Volume 2

Issue 3

March 2013

Upcoming Events

5th—Twenty Pearls Foundation Board and

Lambda Tau Omega Executive Committee

Meetings at St. Andrews Church

Homewood, Illinois

9th—Twenty Pearls Foundation

Membership and Lambda Tau Omega

Chapter Meetings at United Christian

Church— Country Club Hills, Illinois

23rd—Scholarship Interviews

B a s i l e u s M e s s a g e

J o y c e L . N e l s o n , E d . D

Happy Women’s Month Sorors

It is with honor to greet you as Basileus, I am delighted to work with such

caring and thoughtful sorors. Thank you for being wonderful sisters and for

doing all that you do for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Lambda

Tau Omega Chapter. Being an Alpha Kappa Alpha women means you are

classy, competent, confident and charismatic. You have style, grace, beauty

and compassion. It means that you are committed to the cause of Alpha Kappa

Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. It is with these characteristics that we as sisters

are able to continue to serve all mankind. Sorors our first lady of Central

Region is not only talking the talk, she is walking the walk from Illinois,

Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, St. Louis and Gape Girardeau, Missouri,

Wisconsin, North and South Dakota and back to Illinois. Soror Gisele M.

Casanova, Ph.D. is Supreme in Service, Sisterhood and Leadership and this

edition is dedicated to her in honor of Women’s Month. Sorors this month

Soror Gisele’s name will be included in the sisterly acts drawing and one soror

will be responsible for showing our Central Regional Director sisterly acts

representing Lambda Tau Omega Chapter for the month of March.

Plan to join and see this

Phenomenal Women in

Indianapolis, Indiana

April 4-7, 2013 at the

79th Central Regional

Conference

Happy Women’s Month

Gisele M. Casanova, Ph.D.

Central Regional Director

Yes! Our scrapbooks have been delivered to

Wisconsin. Thanks you Sorors Jan, Salwa, Marva,

Sonya, Valerie Kim, Program Committee

members and individual award nominees.

Congratulations!

You ALL Are WINNERS

All reports must be submitted by Monday evening before

Twenty Pearls Foundation and Executive Committee

Meetings.

Reports will not be posted day of or after Twenty Pearls

Foundation and Executive Committee meetings.

If you are receiving sisterly acts, you should make sure you

are providing them also. If you have chosen not to

participate, please let me know so your name can be

removed from the basket and you will not be asked to select

one.

If you plan to participate in chapter stroll you must attend the

next meeting scheduled for Sunday, March 9, 2013.

Don’t forget to pay for the 79th Central Region bus to

Indianapolis. See Soror Carol Sharp

If you still want a commemorative pin from our 35th

Anniversary see Soror Sarah for details.

I thought I would take the time to write about why it's very important for our chapter to focus more on

membership retention. I regularly visit numerous organizations and associations and I frequently hear, "We

want to increase membership, increase attendance, etc." I rarely hear, "We would like to focus on retention of

existing members."

For long term-growth, stability and the overall health of our chapter, we need to focus more on membership

retention. High retention rates mean happy and satisfied sorors. When we have happy and satisfied sorors, they

are more likely to share information about our chapter to missing and lost pearls.

Contact Soror Audrey McFarlin, Membership Chairman on ways you can support our membership.

REGIONAL CONFERENCE PROTOCOL 1. Business attire, unless otherwise noted, is required for Ple-

nary Sessions. Flip-flop type shoes are unacceptable.

2. Sorors must wear their badge for all meetings and events.

3. Only members with badges will be admitted to plenary ses-

sions and workshops.

4. Stand for the procession of dais members.

5. Receive the Regional Director and Supreme Basileus by

standing when they are introduced.

6. Refrain from walking during dais introductions, the medita-

tion and when the Regional Director or the Supreme Basileus is

giving her address to the delegation.

7. Respect designated seating for delegates, Diamond/Golden

Sorors, the Sorors with physical disabilities, and reserved

seating for conference guests.

8. Please wait to be acknowledged from the presiding officer

when at the designated microphones.

9. Turn off all electronic communication devices. Please step out

of the meeting if you must use a phone.

10. Please refrain from pushing and shoving when entering all

events, especially the Step-Show, Luncheon events and Confer-

ence Gala. Hostesses or the banquet staff may need additional

set-up time, so please be patient at the door. Only designated

Sorors will be allowed to enter until the doors are opened.

11.Holding seats will not be allowed for any event.

12. Table hostesses are beneficial during meal functions to

remind us to keep quiet during presentations and/or perform-

ances at the dais.

13. Please be considerate of other conference attendees and take

only ONE gift when they are distributed at functions.

