Sharing Reports - September, 2008

Summer 2008 has been a fun one for members of OLB. Many of our members have traveled and shared photos of their travels. For our July program, we welcomed Sheila, a member of OLS as our guest speaker. Our program was called “Keeping our Computers Safe”. Sheila shared information about virus protection, spam ware, fire walls and all the issues about keeping stuff from getting into our computers that we do not want there. We had a question and answer period.

Since the month of July is UV Safety Month, our Service committee shared tips to keep us safe while we have fun in the sun. The Service Committee also shared the following online resources for locating volunteer/service opportunities:

http://www.charityguide.org/
http://www.volunteer.gov/gov/index.cfm
http://www.oneclickatatime.org/
http://www.networkforgood.org/
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/cpid/540.htm
http://www.justgive.org/html/ways/index.html

And in August our Service Committee shared sites we could check out to match us up with volunteer opportunities in our on areas http://www.Volunteermatch.org and http://volunteer.ca/en/VolOps for our Canadian sisters.

We continue to travel around the world with our Social Committee. In July we traveled to Paris, France. We met on the third level of the Eiffel Tower and took in a panoramic view of the city. We cruised along the Seine River and took in the sights, stopped by Notre Dame, toured the Lourve and saw a movie…Tale of Two Cities. We ended the evening by watching fireworks and enjoyed the City of Light at night. Of course, we sampled French Cuisine and came away with some yummy recipes.

For our August Social we traveled to the land down under for a wonderful beach party. We visited some beautiful beaches of Australia, lounged in the sun, played volleyball, and swooned over the lifeguards. We sampled food and drinks from the local; ventured back in time with tunes from the BeeGees. Also learned about all the fantastic actors and actresses from Australia…Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman to name a few.

Now summer is coming to an end, and we are enjoying hearing about how our sisters celebrated Beginning Day in their land chapters.

Beta hugs

Dianne
OLB Rep

The Online Kappa Chapter has had a very eventful couple of months since our last Sharing Report. We have welcomed in three (3) new members, had one (1) member resign, and welcomed two (2) new babies that were born to two of our Chapter Sisters!

In July, our Chapter held the Pledge Ritual for one of our new sisters, and with heartfelt congratulations, welcomed her as a member of the Online Kappa Chapter! It is always a very exciting time for new members and the entire Chapter opened their arms to our new sister. Also in July, we welcomed two guests, with one of the two joining the Chapter. She is active in a Land Chapter and just completed her Pledge Training! Her Ritual of Jewels Ritual will be held at her Land Chapters second meeting of September 2008.

The month of July brought the opportunity for our Chapter to attend a "Walk N' Wag" Social! It was an absolutely wonderful event and one which we could all allow our furry best friends to socialize, get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful park in which the event was held. The event was in support of the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League and everyone that registered received a t-shirt or cap to commenmorate the day! The park in which it was held was at the Anne Arundel County's first dog park, located in Quiet Waters Park, near Annapolis, Maryland. It featured two large fenced areas for the dogs to run off-leash and one open space was designated for large dogs and one for the smaller and elderly dogs. The day was quite exciting and all of the owners and pets were on the best of behaviors!

The month of August brought the Chapter together for a Summer Social and Hors d'oeuvres with the event being that of "Rekindling the Torch of Envoy". Everyone gathered at our sister's home in Northern California and the surroundings were just absolutely gorgeous! The event was in honor of the hostesses husband and another Chapter Sister's husband and good friend becoming Envoys as part of the Social's activities. A good time was had by all and the hostess was kind enough to share a favorite recipe with the group:

Wasabi Dip

1 c. mayonnaise (works great with reduced fat mayo)
4 tsp. soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp. sugar (works great with sugar substitute)
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. wasabi paste

As part of the Online Kappa's monthly meeting programs, we were presented the following programs:

The July 2008 Program was presented by one of our Sisters who lives in Oregon and was titled, "Rogue Valley Rendezvous", which was the theme for the 2008 BSP Oregon State Convention. The convention was fashioned around the theme of "A Garden Party", and Jayne from International was the guest speaker throughout the convention, and she spoke eloquently. A wonderful week-end was spent with many Beta Sigma Sisters!

The August 2008 Program was presented by one of our Sisters and centered around "My Sister, My Friend". The bond of sisterhood is profound. Sisters function as a safety net in an ever-changing world by simply being there for each other. Sisters are a sounding board for our ideas, our concerns and our disappointments with many memories to cherish. We can be ourselves and not worry about if they love us. Sisters, either blood or just close friends, are there for each other through the good times, as well as the bad times, to share in the losses and triumphs. She went on to describe a wonderful friendship that she has had with a very good friend, just like a sister, for many years. It was a very warming program and many of the Sisters also shared with the Chapter the close relationships that they have with close friends, sisters, of a mixture of both. It was a fantastic way in which to honor our very good friends that have been with us throughout our lives.

