Sharing Reports - January, 2008

Happy New Year everyone.

November and December have been months of celebration for OnLine Beta. We installed our 2008 officers at our December meeting and the new officers have been busy getting organized for the New Year. We also are proud to announce that Liz Ferraro was elected as our 2007 Woman of the Year.

Our November Program was a discussion program where members shared the things they most appreciate in life and what they were thankful for. At the top of the list, was our sisterhood in OLB. For our December program we were asked to share the most perplexing gift ever received…was it ugly or awful or embarrassing…we also shared our views on re-gifting.

For our socials we continued our road trip aboard the Beta Bus and visited the states of Iowa, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island in November. We discussed how each state got its start---saw where famous people got their start, and in general, had a blast eating and drinking all over the map! The theme was “Let’s give Thanks for Great Beginnings. In December, we donned our cold weather gear and headed north to Alaska, Minnesota, Maine, North Dakota, Washington and the larger cities in Canada. The theme was “Santa’s Winter Paradise”. Both of these socials included scrumptious recipes.

From all the recipes we have collected this year from our socials and from our Recipe/Crafts Committee we could compile a fantastic cookbook.

We are looking forward to a great 2008. Online Beta is now 10 years old. In fact, our birthday is today…January 5th. We will have our Birthday Celebration later this month.

Dianne
OLB Rep

Hi Sisters,

I am sorry this is a long Sharing Report but our programs and socials were so interesting and I had a very hard time trying to shortened them . I do hope you enjoy them.

First, OLK is accepting non-BSP members and we do conduct our Pledge training online. We have not yet had a Pledge Ritual but I am sure that we will be having one in the near future.

Program: Doris gave the Nov. '07 program on Music in the Colonies. Music was a part of everyday life in the American colonies. From churches to taverns, from military camps to fine drawing rooms, people played music & sang. They held dances. They chanted psalms in praise of their God. During the American Revolution, patriots penned "liberty songs", full of anti-British fervor. Native Americans had their drums & flutes. African Americans recreated their own traditional rhythms in a new land. This diversity made for a rich tapestry of musical tastes & textures. There were few formal concerts in those days, and they were mainly for the wealthy. Musical theater was popular with all levels of society, but was limited to short seasons. As a result, people generally sang and played music for their own pleasure in their homes. As a young man, Thomas Jefferson practiced his violin up to three hours a day. He called it "a delightful recreation for the hours of respite." Her program OLK's Nov.'07 social was hosted by Dean Ann

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING MENU

Since it is November and time for Thanksgiving, we are going to spend our Thanksgiving Social dining on the food that the Indians and Pilgrims did back in 1621

The following would probably have been the feast that they had for three days:

Cornbread - The English definitely knew about bread! This was a key component of just about any English meal, including English tea. The Native Americans also knew about bread, and were huge fans of corn. So cornbread would have been much appreciated by both cultures.

English Cheese Pie - The English were huge fans of cheese in general, and cheese pie in particular.

Venison - The Native Americans were great hunters, and five deer were brought by the Native Americans to the first Thanksgiving.

Wild Turkey - This was definitely a favorite of the native Americans and the English.

Garlic and Onions - Onions were one of the things easy to grow in New England, and the English ate quite a number of them.

Pumpkin Pudding - The Native Americans enjoyed pumpkin pudding, and puddings were a standard meal component for the English. The pumpkin pie did not develop until many, many decades later. The standard ways of serving pumpkins at the time were in stews and puddings.

Indian Pudding - The Native Americans enjoyed Indian pudding, and this pudding became a favorite of the colonists for centuries. Some of the ingredients were cornmeal, butter, unsulphured molasses, warmed, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, grated lemon peel, raisins. So this is probably what they served up for the first Thanksgiving many long years ago. Dean Ann went into great detail with this very interesting social.

Allison hosted our Dec. '07 program which was very informative and detailed. Here is a small part of her program.

Holiday Drive in Southern Maryland

Maryland, though a small state, is truly America in microcosm. Its history is varied and fascinating. Its people have experienced every major event in our country's history, since it is one of the oldest states and one of the original colonies.

According to some historians, Gen. George Washington bestowed the name "Old Line State" and thereby associated Maryland with its regular line troops, the Maryland Line, who served courageously in many Revolutionary War battles.

"The Old Line State" references a comment that General George Washington made about Maryland troops who were gallantly "holding the line" against overwhelming British forces at the Battle of Long Island, near Brooklyn Heights, in August, 1776. As the troops, under the legendary Major Mordecai Gist, mounted a courageous effort to cover the retreat of others, Washington, while observing the Marylanders being cut down by the overwhelming British forces, said, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose." The commander of the fabled "Maryland Line" soldiers was Col. William Smallwood, another hero of the Revolutionary War, who later went on to serve as a Maryland Governor from 1785-1788.

