The Founders' Day celebrations continue! This weekend CWS sisters drove down to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to join the Iota Chapter at their Founders' Day event. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with sisterhood and friendship!

We spent a lovely afternoon at Founders' Day celebrating our sisterhood with our Chicago area sisters! The celebration honored many inspiring sisters, including our very own Patti Proggi

CWS sisters drove down to Illinois State to join in celebrating Beta Nu's 10th Anniversary and Founders' Day!

This past weekend Chris, Jessie, and Sharon attend Iota's Founders' Day at the University of Illinois!  Jessie and Sharon spoke about their alumnae journeys and Chris shared the day with her daughter, Sydney, who is a new initiate of the Iota Chapter!

Happy Founders' Day from Chicago West Suburban!

This weekend we celebrated 127 years of sisterhood at the Chicago Area Council Founders' Day celebration!

Greetings from Southern California's Founders' Day!

Cheers to celebrating 126 years of sisterhood with our Chicago Area sisters at Founders' Day!

Like many things in 2020, our Founders' Day panda delivery to Comer Children's Hospital was put on hold earlier this year.  However, after an extended stay in sealed garbage bags, the pandas were allowed to be delivered last week - curbside of course!  After a short quarantine period at the hospital, the pandas will be on their way to finding their forever homes!

Iota Chapter's Founders' Day Celebration

Peg, Diane, Natalie G., and Chris M. has a great time traveling together in February to the University of Illinois to celebrate Founders' Day with our Iota Chapter and Beta Nu Chapter sisters!

2016 Chicago Area Founders' Day

We had a fabulous time celebrating Founders' Day on February 20, 2016, with our Delta Rho Chapter, Phi Chi Chapter, and Chicago-area alumnae sisters!  Our event was hosted on DePaul University's campus.  Past International President, Allison Allgier, was our speaker.  Congratulations to Dina who was out Honor Card recipient!  We celebrate several anniversaries, too - Marcie (50 years), Dani (25 years), Julie S. (25 years), and Ellen (25 years).

Founders' Day 2015

We enjoyed our annual Founders' Day celebration at Crystal Palace Banquets in Mt. Prospect.  We always love spending time with all of our Chicago area alumnae and collegiate sisters.  The ladies of Delta Rho Chapter and Phi Chi Chapter are always fun to visit with.

Patti explaining why we donate pandas for the children's hospital

Kathy was honored with an Honor Card from our chapter.

Krista and Chris M. - Krista is AOII's Vice President of Finance and was our guest speaker.

Linda and Debby Photo Booth Fun

Nancy Clark, Peg Crawford, and Chris M.

January 2015 Founders' Day Celebrations

Our Chicago Area Founders' Day is in late-February, but several of our sisters attended additional celebrations in January.

Delta Rho and Phi Chi hosted a cross-town Founders' Day event at DePaul University, and several familiar CWS faces were in attendance.  Jessie W-G gave a fantastic speech that resonated with the collegians.  Karen H. won a drawing, and Natalie R. helped with the ritual portion.  Jessie C took photos and drank too much coffee : )

Jessie W-G was the speaker.

Jessie W-G, Natalie R., and Karen H.

Jessie W-G, Jessie C., and Karen H.

Chris M. celebrated with the Indianapolis Alumnae Chapter.  She enjoyed having lunch with her sisters and speaking to them about international volunteering and the AOII Executive Board election.

PIP Ann and Chris M.

Indianapolis AC Founders' Day

2014 Honor Card Recipient - Fran Thompsen

Fran

Chicago West Suburban's Honor Card Recipient has been a member of our alumnae chapter for quite a long time.  One of our members shared that "It's more the essence of her that sticks with you.  She was active for years when her kids were little, and we were all so excited when she brought her youngest daughter here from China.  Her home is always open.  She's a great cook and has served us many wonderful goodies.  She is very kind, gentle, and sweet to everyone.  We were so glad to see her get active again when she did, and it seems like she has thrown herself into a position of being helpful and contributing in all aspects of chapter life.  She is a wonderful asset to our group."  Today we are thrilled to honor Fran Thompsen!

70, 50, and 25-Year Anniversaries

Nancy, Jan, Dolle, and Patti

Dolle Nichols

Dolle initiated into Iota Chapter at the University of Illinois on March 5, 1944.  This was during WWII, and she was the class ahead of Peg Crawford. Someone told Dolle’s mom “Go through rush.  They live in nicer places.”  According to Dolle, it was fun to be a pledge.  They did silly things that no one considered hazing back then.  They did service for their sisters, and they had to write poems for them, too.  They took turns doing “phone duty” and “wake duty.”  Dolle also served Iota as secretary and corresponding secretary.   

