Beta Sigma Phi Cyber Council


Sharing Reports - January/February, 2011

On Line Delta

Well OLD has had a very busy two months since our last meeting. We still have several sisters struggling with health issues but hope they get them under control soon. Gina got a new camper and is planning to do a lot of travelling around Australia. Harlene has a new grandson so we are all eating chocolates on her behalf. We have a sister Ann who lives in Alaska and because of floods has had to have their home moved. It had to be done in two pieces but only one got down before the freeze up so they have been bunking in with their children. Of course because we have six sisters in Australia the big topic of conversation lately is the flooding in Queensland and now the Cyclone in North Queensland. Fortunately no one lives where the cyclone hit but two were very close to the flooding and were experiencing the food shortages etc.

We have had two socials since the last meeting and are getting prepared for this months. In December we went to a U Conn Women's Basketball Game. In January we had a tailgate party and then went to the NCAA Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon. This month we have been getting a little history about the NBA All Stars Game which we will be attending on Feb 20. We also will be going out to dinner prior to the game. Two sisters have season's tickets for the Laker's so they are working on getting us the best seats. Our theme this year for our socials has been Sports and Leisure.

We have had two programs since the last meeting. January's program found us all visiting Brown County State Park in Indiana and this month we went downunder to visit Wilson's Promontory National Park in Victoria Australia. We have been adding new places to visit on our bucket list all year as our theme is National and State Parks.

All the gals in OLD wish everyone a Happy Valentines Days.

Susan
OLD Rep


On Line Sigma



Greetings from OLS. Over the last couple of months, OLS Sisters have had a rash of health challenges. A few months back, Ev began her battle with breast cancer. She’s been doing what needs to be done and the outlook is optimistic. She’s proof that early detection is vital and her sisters are right here to support her during the fight. Linda got pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung for Christmas. She was very disappointed that she didn’t get to see her daughter’s family over the holidays and that she missed her grandson's baptism. Judy has been investigating a terrible pain in her left jaw and has been testing various medications to try and heal it and Tina had hand surgery to correct a tendon issue. We hope all our sensational sisters are feeling better soon.

On a happier note, Sharon’s daughter got engaged and she gets a new grandson out of the deal. Deb and Vicki received their Laureate degree during an online ritual and the chapter got together online to surprise our sister, Deb, with the Order of the Rose ritual.

December saw everyone in a holiday mood. Our Hostess, Linda, welcomed us to her Victorian Holiday decorated home and shared a warm buffet of foods, such as Swedish Potatis Korv and warmed lingenberries, which are tradition for her family. For our social, Janice felt it was fitting that we have a sing-a-long of our favourite Carols at this time of the year. Since everyone had a different favourite song, we ended up singing for hours. In keeping with the season, our Program Committee had us learning about the history of Christmas, it’s different traditions and we learned about the NORAD Tracks Santa website. For Pledge Training, Tina checked to see if we remembered the Greek alphabet with a little quiz.

January came in with a cold and snowy blast but our sister Janice was a wonderful hostess as she received us in her home, which was decorated in a yellow rose theme, including the cake. Her new found skills in the art of making Petit Fours were well appreciated by us all. For our social, Linda hit us where we all dream and took us to the Mall of America, in Minnesota, where we all fell drastically into virtual debt. For our program, Ginger told us about the different New Year’s tradition around the world and about how the making of New Year’s resolutions came to be. It turns out they’ve been around a lot longer than any of us realized.

This time of year is special for another reason as our Secret Sisters reveal themselves and the new selection of Secret Sisters begins for another year of mystery and surprise. Trudy, our outgoing Special Sister Co-coordinator has done a wonderful job organizing this and has just handed off the reigns to Tina, our incoming Special Sister Co-coordinator who is hard at work getting the new season off and running. Our thanks go out to both of them for keeping this fun tradition going on.

Happy New Year to all from your OLSensational Sisters.

Beta Hugs,

Mitch, OLS Cyber Council Rep


On Line Psi

The Sisters of On Line Psi wish all our BSP Sisters a Happy Valentine's Day. We hope everyone is surviving the winter storms and staying warm.

MEMBERSHIP: OLP is pleased to welcome Sheila into our group. The BSP Welcome Ritual will be held at our February meeting. Due to previous commitments, Terri will be pledging our chapter in a few months.

PROGRAM: Marcia presented the January program on 'The Awesome Power of Kindness' taken from 'Motivation in a Minute.' It was an inspiring program with a lot of food for thought. Two sisters (Janice and Kimberly) will present February programs.

SOCIAL: From Dec. 20 to Jan. 1, OLP held its first Holiday Open House(interactive online social). Members dropped in for a visit and gathered around the fireplace. Everyone seemed to enjoy the conversation in front of the fire, munching on homemade goodies and drinking egg nog and punch. We shared our Christmas plans and personal holiday stories, memories of Christmas past, jokes, poems and recipes. Some sisters sent online holiday cards and shared their plans for New Year 2011. Everyone seemed to get into the Christmas spirit and have a good time.