State Song of Maryland

The nine-stanza poem, "Maryland, My Maryland," was written in April 1861. A native of Maryland, Randall was teaching in Louisiana in the early days of the Civil War, and he was outraged at the news of Union troops being marched through Baltimore. The poem articulated Randall's Confederate sympathies. Set to the traditional tune of "O, Tannenbaum", the song achieved wide popularity in Maryland and throughout the South. "Maryland, My Maryland" was adopted as the State song in 1939. Maryland, My Maryland

by James Ryder Randall

----------------------------------------------------------

I
The despot's heel is on thy shore,
Maryland!
His torch is at thy temple door,
Maryland!
Avenge the patriotic gore
That flecked the streets of Baltimore,
And be the battle queen of yore,
Maryland! My Maryland!

II
Hark to an exiled son's appeal,
Maryland!
My mother State! to thee I kneel,
Maryland!
For life and death, for woe and weal,
Thy peerless chivalry reveal,
And gird they beauteous limbs with steel,
Maryland! My Maryland!

III
Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland!
Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's warlike thrust,-
And all thy slumberers with the just,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IV
Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day,
Maryland!
Come with thy panoplied array,
Maryland!
With Ringgold's spirit for the fray,
With Watson's blood at Monterey,
With fearless Lowe and dashing May,
Maryland! My Maryland!

V
Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,
Maryland!
Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,
Maryland!
Come to thine own anointed throng,
Stalking with Liberty along,
And chaunt thy dauntless slogan song,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VI
Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain,
Maryland!
Virginia should not call in vain,
Maryland!
She meets her sisters on the plain-
"Sic semper!" 'tis the proud refrain
That baffles minions back again,
Maryland!
Arise in majesty again,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VII
I see the blush upon thy cheek,
Maryland!
For thou wast ever bravely meek,
Maryland!
But lo! there surges forth a shriek,
From hill to hill, from creek to creek-
Potomac calls to Chesapeake,
Maryland! My Maryland!

VIII
Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll,
Maryland!
Thou wilt not crook to his control,
Maryland!
Better the fire upon thee roll, Better the blade, the shot, the bowl,
Than crucifixion of the soul,
Maryland! My Maryland!

IX
I hear the distant thunder-hum,
Maryland!
The Old Line's bugle, fife, and drum,
Maryland!
She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb-
Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum!
She breathes! she burns! she'll come! she'll come!
Maryland! My Maryland!

Our Dec.'07 Social Hostess was Karen.

Welcome my sisters to a cozy living room with a warm fire burning in the fireplace I'm so glad to see you all remembered to dress in your most comfortable pj's and fuzzy slippers. There's warm apple cider ready to be poured in your cup and a plate of yummy Christmas cookies for each of you. Now gather around in the cozy chairs in front of the fire so I can tell you the history of Christmas.

Christmas - An Ancient Holiday

Karen told us about how the Europeans ,Norse (scandinavia) and how the Germans were terrified of Oden the pagan god. These celebrations around the world were Centuries before the arrival of the man called Jesus.

The Legend of St. Nicholas and Santa Claus

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas's popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially Christmas Trees: How It All Got Started

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.

In the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

Barbara
OLK Rep

Happy New Year Ladies:

OLAP is proud to announce their first time ever RUSH for 2008. We have added 3 new visitors to our chapter since the New Year and are looking forward to our V.P. Hollie giving pledge training and refreshing us oldies about why to be a BSP and what it's traditions mean and why we love being sisters.

Our Moderator/Pres. Kathy likes to pretend that shes shy and new to all this but we in OLAP are proud to have her kind of leadership. She knows how to fire us up and move our bones. She has a team of officers that are shaken and baken OLAP. We will continue this year to do projects that will help our individual home town donations and will vote to provide funds to a worthy fund.

We started 2008 with a new program from Chrwmn: Cathy has tickled our interest in scrapbooking and keeping up with old and new photos of family for genealogy and travels.

2007 has left behind a number of sisters who have lost family members and we sisters have tried to lift them and sent love, flowers, and bubbles. The year also saw some broken feet, some broken hearts, ouch-es and ewwwwies and just plain aging which also we sisters lifted them up and sent them laughs, hugs and bubbles to each.

As the new year looms ahead let's all take our right and freedom to vote for our Elections coming and take those responsibilities seriously.

OLAP is proud to announce their first time ever RUSH for 2008. We have added 3 new visitors to our chapter since the New Year and are looking forward to our V.P. Hollie giving pledge training and refreshing us oldies about why to be a BSP and what it's traditions mean and why we love being sisters. It will be exciting to learn from some of our sister chapters online how they've handled the rituals and training.

Our Moderator/Pres. Kathy likes to pretend that shes shy and new to all this but we in OLAP are proud to have her kind of leadership. She knows how to fire us up and move our bones. She has a team of officers that are shaken and baken OLAP. We will continue this year to do projects that will help our individual home town donations and will vote to provide funds to a worthy cause.

We started 2008 with a new program from Chrwmn: Cathy who has tickled our interest in scrap-booking and keeping up with old and new photos of family for genealogy and travels.

Please continue in your chapters with lifting Bill and his family in your prayers as they go through his stroke recovery. Yours in cyber space,

Marianne
On Line Alpha Phi Rep