Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SPRING 2016 • PAN PIPES 3 N O P S T U X Y Z MUSIC EDUCATION CONFERENCES Indiana The annual Indiana Music Educators Association (IMEA) Convention was held January 14-16. The Fort Wayne Alumnae Chapter once again hosted an SAI booth which has grown in popularity and visits each year. It featured a giant poster of the state of Indiana with all chapter locations - a big hit. National Headquarters supported us with a banner and stickers; we had financial, material, and volunteer support from all Indiana chapters, including a very helpful spouse! — Tess Reiling, Editor, Fort Wayne Alumnae Chapter Kentucky With help from the Music Education State Convention Grant, the Louisville Alumnae Chapter was able to host a booth at the Kentucky Music Educators Convention in Louisville on February 4 & 5, 2016. According to our records, 72 sisters stopped by over those two days to talk to us and get a sticker for their badge. ere was a pretty even distribution between collegiate and alumnae sisters. We connected with a few Distinguished Members, but they were ones that we were already aware of. e booth was set up with two tables and the table on the side included literature from National Headquarters, a sign-in sheet, pictures from chapters in the state and Sigma A Province, a map of all the chapters in and around Kentucky, and information about the Louisville Alumnae Chapter specifically. e back table held the items we had for sale: t-shirts, ornaments, and water. e SAI banner hung across the back. In front of the booth we had an easel with "notes for your sisters" on one side and trivia questions on the other. e first person to correctly answer each trivia question received an SAI pen or pencil. Both the easel and sale items proved to be great draws for the booth. Sisters (and a few Sinfonians!) enjoyed coming up with answers to our questions, and many sisters le notes for each other. We sold 26 shirts and 5 ornaments by the time the exhibits closed. Several people popped by the booth because they knew we had the shirts and wanted to be sure they got one. When sisters came by, we asked them where they were from and if they wanted more information. We got more sisters from the Louisville area this year, and will be following up with them about affiliating. We also directed sisters who were not from the area to the closest alumnae chapter, and passed their information along to those respective chapters. With collegiate ladies, we talked to them about the benefits of being an alumnae member and how it differs from being an SAI in college. We took some of their information as well so that we can follow up. Several ladies came by and said "I used to be an SAI"- we quickly set them straight! We also had several people tell us that they plan to affiliate once they retire. Since Louisville has not had an alumnae chapter in 40 years, we wonder if they understand the difference in time commitment between collegiate and alumnae involvement. Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity! — Kathleen Bartels, President Louisville Alumnae Chapter Michigan Sigma Alpha Iota was represented at the Michigan Music Conference aer a six year absence. Alumnae chapters in Alpha A, B, and C Provinces pooled their resources to pay the remainder of the registration fee aer they received the Music Education State Convention Grant for half of the payment. Seven sisters from the Grand Rapids Alumnae, one sister from the Detroit Alumnae, and Alpha B Province Officer Sally Roach all aided in the registration, set up, working, and dismantling of the booth. Forty-three sisters signed the guest list and le contact details. eir emails and addresses will be forwarded to the local alumnae chapter for them and also National Headquarters. We were especially elated to have one nonmember who was excited about starting a chapter at her school. ere were several sisters who inquired about their now defunct collegiate chapter and how to revitalize it. Two sisters from Sisters Represent SAI Across the Nation Above, from left, Sharon Steffens, VP-Ritual of Grand Rapids Alumnae Chapter, Jane Renas, President of Detroit Alumnae, and Lucy Spinner, member of Grand Rapids Alumnae Chapter. At right, Fort Wayne Alumnae Chapter members Ann Donner and Trudy Spath at the IMEA Convention SAI Booth. CONFERENCES continued on page 4

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