The Online Kappa Chapter looks forward to a most wonderful year ahead, "Rekindling the Torch of Friendship 2008-2009" with all!

Respectively Submitted,

Shelley
OLK Rep

What a busy two months for On Line Theta. In July we held a virtual social cultural event for the Fourth of July that actually was for three days. We gathered in Rapid City, South Dakota where my sister's chapter, South Dakota Preceptor Alpha Epsilon, hosted us. They provided recipes for our cookbook and local insight of things to see and do. We went to Mt. Rushmore, had breakfast with the Presidents at the cafeteria in the visitor's center, and watched the Fourth of July Fireworks. We shopped for Black Hills gold in Deadwood and Rapid City, had a Fourth of July barbeque luncheon on my sister's deck with On Line Theta's envoys doing the cooking. Arlene's nephew's Air Force Band vocal group provided the music for our barbeque. It was a wonderful virtual event. We were pleased to have several visitors with us. Our July program was about the ladies' clothing of the period of each of the President's lives. Very interesting.

We have added two new members since our last sharing report. One from Florida and one from Oregon. We have a visitor from North Carolina. We watched with crossed fingers as hurricane Fay and Gustav and tropical storm Eduardo threatened several of us. Fortunately all made it through with little damage We were truly blessed.

We continue to do our service clicks every day. We also continue with our 'prayers and bubbles' list that is posted every Wednesday. We call it prayers and bubbles to remind us that in addition to our prayers, we blow bubbles. We mourned with all of us on liners the death of the wonderful Ruth Green. And we continue to pray for Sheila A's husband who is so ill. We also include a reading from the Book of Beta Sigma Phi at all of our meetings. In July, two of our sisters received the Order of the Rose. We did this at In the Pierce-du Pont House At the Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 11 A.M Eastern Time, 10 A.M. Central Time

Our August program was about the language of flowers. Each sister sent her favorite flower to the August program presenters and were told what the favorite flower meant. Very unusual meanings!

Currently, we are celebrating Beginning Day in conjunction with our September meeting. We are celebrating all week at the Queen Mary in Long Beach California with local outings after the meeting closes for each day. We have two visitors for our September meeting/Beginning Day. One sister who is making up for an absence from her lc meeting in August and the other is a representative from International, Laurey, the editor of the Torch.

Online Theta looks forward to a most wonderful year ahead, "Rekindling the Torch of Friendship 2008-2009" by sharing the love and friendship of Beta Sigma Phi with our sisters around the world.

Respectively Submitted,

Arlene
OLT Rep

OLE sisters in the US and Canada celebrated a virtual combined holiday of Canada Day and July 4th in Niagara Falls. We enjoyed a variety of food and gained some new recipes. The fireworks displays were awesome.

OLE's 10th anniversary on August 10, was met with a celebration as members went on a virtual cruise around the world! We departed from Los Angeles and visited the countries of Tahiti and the islands of the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Singapore, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, France, and Spain, arriving back to the US in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At each port, we enjoyed excursions. Some of those excursions included a glass bottom boat adventure, a colony and farm visit, an ancient cooking school, beach party, tour of ancient Petra, visiting the pyramids, enjoying a Turkish bath, cheese tasting, and a gothic cathedral. We enjoyed a couple of dinners on board with the captain, while we rubbed elbows with the rich and famous and meeting our favorite stars. On board we also enjoyed Disco Night, a day at the spa, and a masquerade ball.

During the cruise, one of our sisters had to leave us to attend her surgery. We saw her off with lots of well wishes. We were with her in our thoughts and prayers while she was in surgery and recuperating. She is doing fine.

After we docked in Fort Lauderdale, we stopped in Orlando at Disney World. Disney World hosted a surprise wedding shower for Annamarie in Cinderella's castle, where she was showered with lingerie! We gave her a virtual bachelorette party the night before her wedding. We enjoyed seeing those gorgeous Chippendales! Her wedding was on August 31. We were with her in our thoughts for her wedding and reception.

We celebrated with one of our members when she got a new job and a new car. She loves both!

At the very end of August, we began planning a walk to Bethlehem to arrive there on Christmas Eve. Off to another adventure!

Mizpah,

Susan
OLE Rep