We had our centennial this year, back in Ann Arbor. It was my very first Convention. I roomed with a couple undergrads from one of our Florida chapters, and TPA85, the person I can point to as the reason I joined Theta Phi in the first place. I'm pretty sure we made the undergrads crazy.
I'm a "social introvert" and it fell during probably the most tumultuous part of an already very tumultuous year for me, so I was worried about being overwhelmed. I opted to skip the business meetings to recharge my batteries and it wound up being perfect. By the end of the week, I was sad to have to pack up and leave. I wanted to keep the party going!
This year, though our Links to the Future campaign, we set up a mobile archive which was on display for the first time at Convention. It was definitely a highlight for me. My favorite part was getting to look at the badges from 1912-1931, which was before we standardized it to yellow gold with 19 pearls. Some of them were absolutely beautiful. Two of the founders' badges were on display, and they were yellow gold with 19 sapphires.
Another highlight was the bestowing of the guard of honor, our highest award for an initiated member. For our 100th year, the guard was given to Amelia McSweeney, the cornerstone of our little founding family. Our guards are all numbered, in order, but her guard was numbered 0, so that she would be at the beginning of the order, where she belonged. The ceremony was very emotional. There wasn't a dry eye in the house!
Songfest was great, too, of course. That goes without saying.
I think I could gush about Convention for hours.
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