This past weekend was a busy one in the GLO world. Founders’ Day celebrations, International Reunion Day festivities for my Alpha Gamma Delta friends, philanthropies galore, Awards celebrations and a few Spring Formals, too.
I spent Saturday morning at a Rotary District Assembly. There, I listened to two presentations on recruitment and retention. Yes, civic organizations discuss the same topics that GLOs discuss. The pesky truth is that every membership organization needs to keep one eye constantly on those important issues. And none of what I heard on Saturday morning was news to me. It was the same message I heard decades ago as a new member of a women’s fraternity preparing for my first recruitment on the other side, from the recruitee (rushee) to the recruiter (rusher). “Life is just one big recruitment party” is a theme that was going through my head as I sat through the presentations on Saturday. Did I mention that I have 10 meetings left in my term as Rotary Club President, but who’s counting?
When I left the Rotary event early, it was to get to the Relay for Life accounting table. From my twitter feed, it appeared that there were several others going on around the country and that GLOs were participating in those, too. Our Relay is in its 23rd year and it is one of the oldest in the region. I recall our first Relay which was held in McAndrew Stadium. The stadium was named for William McAndrew, a Phi Kappa Psi from the University of Chicago chapter, who was a much loved coach here in Carbondale. The stadium was torn down in 2011, but it hosted several early Relays. Over the years, the accounting procedures have changed, a shift from real money to on-line contributions has taken place, but our accounting facilities are almost always locker rooms. Saturday’s accommodations were in the coaches’ locker rooms at the new Lew Hartzog Track and Field complex. The fraternity and sororities at SIUC made up the majority of the teams and brought in the most money. On a campus where the membership of GLOs has never exceeded 10 percent of the student body, I find this impressive. One of the groups which has participated in the event from its early years is the Sister to Sister team, comprised of alumnae from the four National PanHellenic Council sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and Zeta Phi Beta.
The best part of my accounting duties was getting to catch up with my 93-year-old friend who roped me into doing the accounting duties decades ago. She is a cancer survivor who still teaches dance to youngsters and adults. She is an amazing woman and I want to be just like her when I grow up. She and Eleanor Roosevelt shared a birthday and a connection was made when her father, a florist, delivered a bouquet to the First Lady as she was travelling through a Kansas town. Mrs. Roosevelt thanked him for the bouquet and mentioned that it was extra special as it was her birthday. He remarked that it was his daughter’s birthday, too. From that exchange a series of letters were exchanged between the two who shared a birthday. There’s a story in there, and I just need to convince her of it.
