P.E.O. Record
P.E.O. Group Thrives Across the Pond
London has some exciting things happening—theatre, art, festivals, restaurants and, since September 2008, a rejuvenated P.E.O. group, thanks to the dedication of some sisters who decided not to give up on meeting.
P.E.O. has, in fact, had an organized presence in the U.K. since 1987, mainly due to the efforts of Pat Taylor, FP, Renton, Washington. She was the heart of P.E.O. in the U.K. through the 1990s, hosting meetings for sisters and BILs at her house, organizing cultural activities and holding more traditional meetings. However, many of the sisters were military wives who only stayed for a few years at a time and as the U.S. military bases in the U.K. were closed, membership numbers dwindled.
Pat persevered with her efforts to contact the known P.E.O.s annually with invitations to monthly Thursday lunches in Mayfair, central London. However, over time, the names on the list were increasingly made up of working women in the U.K. who often struggled to attend a weekday lunch. The regular attendees gradually waned to a core of two to five ladies who came to a point where they needed to decide whether they wanted to carry on. So Pat and Katherine Everitt-Newton, AM, Indianapolis, Indiana, decided to do one more mailing to try to attract more sisters with a Saturday meeting.
On a Saturday in May 2008, eight London-based sisters and one guest had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The better turnout was encouraging and the idea of continuing with Saturday meetings was championed by the enthusiasm of one working sister in particular, Virginia (Ginny) Khoury, JA, Berkeley, California. Having been on the verge of giving up, they decided to try a Saturday format going forward and to renew efforts to expand membership, accommodating as much as possible the lifestyles of the P.E.O.s involved.
And so it was that after a lot of effort, phone calls and contact with the ladies on the P.E.O. Overseas Yahoo! Group, on Saturday, September 13, 2008, 11 P.E.O.s from all over greater London (some traveling up to two hours to get there!) met in Ginny's office in the city for lunch and a viewing of a video of the P.E.O. Projects Program from the 2007 Convention of International Chapterin Minneapolis theprevious September.
In an atmosphere that was positively charged with enthusiasm and possibility, everyone had a chance to speak and share her feelings about P.E.O. and what she was hoping to achieve for this group. We were a group spread across a 40+ year age range, from grandmothers to new mothers. We were both American and British (two members had become P.E.O.'s while living in the States). We members had become P.E.O.s while living in the States). We had all come to the U.K. for different reasons and some of us were here for life, while others were here only for a year or two.
But we found that we had a lot in common. Principally, we all saw potential and promise in having a regular P.E.O. Group in the U.K., and it could enhance
In an atmosphere that was positively charged with enthusiasm and possibility, everyone had a chance to speak and share her feelings about P.E.O. and what she was hoping to achieve for this group.
our lives and give us a chance to give back to others. So, caught up in the spirit, we decided that we should meet four times a year on Saturdays and formalize a structure by electing officers for the next year:
PRESIDENT—Katherine Everitt-Newton, AM, Indianapolis, Indiana
VICE PRESIDENT—Ginny Khoury, JA, Berkeley, California
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY—Pat Taylor, FP, Renton, Washington
RECORDING SECRETARY—Kimberley Ahmedo, CL, Saint Paul, Minnesota
GUARD—Jan Browman-Barnes, PI, Placerville, California
TREASURER—Mindi Carter, CT, Belleville, Illinois
CHAPLAIN—Marion Rowsell, AA, Phoenix, Arizona
Our next meeting took place on a rainy day in November at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, where one of our members, Jen Taylor-Pollard, EU, McPherson, Kansas, works. We had 17 members attend, plus three guests from the U.S. and three infants. As our numbers and our enthusiasm grew, we decided to increase the meetings to six a year, aiming to have five on Saturdays and one during a weekday evening to attract P.E.O.s that worked in London but could not attend meetings on weekends. After the meeting, we were then joined for an animated and enlightening tour of the iconic Globe by two BILs and one sister's three-year-old daughter, after which we had lunch at a local Turkish restaurant.
Our Group met again on January 17, 2009, starting with a fascinating tour of the Wallace Collection, a stunning museum in an historic London town house with 25 galleries of French 18th century painting, furniture and porcelain with superb Old Master paintings and a world class armory. We followed this with lunch at a local Thai restaurant, enjoyed by 15 P.E.O.s, four BILs, one guest and an infant. We used a short meeting after lunch to get volunteers for committees, exchange ideas for further meetings and activities, and share the news about the planned article in The P.E.O. Record.
Although still building, the U.K. P.E.O. group is thriving. We have dates for meetings throughout the rest of 2009, a projects committee, a social committee and lots of ideas for activities and different places to go. Our approach will continue to be a balance of cultural/social activities to include families and friends, and focused meetings on P.E.O. initiatives and projects. Aside from that, we are still evolving—as the only overseas P.E.O. group, we have no established format to follow. However, we are excited by the chance to set our own path and perhaps, provide encouragement for P.E.O.s in other countries outside of the United States and Canada to form groups as well.
And so the tenacious commitment of the handful of sisters who decided not to give up and who were open to change has resulted in the strong, successful start of a new tradition in the U.K. Each time we meet, there is a tangible feeling of hope and joy that comes with building support and friendships through P.E.O. that will continue long into the future.
P.E.O. Overseas Yahoo! Group Celebrates First Anniversary
It is time for another celebration! March 2009 marked the first anniversart of the P.E.O. Overseas Members Yahoo! Group. Through the tireless efforts of Janice Thomson, Chapter CQ, Chicago, Illinois (now living in Brussels, Belgium), the Yahoo! Group has been an effective avenue of communication for P.E.O.s living overseas. Janice has continued to serve throughout the year as the moderator for the group, and International Chapter salutes her for a job well done!
Recently, Janice wrote, “When the Yahoo! Group as created. I thought we would be lucky if 20 people oined. Here we are one year later with 116 members ho’ve posted nearly 300 messages!” The Yahoo! roup is represented in about 43 countries. Through he Yahoo! Group, P.E.O.s can stay connected hroughout the world, albeit virtually—the next best hing to attending live P.E.O. meetings.
One of the greatest benefits is for P.E.O.s who are anticipating a move to an overseas location. As a new member, she can expect to be welcomed, encouraged, receive tips on what to bring with her that won’t be available in her new country and other valuable advise to make her adjustment easier.
Colleen Addison, Chapter FT, Cadillac, Michigan, is a new member who will be living in China. After posting an introduction of herself with a bit of history, she posted another message which was, in part: “…Janice Thomson, the creator of the P.E.O. Overseas Members Yahoo! Group, was one of the first to respond to my introduction. I was amazed when Janice said that she was also a member of Chapter CQ, Chicago, Illinois, my initiating chapter…If being from the same Illinois chapter was not ironic enough, imagine my surprise when we discovered that she initiated me! Wow! What an amazing example of how wonderfully small the world can feel when you have the long arms of the Sisterhood with you.”
To learn more about the Yahoo! Group, which is only for members living overseas, go to the P.E.O. International website peointernational.org.