Chapter House Library - Photo by Richard Boehnke
 
 

COLORADO P.E.O. CHAPTER HOUSE, INC.

MAY WE ADD YOU TO OUR FRIENDS OF CHAPTER HOUSE
E-MAIL MAILING LIST?

To be added to our Friends e-mail mailing list, please send your first and last name, chapter letters if you are a P.E.O., e-mail address, phone number and location (if you wish) to "E-Mail Address Request" at colopeo@msn.com. You need not be a P.E.O. to request being added to this Friends of Chapter House e-mail mailing list. You may ask to be removed from this list at any time.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES - CHAPTER HOUSE
"Welcome to our home!"
September 2008

• A FULL HOUSE!: as of June 2008; Please contact Janet regarding the criteria adopted in August for the WAITING LIST. Currently there are 11 residents. They are Frances Edwards, EZ-FL; Mary Fahrenwald, Y; Ellen Jones, W-NE; Deane, Z-UT & Francis Lawlor; Phyllis Lawrence, BW; Dorothy McGowan, Y; Joyce Mesmer, EP-NE; Thelma Pinger, GV; Ada-AP-NM & Haskell Rosebrough.

• DONATIONS: All residences are occupied now, but please don't think that donations are no longer needed. Chapter House continues to depend upon individual and chapter donations to sustain it. Costs are up in nearly every area of life. The building and its infrastructure as well as the other structures on the grounds are nearly 42 years old and that means "maintenance." MANY THANKS to those who have supported our home in the past. Every donation is greatly appreciated.

• GARDENS AT CHAPTER HOUSE: MANY THANKS from the residents and staff alike to those of you who volunteered as individuals or with your chapter to keep our gardens beautiful all summer long and into the fall. We deeply appreciate what you continue to do for us. A SPECIAL thanks from all of us here to Randy Linde, former Board member of Chapter CE, for leading the gardening efforts this year and in years past. Your gardening efforts are being admired by all.

• AN INCREASE IN THE COST OF MEALS: The Board of Directors of Chapter House had no choice but to increase the price of meals at Chapter House effective June 1 due to the rapid rise in food costs in these past months. Breakfast remains the same: $5 per person. Dinner or Lighter Lunch is $15 (which includes a $3 gratuity for the servers). Supper is now $8 instead of $6. The cost of buffets (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day) will be $20 (up from $18) including gratuity for adults and $10 for children from five years to 12. There is no charge for those under five. The Food Service Manager continues to provide variety and quality food and service. Please come and continue to enjoy dining with us.

• BED & BREAKFAST: Two B & B Rooms are available at $40/person or $45/couple per night. Breakfast is extra at $5.00 per person. Advance reservations are required, and guests must be P.E.O.s. Their families or traveling companions are also welcome. Many different states were represented in this summer's guest list.

• COME SEE IT FOR YOURSELF!: Chapters are welcome to book a tour/program and luncheon at Chapter House. This was Janet's theme at convention. Some of the chapters in Pikes Peak Reciprocity have done so as have visitors from other towns and cities. Pat and Janet can assist you in making plans, which includes a tour of the entire home and an opportunity to meet some of its residents. Approximately eight out-of-town chapters have come for a tour/program and in most cases dinner with us this summer.

• FUNDRAISING: Christmas is coming! Some Chapter House cookbooks are available for $18.50; a set of 10 postcards (10 scenes) - all of Chapter House and its grounds is $5; and note cards (limited number remaining) with the same photos and same number are $10. Quilt raffle tickets are again available for the same price as last year. Please refer to the flyer for details. The queen-size quilt is the beautiful work of Past State President, Martha Kuhn, AX, Burlington. It is on display in the Living Room.

• BUFFETS: Although the Thanksgiving menu is not quite complete, please call Pat or Janet for the details for details and reservations. P.E.O.s, their friends and family are welcome - up to 40 people for Christmas, Easter, and Mother's Day, too. Other upcoming events include the FALL CLEANUP DAY on Sat., 10/11/08 fr. 9:00 AM-NOON and beyond if necessary. Please bring rakes, hand tools, gloves, and your friends and family. Snacks and beverages will be served, and the Grounds attendants will be on hand to assist and lead the effort. Every volunteer is appreciated. FLU SHOT CLINIC on Mon., 10/20/08 fr. 9:00 AM-11:00 AM. Advance reservations are required. Please call Pat and Janet for more details. HOLIDAY DECORATING PARTY: Tues., 11/25/08, fr. 2:00-4:00 PM. P.E.O.s are welcome to join residents in making the home beautiful for Christmas. The CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE will take place on Sun., 12/14/08, fr. 2:00 PM-4:00 PM. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn at this event. The ANNUAL PICNIC/BBQ drew nearly 200 guests on 8/9/08 and despite the fact that the rain decided to cut activities off at 2:00 PM those attending enjoyed it. We appreciate the continuing support of particularly the Pikes Peak Area chapters in keeping this annual gathering of sisters and their husbands, families, and friends alive and well. A special thanks to Tom O'Boyle for featuring his WW II music at the event.

