First Annual Cottey College Tea

Our two local Cottey College girls were coming home for Christmas so Chapter BS,
Charlo, Montana, decided to host a Cottey College Tea at The Red Poppy, a local art
gallery and studio, to honor our girls and give them a chance to tell us about their Cottey experiences.

However, the event concept grew. The Cottey Tea was giving us an opportunity to encourage all our local young women to think about higher education and introduce them to Cottey and other P.E.O. educational opportunities. Thus, the area newspapers carried articles advertising the event to be open to the public. Invitations were sent to our five other local P.E.O. chapters,public and home-schooled students, our three Mission Valley High Schools, as well as to our STAR Scholarship applicants. The invitations encouraged everyone to bring guests.

The weather that January afternoon was terrible—it had been snowing for several hours, visibility was limited and the roads were icy, yet 33 people signed our guest book. In attendance were three mothers, two fathers, 10 young women and 16 representatives from five of our six local northwestern Montana P.E.O. Chapters—BH, Big Fork; BY and CA, Polson; CB, Lakeside; and BS, Charlo.

We presented the Cottey recruiting video and
encouraged our guests to visit the P.E.O. and Cottey websites. Our two Cottey girls—first year student Bella Dally, a recent recipient of a STAR Scholarship and second year student Rebecca Grant, spoke enthusiastically
of their experiences and admirably fielded questions
from the audience. Additionally, information and local P.E.O. contacts were available regarding our other
P.E.O. projects.

As a direct result of our Cottey Tea, two women have expressed interest in attending Cottey and plan on visiting the campus. Members of the Polson are working with several of the Polson High School girls as well.

Our event was so well received that next year’s Cottey Tea will now be designated as the Second AnnualCottey College Tea and will be organized and sponsored by the
Cottey College Committees from all six of our local chapters.