Sharing Reports - July, 2009

OLB has started the New Year off with a bang. Our committees are in place and busy making plans for the upcoming year. We began our June meeting with a Legacy Ritual for Barb's granddaughter Celeste. What a wonderful way to share our passport to adventure, since our legacies are our future.

June program was about hearing loss. Several members who actually have hearing loss shared their experiences with us. Cathy has a Cochlear Implant and shared lots of information with us as well as her diary with photos from when she had her surgery.

We continue to travel to interesting places for our socials. In May we went on a Gardens Tour and visited: a Moss Garden in Kyoto, Japan at the Buddhist Temple Saiho-Ji; the artist Monet's gardens just outside Paris, France; the tulip festival at the Keukenhof Gardens in Holland; the Daffodil Garden in California and Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. We ended our tour with a lovely high tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria.

And in June our Passport of Adventure took us to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, where we got to sample the hot spots for shopping, eating, touring and walking along the beach. We also took a virtual tour or the Winged Horse Art Exhibit, saw the Wild Horses and toured all the lighthouses.

Our Service Committee topic for June was "Arrive Alive". Since the summer travel season is upon us and many of us will be driving we were reminded not to drive when we are drowsy. The committee shared research statistics of accidents caused by sleepy drivers.

We have enjoyed vacation photos and details of the various conventions our members have attended. We wish everyone a happy summer.

Dianne
OLB Rep

Laurie's Ritual of Jewels was held on May 30, 2009. The ceremony was conducted jointly by On Line Psi and NY Preceptor Beta Gamma.

Land sisters from Preceptor Beta Gamma set up a ritual table with candles, flowers and the BSP insignia and lighted the candles during the ceremony. OLP President Pam posted the on-line Ritual of Jewels, and I presented Laurie with the pin. We used the on-line ritual designed by Dianne in OLB. In addition, both OLP and Preceptor Beta Gamma gave Laurie a yellow rose. The ritual was a cooperative effort, and it was a lovely ceremony. Afterwards, all of us had a party. Lisa (OLB) took a lot of pictures and shared them with us.

We've had some good news since since our last Cyber Council meeting... Kimberly, Charlotte and Vikki N have all recovered from their surgeries. In addition, Vikki was honored as Woman of the Year by her land chapter and was treated for dinner by her land sisters.

Our moderators, Kandy and Marcia, are testing changes that allow attachments to be posted on OLP yahoo groups. So far everything is going well. The changes make it possible for our members to post photos and attachments to the board.

MEMBERSHIP: We are pleased to welcome a new member, Carole, to our chapter. Also, we are happy to welcome back Wynn who was on leave.

PROGRAMS: Our June program included a copy of the 8th grade final exam from 1895 that was given in Salina, Kansas (from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library). The exam was very difficult and gives new insight into the meaning of an "8th grade" education in the 1800's.

SOCIALS: For our June social, Beth treated us to a Spa Party.....
The room is lit with colorful candles, soft music is playing
Beautiful Yellow Roses in vases and other flowers fill the room
Each sister is given a glass of either Ice Tea or a White Wine (more for the asking)
Each sister is given a name tag with a number 1-4 for each station and an aluminum pail as a gift to load up their spa treats to take home.
Station 1 Facial - various facial material, bowls of warm water, wash cloth and towel.
Station 2 Nails - soak you hands in warm soapy water, trim, file nails, etc and select a nail color and put on your fingers.
Station 3 Feet - soak your feet in warm water for 5 minutes, rub the feet dry with a towel.
Station 4 Massage for the back, neck and shoulders.
Sisters will spend 15 minutes at each station.
Station 5 is a food table - Luscious Crab Dip, fresh fruit, vegetables, dips, cheese and other food items. The recipes follow.
There is more Ice Tea and White Wine.
Luscious Crab Dip: 1/2 c butter (softened); 1/4 c mayo; 1 garlic clove crushed; 6oz crab meat; 1 c cocktail sauce; 1 c cream cheese (softened); 2 T Worcestershire; 1 sm onion (finely chopped) and assorted crackers. Mix butter, cheese and mayo until smooth; add juice, garlic, Worcestershire and mix well; Add onion and mix well; Stir in crab gently by hand; refrigerate for two hours; Spread the mixture on serving plate and pour cocktail sauce over top. May be put into a mold. Add crackers
Fruit - Strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey due melon, peaches, angoes, and any other fruit you like.
Vegetables - red, yellow, green bell peppers, pickles, olives, cucumber, green squash, and anything else you like.
Dip - Spinach- 2 c mayo, 16oz cream cheese; Knoor Swiss vegetable soup mix dry; 1 pkg chopped frozen spinach drained and defrosted. Mix all ingredients together and chill for about 4 hours. Put in bowl or on a plate. Also, may use store bought dips.