Sisters meeting sisters: Marcia and Karen met for lunch in Palm Desert, California on November 30th. More plans are underway for sisters (myself included) to meet in Palm Desert at the end of this month for a get-together.

BOOK CLUB: John Grisom's book, "Skipping Christmas" was discussed after the December meeting. In December/January, members discussed three of Kate Jacob's books: 'Friday Night Knitting Club,' 'Knit Two,' and 'Knit the Season.' This month we are reading James Herriot's books: 'All Things Great and small,' 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' and 'All things Wise and Wonderful.'

RECIPES: Beth posted some recipes for the holidays: Blushing Champagne
4 cans (6oz) frozen orange juice concentrated thawed, undiluted
6 c water
1 c sugar
1 1/2 c grenadine syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 btls (4/5 qt) champagne, chilled (may substitute this with Ginger Ale Combine all ingredients except champagne and chill. Pour over ice in punch bowl. Add champagne(ginger ale).
Quick Apricot Pastries
1 pkg cresent rolls
1/2 c apricot jam
1 c dairy sour cream
1 beaten egg
1 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Unroll crescent rolls; pat into bottom of buttered 15x101/2 sheet cake pan or use 13x9x2 baking dish. Spread with jam. Bake at 425 degree oven for 15 minutes; remove from oven. Reduce heat to 325 degree. Combine remaining ingredients, pour evenly over rolls; return to oven and bake 5 to 6 minutes more. Serve warm. Makes about 12 pastries.

Orange Date Loaf
1/2 c shorting
1 c sugar
2 eggs-beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 T grated orange rine
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2/3 c sour or butter milk
1 c dates or raisins
1/2 c chopped nut
1/3 c orange juice 1/2 c sugar Cream shorting and 1 c sugar; add eggs, vanilla and rine. Shift flour, salt and soda. Add to cream mixture alternately with milk. Mix in finely chopped dates and nuts. Bake in greased 9 inch tube pan at 350 degree for 1 hour. Combine orange juice and 1/2 c sugar. When cake comes from minutven pour this mixture evenly over the cake. Remove from pan after 2o minutes. Icing is not necessary. Enjoy! Happy Holiday

Rose
OLP Rep


On Line Xi

The Sisters of On Line Xi wish all our BSP Sisters a Happy Valentine's Day.

New Leadership: Over the last couple months we have had a few sisters leave our group, including Paula Mihalko, who was our chapter President. Our VP, Tricia, has stepped up and will be our President for the remainder of our sorority year. In January we held elections for the position of vice-president, with Dana Volfing being elected.

Membership: We had a sister visiting our chapter for the month of January, but she chose not to join On Line Xi. Our current membership is at 21 sisters with a cap of 25, so we are open for new members.

Rituals: In January, On Line Xi had nine members progress to the Ritual of Jewels degree, as well as having a pledge ritual for one new member. We also had one member progress to the Exemplar degree. A Welcome Ritual was also done in January to officially `welcome' members of On Line Xi who were not pledges.

Social: We did not have a social for January. For February, we will be exchanging Valentine's Day cards, as well as sharing information about what we love to do and a photo that represents love to each member. Since On Line Xi's 1st chapter Birthday is on February 25th, it has been brought up that the Social committee look into organizing a social to celebrate the occasion.

Special Sister: As mentioned at the last meeting, our Special Sister program started in November and is going well.

Programs: In January, we had two programs. One program was on Removing Toxins from the Home, which was very informative about using natural cleansers such as vinegar. We also had a program on Beta Sigma Phi from 1934-1935, in which we were able to look through copies of the Torch from that year. This month, we will have programs on Chocolate, which is quite fitting around Valentines Day, and Diabetes.

Beta hugs,

Krystal
OLX Rep


On Line Beta

We hope everyone is staying warm during this extremely cold snowy weather. Sisters in OLB have shared photos of the ice and snow in their areas. We have enjoyed discussions on different E-readers. Each type has its pros and cons and everyone has their reason for purchasing their particular reader. Another enlightening conversation we participated in was when we all shared why we joined Beta Sigma Phi and an online chapter.

Our social committee has kept us entertained. In December, we visited a different Santa themed place from December 1-22. Valerie also presented her program on Christmas traditions, which included the history of Christmas cards, carols, the tree, and Santa. She also presented information on other December celebrations around the world. Members were asked to share their family traditions and photos.

