Page 29 - 1914 February - To Dragma

140 TO DRA GMA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

house was partially destroyed by fire and most of the girls lost
practically everything they possessed.

The chapter grew rapidly. Its membership soon increased from ten
to almost twenty. Then Lambda chapter was installed and soon we
had the pleasure of adding to our number several of the Lambda
alumna? who live in Oakland, Berkeley, or San Francisco. About
this time, too, Mrs. Chapman, of Delta chapter came to Berkeley
to live and we welcomed our first Eastern sister. I t is hard to tell
how greatly we were benefited by these additions, for they gained us
new and valued friends, and at the same time broadened our life as
a chapter. Hitherto it had been hard, at times, to realize that we
were anything but Sigma Alumna?, but now we became Alpha Omicron
Pi Alumna? in every way, and as such our interests and our aims were
sure to become wider and more far reaching. And this broadening
of our views and of our desires and ambitions has steadily increased,
aided by association with and suggestions from members of other
chapters and by our growing knowledge of our Fraternity itself.

Wlith the growth of the chapter the question of a meeting place
presented itself. At first the meetings were held at the homes of
the different members. Then it became the custom to hold most of
the meetings at the Sigma chapter house in Berkeley, with an oc-
casional meeting at the home of one of the members. We found this
plan to work to perfection, for although we are the San Francisco
alumna? chapter a majority live on "this side of the Bay" and the
house seemed to be convenient for all. The number of the meetings
was soon increased from five to nine, to be held the first Saturday of
every month, with the exception of the three summer months. A
year ago the girls decided that they enjoyed the meetings so much
that they would continue them during the summer. We tried the
experiment last summer and found it very successful, although the
meetings were smaller than usual. So now we meet once a month
and I'm sure all of us look forward to the meetings, and regret
having to miss a single one.

One of the chief aims of the chapter has been to keep the alumna?
in closer touch with the active chapters, here in California, and we
have found several ways of doing this. Once a year a party is
given for the freshmen of Sigma and Lambda chapters, and it is a
great pleasure to meet the younger girls who will some day, we hope,
become members of our chapter. Last year we adopted the plan of
entertaining the seniors of both chapters at a luncheon held in
San Francisco, and we feel that it is a very successful one. And
last spring we descended upon Lambda chapter in a body and spent