Beta Sigma Phi Cyber Council


Sharing Reports - Sept/Oct - 2012

On Line Theta

The end of summer was a sad time for the sisters of OLT when one of our sisters passed away. Marcia was one of the early members of OLT. I write the sharing report from the minutes of our meetings and saw that Marcia had signed in for our August meeting. She will be dearly missed. OLT is doing a donation to the Beta Sigma Phi Scholarship Fund in her memory. Many have donated in addition to the donation from OLT. My husband and I feel blessed that we were able to visit Marcia a few summers ago.

OLT is discussing ways to implement our theme. Will share with the cc when we have finished the discussion.

We have gone back to the way we used to do book reviews. Those who wish, read the same book and have brief discussions. We had gotten away from that format when we started just posting about a book that we had read. We started with Book 1 of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency, Scarlet Nights by Jude Devareaux, and just finished Harlan Coben's The Woods. You can find our books at our web site _http://roxlucas.webs.com/_ (http://roxlucas.webs.com/) . Also learn more about OLT at our web site.

Like most of the on line chapters, we click daily at the breast cancer site _http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2_ (http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2) All of us participate with our clicks numbering in the thousands each month.

OLT is considering doing our Founder's Day different next year with having regional meeting such as all of the Florida girls getting together, etc. There will probably be 4 groups. Of course, every thing is still in the 'how do we do it stage'.

We are looking forward to a wonderful year under our president, Roxanne. She has already been doing an outstanding job by starting monthly executive board meetings. .

You are among friends,
Arlene Fox, OLT


On Line Xi


We're all excited about the rest of the sorority year and all the things we have planned. Dana F, our wonderful president, is doing a great job filling the shoes of our former president, Tricia, who really got our new chapter off the ground.

We've recently formed new committees, and everyone is busily working to make our chapter flourish and grow.

The service committee is working on new ideas for service projects for the upcoming year. Some of the sisters are already clicking on _http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2_ every day. We've also been writing notes of encouragement to the elderly and shut-ins. A lot of us are helping to sponsor Tina, our vice-president, in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, a cause near and dear to all of our hearts as Tina's beautiful daughter has the condition.

We recently voted to have the butterfly as our chapter mascot. Many sisters are planning to buy matching butterfly t-shirts. Some are even talking about getting an Online Xi butterfly tattoo!

Another way we show chapter solidarity is that we wear Beta Sigma Phi's colors on the 25th of every month in honor of our chapter's birthday (2/25/2010). Some sisters also choose to wear special pins, bracelets, etc. each month, which not only brings our chapter closer, but it also gives our sisters the opportunity to explain what the items mean to potential members they might know.

We had some very informative programs in August. Rhonda did a program on the resources that are available on the Beta Sigma Phi website www.betasigmaphi.org , and Dana F did a program on dental implants. Krissie did a program this month on North Carolina, which ties into a social we have planned for later in the month.

I have submitted the Question of the Month to the sisters and will report back on their ideas later.

I'm proud to be a part of such and up and coming chapter.



You are Among Friends,
(Krissie) Cyber Council Rep for Online Xi


On Line Delta

As births & deaths are an integral part of life's journey numerous members of OLD have been doing it tough with dealing with parting with people who have been so special in their life. Along with others dealing with younger family members whose lives have not had those fairy book stories in the middle chapters. The main aspect of being a BSP is there has been honest sharing and spontaneous support. What would we do without our wonderful sisters?

Many of our members have been on the move over the past few months with vacations to all sorts of exciting destinations and have had us sharing

. the fascination of members exploring Sri Lanka with their elephant orphanages and tea plantations,

. Prague via London from Australia

. Macau and Hong Kong with their fantastic shows and harbour, helping a son and his young family move into their first home of their own,

. Italy with its incredible history and fairy tale places like the great lakes, Venice and the Isle of Capri

. Cruises from New York to Bermuda and down to the Caribbean

. To spend time with family members travelled to Paso Robles. Minnesota, Spokane, Manitoba, Nags Head-North Carolina and Sevierville, Tennessee

Book reviews - we were fascinated to find that two of the books chosen had different titles in the northern and southern hemisphere -

. "Someone Knows My Name" by Lawrence Hill in the southern hemisphere and in the northern hemisphere as "The Book of Negroes".

