Paddles for littles?
 

Hey, so I've heard talk of giving your little paddles? None of the sororities down here do this but I'm interested in possibly starting the tradition. I was wondering if anyone could give me some info as to what the meaning behind these are?

Thanks :)

Hey, I was a little and I was given a paddle, but I don't know the meaning sorry! We made something else for our bigs

Due to the history of paddles being linked to hazing, many GLO's have banned them. You'd better check your I/Natl policies before trying to start a tradition that would get your chapter members into trouble.

We give our bigs paddles. I made my littles and grand littles mini paddles, about key chain size for xmas though.

In my chapter, Little's made paddles for the Bigs, and the Bigs decorated wooden bears like pandas for our Littles (we personalized our paddles and pandas for the personality/favorite colors/hobbies of our bigs/littles)

I've seen paddles for littles, but they were smaller than the ones littles make for their bigs and not as ornate.

Why hazing?

Is this a serious question or are you setting us up for some super huge rant?

Umm haha I'm serious. No one around here gets paddles, I'm from Canada ;)

UMM they were used to "beat" new members for disgrassing (sp?) the brotherhood or sisterhood.~ I think u should be able to draw ur own conclusions from that. ;)

We dont give them as we aren't allowed to (not sure if it is our chapter or international law) but we were told on BID DAY that no paddles were to be given. However other GLOs on campus exchnage them. A little gives it to her big, They are very personalized, and quite pricey. Iwent with my friend to buy hers, I was shocked at how much they were!

Disgrace**

The one I made for my sister-mother was inexpensive - $10 for the paddle itself and then another $15 or so to paint/decorate it. Did she have someone else make it for her?

Paddles are flat pieces of wood with a handle in them, perfect for hitting pledges. Hence the connection with hazing. My chapter did away with paddles after I was initiated, now the daughters give picture frames and the new member class makes a wall hanging or plaque with their names on it to hang on the living room wall.

ADPiTigergurl-

It probably depends on what you buy and where. I went with my daughter to a chain craft store to get one for her big (she was home for the weekend). We bought what looked like a bread board to use as a paddle and then some paint, ribbon, letters, sparkles, etc. Total cost was around $20.

Trideltlifee -
There is another thread on paddles somewhere on here (sorry, don't have the energy to look it up and link it), that shows some really pretty examples of paddles.

We made ours. We call them paddles but they were really plaques. But we had to make them from scratch which was a pain in the ass. First time I have ever used a power saw.

I was going to say "LOLwut?" but then I remembered that not everyone was raised in a hick town like I was.

I'm a city boy all the way. My first experience with most things that men are known for like building and painting stuff was through the fraternity.

I think we should start decorating wooden squirrel feeders.

http://www.runnerduck.com/images/squirrel_feeder_2.jpg

http://www.thenaturesbarn.com/images...%20feeder3.jpg

http://images.guardianecostore.co.uk...l%20Feeder.jpg

This last one is so awesome.

http://www.thenaturesbarn.com/images...el%20arrow.JPG

Absolutely not! I have some fat, nut-stuffed squirrel who RACES across my roof every morning at the crack of dawn and when he's not doing that he's cracking yet more nuts up there. The last thing that creature needs is a feeder.

However, if you want to pm me you address Vandal, I'll be glad to trap him and send him your way, so you can feed him. Better yet, I'll pm you my address and you can send me a paddle - I'll go up there and haze the life out of that squirrel.:D

This is probably going to get me into big trouble with the animal rights groups isn't it?

Well you don't need to worry, you're not an Alpha Gam so you would not receive a painted squirrel feeder. How about a nice lyre that hangs on the wall complete with strings?? The kind that has a little "bong bong bong" chime (yes technically, not a lyre, but still cute and not a paddle!).

I actually have a squirrel vacancy. My landlord and new neighbors hired some people who pruned the trees the squirrels ceased to run across my roof and gutters. I miss them on the roof and on the tree outside. The ones on campus are large, in charge, and not to be trifled with. I know they will protect me from horrible people and feel extra safe walking on campus at night.

