This article was submitted by LuAnne Navarra, P.E.O. Chapter FL Corresponding Secretary.
On Tuesday, September 16, 2014, members of P.E.O. Chapter FL met for dinner and a meeting at the Oak Room Restaurant, 903 W. Morris Street, Morrison, IL. Vice President Suellen Girard led the meeting. This year the Chapter FL program theme is titled “To Seek Growth In….” The evening’s topic was “…In Hobbies.”
Suellen gave an entertaining and informative program about her hobby of underwater photography.
The past two summers she and her husband, Tanner, attended scuba contests at Scuba Club Cozumel. Suellen won first prize for underwater photography the past two summers and second and third place for land photography. The winning photographs are posted on the Scuba Club Cozumel website. Their grandchildren traveled with them this past summer and went to Little Cayman Kids Sea Camp. Evelyn, 9, learned to scuba dive, and Geno, 4, learned to snorkel. Suellen and her husband have been diving for eight years and have been snorkeling for many years. She does the macro photography, and Tanner does the wide-angle photography. Pictured is Suellen Girard with her winning photo.
P.E.O. Chapter FL held a meeting and program at the home of Nancy Vandermyde on Tuesday, October 7. Chapter member Bev Havens served as co-hostess, serving a delicious pumpkin pie dessert. Following refreshments, a meeting was led by Chapter FL President Jean Eggemeyer. With the program titled “To Seek Growth…Through Women in Literature,” Chapter member Judy Johnson told about several of her favorite authors growing up and when she taught fourth grade for several years in the Morrison School District. One of the authors, Lois Lenski, wrote a book, Judy’s Journey, which was about a migrant family. Another one of her favorite books, Train to Somewhere written by Eve Bunting, was a story about orphan trains in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s that carried children from New York to the Midwest. The characters and places in the book are fictitious, but the premise of the story was part of American history.
P.E.O. is one of the pioneer societies for women and was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, IA. Today, P.E.O. has grown from that tiny membership of seven to almost a quarter of a million members in chapters in the United States and Canada. P.E.O. is a philanthropic organization where women celebrate the advancement of women; educate women through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and stewardship of Cottey College; motivate women of all ages to achieve their highest aspirations.