Newsletter Sept 2010

President Pat’s Letter

Dear Mu Phis,

It has been a long hot summer and I am looking forward to cooler fall weather and getting back to my serious activities, with MU PHI EPSILON on the top of my list! As our International President said, "MU PHIs Shine", and I am so proud of all of our members who continued to shine throughout the summer months.

We had a Board meeting in June and made plans for our coming year. Sandra McMillen has been busy getting in dues, Mary Williams has been busy preparing the yearbook and newsletter for printing, and Tena Hehn has been busy preparing some exciting programs for this year. Susan Poelchau completed the list of performers for the Library Concert Series before she left town, and it too, looks like a very interesting season.

On a personal note, I have been busy this summer with many family events - the birth of my first great-grandson, the wedding of my grandson, the visit of my son and his wife, and then, sadly, the death of my brother. But I'm thankful for the good times we have shared. In July I went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for "Opera in the Ozarks," the National Federation of Music Club’s annual camp for aspiring young opera stars. Their performance of Carmen was remarkable. We forget sometimes that Mu Phi is a member of NFMC and contributes scholarships to the students there.

Speaking of scholarships, our Chapter has been blessed with a $500 contribution to our scholarship fund from Brian Lengel, Tennie Lengel's son. Brian would like to know more about our memories of his mother along with Kay Newman, both of whom studied music together. I hope you will be able to provide Brian with some of those memories at our first meeting, September 18th, at Mary Williams’ clubhouse. Unfortunately, I will be unable to be there as I will be out of town, but with Jenny Smith-Jared officiating and Sandra McMillen providing some interesting memorabilia; it promises to be a good meeting. I hope all of you "rays of sunshine” will bring your smiling faces to that meeting, and I will look forward to seeing you in October!

Fondly,
Pat Hill

Top

Past Meetings

April Meeting

Martha Peak was sorry to miss the meeting at her own house in April. Her great-niece, who is 4 years old, was visiting here from Australia. Martha had not ever seen her, and the only time available to have that happen was to attend a party held for the family at the same time as the Mu Phi party. Well, who wouldn’t want to see family from so far off?

Collegiates from SMU and UNT performed for the April meeting. UNT chapter president Tess Jones played Carl Reineke’s Concerto, Movement 2.

Brandon Nelson played Reverie, Opus 24 by Alexander Glazunov.

Holly Owen played the first movement of the Mozart piano Sonata in C Major, K330

and Stephanie Chung played the Chopin Waltz in B minor, Opus 69, No. 2.

Melissa Bosma played two of the Benjamin Britten Six Metamorphoses After Ovid – Pan and Bacchus – for oboe.

After the program these young people enjoyed lunch with us. Here Tess Jones, Melissa Bosma and Stephanie Chung see what’s to eat.

Cynthia Wadley, who chaired the Nominating Committee, announced the slate of officers proposed for next year, all of which were approved by those voting:

President Pat Hill
Vice-President (Membership) Jenny Smith
Treasurer Sandra McMillen
Secretary Susan Poelchau
Corresponding Secretary Frances Estes
Chorister (Programs) Tena Hehn with Mary Ann Taylor and Phyllis Wilson
Chaplain Melanie Priest
Steward Cynthia Wadley
Historian Karen Glosserman

Susan Poelchau announced that the Dallas Alumni Chapter received a $700 Helen Haupt grant to help with expenses for our concert series. She and Pat Hill worked hard to meet the April 1 deadline, gathering information about our series. This will help to keep the piano in tune and maybe even pay for some of our printing and publicity expenses. Thank you!

Top

********************

May Meeting

We had a rather lengthy business meeting.

	We had a request for donations to the Mu Phi Epsilon Harmony Fund.
	A possible new member, Susan Slocomb, will be initiated as a special election, probably by SMU students. She is receiving her Master’s in Music at UNT this semester, but had an undergraduate degree in another subject.
	Dues are due now so that we can pay them on time in September. Send to Sandra McMillen.
	The schedule for the fall Concert Series has been finalized. See next section.
	Our by-laws have never been approved and will need to be revised. (This has happened.)
	Pat Hill is sending cards to graduating Mu Phi seniors at SMU. We will make more use of e-mail to send newsletters and keep members informed.
	We need to investigate more fund-raising options, special election of new members, and recruitment of new members and patrons.