Each sister is receiving a small bottle of Soothing Bath Oil (Sunflower oil, essentials oils = pour sunflower through a funnel and into the corked container, leaving at least an inch at the top. Add 4 tsp of essential oil per 1/2 quart. Cork the container and agitate the bottle gently. May add crystals, beads, dried flowers, sea shells into the container for decorations.)

Each sister is receiving a small jar of Air Freshener Gel (2 c distilled water, 4 pkgs of unflavored gelatin; 50 drops of your favorite essential oil or fragrance; food coloring as desired and jars Head 1 cup water and add deletin. Stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and add remaining water and desired food coloring. Divide drops of fragrances evenly among jars. Add gelatin mixture. Place lid or cork on jars and place in refrigerator for 2 hours. After the two hours they are ready to set around you home to add a wonderful waft of fragrance. Other items may be purchased or donated for use.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR SPA SOCIAL

Respectively submitted:

Rose
OLP Rep

The OLK Chapter has been quite busy the past couple of months! Here are just a few of the many "wows" that we've experienced during this timeframe: -Sister Ginger received her Exemplar Degree -President Carrie P. was presented with the Woman of the Year Award at our Founder's Day Event -BSP California Convention, May 14-17, 2009 was attended by some of the Chapter Sisters -BSP Envoy Picnic 2009 was held with 22 in attending! – President Carrie's husband Dan provided a presentation on who the envoys were and when they were started in BSP. A great time was had by all! -Winner of the Best Program of the Year was our Sister Bonnie, who presented the program on Cinco de Mayo! -OLK Chapter Sisters hosted the "Northwest Gathering" with six (6) sisters traveling to Oregon to meet and greet! The ladies had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company, getting to know each other, and sightseeing. After the event concluded, each of the sisters provided the chapter with their thoughts and enjoyable times that had been spent with sisters with whom they will forever be close to!

The Chapter was provided a "Virtual Trip" to Israel as follows during one of our recent meetings:

ISRAEL - THE LAND, THE PEOPLE - AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF A VISITOR

A trip to the country of Israel is never a "last minute thought". Visitors must book flights at least a month ahead of the time they plan to be in the country, since each and every one will have a detailed "check" run on them by the Israelis. And with this in mind, we booked my flight on El Al, Israel, since we knew their planes would never be carrying a bomb, a gunman or a terrorist of any kind. Since I had resided in Iran many years earlier, I was interrogated intensely by the Israeli Police, stationed in the International Wing of Los Angeles Airport. My questioners were not polite, but they were thorough, and oddly enough, their thoroughness eased my discomfort at this on-going interrogation.

Our El Al airliner was parked away from all other aircraft, and we were ultimately bussed to it, as was our luggage. We had one stop en route - JFK in New York. There we were herded off the El Al plane unceremoniously by soldiers with arms drawn, into a "holding area" where we waited until the New York contingent joined us. Once more, we were bused to a remote portion of the runway at JFK and finally boarded our plane that would take us to Tel Aviv. Again, the armed soldiers walked throughout the bus watching out the windows for "who knew what". Most assuredly, by now our senses were alerted to an undefined danger others were aware of but were not sharing information about.

A trip on El Al's airliners is a gourmet delight by any standards. Jewish kosher law forbids the serving of dairy products and meat in the same meal - we already had something new to become accustomed to. Their nicely served meals could be equated to Business Class or First Class on any other airlines, and that helped to relax us a great deal. The flight was interminable, especially for those of us who had begun our trip on Whidbey Island, via bus to SeaTac, then another flight to LAX, followed by still another to Tel Aviv from JFK. We were very ready for a long sleep following our luxurious dinner.