14. Refrain from overloading your plate during receptions.

One or two pieces

Submitted by June Mitchell, LTO Protocol Chairman

Sonya L. Bowen, Central Region Protocol Chairman and

Carol Sharp, Conference Chairman

We are 107 Members Strong!!!

Submitted by Marilyn Hamb

Regional Conference Attire

Thursday:

Training Institute-Business Casual

Committee Meeting-Casual AKA Paraphernalia

AKA Welcome Reception-Casual Paraphernalia

Chapter flair with matching attire

Friday:

Tribute to Leaders Breakfast (By Invitation Only)

Central Region Cardigan Set

Plenary Sessions-Central Region Cardigan Set

Public Meeting and Reception-Pink and/or Green Business

or Dressy Attire

Saturday:

EAF Legacy Breakfast-Business Attire with your fa-

vorite hat

Workshops-Business Attire

Plenary Session-Business Attire (Pink and/or Green)

Conference Luncheon-Pink and/or Green Business

Attire with your favorite hat

New Diamond Divas wear white attire, new Golden

Sorors wear gold attire, and new Silver Sorors wear silver

attire

Conference Gala “An Evening of Pearlesence”- After 5

Attire

Sunday:

Ivy Beyond the Wall Ritual-Conservative, uninter-

rupted white dress or skirt suit, complimentary hosiery and

white shoes (no pant, no hat)

Rededication Breakfast-Business Attire

Chaplin’s Corner

LTO Tech Tips

Bookmark ltoaka.org for easy access

Update your LTO User Profile with your Birthday, Initiation Date, and Initiating Chapter

If you cannot download the emailed pdf Newsletter, you can view it online ltoaka.org/newsletters

Try saving a committee report first if you cannot get it to open (right click and “Save As”)

During a meeting if you are following along on your Ipad, you can open two tabs in Safari- one that

stays on the page “Committee Reports” so that you don’t lose your place

The By-Laws form is now a fillable pdf so you can easily type in your recommended change. Ac-

cess it on the Members Welcome page.

If you missed Lambda Tau Omega’s article in the last Ivy Leaf, you can read it on our TPF website http://tpfinc.org/2013/01/01/twenty-pearls-foundation-celebrates-youth/

Submitted by Kimberly Mitchell

Technology Chairman

To Own Your Own Strength

In Whitney Houston’s song, “I didn’t know my own strength”, she sings, “I crashed down, stumbled but I did not crumble, I was not

meant to break.” She sings about an inner strength that she had not recognized as being her characteristic. If we are made in the

image and after the likeness of GOD then we can only express strength..

Most of us have had or will have a moment in our lives when we think we could not possibly make it through a crisis or what may

appear to be the lowest time of our lives. Even Jesus Christ experienced a moment when he asked the Lord to take this cup from him.

It is not unusual for us at these times to turn to friends and relatives for comfort and word of encouragement. Their words only act as

a trigger or catalyst that releases the words that are there waiting for you to remember, the only words that matter and were uttered

long, long ago. “So fear not: for I am with you: do not be dismayed; for I am your GOD; I will strengthen you: yes, I will help you:

yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. Isaiah 41:10 God Bless you all..

Submitted by Jennifer Lyle Moore

March Hodegos Highlights

March Birthdays

Sharon Brown 3/4

Soror Donna Fowler- Canty 3/7

Soror Trina Johnson- Spivey 3/10

Soror Karla Barton 3/12

Soror Sandra Perkins- Butler 3/24

Soror Donica Jackson 3/24

Soror Evita McNeil 3/26

Soror Lora Alexander- Flaherty 3/31

Wedding Anniversaries

Soror Trina Johnson- Spivey & Honey- Do Craig 3/23

AKAversaries

Jacqueline Scott March 1956 Thirty –Two Degrees of Elevation (LTO)

Sandra Butler March 1965 Karla Baton March 11th

Veneeta Phelps March 13th Antionette Patton March 11th

Escentiah Jan Reed March 1969 Alice Tittle March 11th

Sarah Lewis-Weaver March 1989 Paula Rogers- Daniels March 11th

Saundra Jones March 24th

Trina Johnson- Spivey March 12 th

Thirty- Two Pearls in Perpetuity (LTO)

Marva C- Pruitt March 20th Allison Bonner- Evans March 5th

Sylvia Taylor March 25th Millicent Borishade March 5th

Carol Harris March 30th Cheryl Cage March 5th

Marydale Donald March 5th

Valerie Pace March 5th

Tina Hughes- Burke March 5th

Vivian Hudson- Davis March 5th

Jennifer Moore March 5th

Carol Sharp March 5th

Sandra Lee March 5th

Tiffany Wicks March 5th

Soror Crystal Brooks-Williams & Family, Soror Renee Collins & Family,

Soror Lois Merritt’s Family and Stefannie Farrow’s Family