• CAPITAL PROJECTS: Money for these Board-approved larger projects will come from the dividends of some Chapter House investments. Keep your eyes on progress in dead wood trim on the grounds, improvement in the electrical work to the Chapter House sign, and new milled asphalt parking lots and carport area to be done along with the correction of some drainage before the snow blows.

• CHAPTER HOUSE CORRIDOR ART COLLECTION: Ada Rosebrough, a resident from Farmington, NM, is sharing her Navajo paintings in all three residential wings of Chapter House with those wishing to see them. She owned an art gallery in Farmington and is an artist herself. She's been asked to give tours and in taking one of these you'll learn even the small things about the artist as well as the title and meaning of each painting. Please call Janet or Pat for more information. Individuals are welcome to tour, also. Advance notice is appreciated since the collection is in the corridors of the residents' homes.

• MAMA BEAR AND HER TWO CUBS, THE DEER, FOX, AND SQUIRRELS continue to provide entertainment for all of us. If you'd like to bring your paint brush or camera out sometime, you might witness these antics. Please give Janet or Pat a call so they can check the calendar of activities.

• SHARE YOUR TALENTS: with the residents. If you or someone in your chapter can bring a discussion, a class, or entertainment to the residents, Janet would be pleased to visit with you. Many of the residents just participated in interviews with senior students at Colorado College who had a class project in Women's Studies/Anthropology. They enjoyed it as did the students. It's great exposure for Chapter House, and we want to be good neighbors!

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Colorado P.E.O. Chapter House

ANNUAL MEETING
2008 COLORADO STATE P.E.O. CONVENTION
June 6, 2008
Four Points Sheraton Hotel
Denver, CO

PROGRAMS & TOURS:

I'd like to thank the following local Colorado P.E.O. chapters for visiting Chapter House during the past year:

AU, BB, BW, DJ, DU, DZ, ES, FC, FW, GK, GS, HI, IH, IL & IN.

Most came for a program, tour, and luncheon. We have appreciated and enjoyed visiting with sisters from each of them. 290 individual tours were also conducted. These visitors represented 24 different states. The Chapter House Bed & Breakfast guests used the home 188 nights and came from 15 states during the past year.

HERE ARE SOME REASONS WHY YOU AND YOUR CHAPTER SHOULD PLAN TO VISIT YOUR CHAPTER HOUSE IN THE COMING YEAR:

GIFTS

We appreciate and are using every gift or contribution to Chapter House. These include project donations from chapters, individual gifts or bequests, special donations, Christmas gifts, Gifts-In-Kind, and Volunteerism. Donations, resident fees, and income from room use or food service help to sustain us at Chapter House.

FUNDRAISERS

Those being coordinated by the Friends of Chapter House at present include sale of the Chapter House cookbooks (reprints), sale of both postcards and note cards, quilt raffle scheduled for the Christmas Open House, and attendance at the annual picnic/BBQ scheduled for August 9. More information on any of these will be available at the Chapter House booth this weekend. Also, please refer to the updated Chapter House website at www.peochapterhouse.org. You may call Chapter House or contact us via the new e-mail address: colopeo@msn.com.

I'd like to conclude my Annual Report tonight with some...

QUOTES FROM RESIDENTS OR FORMER RESIDENTS ABOUT CHAPTER HOUSE

Bessie Kuster, GI - (former resident who just celebrated her 103rd birthday at Chapter House and lives only minutes away)

"Each season is experienced, not merely observed at Chapter House. The rhythm of the seasons touches and renews me."

Frances Reynolds, EL - (former resident - who is no longer with us)

"What a joy to live among Sisters who share your beliefs and express a loving concern for each other. There are bridge games once a month, the tradition of advent services between Thanksgiving and Christmas, outings and socializing before meals; but the women maintain both their independence and individual lives. We share a care for one another here."

Mary Jo Fahrenwald, Y - (current resident - 20 years)

"Chapter House belongs to every P.E.O.; but for me, it is my home. This is a beautiful place to live. I'd heard about this place at my P.E.O. chapter in Chicago, and I drove out here to stay for a few days to check it out. I ended up taking permanent residence in the same room I stayed in those few days. There's no other place like it, and I'd looked all over."