LOL - The lyre sounds like a great idea. I'm a horrible musician, so I'm sure if I played it out the window he would well, probably throw himself off the roof - I'd still have the cruelty to animals issue though and probably irritated neighbors.

When I trap him I will mail him up to UI for you. It's a lovely campus, so I'm sure he'll be very happy there. He's HUGE, so he should provide plenty of protection from all types of horrible people - even BSU fans. :)

We just moved in, but we're pruning the branches as soon as we get a break in the rain, in other words - July. Until then: ear plugs.

There's only one squirrel in my 'hood - you can mail him to me!

Every semester, the new girls in our chapter give a presentation where they present a big class paddle that each new member class made together along with presenting paddles to our bigs, and our bigs also give paddles to us. My class made a powerpoint slideshow with music showing a bunch of pictures throughout the semester that we were all in, then we had a game. And we also read what we wrote on the back of our class paddle. Here's a pic with my new member class, along with our paddles that we got and our class paddle:

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs075...._7245505_n.jpg

They are only used for decoration.

AGZG - Done! And to all the AGD's out there - please understand I have nothing against squirrels in general - just this particular squirrel.

PhiSigStarlight - Those are beautiful!

I actually never thought about the price depending on where you buy them.:o SHe purchased hers at the off campus book store...the paddle ran her about 40 then each letter was 3. Shes an alpha gam so 9 bucks for letter, then she got paint, ribbon, and faux pearls at the craft store ( i wasn't there for this purchase so Im not sure how much it was). Her paddle cost her about atleast 50 dollars plus tax (almost 10% here:mad:) and we looked around and this was the "cheapest" we could find them. And my other friends that made them said theirs were around that price. However we don't go to a huge greek school, so fnding anything greek related anywhere not near campus is very difficult if not impossible.

ADPiTigergurl - Oh my word!:eek: Well that confirms my opinion that campus bookstores are pretty much out to siphon every last penny left from college students after they've paid for classes. Kind of like eating at a ski lodge - when your transportation and time are limited, they know they have you where they want you. Just venting - I have 2 in college, so I've been writing quite a few checks to campus bookstores. I'm bitter.:mad:

On the other hand you have very dedicated sisters to be that generous on a college student's budget, so I'm sure it meant a lot to everyone.

We were fortunate that she was home for the weekend (in a good size city with NO sales tax), so we could shop around. We went to Michael's. I know college towns are often limited but if someone has a car I would look around at larger craft stores if they have them. Again, one thing that saved us money is that we bought a bread board. It isn't an actual paddle - it just looks like one. That's what most of the girls in her house did - they just found something in a store that looks like a paddle. It worked fine and they are MUCH cheaper.

^^^ yeah when i found out how much hers was...lets just say i was a little more excited not to have to make one myself lol. I like the bread board idea! Not that I'll ever need one, but hey I have othere friends that may need them. And yes college is outrageously priced between books, tuition, food, and board, oh and dues....its completely crazy! but tell ur 2 their lucky for them to be your checks.

You ever consider going to home depot, buying the wood and havign a fraternity guy cut them out for you?

actually no as i didnt have to make one...but i know of at least 3 sororities that do so now im thinkin...philanthropy fundrasier for the fraternity!!! thats at least 60 girls that needed one, so at 20 bucks a pop that would be a pretty good fundraiser lol

Not sure if this is helpful but. . .

At the school I went to, each sorority provided each of their members a paddle. The paddles were mass produced (had the letters engraved into the wood), had the sister's name, her pledge mom's name on the front and the chapter name on the back.

I am pretty sure this still goes on (last time I visited campus I saw the paddles in dorm and sorority windows).

Not sure what vendors the girls used but I went to Northwestern if that helps. You could contact a chapter there to see where they order it from.

As members, we did not (directly/individually) pay for the paddles. We were just given them after we officially initiated. So I am not sure of the cost, but it was something that was absorbed by each chapter.