Comments can go viral

     When Lisa Myers, an English teacher in Texarkana, TX, wrote To America from a Teacher December 17, she had no idea it would "go viral." Her heartfelt reaction to events in Newtown, Connecticut, has touched thousands of readers. Go to this link to read her comments and her follow up:  http://lisamyers.org/author/junk5865/  I think it is worth reading, but then we are "the choir."
      Lisa and her husband, pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church, have one daughter who recently earned her MBA. Lisa is not a member of DKG. So many times I meet or hear about outstanding women and wonder how we "missed" inviting them to membership. Did they decline? Did we reach out to them at the busiest time in their lives and never ask again? Did we not bother to turn in names? Did we do their thinking for them and assume they didn't have time?  
    

Meetings, meetings, meetings

During a recent Go-To Meeting, Dr. Beverly
Helms follows material on her computer screen
 and prepares for the next item on her iPad.

The Golden Gift Fund committee meets Friday, January 11, and Saturday, January 12, in Austin. They will plan for the 2014 Leadership Manager Seminar and prepare for programs at the Regional Conferences...Info Fair and workshop. Updating brochures, checking for current information resources on the committee's website page and writing an article for the NEWS will be among tasks that will keep us busy. Dr. Vicki Davis, Texas, chairs this committee.
     January 15-16 the Eunah Temple Holden Leadership Fund committee will meet. Checking on finances, this group will verify that all five regional conferences have requested their $1,000 from ETH to help bring a woman speaker from outside the organization to the events. This is a unique committee set up under the terms of Holden's will. Betty Oswald (Mississippi) chairs this group.
     Nominations Committee will arrive in Austin for its January 18-19 meeting. Dr. Liz Tarner (Virginia) chairs this 10-member group.
    The Ad Hoc Election Procedure Committee brings up the end of the month on January 31-February 1. Dr. Carolyn Rants, chair (Iowa) has worked with the committee via email to jump start their work.
     It's busy at Society Headquarters! We prepare for the meetings and then have much work by way of followup. Of course day-to-day operations and interaction with members continues with or without meetings. Still must pay the utilities and taxes.

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.