Thelma Pinger, GV - (current resident - 31 years)

"There is no better place to spend one's days than Chapter House. This is like being in heaven before you die."

Anita Cooper, DL - (former resident - who is no longer with us)

"I'd known about this place since 1966," she said, "when I voted on its founding as a delegate to the P.E.O. State Convention that year. My home back in Las Animas was an early 1900s structure that needed a new furnace, new plumbing, new this-and-that, and I thought, 'At my age, I ain't a-goin' to mess with that' so I moved here."

DO COME SEE IT FOR YOURSELF THIS YEAR!

Thank you.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COLORADO P.E.O. CHAPTER HOUSE
2007-2008

"Come See It for Yourself!" - the Colorado P.E.O. Chapter House, that is. From April 1, 2007, through mid May of 2008, 12 out-of-town P.E.O. chapters and three area ones met this challenge and enjoyed a program, tour, and dinner with the residents. The Board of Trustees, staff, and residents hope that even more Colorado P.E.O.s and guests will meet this challenge in the year to come.

The Board held six regular meetings this year. They asked Janet Weidner, C, Executive Director, to raise awareness of the "Share the Care" Fund and to promote donations to it. The Board designated that $3,000 of a bequest received in the fall be transferred to it to provide a needed jump-start. An additional $2,270 was given by chapters and individuals this year as a result of the increased awareness.

Chapter House has no vacancies as of June. There are currently 11 residents (including two couples). A Waiting List will now be maintained. The three vacancies that occurred this fiscal year were all due to medical circumstances. Five P.E.O.s, two with their husbands and all from out-of-state, joined the Chapter House family during the past year.

Donations from 2/3 of the 246 P.E.O. chapters in Colorado as well as a generous (anonymous) restricted one from a P.E.O. resulted in many maintenance issues being resolved. Heating, plumbing, and electrical repairs as well as conversion of the Maintenance office into a residential room were among the more important ones. The fountain at the pond was replaced and the waterfall repaired. Many older appliances in the kitchen were replaced including the commercial refrigerator. A new phone system was installed last summer and the phone plan brought up-to-date. We wish to thank all who contributed to these improvements through their donations.

The Transportation Attendant hired in May of 2007 has put in many volunteer hours of pruning and trimming the 10-acre grounds and assisting with maintenance issues at Chapter House. He assumed the position of On-Site Supervisor on January 1 and is making many improvements to the cottage on the grounds, which has become his residence.

An organized and very capable Food Service Manager was hired in June, and she has brought new ideas and organization to the dining experience of both residents and guests at Chapter House. A lighter luncheon menu is now available to groups. Successful buffets were enjoyed by residents, their guests, other P.E.O.s, and their families on Mother's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Many activities took place at Chapter House this year. About 175 guests attended the annual barbecue/picnic. Chapters from around the state reserved tables and sold items to raise funds for the P.E.O. projects. Local chapters and other educational groups used Chapter House for meetings and luncheons. Janet and Pat Bradley, K, Administrative Assistant, conducted 290 individual tours of Chapter House during the year. Guests from 24 states were among these. During this same period, the two Bed and Breakfast rooms were occupied 188 nights and 15 states were represented.

The Friends of Chapter House and their president, Liz Aikin, Y, have once again contributed much to Chapter House including assistance with gardening efforts, decorating, and fundraisers, such as the sale of Chapter House cookbooks and packages of Chapter House postcards. Liz's Friends' e-mail newsletter has reached many this year concerning the goings-on at Chapter House. The Board, residents, and staff wish to acknowledge, too, the receipt of in-kind and other special donations.

The Board approved the reprint of 250 Chapter House cookbooks due to the number of requests received. Approval was also given to the printing and sales of postcards of the Chapter House grounds - 10 for $5 - with proceeds to benefit Chapter House. Once again, more than $2,000 was raised through quilt raffle tickets during 2007-2008. A sister in Chapter Y was the winner of the 2007 raffle and the lucky recipient of the quilt. Our thanks once again to Martha Kuhn, AX, Burlington, PPCSC, for her donation of this beautiful hand-stitched masterpiece. She will deliver another one to the 2008 Convention for raffle once again in December 2008.

On behalf of the Board members, staff, and residents of Chapter House we wish to thank sisters and other thoughtful individuals who continue to support with pride this successful Colorado state P.E.O. home - one of only five left in the nation. DO - "Come See It for Yourself!"

Jean Harris, DL, Chairman
Janet Weidner, C, Executive Director

Colorado P.E.O. Chapter House, Inc.
1819 W. Cheyenne Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
(719) 473-7670
colopeo@msn.com/
www.peochapterhouse.org