January we had two programs. The first one was presented by Cindy, Pat and Alice on Sister Cities. They researched and presented to us some cities that have sister cities or twin towns. It was interesting to find out if our own hometown or city had a "twin" somewhere in the world. The following is a paragraph introducing their program:

"Twin towns and sister cities are two of the terms used to describe cooperative agreements between towns, cities and counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. England uses the term twin towns and generally were twinned with European cities or towns. Germany uses the term Partnerstadt or Partner while France uses the term Ville Jumelée meaning twinned town or city. The Netherlands uses city bond while North America, South America, South Asia, Australasia and Asia use sister city. The Soviet Bloc uses twin towns or brother cities at times. In the United States, we seem to prefer the term Sister Cities, which fits in beautifully with all the sisters in Beta Sigma Phi."

Kandy presented our second program on Longview, WA. We learned where Longview is located, a little history of the area and the man behind it. We also took a walking tour around town and then learned about the cool bridge that was built for the squirrels.The Nutty Narrows Bridge.

OLB is now a teenager! We celebrated our 13th birthday with a Luau which included a traditional pig roast for our January social.

We are currently waiting with great anticipation for the announcement of our Valentine Queen on February 14th. Our royal court includes KarenA, SandyB, JudyC, Loretta, Cindy, KarenH, SandyK, Gail, and RobinP.

Happy Valentine's Day from your sisters of OLB. Think Spring! Spring is just around the corner, which corner is yet to be determined.

Beta hugs,

Dianne
OLB Rep


On Line Theta

In December:

Good News! Marcia, Golden Circle; Mair, Jean and Carolyn H., Order of the Rose; Roxanne, Silver Circle. Here who is up for the Laureate Degree: Marcia, Sherri VanV., Sherri P, Anne and Roxanne. We will be having the Rituals in February.

We discussed Danielle Steel's most recent books which were not as good as her earlier ones. Also some of Fern Michaels earlier books; her writing has improved since then. We also read some religious, mysteries, political, and love stories. Marcia sent us an email from author, Debbie Mc Comber discussing the new movie she wrote for Hallmark "Call me Mrs. Miracle." Sheri did a program on author Mr. Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood TV show and the books he has written.

This month (December 16-19, 2010) we attended the Christmas festivities at Disneyland in California and enjoyed all of the Holiday decorations.

Book Club: December- Arlene shared with us The Secret Garden.

December Service clicks on all six (6) sites was two thousand one hundred sixty-five (2,165). Number of people that clicked all six (6) sites thirty (30) days was eight (8). Number of people that clicked was eleven (11).

In January:

Book Club Report: Arlene sent us an e-mail from Janet Evanovitch reviewing her new book, "Smokin Seventeen", a Stephanie Plum novel. She also sent us one (1) from Random Readers that gave reviews on books both fiction and nonfiction. We discussed Joanne Fluke's books. Apparently they are getting repetitive. We enjoyed a lot of fiction and nonfiction this month. Everyone has been reading funny novels. The program this month was given by Arlene. It is about our favorite Christmas books.

Annie did her program on Books written by Kathy Riechs.

Total Clicks was one thousand five hundred sixty-three (1,563). Number of people that clicked all six (6) sites 31 days was eight (8). Total who clicked was eleven (11).

Unfortunately, we had to put one of our members, Judy on shut-in status as she is experiencing health issues. We hope to have her back with us very soon.

We were happy to announce that Billie is our Valentine Queen. She was able to attend the North Carolina Valentine's function where she was recognized as Queen from an online chapter- a first for that area!

Happy Valentines Day to all of our sisters everywhere!

Vivian
OLT Rep


On Line Kappa

Greetings Sisters, January 2011 seemed to have a message of unkindness to the sisters in OLK. there was a family death, a surgery that endured complications, and a winter get-away in which the weather didn't deliver daily sunshine and tanning on sandy beaches. The sustaining factor though, is we came together for each other.

February will hopefully show signs of spring for those laboring under the snow. New life is blooming for the sister recovering from family death and the sister who had surgery.

OLK extends Valentine greetings to Everyone. Every sister in BSP is special.



Valenine hugs to all,

Bonnie
OLK Rep


On Line Eta

Online Eta enjoyed a cruise social for Valentine's Day. The social brought back many past and present cruise memories.

Karen present a program of which gave the members some ideas for Valentine's Day.

VALENTINE'S DAY IN A BOX

submitted by: Elizabeth Peeden

Last year at this time my fiancé was in the Army, stationed in Germany. With us being so far apart it was impossible to spend Valentines together, but I still wanted to do something special for him. The only problem was I could not come up with anything original. Sending him flowers seemed too trite, but what do you do for someone when they are so far away.

With Valentines fast approaching I was still out of ideas, so I went to the store hoping to come up with something to do for him. I kept thinking that things would be so much easier if he was here. Then it dawned on me that since he could not spend Valentines evening with me, I would send one to him.

