February 26, 2009 Pat Franzen Corresponding Secretary 1301 ...

February 26, 2009
Pat Franzen
Corresponding Secretary
1301 Butternut Court
Metamora, IL 61548
Dear Pat,
I chose our chapter theme "Celebrate" this year as I believe that we should, indeed,
celebrate our organization, our chapters and our sisters. In my family, we celebrate often
- my kids refer to it as "any excuse for a party"! - and food is always a major part of our
celebrations. Cooking and eating together is as much a part of a celebration as balloons
and confetti. This fits well with Mary's theme "Joy of P.E.O.", as our meetings always
include food prepared with loving care by our sisters.
MEMBERSHIP: Chapter KF closes out the year with 42 resident and 8 non-resident
members on our rolls. We welcomed Paula Hoerner through a dimit and we initiated our
new sister Gretchen Collins. We celebrated the return of a former chapter member,
Kathy Conlee, also by dimit. We reluctantly granted a dimit to Diane Severns who
winters in a warmer place, but she promised to be our adopted sister whenever she is in
town. We completed the reinstatement of Terry Hoover who had been inactive in P.E.O.
for about 50 years. We celebrated the life of Joan Brown when she joined Chapter Eternal
in November of 2008. We are sad to report that two sisters have chosen to go inactive
this year, but are pleased to be planning the Springtime initiation of another new sister.
PROGRAMS: Our annual Guest Day this year was a luncheon with sister Chapter MO.
Our social committee prepared a beautiful luncheon at our local library with a program
by P.E.O. sister Lynn Rymarz. Lynn presents programs about famous women and this
time we learned about Nellie Bly. I enjoyed attending the State Convention and gave my
report in June. We started our program year, as usual, with the rummage sale we cosponsor
with Chapters IM and MO. Following that, we celebrated summer with a lesson
about writing down memories for ourselves and our families.
Our first meeting in October included our official visit with Carol Rohrabaugh. I
am proud of our officers who came well-prepared for the visit and of our initiation
committee who did a beautiful job of exemplifying the Ceremony of Initiation. Carol
will have her State Convention in 2011 when Chapter KF is scheduled to be a hostess
chapter, so it was especially nice to have a chance to get to know her a little better. Carol
was a joy to work with, she clarified some points of business and she encouraged and
affirmed us in our work as a chapter.
Throughout the year we celebrated a sister's trip to France, the 40 th anniversary of
Harper College, toys and games, books, Christmas, kaleidoscopes, and a sister's family
connection to one of our Founders. Always, no matter what the program, we enjoyed the
fellowship that comes with our being together for our meetings.

PROJECTS: Chapter KF continues to support our projects as fully as possible. Even
with the downturn in the economy, we were able to meet our budgeted donations to each
project this year. In addition to supporting our International and State projects, we also
sent gifts to Original Chapter A for the Memory Room and an additional gift to the Lulu
Corkhill Williams Friendship Fund. We are currently beginning the process of sponsoring
a candidate for an ELF loan.
Again, with Chapters MO and IM we sponsored an IPS student, Grace Ofari-
Sarpong, who is from Ghana, and who is attending Penn State. We stay in touch with
cards and letters and our annual Christmas Stocking donations are used to send a gift to
our designated student.
FUNDRAISING: Our annual rummage sale with Chapters IM and MO netted us
$1840.91 this year and allowed us to maintain our level of giving to our projects. The
three area chapters have decided not to hold the rummage sale in 2009 so Chapter KF is
busy researching ideas for fundraising activities. We are committed to our projects and
will continue to support them as we have in the past.
COURTESY: Our Courtesy Committee supports our members with cards, flowers,
meals and Care Bear greetings.
With the help of our E-Sister, Betty Reed, we stay in touch through the interne.
We have a list of those sisters who receive e-mail regularly, and that is how we update on
meeting changes, details of programs and locations, and news of sisters. Those who do
not use e-mail still receive a phone call with the necessary information. We have agreed
that serious news, such as that of a death, will be shared by phone, not email.
ROUND TABLE: Amy Andersen and I have been representing our chapter at the
Northwest Suburban Round Table this year. Our chapter membership committee does a
wonderful job reaching out to potential sisters and following up on information about
unaffiliates in our area.
As I close out my second year as president and prepare for a transition meeting with our
incoming president, I celebrate the experience I have had in this office. I am grateful to
all of my sisters, chapter, state and international, who have been helpful to me as I
worked through a variety of different P.E.O. issues. The "Joy of P.E.O." that I share
with my P.E.O. sisters enriches my life in more ways than I can express and I can't think
of a better thing to celebrate!
Lovingly in P.E.O.
Jayne Griese, Chapter KF