I Wonder as I Wander…

I LOVE chartering new chapters—I may have mentioned that before, but there is something about the excitement of the college staff, the advisors, and the new members that makes me feel practically euphoric. And this chapter is going to be one of my favorites. I had visited their college in Joshua Tree, CA when I was there in December. The advisors were very interesting people, who were really a lot of fun to be around. So when it came time to charter them, I really wanted to go and they really wanted me to come.

I was very glad I had gone (and I think they were very happy to have me), because the advisors struggled to get a list of students to invite, so they had to do a lot of extra work to find them. They were coordinating their college’s accreditation visit and had just received a call telling them the accreditation team would be on campus the following week, so were trying to get ready for that as well. Bob and I ended up setting up the room for the induction, making sure the membership roster and charter were there to be signed, setting up the head table, and I even made some of the punch. The advisor kept thanking us and saying how sorry she was that she wasn’t more prepared.

The ceremony was beautiful—there were several members from the college’s Advisory Board there (and a couple of them spoke). We kept bringing in more chairs because the audience kept growing and growing—the room was absolutely packed. I was surprised because this was a Friday night just before their spring break was scheduled to begin, but most of the students were there, with a lot of guests.

I also got the chance to visit with another chapter that I had chartered the previous October at College of the Desert. This chapter is doing all kinds of great activities. While we were there, we helped make up 160 Easter Baskets for children who were living in a homeless shelter. This shelter had a fire earlier in the year, and many of the people who were there, lost what little bit they had. So the members took on the project of providing Easter Baskets for the kids. About a dozen members were there and had all the baskets spread out all over a huge table. We ended up working assembly style to put grass, plastic eggs, treats, and candy in each of the baskets.

We talked about ‘The Paradox of Affluence’ as we were working. It was especially heart-breaking to think that there would be 160 children who were homeless—just think how many people that includes. The students also talked about what else they children might need and what the chapter could do. Maybe a gentle used clothes drive, school supplies in the fall, and possibly a mentoring program for the kids and their parents to help them do well in school or get them looking at college courses or other programs.

We had some time before our flight, so we took a tour of a wind farm. It was very interesting. The Palm Springs area is in a valley where the wind comes through the valley fast and steady--so it's a perfect place for wind farms. EXCEPT, we were told the infrastructure wasn't in place to be able to transfer the electricity to the LA area where it's actually needed. We saw several generations of windmills--and learned how the newer ones can generate so much more electricity. Even when they change out an older windmill, they don't scrap the parts--instead they send them to third world countries where they can be put to good use.

We headed back to Minnesota and a very exciting time….