. Kate Morton's publication of "The House at Riverton" in northern hemisphere and The Shifting Fog" down under.

. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein was another book reviewed . In July members chatted about their choice of a book about "A Person in the Arts"

. "The Water is Wide" by Pat Conroy is the book for review in August- In Australia the only way to get a copy was to ask the National Library in Canberra for a copy. I have also managed to get a copy of the movie "Conrack" downloaded from cyber space.

Coffee Klatch - topic have included -

. How We Celebrate Founders Day. It was great to hear how Chapters around the world celebrate our special day.

. Vending machines

. What your favourite childhood author or book was OR th book you and your children enjoyed together

Service

. Food Bank Contribution

. My husband Glen and I, receive lots of coupons in the mail and in our Sunday paper. When we have the ones we want, we take the other ones to the store and put them on the shelf next to the items. Helping others save for the week

. click on TheBreastCancerSite.com every day, a woman who can't pay for a mammogram can get one free from the sponsors on that page just by clicking

Programs

. What Beta Sigma Phi Means to Me", when we joined and why.

. Friendships - Childhood, High School and Lost friends

. You are a Special Friend

Socials

. Evelyn transported us all to Istanbul for one of the most spectacular socials we have had yet. We sure needed a few days to recover and reflect on all the fun we had together

. Gina took us to play with Hobbies, Crafts and Cooking

General

. Karon Cowan has done a sterling job in finding a suitable free NEW WEBSITE for us and of creating OLD's new website. The previous OLD website was deleted at the end of April. See our new one at http://onlinedelta.weebly.com

. WOMAN OF THE YEAR honours were shared by our President and Vice President for 2011/2012

. FOUNDER'S DAY: had all our members travel on our magic carpet to attend our celebrations and enjoy the big event in an Australian country town.

. Evelyn officiated for A GOLDEN RITUAL CELEBRATING FIFTY (50) YEARS OF MEMBERSHIP which we celebrated for Jan Riley. Fifty years of membership is an amazing accomplishment and we are all proud of Jan.

. OUR FIRST TORCHBEARER: I am happy to report that the Niagara Region honoured Brenda Navin with the Torchbearer Degree at their Founder's Day Celebration on April 24, 2012. As a bit of trivia for all, along with her friend, Ruth, Brenda was one of the first to receive the Master's Degree in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Now Brenda has another honour --- she is the first OLD member to receive the Torchbearer Degree! Congratulations Brenda!!

. Bev Robertson has moved up to Master's degree and Gina Taylor along with Val Jerram are now Preceptor members

. Membership

With a cap of 45 we now have 36 members

1 Ritual of Jewel
1 Exemplar
7 Preceptor
13 Laureate
13 Master
1Torchbearer

We would be delighted to hear from any sister who know of anyone interested in joining an OnLine chapter. The new website is up at http://onlinedelta.weebly.com

The shared responsibilities for our chapter are being carried out by President - Bobbi Torchia, Vice-President - Sue Robinson, Secretary - Gina Taylor, Program - Theral Crutchfield, Service - Ellen Jeffes, Social - Evelyn Brandby, Sunshine - Linda Frederick, Book Club - Sue Robinson, Cyber Council Reps - Brenda Navin and Val Jerram, Koffee Klatch - Judy Rosefield, Pin Guardian - Harlene Annett, Yahoo Group - Nola Riggs, Web Mistress -

Karon Cowan Gina's response to Question of the month has already been submitted

I Googled "You are Among Friends" and found that a book has been written by Lindsey Markel, aimed at young women aged 10 - 30 years but a reviewer says " it's inspiring and honest and fresh and REAL for every woman. Would that anyone had told me these things when I was younger." Any other suggestions which may be submitted by our members will be shared when they come to hand.

