Due Dates and Reminders

March 31: Send Alumnae Organization Officers list to HQ and ARD.
This will include the ACRIC contact and a box to check if a club wishes to
receive requests for RIFs from the collegiate chapters.

April 1: Last day to send dues and contributions to HQ, Foundation,
Holt House and Arrowmont to be considered for awards.

*NOTE: additional donations can be made after spring fundraisers*

How are you celebrating Founders' Day?

Alumnae organizations are currently planning for next month's celebration. How are you celebrating? Please share by sending an email to Programming Specialist or adding a comment below.

Planning a celebration to honor our Founders is one of the required meetings for an alumnae organization – let your creative juices run wild and make 2009 the year to really celebrate these amazing women! You will find different ceremonies at www.pibetaphi.org, but you may also create your own special way to honor our Founders.

Tired of a luncheon?

• Host a Founders’ Day Fair – members can move from station to station and play games that test their knowledge about our Founders
• Have a Founders’ Day craft party! As part of your celebration members can create a take-home memento to remind them of those 12 special ladies.
• Do you have a small group? Place the name of a founder on the back of each member and they need to ask questions to figure out which founder they are.

Do a joint celebration!

• Celebrate the Founding of Pi Beta Phi with the Founding of your own club
• Dig through your club archives for interesting facts and tidbits
• Invite former club presidents to come and give a 1-3 minute talk on what the club was like when they were president
• Put together a display table of pictures, news clippings & artifacts from your clubs early days.

Having your celebration at a country club?
Here are a few fun twists to make the day more exciting:

• Have members come dressed in golf attire
• Come dressed circa 1867
• Bring out the HATS! Vote and award a prize to the most creative☺

Celebrate your Golden Arrows, Diamonds and Silvers along with our Founders

• Put together a slide show of pictures of these ladies in their college days
• Have them assist in a ceremony for our Founders
• Make a special table for these ladies of honor

Giddy Up! 67th Pi Phi Convention in Texas

ARD Sande send out convention information to each club president earlier this week. Highlights are listed below. Please share with your membership attending convention.

General Registration Information
To qualify for Early Bird Rates, register online by April 1, 2009.
All other attendees must be registered by May 1, 2009.

Alumnae Club Voting and Alternate Delegate Guideline
-Dues-paying member for last two years
-Must stay in the convention hotel and be a full-time attendee (June 26–30)
-Must register by May 1, 2009, to receive club allotment
-If the delegate does not attend entire convention, the club allotment will be pro-rated
-Must attend all scheduled official events
-Details on eligibility for receiving the club allotment can be found in the Alumnae Organization Treasurer section in the Resource Library

How to register?
You will need to log in to the Members-Only section of the web site. If you’re having trouble logging in, please send your request via e-mail to webmaster@pibetaphi.org.

How do I know which package to choose?
Detailed instructions are given and a description for each registration option is listed with each package during the registration process.

How much is the alumnae organization allotment?
For the 2009 convention, eligible alumnae organizations can receive $750 for full-time registration or $375 for part-time registration. Part-time attendance must be approved by the grand vice president alumnae. The allotment may be used to offset the total expense a delegate may incur including convention and hotel registration.

When can we expect to receive the allotment if our club is eligible?
Headquarters will begin mailing out the allotments to clubs in late April/early May.

Orlando-Winter Park celebrates Fraternity Day of Service

The Orlando-Winter Park Alumnae Club partnered with a local Girl Scout troop to celebrate Pi Beta Phi's Fraternity Day of Service. Pi Phis were honored guests at this scout meeting. Each scout decorated at least 2 bookplates. One bookplate was decorated in the spirit of a favorite book with the second selection a creative free-for-all. This activity also helped the scouts earn their books badge.

The club also collected NEW children's books for Kids House of Seminole, an organization that protects abused children.

Bookplate Pictures (Orlando-Winter Park)

Such creativity!

My absolute favorite.
Take Alexis' advice and read. Why?
You will be "more smarter than your parents"

More bookplates

Collegiate Report Released

Pi Beta Phi Releases Philanthropy & Community Service Report

Pi Beta Phi's Philanthropy & Community Service Report is released each calendar year, and the information is reported by each of Pi Phi's 132 chapters. Some 2008 highlights:

• Community service hours donated: 225,543
• Amounts raised for:
  • Non-Pi Phi causes: $385,499
  • First Book^®: $115,588
  • Arrowmont: $102,433
  • Pi Beta Phi Foundation: $329,994
• Total amount raised by Pi Phi collegians: $933,466

Pi Beta Phi Fraternity is pleased to announce collegiate chapters donated more than 200,000 hours and $900,000 in 2008! Congratulations and keep up the good work!

Northshore Louisiana Celebrates Fraternity Day of Service

Mandeville, LA. -- March 8, 2009 – The Pi Beta Phi Northshore Alum Club held a bookplate signing at Barnes and Noble in Mandeville as part of its national Fraternity Day of Service. Both children and adults signed and decorated bookplates which will be placed in books distributed to underprivileged children through the First Book Program.

The Northshore Alumnae Club further promoted literacy by sponsoring the Champions Are Readers (CAR) program for third-graders at Folsom Elementary last fall. CAR is a month-long reading enrichment program designed to supplement reading activities that schools already provide. The program targets third-grade students who are at a critical juncture in developing good reading skills and a life-long love of reading.

The Fraternity’s commitment to literacy dates back almost 100 years to the founding of a settlement school in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Pi Phi was solely responsible for all education in Gatlinburg from 1912–1969. Now Pi Beta Phi members support literacy in their communities and through programs such as the Fraternity Day of Service, the Champion’s are Readers^® (CAR) program and the Fraternity’s partnership with First Book^®.

The children in the picture are (from left to right) Alexis (age 6) and Riley (age 6). Both were Barnes and Noble customers who participated in the event.

Louisville Alumnae Club

The Louisville Alumnae Club celebrated the National Day of Service at a local elementary school. Alumnae read to 200+ students (kindergarten - second grade).

Club members unable to attend send in delicious treats for the students to enjoy. The Dr. Seuss inspired "green eggs" sugar cookies were a hit!

The Louisville Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club was so well received that an invitation to return in 2010 was already extended!

Left to right: Claudia Herrick, Peggy Perkins, Margaret Tanguay, Kathy Hall, Donna Harden, Karen Koshewa

Fraternity Day of Service

Pi Beta Phi's annual Fraternity Day of Service is today, March 2, 2009, to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday and the National Education Association's Read Across America Day. The Fraternity has provided alumnae clubs and chapters with informational toolkits and materials to begin planning. Please join us in wishing Dr. Seuss a happy birthday by reading to a child, donating a book and visiting www.theliteracysite.com or www.firstbook.org!


Please send photos of your event to kate.perrine@gmail.com so I can post them on the blog!

Due Date & Reminders

March is the time to elect alumnae organization officers. In this convention year, determine who will attend as club delegate (delegate must have been dues paying for two years and club must have met all dues and contributions requirements for previous two years).

Please mark your calendar to participate in Fraternity Day of Service.