Our arrival in Tex Aviv was chaotic, however our Pastor located our guide quickly and within an hour, all bags (tied with red ribbons per our Pastor) were loaded onto the bus that would be our transportation for the next three weeks. Our driver, Ali, was congenial, our guide, Ben, was friendly, yet guarded, and always had his .45 automatic drawn when we were boarding or departing the bus. Ali kept his on the dash of the bus. After awhile, we really did become accustomed to this.

Before continuing this epic journey, I'd like to familiarize you with some amazing facts about the country of Israel. The country is comprised of 8,000 sq. miles, most of which is uninhabitable. Texas, on the other hand, is 224,000 sq. miles. Roughly speaking, we could put 40 countries of Israel inside of state of Texas! The population is only 4.4 million, and one could put three times this population inside of Mexico City. In the winter months here in the U.S., you can find a larger population of Jews in southern Florida than at any given time in the entire country of Israel. Syria is nine times larger; Iraq is 26 times larger; Iran is eighty times larger.

For fifty-six years these three countries have been trying to get Israel away from the Jews and haven't succeeded yet. Because land that will support life is such a precious commodity, there is only one golf course in Israel, and that is in Caesarea - primarily reserved for the pleasure of visiting dignitaries. Suffice it to say, it's a nine-hole course.

Our first stop was in the city of Haifa. Haifa is located on the slopes of Mount Carmel and has a magnificent view of The Mediterranean Sea. During the British Mandate (1917-1948), the publication of the 1939 "White Paper" severely limited Jewish immigration into the country. Thousands of Jews who were fleeing the Nazis were turned back from the Port of Haifa and sent either to detention camps in Cypress or back to Europe. Others perished in the sea.

Tourist attractions include the Cave of Elijah, called the Cave of the Madonna by Christians who hold that there the Holy Family found shelter on its return from Egypt. Haifa is also the spiritual world center of the Bahai faith, founded in Persia (Iran) in the early 19th century. Prior to leaving Haifa (spelled "Jaffa" in Hebrew) we were enchanted by seeing many wedding parties arriving at The Statue of Faith for their photographs. It is a custom in Israel to marry on Tuesdays so that the remainder of the week can be spent in celebration of the couples' union. All celebrations end on the Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset).

We boarded our bus with many still-unanswered questions of our guide. Incidentally, Ben had spent many years in the Israeli Army, was now a high school history teacher, and part of his duty to Israel was that of being a tour director periodically. The Jews of Israel are very proud of their country, as they certainly should be considering the short existence of this Jewish State, and they want their history and story told by professionals. This, in and of itself, proved to make our journey one of even greater fascination.

On to Caesarea for (AT LAST!) our first night's sleep in a real bed since the beginning of our trip. (Since we had lost all track of time crossing many time zones, we were curious as to whether that had happened many hours ago, or many days ago. Certainly it felt much more like days!) The hotel was lovely and was situated on Israel's only golf course. We didn't even think about unpacking. We simply fell into bed, dreading the 6 a.m. call the following morning. There was much ground to cover and much to see. Prior to boarding our bus, the driver (Ali) was searching it with mirrors on retractable rods ( looking underneath the body of the bus), with bomb detector apparatus around the wheels and the engine, and of course, the interior was gone over with a fine-toothed comb. We were told that Israelis especially protected their American visitors since they were the closest friends of Israel, and obviously "an incident" would not be taken lightly by the U.S. Within a few days, this became just another of our routines, and though we were always alert and cautious, we were never threatened in any way by anyone - to the best of our knowledge.

Caesarea, built by King Herod, had a well-preserved amphitheater with the back of the stage area facing The Mediterranean Sea. We were told that the acoustics here were incredible, and as we sat on the stone steps that formed the seating for the amphitheater, a group of some twenty Christian men gathered on the stage, and began to sing one of my favorite hymns, "How Great Thou Art" a cappella. It was the most glorious renditions I'd ever heard, and one could well imagine the magnificence of the performances on that very stage thousands of years before!