We are among friends,

Val - Cyber Council Rep

On Line Alpha Phi

Our chapter voted and installed new officers for the coming year:

Tanya - Moderator/President; Cherie - VP; Hollie -Sec ; Julie -Treas

Members signed up for programs for the coming yr with Program chair Ingrid Hartman. Ingrid asked us to think about using the BSP theme

And tie in also something "odd, unusual or unique" for our programs. There will be a program of the yr with a prize. She will do the first program for us this weekend. We will have discussion following the program.

We had discussion about creating a Facebook page for our chapter to be able to introduce rush ideas and get some new members. We have 10 members active now. Some members do not want their names or info put up on Facebook. Others will participate.

Our special sister program chair Michelle G asked for the names of those participating so she can make the prs by the next meeting.

We all were relieved to hear the news that our member Hollie, who lives in New Orleans, did not have any significant damage from Hurricane Isaac and only lost power for a short time. Prayers were sent for other sisters that may have suffered greater damage around the country.

You're Among Friends,

Beta Hugs,

Cathy

On Line Psi

July brought our election and installation of Officers for 2012-13: President-Rose ; VP-Cheryl; Rec Sec-Kathy ; Cor.Sec-Jean ; Treas-Marcia

We also, celebrated On Line Psi’s twelfth birthday July 12, 2012. The programs were all signed up for the coming year.

Our service project is clicking all the sites at the Breast Cancer Site for Free Mammograms for those in need as well Animals. Some or most of us click daily on all 8 of the sites there.

Our Reading club is reading for Sept: John Grisham’s, ‘The Litigator’s’. Aug was the book by Marie “Ree” Smith, ‘The pioneer woman, from heels to tractor wheels & July was "I Got This" by Jennifer Hudson.

One of the ways we can use our theme is to use it as a signature closing.

You're Among Friends,

Marcia Hamm

On Line Kappa

OnL ine Kappa (OLK) officers are elected for a two year t erm; we find it difficult to have enough volunteers for the officer positions each year . The officers for 2012-2014 are President, Marilyn ; Vice President, Nancy ; Recording Secretary, Michelle (she was appointed, and later installed, after our RS resigned); Corresponding Secretary, Bonnie Weaver; Treasurer, Carrie. With the exception of our RS, these also were the officers for 2010-2012.

Our other Cyber Council reps are Karen and Mary .

Currently, we have 18 members, with a cap of 25 - 1 Pledge , 3 Ritual of Jewels , 6 Exemplar , 4 Preceptor , 3 Laureate , 1 Master; o ur chapter is a composite of young moms, profess ional women working away from home, professional women working from home, grandmas and even one great-grandma.

We have two programs each month, followed by a wonderful social, and our meetings are nearly always attended by 100% of our members. Our programs during the last few months have been Peaches in Texas; My Taekwondo Journey: Finding Friendship, Confidence and Fitness; Long Distance Friendships; the War of 1812. I read with interest one of Val's program topics, "What Beta Sigma Phi Means to Me", when we joined and why. This was a thought-provoking question sent out to our membership, since International asks this question of members, too. It wasn't as well-received by a few of our sisters as I had hoped, and shortly thereafter, two members resigned. But they have moved on to another online chapter, where I'm sure they hope they're not again asked this question .

Our socials have taken us to such places as St. Louis, MO; the Oregon coast; Crater Lake in Oregon; a tea-house in Kansas City, MO; a train trip to Reno, NV; a limo ride to a wine festival on the California coast - most all of these included great pictures and we all felt we were right there enjoying our time with our sisters.

Kappa and Beta Hugs,

Marilyn

On Line Omicron

Officers are:

Sunni - President

Cindy - Vice President

Elise - Recording Secretary

Regina- Corresponding Secretary

We have 25 members and our mascot is the Swan.

Recently, we have been discussing ways to become closer. Some of our ideas are to do a "day in the life", doing pictures and sharing what a typical day is in our life. We can take that information and put it into a "yearbook" of sorts to share with the group. Additionally, one of our members mentioned screen printing shirts for us and another wants to do a "pen-pal" of sorts. We have a handful of international members so doing it quarterly would save on postage costs.

Finally, we have a Facebook page that we are active on that is just for OLO.

Toni Online Omicron Rep


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Revised September 12, 2012