Susan Poelchau was presented the Violet Award, the highest award a chapter can give to one of their own, for outstanding service to the chapter. Susan is a past president and has headed the library concert series for the past two years. This was an award well-deserved!

New officers were installed by Wynona Lipsett, who presented each officer with a colored candle and a call to serve the chapter by fulfilling duties of their office.

For the program, Susan Poelchau and Pat Suitt played the interesting piano duet, Six Epigraphs , by Debussy. The piece was composed as background music for poems by Pierre Louys, Chansons de Bilitis.

Top

Pat Hill presented awards to Outstanding Senior Mu Phi at SMU and Outstanding Music Therapy Student at the SMU 2010 Honors Convocation and Recital on April 28th. Melissa Bosma, who played for us in April, received the Outstanding Mu Phi Senior award. Alison Etter, who is receiving her BA in Music Therapy and is a Mu Phi, received the Music Therapy award; she will be interning at a hospital in San Antonio this fall. Each award was for $250. At the Awards ceremony, a Lloyd Pfautsch award was also presented to Amanda Bond. Lloyd was a former patron and husband of member Edie Pfautsch.

New Officers

Officers for 2010-2011:

Tena Hehn – Chorister (Programs)

Pat Hill - President

Karen Glosserman - Historian

Cynthia Wadley - Steward

Melanie Priest - Chaplain

Susan Poelchau – Recording Secretary

Jenny Smith – Vice President (Membership)

Frances Estes – Corresponding Secretary

Sandra McMillen - Treasurer

Note: This is a composite photo; not all of these people were actually in the room when this was taken.

Top

Fall Member News

May 15th turned out to be a conflicting date for many members. Jenny Smith received her master’s degree at Baylor. Phyllis Wilson was vacationing in Virginia. Mary Ann Taylor was in Houston where her son graduated from law school and was commissioned into the Air Force. Claudia Jameson’s niece graduated with a doctorate. Janice Winchell, cellist, had a rehearsal that morning and a performance Sunday evening with her orchestra at First Baptist Church in Garland. Many other graduations were going on that day, we learned.

However, we did have some members in attendance who are usually not able to come: Katy Freiberger was still in Dallas prior to her return to Durango CO.

Martha Peak was able to get to a meeting after multiple health problems this past year. And Wynona Lipsett made this meeting her second one this year!

Edie Pfautsch, who moved to upstate New York this spring, has reported that her computer is finally installed and that she is now online. She is settling into her newest Retirement Center home with her poodle Toulie, and enjoying nearby family. She wrote in June:

Greetings from afar – and to all you Mu Phis. I have before me the nice note you sent me after I left. I’m living in a nice place, close enough to my daughter and her husband to be able to come to their place for dinner, or a night there, with a happy dog to greet me (and sleep with me). So this is what life can be, but…of course, I do miss all the friends there in Dallas. House there is still for sale, pretty well cleaned out by family members, but will have an estate sale later. I have two rooms here filled with things from home, so it’s “homey.” No more cooking, just trying not to eat ALL the food they serve so I’ll still be able to wear my clothes. Please let my many friends there know that I’m well taken care of, and have made the adjustment needed, and greet them for me. Fondly, Edie

Janice Mitchell is attending a commemorative event in Holland in Arnhem ("Bridge Too Far") - and the schedule always has the commemoration as close as possible to Sept 19 when the actual "battle" occurred. She will return Sept. 21.

Cynthia Wadley is a new great-grandmother of Emma Kathryn Crain - born June 26th. She is the 6th generation to have Kathryn as a middle name. They are calling her Emma Kate.

Phyllis Wilson had bunion surgery in July. She got to not walk on it and use a rollabout and scoot about.

Former Mu Chi member (initiated 1954) Lucy Westbrook passed away. The obituary was in the paper June 25.

Jenny Smith not only received her Master’s degree in microbiology from Baylor in May, she also married her partner Jen Jared in an outdoor wedding in Iowa on May 27.