We viewed the great Roman Aqueduct, most of which still stood; the remains of The Citadel, built by King Louis IX of France, testifying to the passage of the Crusades through the Jezreel Valley from Mt. Carmel. Archaeological "digs" continue to take place not only in this area, but throughout Israel, and in many places, no less than twenty civilizations built upon the ruins of each other, exist.

Further down the road, we came to the ruins of Armegeddon, where portions of the city water system built by Ahab in the 9th century B.C.E. still exist. At Megiddo, again the archeologists continued to be hard at work, attesting to still more ancient civilizations - many of which were never documented in writings of any kind.

At last we came to Nazareth - the boyhood home of Jesus. Here we viewed The Church of the Annunciation with its magnificent bronze relief sculptures of scenes from The Bible adorning the exterior. This is said to be the site of Mary's visit by The Archangel Gabriel to tell her that she was carrying God's son. A grotto stands around what was believed to have been her home.

Cana came next, with it's sparkling white stucco buildings and red tile roofs, exemplifying Christ's miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana.

By the time we returned to our hotel, we were thoroughly exhausted, suffering badly from "jet lag" and our minds were whirling with more facts than we could possibly absorb. Two statements were made that day - and both by numerous people in our group of pilgrims - the first being that though The Bible had always been a revered book, it had now "come alive", and indeed it had! The second statement was that many of us felt "a presence" there in The Holy Land, and though it was something unexplainable, it brought us a tremendous peace. We carried that peace with us through the remaining weeks of our time there and it continues to live in my own heart. It was something I badly needed at this particular time in my life and it will remain "a treasure" forever.

Day three was more breathtaking than any other portion of the trip, for we were bussed to The Sea of Galilee where we boarded authentic-appearing "old" wooden sailing boats and pushed off to sail across the waters. The sea was calm that day, with just enough of a breeze to move us slowly around to the portion of the shore where Christ is said to have fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fishes. We drifted quietly on the waters that February day, and as we drifted, our Pastor read from The New Testament the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand. The Bible lived for me that day like it had never lived for me before, and though I realized that stories have a way of changing from mouth to mouth over a period of 500 years (when The New Testament was finally put down on parchment), there was no way this could not have happened. Miracles repeated, are miracles that occurred, and there have never been deviances of those credited to Christ.

Later in the day, we visited Tiberius on the shores of The Sea of Galilee, and stayed in a quaint hotel there for two days while we toured Capernaum with its ancient synagogue where Christ did much of His teaching. At Capernaum we spent quite a bit of time in the new church built close to the ruins of the synagogue, soaking up lecture upon lecture presented by Israeli Army members stationed there. Though they wore fatigues and had their machine guns "at the ready", we hardly noticed as we lounged on the grass inhaling the scent of mustard blossoms and rosemary growing wild all about us, and enjoying the warm sunshine and the cloudless blue sky.

Interestingly enough, only one tree is indigenous to Israel - the thorn tree - and of course, this is where Christ's "crown of thorns" came from. The olive trees were brought to Israel from Italy, and are today one of Israel's main "crops". It is illegal to cut down an olive tree and while many hand carved pieces from olive wood may be purchased, all are certified made from "fallen trees".

We traveled north and then south down the opposite side of The Sea of Galilee, and at last arrived at our next destination where we would spend the remainder of the day - Ein Gev, a kibbutz (or commune). In order for a Jew to live in a kibbutz, he or she must be 35 years or younger, in excellent health, and must have a skill needed by the kibbutz. The individual comes to stay in the kibbutz for a short period of time to mingle with the others, and then a council of elders meets to decide if this person is worthy.

The kibbutz residents live as "singles" or as married couples with children in different quarters, and the children are not only the responsibility of the parents, but of the entire kibbutz as well. They are separated from the parents during the entire day and are either educated through an excellent school system, after which they do their own share of work around the kibbutz; the younger children are cared for by professional childcare workers, and their education is begun at an early age - both their scholastic studies as well as their "duties" to the kibbutz.

