A∆K

A Gift Of Hope To Help Us Cope

A∆K Ontario, Canada, offered an online experience for their members and guests to hear a message of hope. The guest speaker was Ben Fanelli, a young hockey player who had faced considerable challenges due to injuries. He explained how our thinking can be framed, so that we become the hero of our own story. The chapter’s goal was to engage members, bringing them a message of hope to help them deal with anxiety.

Ben’s message can be found on the website Heroic Minds and on the Heroic Minds podcast.

NC Beta Phi Chapter Finds Safe Holiday Activity

NC Beta Phi, wearing masks and practicing social distancing, visited Tinseltown in December to view 50 Christmas trees decorated by various civic groups in Greensboro. Members voted for their favorite. The trees with the most votes won a $500 prize.

New Jersey Kappa Chapter Celebrates

New Jersey Kappa celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in October and recognized Betty DiFrancisco, a founding member of the chapter, as a Golden Sister. The chapter was founded in 1970 in East Brunswick, New Jersey by a group of determined women educators and leaders.

Betty has many fond memories of the efforts to start a local chapter. She remembers working with Phyllis Brogan, whom Betty recalls as “the woman who started most of the New Jersey chapters on behalf of Agnes Shipman Robertson.” She has served as Kappa Chapter President and NJ State President. Also honored was Lorraine Laubach for her 35 years of service. Lorraine is now a Sapphire Sister.

Happy Birthday, Carol, and Many More

Imagine being around as the last pandemic wound down a hundred years ago, as well as living through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, WWII, the Korean War, seeing many U.S. presidents serve their terms. Carol Bailey Pellowe has witnessed all of this and much more since her birth in Malone, New York, December 16, 1920. What a grand story she could tell us all. Carol, a member of Michigan Alpha, is a Golden Sister.

Carol received a degree in dietetics from Michigan State University in 1947. Once married, she moved to Vicksburg, MI, and worked on her degree in education at Western Michigan University. She was hired by the Kalamazoo Public School system as a home economics teacher, first at Old Central High and then Kalamazoo Central High School for over 24 years before retiring in 1982. She served as department chair, wrote curriculum, supervised interns and student groups, and mentored new teachers in her department. Making a true difference was her priority.

Five years ago, a few sisters took Carol out to breakfast for her birthday. She told them she’d never really had any sort of birthday surprise. The chapter made up for that with the huge extravaganza for her one hundredth.

Carol’s sisters planned a surprise “Drive-By Birthday Celebration” for her at her home in Portage, MI, December 16 in the midst of the 2020 pandemic despite cold temperatures and swirls of dancing snowflakes. Her two children and three grandsons celebrated with her. The City of Portage sent a police escort, and a fire engine added to the lights and sirens. Friends and neighbors drove past honking horns, waving signs, and shouting out happy wishes. Masked friends gave her cards, gifts, flowers, and best wishes. Portage’s mayor presented Carol with a framed “Letter of Respect.” Carol’s two children and three grandsons also took part. Alpha sisters holding lit candles led the group in “Happy Birthday” and “The Lamp of Alpha Delta Kappa.” Co-president, Maggie Hills, also presented Carol with a birthday cake and an Ample Pantry dinner gift certificate on behalf of the chapter. Later, Alpha historian Fran Raffel assembled a beautiful memory photo book of the day and delivered it to Carol.