She is now Jenny Smith-Jared. Double Congratulations to Jenny!

Susan Poelchau spent the summer in Germany with family and friends.

Mary Williams spent August in Colorado and Montana and will be on the East coast for five weeks in fall for hiking, a conference and family visits (leaving Sept 27, returning Nov 4).

Tena Hehn visited in Europe.

Top

Fall Chapter News

Thanks to Tena Hehn and committee, we have another interesting year of programs. See the meeting schedule for the year in the Meetings section.

A donation of $500 was given in memory of Tennie Lengel from her son Brian Lengel. Many thanks to Brian from our chapter.

Note on tax-deductible gifts:
Our individual chapters do not have 501/3(c) status, though our parent organization does. Gifts may be made through Mu Phi Epsilon, as well as through Friends of the Library for gifts for our concert series expenses. These funds are then returned to our chapter for our use.

Update: See clarification in November 2010 newsletter.

By-laws for our chapter were revised this summer and will appear in your yearbook at the first meeting. Keep them for next year.

In addition to the Officers shown above who were elected, the following Committee Chairpersons were appointed for 2010-2011:

Programs: Tena Hehn - Chair, Mary Ann Taylor
Social/Hosting: Phyllis Wilson
Library Concert Series: Susan Poelchau - Chair, Mary Williams, Pat Hill
Finance - Zelda Hantz
Mu Phi Epsilon Foundation Sadie Rowe
Newsletter/Webmaster: Mary Williams
Contact: Pat Suitt - Chair, Frances Estes, Susan Poelchau
Patrons: Sylvia Taylor Lerch
Sunshine: Frances Estes - Chair, Pat Hill
Yearbook: Mary Williams
Mu Chi Chapter Advisor: Sandra McMillen

We also have a current national officer and district director in our chapter: Sandra McMillen is International 2nd Vice President - Collegiate Advisor and Jenny Smith-Jared is District Director for SC2 District.

UPDATE: Jenny was just advised that she was awarded the Outstanding District Director for the past year. Congratulations again, Jenny!

Top

Website/Newsletter
from Mary Williams

Newsletters will be published before every other meeting. Please send me your news so your Mu Phi friends can keep up with what you are doing. Deadlines are: Sep 2, Nov 2, Feb 2, 2011 and April 2, 2011, but send articles and photos as you get them; I appreciate it! I will scan and return any non-digital photos. My e-mail: txtravel@flash.net.

If you are able to receive your newsletter by e-mail – with COLOR pictures (print it or not as you choose), please let me know. Our chapter can reduce our printing and postage expense by using our computers instead of the US Mail.

I will be updating our website as I can, around my travel schedule. I am now carrying a mini-computer, though, so e-mail me or call my cell phone with your news and changes. I will acknowledge all e-mails and return all calls; if you don’t hear back from me within a day, I do not have service for either or both or I did not receive your message. (This is true even when I am in Dallas.)

Our award-winning website (in its tenth year) is: www.muphiepsilondallas.org. When you need information, go to our website. You can see the meeting schedule, newsletters and back newsletters, color photos, some musical events going on in the city, member interviews and the Library Series schedule, performer biographies and programs online; we have had wonderful programs that you have missed!

Top

Concert Series

Susan Poelchau has come up with another wonderful lineup for our concert season for 2010-2011. The concerts will continue on Saturday at 3 pm this year. We had success with the Saturday time last year (yes, the word is out and we are getting larger audiences all the time!), and had very good performers. At our October meeting this year we will hear Mu Phi member and wonderful pianist Leslie Spotz for the program part of our meeting.

Volunteers are needed to help at the library on Saturdays – particularly for all of the October programs. Please contact Susan Poelchau to say you can come and help. And be sure to tell your friends about this series and come as often as you can yourself. Remember, all concerts are FREE - on Saturdays at 3 PM at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library Auditorium – 1515 Young St, Dallas. Most are in the First Floor Auditorium except for Oct 23rd, which is in the Fourth Floor Bradwhaw Gallery.

Click on the Concerts Page for the schedule. From there you can access biographies of the performers and their programs as they become available.

Top