Kibbutzem are self-supporting entities and sell their products to those "on the outside". We viewed some of the most magnificent fields of produce we'd ever seen, saw abundant fruit trees, cattle in prime condition, ostriches raised for the world market and handmade articles indigenous to Israeli. We listened to lectures by the various elders of this group, and were fascinated by their views on agriculture which far surpassed those practiced here in America (all of their farming was organic), on cattle and fowl breeding, on their religion, and on their thoughts regarding living in a kibbutz. Israel's climate, incidentally, is much like that of southern California, and there is no end to the year-round produce and fruit that is grown there.

Most of the kibbutz are built on Israel's borders, therefore an inherit danger looms over these people at all times. They say that they live harmoniously with their neighbors from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, and of course at The West Bank (controlled by Jordan) which extends (within Israel from Samaria south to Judea). However, they must be ever watchful of terrorists; hence all kibbutz have large underground shelters where the women and children go in the case of attack, and these shelters are equipped to house the occupants for up to a six-month period. Israel's children are its treasure, and are to be protected at all times.

This program could go on indefinitely, of course, but I shall attempt to bring it to a close with highlights that were special to me: our baptisms were reaffirmed in The Jordan River by our Pastor, and I viewed this as a complete cleansing of spirit. We took a swim (or should I say a "float") in The Dead Sea, where the salt content is so high, it is impossible to sink! There, I helped one of our group who was foolish enough to attempt to swim out in the waters, and returned to shore with the aid of friends, his eyes burning terribly. Fortunately, I had just opened a large bottle of purified water to drink and I was able to flush the salt from his eyes!

A sidelight here: driving through modern Jerusalem one afternoon, I happily spotted a felafel vendor and asked Ali to stop the bus. I hadn't had a good felafel since I'd lived in Iran! All of my companions were curious, of course, and so we all trooped up to the vendor and placed our orders. Felafels are made with either finely chopped vegetables, placed in a pita bread and a mixture of sour cream and yogurt with many spices is liberally poured over the top. If one wants meat, thinly-shaved lamb, cooking on a spit over hot coals all day, is added. From that day on, we never missed a felafel stand!

We passed the Caves of Qumran, where not too many years ago a shepherd boy found some of the well-preserved remains of the vessels containing The Dead Sea Scrolls. Later, we viewed these highly-protected scrolls in one of Israel's many museums. I purchased a replica of one of the vessels made of clay, with a copy of one of the scrolls in it as a bit of memorabelia.

We took a cable car to The Masada, looming over the desolate landscape of The Dead Sea Masada is to Israel what The Alamo or Pearl Harbor is to America - a symbol of dynamic leadership and a stalwart defense in the face of insurmountable odds and certain death. For years, cadet graduates of Israel's military academy took their oath of allegiance here - "Masada shall not fall again". Masada was built by King Herod (who reigned from 37 - 4 B.C.), as his summer palace. It is considered to be Herod's strongest fortress. This table top mountain is 220 yards wide, and rises 1320 feet above the lowest spot on earth, which is1280 feet below sea level! Around the top was erected a stone wall 18 feet high, with 38 towers, each 75 feet high. Not only was the site inaccessible, it was impregnable.

It contains its own water system, a cistern that holds 80,000 gallons of water, amazing Roman baths, a luxurious bath house for Herod and his guests, dressing rooms with frescoes still brightly showing on the walls, cold-water baths, warm-water baths and a steam room for hot-water baths. Herod's private villa was built on three levels. Level Two was 40 feet below the first level, while Level Three was 70 feet below the first level. From an ornate balcony, Herod could see to the north, east and west - in fact, he could see all the way to Jericho, which he also built! If you've never read a book on The Masada, do so. Ernie Gann has written a wonderful novel depicting life at Masada, and others have followed his lead.

We traveled to Jericho, The Megiddo Valley, Tabgha (The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes) and Bethlehem; and upon our return to Jerusalem, where we stayed in a needlessly-lavish hotel for the remainder of our trip, we took side trips to such places as The Hebrew University Medical Center Hadassah Hospital, which is the largest health facility in The Middle East. It houses a small Synagogue with all of its windows designed and made by Marc Chagall, depicting The Twelve Tribes of Israel. During threats of war, school children are marched to the Synagogue to heap sand bags against the windows from inside and outside, since these have become national treasures.

