It is a tradition in Beta Sigma Phi to launch a new chapter year on "Beginning Day," the last Sunday in August. On Beginning Day, chapters all over the world hold informal meetings to introduce the theme for the year ahead, present the chapter yearbook to each member, hear reports on accomplishments during the past year and plans for the coming nine months, and catch up on the summer activities of chapter sisters.

The date is flexible. If the last Sunday in August is not a convenient time, the Beginning Day meeting can be moved forward or backward, to the date which will be convenient for most members in the individual chapter.

This meeting presents an excellent opportunity to give each member her copy of the chapter yearbook. As the new officers and committee chairmen present their reports on the activities planned in the months ahead, the member can follow along in her yearbook and enjoy an exciting preview of the events scheduled.

Beginning Day meetings should be enthusiastic, fun meetings, with a social hour following. Member advisors, directors, sponsors, honorary members, and guests will enjoy an invitation to share in this event, which is so important in getting off to a good start for the year. Remember to include transferees and prospective members, too! What better way for them to see how much Life, Learning and Friendship you have planned in the days and months ahead?

Let Beginning Day set the theme for the coming year. Let your enthusiasm bubble up and come through so that it will be contagious and everyone will start the new chapter year with the conviction that this is "The Year That Will Be" - the best ever! Start now to find new beginnings for yourself and for every member by incorporating the theme in your Beginning Day meeting, for a grand entrance into a significant chapter year!

The International theme for the year can be carried out in the written invitations you send your members and guests.

If possible, have the meeting in a room large enough so that members and guests can be seated in a circle, representing the unbroken circle of friendship in Beta Sigma Phi.

The President will preside and keep the meeting informal and fast-moving. This can be accomplished easily by arranging for those giving reports to prepare them in advance, making them short, concise and to the point. In this way the enthusiasm of each will show through and the plans they present briefly will be tantalizing.

Suggested Beginning Day Agenda
	Welcome (by the President) and brief explanation of Beginning Day and the International theme
	Opening Ritual
	Yearbook Distribution (by Yearbook Chairman)
	Resume of Cultural Programs (Program Chairman)
	Social Calendar (Social Chairman)
	Membership Goal for the coming year (Vice-President)
	Planned Service Projects (Service Chairman)
	Summary of Chapter Budget (W/M Chairman who is the Treasurer)
	Introduction of Guests (President)
	Summary of Beginning Day and adjournment
	Closing Ritual
	Social Hour

Have a Happy and memorable Beginning Day!

The first Beginning Day was Sunday, August 30, 1959.

All things are easier when they are planned in advance, worked out slowly and carefully, and brought to a fruitful culmination at a designated time. With the relaxed time afforded during the summer months, you can effect a perfect planning and execution of Beginning Day and your plans for the coming year.

Chapter joy . . . chapter unity . . . chapter growth . . . chapter recognition . . . chapter activity . . . and above all, chapter satisfaction . . . these are things you seek increasingly and these are the things most certainly yours if this time of preparation is employed in the weeks ahead toward the pattern and plan you outline.

It is suggested the last Sunday in August be selected as Beginning Day for your chapter. (Or a day mutually agreed upon by the members of your chapter closest to the last Sunday in August.) This official day will find thousands and thousands of members officially beginning the new Beta Sigma Phi season. It will be the grand entrance of your chapter, even as it will be your debut of your official time in office, into the season of (sorority year's date).

Your plan is to have this become a joyous, rally day. It will be a day of official beginning. This is a day for fun and frivolity . . . a day for preview and review . . . a day of inspiration and a day of investigation . . . this is the unveiling of all the good things soon to come in this sorority year.

It most certainly should be a renewing of the friendships within your chapter. Beginning Day is a simple plan designed only for bringing out the wonderful experience of the many sides of Beta Sigma Phi. It will preview the activities and the attainments approaching in the new chapter year.

This program is suggested as a guide for your Beginning Day. You will have many embellishments for this basic plan because of your local activities but this will provide the pattern.

One portion of your Beginning Day program will certainly be the social association of the members of your chapter. This will be a time devoted to the renewal of friendships and the communication of summer experiences. Many of you will have had extensive vacations or been absent one from another for various reasons and this will be a time to catch up on the news. It will be an informal, social time.

Because the weather will be pleasant an outdoor event could be considered.

At one point it will be appropriate to preview the coming year. This is the time to unveil the plans, the progress and the programs for this new season.

Because of the nature of this part of the program you might consider inviting those women whom you intend to rush in the fall. It would be a perfect opportunity for them to fully realize the magnificent scope of Beta Sigma Phi. The revealing of your chapter's plans for this year will be vitally interesting to these women. However, your complete chapter plans will dictate the action on this possibility.

Plan, prepare and have a good time on Beginning Day!