So, I decided to send him a Valentines evening in a box. The first thing in the box was a note and a balloon explaining how much I hated being apart on this special day and if we could spend Valentines together this is how our evening would go. Then the next thing he came to in the box was 2 candles and a box of macaroni and cheese (candle light dinner).

The next item he came to was the movie "While you were Sleeping" with a note attached to it saying how we would spend the night cuddled in each other’s arms watching a movie. The last thing I placed in the box was the book Chicken Soup for the Couples Soul with a note explaining how we would end the evening cuddled up reminiscing over the "story" of how our love has grown. And of course I filled every empty space with Hershey Hugs & Kisses.

THE PICKLE PUCKER JAR – Poems, quotes, songs

Submitted by: Betsy Hatfield

Last year at valentine's, I got a big glass pickle jar from a restaurant, scrubbed it clean, and painted the jar with flowers, hearts, sunshine, clouds, etc.

Then I got a bunch of "fancy" doodle pads and began writing reasons & reminders of how & why I love my husband. It didn't stop there-- I began collecting little poems, quotes, and song lyrics to add to the pot.

When my husband is having a rough day he can open the lid and reach in for a "boost". This jar was easy to make and VERY personal, and he enjoys it year around. I love to collect stuff for the jar as well!

VALENTINE'S WITH THOUGHT - PLACES TO MAIL THEM

by Michael Webb

If you are going to celebrate Valentine’s, I suggest you do it with a little forethought. I cringe every time I go to the grocery on February 13 or 14 and see dozens of men crowding around the greeting cards to buy their cards at the last possible moment.

Buy your card now and mail it out to Loveland, Colorado for extra special treatment. Your card will be postmarked LOVEland, Colorado and it will also be hand-stamped with a unique four line poem.

The Loveland Chamber of Commerce heads up this yearly romance project with cards going to all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries annually.

It’s simple. Just enclose your pre-addressed, pre-stamped Valentine’s card in a larger envelope and mail to: Postmaster, Attn: Valentines, Loveland CO 80537

You can also send it to postmasters of these cities too:

Valentine, Texas 79854
Valentine, Nebraska 69201
Kissimmee, Florida 32741
Loving, New Mexico 88256
Bridal Veil, Oregon 97010
Romance, Arkansas 72136
RENT A ROMANCE

Submitted by: Darlene O'Donnell

Four years ago I wanted to come up with something totally unexpected and unusual for Valentine's Day. My husband is very easy to please and I knew that whatever I did he would be appreciative. I didn't want to just buy something for him to wear or to eat. So, I put my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with.

I got out the yellow pages and looked for Hot Tub companies. I actually found a couple of them that rented out portable hot tubs! After calling a few of them I decided on one and then put my plan into action.

It was being delivered while my husband was at work and they came early in the morning. I had to move all the dining room furniture out of the dining room to so the hot tub would fit! I moved all the furniture into the living room before they arrived.

These guys rolled in a 4 person hot tub and set it up in my dining room! They started filling it and got it running for me before they left. Now my only concern was that it would be warm enough to go in by the time Steve got home from work! In the mean time I went to the store and bought some wine for later that evening. I kept calling Steve at work to be sure he wasn't making a surprise visit home!

I made a card and in it I explained that his Valentine's gift was inside the house waiting for him and I put the card on our front door. You cannot imagine the surprised look on his face when he saw a hot tub in the dining room! And I was in it! Above the hot tub was our dining room light and I had the lights dimmed, candles in the background and soft music on the CD player.

We had the best time and made lasting memories while that hot tub was there. The best part of renting the hot tub, the company that I rented it from was in a home and garden show and called to tell me that they couldn't pick it up for a few days!

SHOW THE WORLD YOUR LOVE

Submitted by: Susan Biblel

One year when we had no money, my husband spelled "I love you Susan Jo" with cutout letters of cardboard and put it on our garage door. When I came home from work, that was there for all the world to see. He was used to coming up with creative idea's on a budget :-)

Well, this year was no different, we live in Ohio, where there is usually snow on the ground in February. So, my hubby got a red can of spray paint (he had already) and out in our pasture, he wrote his Valentine message to me! It was beautiful! Bright red paint on the glistening snow saying "I love you, the love of my life!" The people he worked with thought it was so neat, the newspaper came and took a picture and it was in the evening news! It is one of my most memorable gifts ever!

SPECIAL NEWS

One of our dear members (Amy) is expecting a baby in March. The chapter wishes the new parents to be blessings and luck with the new bundle of joy to be. Susan V. is retiring after 29 years as a nurse in May, 2011 and has plenty to do afterwards.

All members are looking forward to vacations during spring break as this has been a long winter for sisters in the NE. We send prayers to Margie's family as she is laid to rest.

The chapter voted for the INTL service projects acceptance.



Beta hugs,

Karen
OLEta Rep


Back to Sharing Reports
Revised March 14, 2011