbie McLaughlin, Abbey Kolarczyk, Lei McCormick's Mom, Linda Bowen, Elizabeth Cayton, Veronica Campbell, Maggie Bailey, Linda Bolton.

Members were honored and recognized for their individual volunteer efforts at Pansy Breakfast.  Keep up making a difference - Way to go Delta's in Your Neighborhood.    The group then presented Debbie Waterson with a gift - a lovely Pansy Serving Bowl - in recognition of her hard work and dedication to our chapter as President the past two years.  Among Debbie's many contributions to our chapter was her designing and developing this wonderful communication tool - the Pansy Post!  Thank you again, Debbie, for all you've done! 

March Meeting

Our meeting this Month took place at Maggie's beautiful home.  We had 7 members present for our two guest speakers.  The speakers were wonderful.  Our first speaker was Mary Ann Green, a bereavement counselor, from Hospice representing Camp Courage.  Camp Courage is a children's bereavement day camp.  We have been helping Camp Courage for many years now.  Mary Ann shared some of the wonderful moving experiences of children coping with loss.  We were informed that they have changed the age limits from 4 - 18 year old.  Volunteers are always welcomed and can go through a short one day counselor training session.  She thanked us for the help we give them yearly.  We are scheduled to volunteer for our Camp Courage Clean up on Thursday July 12th. 

Our second speaker was, Jackie Rorrer, from Children's Oncology Services representing One Step At a Time, a cancer camp.  One Step At a Time, which was started in 1978, now has many different camps and programs for children with cancer and their families.  They have a new Family camp that incorporates skiing or a dude ranch experience.  The main one is the summer camp for children with cancer.  The campers can receive their treatments from the volunteer medical staff during the two week camp.  Last year was our first year donating to the camp. 

Our two guest speakers were informational, educational, and motivational.  Rejuvenating our commitment to our goals was a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Slate of New Officers

The slate of new officers for 2007 - 2009:

President:   Jennifer Kolarczyk

V.P.:  Sue Hochmuth

Secretary:  Carolyn Quinn

Treasurer:  Rachel Hockemeyer

CCC:  Linda Bowen

A vote will be taken at the meeting in March.

A huge thank you to the slate committee, all of the current officers, and a pre-thank you to all of the officers to be!

Couples Party 2007

March Meeting:  We are having two guest speakers at our meeting in March.  One speaker is from Hospice, representing Camp Courage.  The other guest speaker is from One Step at a Time a Cancer Camp.  We were able to provide funds to sponsor the cost for a child to attend both of the camps last year.  I am very excited to hear the speakers.  I hope to see you all there. 

February Gathering:  Due to weather conditions on Saturday February 24th, the Couples Party-Casino Night was canceled.  The Silent Auction that benefits all of our CCC causes has been rescheduled.  The silent auction will take place at Pansy Breakfast on Saturday April 21st.  We all still have time to collect some wonderful auction items.  Please contact Jennifer Kolarczyk if you have an item for the silent auction.

Book Recommendations

The following are some Delta's favorite "reads"

• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Altas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

If you have a book to add to the list just let Debbie know

January 22, 2007 Meeting

A wonderful evening was had by all at Elizabeth Cayton's beautiful home.  A special welcome to Kim Holinbeck, one of our new members this year. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Dona McLaughlin who is Kim's Mom, both of whom are Tri Deltas from Millikin.

President:    The Chapters bylaws were introduced and voted on.  Maggie motioned that the bylaws be approved, Bette seconded the motion.  A vote was taken and the motion passed.  The bylaws were submitted to the executive office on January 30th.  The slate committee has met to chose officers for 2007 - 2009.  Once the slate is final it will be introduced to the chapter.  Reminder to please email Debbie with your personal volunteer efforts in your community. 

CCC:  Reminder that the Couple's party Casino night is Saturday Feb 24th with a silent auction benefiting our Children Cancer Charities.  Notify Jennifer Kolarczyk if you have an item to donate to the silent auction.

The rest of the evening was for the social discussion of our favorite books and the happenings in our lives.  Delicious wines and tasty treats were served.  A list of books written by Tri Delta authors was given out and two books were on display.  The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion and Dying with Open Eyes: Alzheimer's Disease by our very own Jennie Swanson Dincecco.