Weekly update: P.E.O. convention

It seemed like a bonus week because of the Monday holiday and a fifth Tuesday, Wednesday, and  Thursday.  The Coalition for Healthy Communities usually meets at 7:30 a.m. the first Friday, but this month it will be at 6:30 p.m. the first Thursday (which is not until June 7).

I left mid-Friday morning to drive 53 miles to the Westin in Itasca, Illinois, for the 116th annual convention of the Illinois State Chapter of P.E.O.  Attendance over two days was 800+ (including the husbands who came to the Projects Dinner).  Illinois chapters contributed more than $680,000 to P.E.O. projects that promote education for women (scholarships, grants, and loans, and stewardship of Cottey College). [You can read more about all the projects here and about Cottey here.]
         My chapter was one of the hostess chapters.  We had the Period of Instruction, a topic presented in a parody. This year it was mentoring new members as an episode of "This Is Your P.E.O. Life!"  We had great fun with the cast names (puns on P.E.O.'s emblem (star) and flower (daisy)) and props.
        I've gone to six consecutive state conventions (and two before that) so I've gotten to know many P.E.O. sisters beyond my own chapter.  The two chapters in my home town (one of which was my mother's) were also hostesses so I got to see many of my mother's friends.

        I completed my term on the state Budget and Finance Committee.  I continue as recording secretary of my chapter and secretary of the Lake County Round Table.

I made these vests in 2004 when my chapter was a hostess.  It's a good thing we hung on to them because the chapter who had the Marketplace got to use them.

P.E.O.'s sesquicentennial is in 2019.  The state convention (May 31-June 2) will be special.

The International convention in Des Moines (September 12-15, 2019) will be over-the-top. I have marked my calendar!

From the archives, circa 1905