We visited The Garden of Gethsemane, and received Holy Communion from our Pastor in the terrace of the chapel above The Garden. Another very meaningful moment! We spent an afternoon at Golgatha, "The Place of the Skull" outside of the walls of The Old City. We sat in a session of The Knesset - where Israel's government convenes. We visited "The Wailing Wall" in The Old City, (divided completely by a wall to keep the men and the women separate. Those of us who chose to leave a handwritten prayer in the crevices of the wall, had to have our heads covered as we prayed there. Mine was for safe, healthy lives for my children.

We visited countless Roman Catholic churches and chapels, but only one Protestant Church, and that was in The Old City of Jerasulem and was Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Two services were given concurrently - one in German on a walled-off side of the church, and the other in English in the side we attended. Generally, visiting clergymen from other countries offered the sermon, and we were pleased to hear the Methodist Bishop of North America's sermon. With only six percent of the population of Jerusalem being Protestant, our lecturer told us that it was doubtful the church would remain open much longer. Remember, Jerusalem is the home of birthplace of three major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Moslem. The Mosque in The Old City is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world, and it's gold rounded roof with its minaret on top is a sight to be seen for miles.

One of our most inspiring moments is this that I'll leave you with: following our visit to The Holocaust Museum - sobering and frightening at best - we were taken to The Children's Holocaust Museum. Picture this if you will: we were told that it was totally black inside and once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we would see flickering lights (lighted candles) behind gray panels. We were to hold onto the brass banister to our right and to not let go for a minute. This would lead us on our Children's Journey up a spiral walkway to the top. As we entered the building, not only was the darkness electrifying, but the silence, perhaps even more so. Once the door closed behind us, a deep voice started reading children's names, birth dates and dates of death and in which concentration camp, village, etc. Our trip to the top of this spiral was longer than we would have wished it to be, and when we came out into the sun light once more, no one spoke a word, and there wasn't a dry eye to be seen in our group.

God promised this land to the Jews many, many thousands of years ago. I visited this amazing land just fourteen years ago, and today of course, Americans are discouraged from entering the country for any reason. My hope is that someday, peace will truly reign in this, The Land of the Jews, and that they will finally have a safe haven.

And what did I return from this trip with? Well, I have a few pieces of olive wood carvings, a candle from The Old City depicting the city itself; a string of begger's beads, a small, hand-carved olive wood communion cup from our lovely communion service, a tiled plate depicting the basket with the five loaves and the two fishes fed to the multitudes, a Mezuzah - which has a small brass replica of a tiny Menorah on the front of it, and a prayer on the inside. It is customary for Jews to place a Mezuzah at the right side of their front doors, about five feet from ground level, and angled away to the right. Upon entering the home, one says a prayer, kisses one's fingers and strokes upwards on the Mezuzah, bringing peace into the home. Mine has been placed on the door frame of every house I've occupied since this trip.

The memories, photographs and education I received on this portion of my trip were my greatest treasures; these, together with a cup of small stones and seashells I collected on the shores of The Mediterranean, The Jordan River and The Sea of Galilee will forever serve as my own reminders. The extension of our trip to Rome, lasting for two weeks, provided a different kind of education and fascination, but nothing has ever matched "the Israel experience". As many of you know, my oldest daughter converted to Judaism twenty-five years ago so that she could marry a Jew. They have two wonderful sons and both are traveling to Israel on their "birthrite trip" this August. There is an organization that has been established in this country by many very wealthy Jews, and the purpose is that of familiarizing American-Jewish youth who are eighteen years or older, with Israel. The cost of the boys' trip is a mere $250 and they will be in Israel for two weeks. The hope is that some will decide to remain in Israel to join the Army. It will be interesting to compare notes with them upon their return, since they will be seeing Israel from a Jewish perspective, and I saw it from a Christian one.

As I said earlier, I have quite literally brushed the surface of this trip which, believe it or not, covered no more than 80 miles total (in Israel); but I hope in so-doing I've brought Israel and its people alive to you. The last item I purchased at the Tel Aviv Airport was a hand painted tile that reads in both Hebrew and English, "Shalom", which means "peace be with you". It can be a greeting or it can be a farewell.

