New Year's Food Traditions Vary

Did you eat something "special" to ensure you would have good luck for the new year?
    Here in south Texas we eat Mexican tamales at midnight. Because we have southern connections, we also eat black-eyed peas on January 1st. These are supposed to bring us good luck in the new year. I like both, so I enjoy the traditions.
     I have celebrated when the hostess insisted on serving pickled herring...a northern thing? or Danish? I tried to buy some this year...just in case, but our local grocery store that does usually carry pickled herring was sold out. Guess we have some folks here who ate herring for new year's day, just not me.
     Please share your food traditions with us in the comments below.

2013! Comfortable but challenging




Current Guadalupe County, Texas, Courthouse stands
in town center of Seguin. Pecan is the State Nut;
Seguin is one of two  Texas Pecan Capitals.The town square
offers a lively mix of old and new throughout the year.

As my husband and I drove around Seguin, TX, running errands January 2, the newness of another year and the sameness of the town touched me. We picked up a calender, folder for income tax organization (hope springs eternal), smoke alarms, AC filters, red pens and a few movies (to enjoy the last few days of vacation). Nothing unusual, same stores we shop regularly, but it was now 2013.

   I turned right where the lumberyard used to be (The man who owned that lumberyard originally built my house almost 100 years ago.). When a gas station was built on the corner of the lumberyard lot, it became four corners (because each corner had a gas station).  Now we only have two gas stations there and the lumberyard is gone, but longtime residents still call it four corners. Later I turned left at the corner where the Chevrolet dealer sold cars for many years. He married a young woman who grew up in my house and then they lived in my house for almost 20 years. The Chevrolet dealership has changed hands and moved closer to the highway for more room and visibility. I still use the Chevrolet dealership in driving directions.

The Texas Theater, built around 1935,
was still showing movies when we moved
to Seguin. Following a massive renovation,
the Seguin Conservation Society
operates the building which proves venues
for a variety of community events.
Old and new meet.

   That's what makes some things seem the same...we say, "Go past where the Ford dealer was and turn left by the old high school before you come to where Tommy lived." It's comfortable that way, but the directions are almost impossible for a newcomer to follow, or anyone who didn't know Tommy. So we adjust to the new and we make changes without even realizing it. Subtle and important at the same time.

     Enjoy the photos I took with my phone (that's new) of many of the old places around town that keep Seguin comfortable and challenging. Comfortable because we know about log cabins and court houses. Challenging because we need money to keep them in shape and to keep them vital. We want them to remind us of our past, to teach us about our heritage and to be relevant to our future. Much like DKG.

The Campbell Log Cabin was moved to its downtown
location to preserve it. The two-room cabin has the
typical "dog run" in the center. Annual celebration
of Seguin's birthday is held in and around the cabin
where old and new annually.

What Texas town would be complete without a local garage
and tire shop? Looks old and comfortable but uses some
pretty new technology.

More details about DKG expanding into Kochi, Japan

These are the kimonos we wore for the ceremonies.

   














       While being fitted for kimonos for the installation, founding ceremonies and closing dinner celebration, Dr. Beverly Helms, international president, and I were able to try on some other lovely kimono designs. The red and green silk kimonos are decorated with embroidery and applique. The very long sleeves are intended for a young woman to impress her young man.
      The gown begins as a very long wrap and is tucked, pulled and wrapped into place by the trained dressers. My green gown started out as long as Beverly's red one. If you look where my  waist should be, you will see the cord holding much of the kimono in place. An obi will be added to the ensemble and hide everything. We even had proper white socks with the seamed toe for our thongs that were always left at the door.


      After the initiation ceremony, we joined a tour planned by the Hawaiian members. One of the stops between Kochi and Osaka was a puppet theater.  Beverly and I are posing with the main puppets from the show we saw. The daughter puppet on the left is 100 years old. The mother puppet is much younger. It takes three puppeteers to operate each puppet.

                                                                





Japan gathers 60 initiates

What a wonderful problem: How do we initiate 60 members at one ceremony? We organized, we honored the Japanese tradition of not having anyone's back to the audience and we practiced.

     Signing the Member Register took the most time as initiates took carefully formed the English letters vs. Japanese characters for their names. Only one member certificate had a spelling change. All three tall candles and 60 small candles lasted throughout the initiation. It was impressive.
     Twelve founders were charged with the growing of the organization by increasing membership, developing leadership and encouraging members' involvement. Additional responsibilities include:  "to participate with other units of the Society; extend membership to other women eligible to wear the golden key; uphold excellence in programs, projects and policies; and support the professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education."

Travels Worth the Effort

Dr. Beverly Helms, international president, checks
messages while watching over two carts of suitcases.

     Paperwork, brass, books, booklets, documents, pins, more pins ... Linda Davenport, membership services supervisor, carefully loaded, repacked, wrapped and rearranged DKG materials into two large black suitcases--one for me and one for Dr. Beverly Helms. Even after all of her work, we had to transfer a few pounds from one "official" bag to a personal suitcase. Our Heritage I, II, III with two charters and 60+ membership certificates are not light. Add 59 little brass candle sticks, 60+ yellow initiate cards, framed cross-stitched keypin and crest canvases, 60 membership pins, 12 founders pins, two presidents pins (state organization and chapter), five scripts, 60 Constitutions, 60 Go-To Guides and various gifts for exchanging.
     We stopped in five airports each way, LAX to Tokyo being the longest leg of the trip at about 10 hours. We lugged bags from carousels to carts for inspections and to change to buses and to move into a hotel. We enjoyed the comment, "Our culture does not allow for tipping." We marveled at the politeness and appreciated the special attention and rescheduling when our last connection didn't click. After a day or more of travel (crossed the international dateline so it was difficult to figure time with the 14-hour difference) , we arrived in Kochi-si. How beautiful.

Planning ahead & Japan

     If you have received your Sept/Oct DKG NEWS, you may have read my column about Planning Ahead. We are really good at that in our organization.
     For the past two to three years, members of Hawaii State Organization have been working with women in Japan. The criteria for founding a new state organization had been updated and approved by the Administrative Board about the same time. More than 50 Japanese women have shown an interest in joining our Society. Nearly 10 attended the 2012 International Convention in New York City.
     To make a long story short:  Dr. Beverly Helms, 2012-2014 international president, will conduct ceremonies to establish Japan as the 18th country and the 80th state organization in DKG on October 14 in Kochi, Japan. I will be better with pictures and post some from that event.

Handouts, instructions and materials leave HQ

ABF driver takes a break while loading boxes headed for NYC.

Photo by Irene Morales

Busy week is an understatement for July 9-13. The staff finished packaging, labeling and documenting 147 boxes headed for New York City and the 2012 International Convention. (Of course, we had some last minute printing of items, too.)
     From committee handouts and instruction sheets for convention volunteers to timers and flags, the listing and packing slips were checked, then double checked. The numbers were verified before boxes made it to the dolly and then checked again as they went out the door on Friday, July 13, around 5 p.m.

     We're glad they're on the way!  (And so are the 31 Leadership Management Seminar graduates who received their Golden Gift Fund LMS pins under the watchful portrait of Dr. Annie Webb Blanton. That celebration began at 5:30 and wrapped up around 8:30 p.m. ...more later)