AGDee's Retro aka How NOT to do recruitment

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Each of us were given a pearl and escorted to a wishing well where we told to drop the pearl in and make a wish. We were then presented with a hand sewn felt pin pillow with the sorority letters sewn onto it and we received red and buff roses.

Hmmn...well, at least I know whether or not to expect a big plot twist now.

[AGDee]

Well, yeah, no real twists, just lots of memories about frilly rush and how crazy I was. I found out later that we borrowed the china from Wayne State every year because we didn't own anything. It also became a problem when our Prefs were the same day! I don't remember how we resolved that. We might have borrowed from U Mich that year?

[susan314]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Well, yeah, no real twists, just lots of memories about frilly rush and how crazy I was. I found out later that we borrowed the china from Wayne State every year because we didn't own anything. It also became a problem when our Prefs were the same day! I don't remember how we resolved that. We might have borrowed from U Mich that year?

You might already know about this, but at Michigan State we had an enormous collection of teacups and saucers with a lot of sentimental meaning. It was a chapter tradition dating back to our founding that when a Chi alumnae married, she came back for a special tea and presented the chapter with a cup/saucer from her wedding china.

Those cups/saucers were gorgeous...so many different patterns/styles representing over 70 years of Chi chapter sisters. We only actually used them at Preference, and it terrified me to handle them...the thought of my clumsy self breaking a special teacup from a long ago sister's wedding china made me incredibly nervous. Thankfully, I don't recall any ever actually breaking...we treated them with the utmost respect!

Such a shame that all those memories are packed away in storage somewhere, now that Chi is closed. Makes me wonder what the heck is going to happen to them if the unthinkable happens and Chi doesn't reopen for a very long time. I hope that they are preserved in a safe place, whatever happens. (Side note - VandalSquirrel's grandmother was a Chi alumnae apparently from the 1920s (? on the year). Makes me wonder if she has a teacup in that collection, but VandalSquirrel suspects now.)

(I never got the chance to present a teacup to the chapter, since I married in 2003...after Chi closed. Of course, I didn't actually register for china anyhow. LOL. But, I had always planned on picking out a teacup/saucer that I liked anyhow and presenting it to the chapter. Perhaps when we reopen, they can host another tea for those of us who got married in the interim and feel like we missed out on a special Chi tradition. )

[VandalSquirrel]

So Dee, do tell, what was the song they sang, I'm guessing Special Family!

I'm not sure if my grandmother came back with a teacup, she married when she was much older, and had my father (an only child) when she was almost forty. Which is completely normal in this day and age, but back then, it was We have teacups at Idaho, but less and less women are registering for china in this day and age.

[susan314]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

So Dee, do tell, what was the song they sang, I'm guessing Special Family!

I still cry to this day every time I hear Special Family. (And I've never even been through Preference! We used it for other stuff too.)

When I found out that you could hear a recording of it on our website, I e-mailed the link to all my chapter sisters just so they could get misty eyed too.


(Yeah, I didn't register for china either...but I would have purchased and presented a nice teacup anyhow, just for tradition's sake. After all, it could be the pattern I "would" have chosen had I felt the need to register for china. )

[UGAalum94]

One of our members was a chapter consultant, and I remember her telling me later about the teacups. It sounded like a wonderful tradition.

I like what using them communicates at pref. in terms of a presenting a unified, elegant overall impression of tradition, while still reflecting the individual characteristics and unique merits of each individual member.

Does anyone else have the teacup tradition?

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by susan314

I still cry to this day every time I hear Special Family. (And I've never even been through Preference! We used it for other stuff too.)

When I found out that you could hear a recording of it on our website, I e-mailed the link to all my chapter sisters just so they could get misty eyed too.


(Yeah, I didn't register for china either...but I would have purchased and presented a nice teacup anyhow, just for tradition's sake. After all, it could be the pattern I "would" have chosen had I felt the need to register for china. )

Special Family was sang at a recent wedding, and the most recent wedding there was no singing (or it happened after I left, but before the tent blew away), however she did register for china. I lucked out and inherited two sets of silver, but my sister got the china so I'm planning on registering for some. What I don't understand is that she got the china, but registered for more when she was married the second time. I can't tell you how cranky I was when I had to help pack it and move it because she divorced him.

Hi, I'm that dork who has the music downloaded to her Ipod. I know I'm not the only one *cough* OTW *cough*.

[mystikchick]

i love the idea of the china tradition, what a sweet and sentimental and tangible way to link to all the women who came before you! susan, if i were you and i'd had to deal with the fact that all the memories embodied in that china were packed up somewhere in storage, i honestly think i would cry.