After returning from our wonderful trip abroad, the Chapter then "Virtually Played Bingo" as follows:

AFTERNOON OF BINGO

This afternoon we're playing bingo at one of my favorite places – The Bingo Ranch in Livermore, CA. Since there are too many of us to pile into my SUV, we'll be caravanning from my house to the bingo site, 85 miles away. Don't worry, it doesn't take a long time (only 1-1/2 hours) and the scenery along the way is great.

We leave my home in rural Angels Camp and head down the winding hills on CA-4 towards the town of Stockton. Along the way, we see many farms and dairies. If we had the windows open, the smell in this area isn't the best. Therefore, we have the windows up and the air conditioner on low to keep it comfortable inside. We're listening to a new CD from IL DIVO, and even though we don't know what they're singing (it's in Italian and Spanish) we know the tune so we hum along with them. We've now reached Stockton and are getting onto Hwy-99 to get to I-5 to head to Livermore. It will just be about 45 more minutes and we'll be there.

Oh dear, the freeway is crowded and it's only 1 p.m. on a Sunday, and we're going the opposite way of where the traffic would be heading. Not to worry, I have bottles of water and sodas for all in my car (there's 4 of us) and we'll be in Livermore shortly. Bingo doesn't start until 4 p.m., so if we get there between 1:30 and 2 p.m., we'll still have plenty of time to get "set-up" for the games.

Whew, we made it to The Ranch. There's already several cars here, but since this is a big place (used to be a grocery store), there will be plenty of room for us. Besides, my friend Terri is already here and has saved three tables for us (4-6 people sit at a table).

It's time to get our bingo packs. Let's get in line and I'll show you what you need to buy. It will cost you "newbie" players $17 for one 6-on pack of papers (that's for 17 games; each game pays $250). We actually play19 games, but one of the games you buy extra (a 3-on strip for $1 and on that you need THREE bingos on each square; don't worry, they give you three wild numbers to start) and the other game is "FREE" (and the prize for that one is $350---on one card you need two bingos and on the other card you need a block of 9 numbers) and we ALL love something for free. Since most of you haven't been here before, you also get a FREE dauber (something to use to mark your bingo numbers). They have pink, purple, green, blue, and orange dauber colors to choose from; take your pick. Since I'm a "bingo-holic", I, of course, have many daubers (approx. 16) in my bag and don't need any more LOL.

Now that we have our bingo papers, let's sit down so I can show you what you need to mark ahead of time, which will make it easier for you to play the various games. Let's see, the game to be played on the brown-bordered paper is the "crazy bowtie" so you'll want to mark all the way down the N row. Don't worry, the caller shows the pattern on the bingo board so you'll be able to follow along as they play this game. The game to be played on the purple-bordered paper is the "Texas blackout" and since this is the 14th, you'll need to mark out all numbers that END with an even number (i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, and 0). Hey, you're getting the hang of this. Way to go!!!

Before we get started with bingo, I'm getting hungry. There are two places in this shopping center to get prepared food---Emil Villa's Grill and Subway. I don't feel like a big meal, so whoever wants to go with me to Subway, let's go. I'm getting the 6-inch on a wheat roll, tuna sandwich, a small bag of salt and vinegar chips, and a large diet coke. That should last me. If not, there's a liquor store near The Bingo Ranch and I can always get another bag of chips, or in the back room of The Ranch, there's a vending machine and I can get some candy. Also, in the back room, there are FREE bagels, cream cheese, coffee and tea for the players.

Great, it's time to start the games. Watch the bingo board for the game that's being played and you'll do just fine. Game #1 – 2 bingos (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) with a wild number---grrrr, I don't like wild numbers because usually I don't have many of them. Well, the wild number is "2" so mark everything on your sheet that ENDS with a "2" (2, 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, and 72). Wow, Carrie P only needs four numbers and she'll have two bingos. Now keep marking as the caller calls the numbers. These two bingos have to be on ONE card of your 6-on squares pack. Great, Carrie, you only need one number now. There's your number in the monitor; if no one calls bingo on the number that was just called, you can yell BINGO when he calls the next number. WTG, Carrie, you've got it! You just won $250.

