Care Packages for U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan
Chapter AL, San Antonio, Texas,is collecting care package items to ship to Afghanistan. Margaret Walter’s daughter Cackie Howe is a non-resident sister who lives in Ansbach, Germany. Her husband LTC Robert Howe commands an aviation battalion in Afghanistan which is located on a former Soviet airfield in a remote area with no access to any kind of post exchange (PX). Rob’s soldiers have constructed a “Free PX” in an old Russian building where soldiers can select snacks, personal items and books donated by supportive Americans.
P.E.O. Girlfriends’ Getaway
A road trip is a great way to get better acquainted with your sisters. A member of Chapter VS, Glendale- La Crescenta, California, is a travel agent and she arranged a trip and itinerary for + members of the chapter. Their first stop was a tour of the Ronald Reagan Library and a picnic lunch. The group continued to San Luis Obispo where they enjoyed dinner at F. McLintocks followed by a show at the Melodrama Theater. 
After a restful night, the sisters proceeded to tour Hearst Castle and then saw elephant seals on their way to Cambria, where they had lunch and shopped. That night the group had a pizza and pajama party where they played games and earned prizes. On the third day, they shopped at Morrow Bay, had lunch at The Apple Farm, visited a lavender farm, shopped in Solvang (a Scandinavian town) and had dinner at Andersen’s Pea Soup Restaurant. Everyone had a great time and the group looks forward to future road trips. They are a great way to see local attractions and bond with your P.E.O. sisters!
P.E.O. Singles Group
One rainy, chilly Saturday evening in November, Daphne Starr, LD, Crystal Lake, Illinois, was lonely and feeling sorry for herself. As a widow with no family in the area and most of her friends married, she was feeling low.
She looked at her P.E.O. Chapter yearbook and thought about what a wonderful group of women they were and figured that some of them must be single. She started to check the names and sure enough—there were 10 sisters who were either widowed or divorced. Daphne wondered if they would be interested in being part of a singles group. She called them and suggested dinner to discuss the premise and eight of them responded favorably. They met, had a delightful dinner, chatted excitably about possible events and drew names to become teams of two—and so the P.E.O. Singles of Chapter LD were born.
The group’s first outing was to The Little Traveler in Geneva, Illinois, where they separated to shop then joined together later for lunch and “show and tell.”
Friday night dinners—out or at a member’s home—are almost fixtures for the group. They have movie nights and game nights; they took a trip to the Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois, and visited the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Each event strengthens their bonds.
Daphne says, “There is always talk about our involvement in P.E.O., our families our hopes and sometimes our fears. When one of us is ill, the others provide meals and whatever services our sister might need. We’ve connected. One thing we have all agreed on, we are glad that there are such wonderful women in P.E.O. and that we single sisters have been able to form this special bond.”