Their housemother was called Mother Mac, and Dolle remembers her being very “crotchety.”  They had to be in the house at 12:00am.  Pledges were expected to be in by 7:00pm during the week.  Every sorority had a table assigned to them in the university library.  Between 9:00am and 3:00pm, if you were not in class, you were expected to be at the AOII table in the library studying.

But never fear!  They had a lot of fun, too.  They went out every Friday and Saturday night.  Kam’s was around back then, too! 

There was a lot of singing going on.  They sang for everything.  They were serenaded by fraternities every weekend, often 3-5 serenades a night.  When a girl was serenaded for a pinning, she sang a solo back to them.  Dolle even wrote her own “Sweetheart Song.”  They sang after every meal and had “song practice” a couple of nights a week.  They wrote songs all the time.   This explains why we have so many songs in our AOII songbooks.

Dolle appreciates the many close friendships that began in Iota Chapter.  She and twelve of her Iota sisters went to New York for AOII’s centennial convention.   Dolle and her sisters friends are a shining example of AOII friendships lasting a lifetime.  Dolle, thank you for being a wonderful sister and letting your light shine for 70 years!! Congratulations!!

Judy and Kathy

Nancy, Jan, Dolle, and Patti

Kathy Shaw,  Jan Skeldon, and Judy Sumka

Kathy, Jan, and Judy initiated together into Nu Iota Chapter at Northern Illinois University on January 12, 1964.  Judy was their Pledge Class President and Rush Chair, and Kathy was a Panhellenic Rep. Back then you couldn’t pledge until the spring of your freshman year because you “had to make grades.” 

It was a lot of fun to be a Nu Iota.  While they were in college, Nu Iota got a new house.  They were given a budget and had a lot of fun picking out all of the furniture.  They did various service projects, pageants, and variety shows.  There was a lot of singing, and they loved being serenaded.

You couldn’t wear your badge if you were wearing pants or smoking.  Badge-wearing or not, there was no walking and smoking at the same time!  Other sororities pledges wore beanies, but not AOII.  AOII thought the beanies were ostentatious.  They wore stirrup pants which Kathy wishes she still had every time she wears boots.  They had to wear rubber girdles and stockings which were “the ultimate spanx.”  You almost needed baby powder to get in and out of them.

Their housemother was Mrs. Saia.  She was not everyone’s favorite person.  She had a cat the girls named, Perry, who used to hang out in the clothesdryer and tear everyone’s pantyhose to shreds.

During rush, they were asked to wear white gloves.  Back then, etiquette dictated that if you wore gloves, you also had to wear a hat.  Judy remembers showing up for rush in a fabulous turquoise hat.  The only problem was that she was the only one who wore a hat.  They called her “the hat” for the rest of rush!

Judy also remembers a time when they had a power outage.  She was in the shower when it happened, and she stayed there until the lights came back on.  People were running through the house.  When the power came back on, they discovered that one of the AOII rooms had underwear stolen from it.  Well….that was Judy’s underwear.  And if that’s not bad enough, Judy recalls that before leaving for college, her mother had her name stamped on everything….like she was going to camp!

Kathy, Jan, and Judy are still sisterfriends to this day, enjoying their time as alumnae.  Jan grew up as an only-child and appreciated having her Nu Iota sisters as part of her family!   We celebrate you and your 50^th anniversary of sisterhood.  Congratulations!

Kate, Julie, and Patti

Kate Fleming

Kate Fleming initiated into Upsilon Alpha Chapter at the University of Arizona on April 22, 1989.  She is an artist and a mom.  She has been a dedicated member of our alumnae chapter for a very long time.  She has been a very active member of our rekindled book club, and we are thrilled to get to visit with her every month.  We congratulate Kate on her 25^th anniversary in AOII!

AOII Day/Founders' Day 2014

Several Chicago West Suburban Alumnae Chapter members attended Founders' Day.

Vicky missed the group picture because she was taking care of the centerpieces.

Delta Rho and Phi Chi chapters joined us.  We love opportunities to be with our collegiate sisters.

Leigh Perry (AOII Ritual, Traditions, and Jewelry Committee member) was our guest speaker.  She did a fantastic Ritual presentation for AOII Day!

Chris led some singing at AOII Day.

Diane, Yvonne, and Vicky helped at the Rose Tribute table.

The head table: Chrissie (Chicago Area Council Treasurer), Leigh (Guest Speaker, RT&J), Linda (AOII Foundation Board), Amy (Chicago Area Council President), Jessie (AOII Foundation Board), and Peg (Past International President) 

Mini Iota sisters reunion: Cheryl (Chicago City), Sharon, Julie, and Joanne

Jessie, Cat, Audrey, Karen, and Vicky

Lisa, Ann, Judi, and Britney

Diane, Chris A., Patti, Judy, and Debby