Well, sisters, I need to concentrate now because I'm hoping to win won of the games coming up too. I'll help you as much as possible, but since most of you only have ONE 6-on pack and I have FOUR packs, I need to concentrate LOL.

Hope you enjoyed coming with me to The Bingo Ranch in Livermore, CA. Maybe you'll come back again!

As you can tell, the OLK Chapter is one busy group of gals! We so enjoy our "virtual" Chapter and friendships!

Truly the true meaning of BSP! Until next time………………….have a wonderful summer!

Respectively submitted,

Shelley
OLK Rep

OLT has had a busy couple of months. We usually have visitors are our meetings and we did last June. Jackie from Grand Rapids, Michigan needed to make up a meeting.

We have changed our special sister guideline to have the year run from 1 June to 31 May. It had gotten a little confusng because our chapter birthday is in May. We have a tradition of exchanging a dollar gift on our birthday. So to solve the confusion, we simply changed our ss exchange dates. Our book club has become so active that we have had to hold our book reviews for two days a weeks. We are heavy readers and it had gotten to be that the majority of our posts were book reviews. So many good books and so little time to read them!!! Our current bingo game's subject is Harry Potter. We are all anxious for the next movie's release - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.. In addition to our book reviews and bingo game, we have a daily word for the day, literary and historical notes for what happened on that day, and a recipe.

Krissie, our social person, has been busy as we have had two socials in the last couple of weeks. A nice barbeque at her North Carolina home the end of June Everybody brought a dish and recipe. Delicious. Then for the Fourth of July, we spent three days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee enjoying the Great Smokey Mountains.

We stayed in a seven-bedroom cabin at the Black Bear Ridge Resort. Everyone enjoyed the views from the decks as well as the pool and gameroom. On Friday night, the sisters had the option of eating at the cabin or touring the Smoking Mountain Brewery. Then we all watched Gatlinburg's midnight Fourth of July Parade. The next day we headed into Sevierville for lunch at the China 1 Restaurant. We also browsed the local shops. Later, we continued our Chinese theme and attanded the Cirque de Chine. The next morning we ate a wonderful breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House and went home. Everyone was sad to see the trip come to an end.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the socials for 2009-2010.

August 28-30 Beginning Day Celebration Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia
September 12-13 Sister Retreat Mackinac Island
October 30-November 1 Tour/Masquerade Ball Romania
November 14-15 Thanksgiving Celebration Massachusetts
December 4-6 Christmas Banquet/Getaway Asheville, NC
January 16-17 Tour/Fun in the Sun St. Augustine, FL
February 13-14 Valentine's Banquet Eureka Springs, Arkansas
March 20 Spring Day Trip Macon, Georgia
April 24-25 Founder's Day Celebration Aberdeen, Scotland

Annie maintains our prayer list. We blow bubbles on Wednesdays for all on our prayer list. She updates the prayer list weekly. She also compiled, printed and mailed our 2009-2010 yearbook. What a wonderful job she did!

Sheri P schedules our programs. This month's invention topic was white out. Very interesting. Sheri chose three topics - President, First Lady, and Inventions. We could choose which one we wanted. The program for May was Andrew Jackson and this month's will be Thomas Jefferson.

Like most on line chapters, we use the click for free sites for our service. We use all 6 at the Breast Cancer site - hunger, breast cancer, literacy, rain forest, animal rescue, and child health. We invite you to visit our web site _http://www.roxlucas.webs.com/_ (http://www.roxlucas.webs.com/) Roxanne has done a wonderful job on our site. We are very proud of it.

In late June, three of us were lucky enough to all be in Houston at the same time We had an absolutely lovely time at a local Thai restaurant. It was truly a cultural event and went along with this year's theme, Share our passport to adventure.

We have been quite concerned about our president, Carolyn H, as she has been in and out of the hospital for the last few weeks. You all may remember that Carolyn H was the moderator for cc last year. Fortunately, she is home now.

Respectively submitted,

Arlene
OLT Rep and Assistant CC Moderator