NVAPA Fundraiser Play "Greater Tuna" - January 27, 2009

Please join the Northern Virginia Alumnae Panhellenic Association (NVAPA) for their annual fundraiser on Tuesday, January 27th at 7:00 PM. This year NVAPA is sponsoring the play "Greater Tuna" (http://www.greatertuna.com/gt/greater.htm) at the Little Theatre of Alexandria (http://www.thelittletheatre.com/) and all proceeds benefit the NVAPA scholarship fund which provides scholarships for undergraduate and graduate women attending college in the state of Virginia.

NVAPA will hold a pre-reception beginning at 7:00 PM, and the play will begin at 8:00 PM. As a member of NVAPA, Phi Sigma Sigma is responsible for selling 10 tickets to the play at a cost of $20 each. If you are interested in attending, please contact either Dotti Shields at dottishields@yahoo.com or Shara Roppel at slroppel@hotmail.com. This event is always popular and this year promises to be very fun and entertaining, so if you are are interested in attending please contact Dotti or Shara quickly as the tickets will be available on a first come first serve basis. Checks should be made payable to Phi Sigma Sigma.

Holiday Party & Quarterly Meeting

Our annual holiday party and quarterly meeting was a great success!
Check out pictures from the event.

Quarterly Meeting & Holiday Party - December 13th!

Need some Holiday spirit?

Join your Phi Sigma Sigma Alumnae sisters for our quarterly meeting and holiday party on December 13, 2008 from 11:30am-2:00pm. We will be having our quarterly meeting to discuss upcoming events and various chapter dealings.

We will be having a potluck brunch to celebrate the holidays. Please bring your favorite holiday dish to share with your sisters.

Got presents? We will be having a white elephant gift exchange ($15 limit). Bring a small gift along if you wish to participate in the gift exchange.

Location: The Home of Diane Lebson, 4453 Warren Street, NW Washington, Dc 20016
Phone: 202-758-2759

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Dotti Shields (dottishields@yahoo.com) 703-802-5759 or Tess Stovall at (tess.stovall@gmail.com) 615-727-2050

Come spread you holiday cheer!

Directions:

VIA METRO: From the Tenleytown/AU Metro (Red Line), proceed South on Wisconsin Avenue, make a right onto Yuma Street, walk 5 blocks, make a left south on 45th street, walk 3 blocks. At the corner of 45th and Warren Streets.

FROM DC: Proceed north on Massachusetts Avenue, towards Maryland. Take a right onto 46th Street and a right onto Warren, 4453 Warren Street, NW

VIA THE BELTWAY: Proceed on the Beltway towards Rockville/Baltimore. Take Exit 39 (River Road) towards Washington. Drive for about 4.5 miles, then take a right onto 46th Street and a left onto Warren Street, 4453 Warren Street, NW

Phi Sigma Sigma Founder's Day Celebration

The sisters of the Northern Virginia and Baltimore alumnae chapters came together at our national headquarters in Elkridge, MD to celebrate the founding of our sorority. Founder's Day is on November 26, 1913. Check out some pictures from the event!

All of us posing for a picture!

Sandy Grossman, our current Grand Archon.

We hope to see you all at our next event on December 13th! Stay tuned for updates.

ALIVE Food Distribution Event

Dear Sisters,

I wanted to share with you the amazing time we had this past Saturday participating in ALIVE's food distribution efforts.

Gretchen Ehle, Jillian Burstein, Amy Meininger and Michele Dominiak arrived at the Church of the Resurrection (Alexandria, VA) around 8:30 AM and the ALIVE Coordinator (Jane) had us working immediately. We, along with 25+ other volunteers, spent the first hour packing some 400 bags with various canned and dry goods donated by local grocery stores and food purchased by the ALIVE program. After bagging the food, we then were able to see the "fruits of our labor" by helping distribute the food to those in need as they came through the church to collect their share of groceries.

The ALIVE program was a well oiled machine and their well-organized process made it easy to enjoy the work. And to make this a day a bit more special, Saturday was also Make A Difference Day!

Finally, after a hard morning's work, ending our volunteer time around 12:30 PM, we celebrated by heading to 5 Guys for some burgers and fries.

There is another ALIVE event on November 8th (with the Boy Scouts) and then again on December 13th. While we will not make these official PSS NoVA events, these are great opportunities for sisters to volunteer. For more information on volunteering or on ALIVE, please visit http://www.alive-inc.org/.

Thanks to the sisters that participated. A good time for a good cause.

ALIVE Food Distribution Philanthropy Event

The sisters of the Phi Sigma Sigma NOVA alumnae chapter invite you to join us in our cause to help others through the ALIVE Food Distribution event on Saturday, October, 25, 2008.

Where: Church of the Resurrection
2280 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
When: 8:30am-12:00pm (Must be there by 8:30am.)

Volunteers are needed to help bag and distribute nonperishable food and fresh produce to low-income families.

This is a great opportunity for us to come together to help others and we hope many of you can join us.

Please RSVP to Michele by October, 22nd if you plan to join us. (moochichi at gmail dot com).

More Information for the Wine Event - Chrysalis Vineyard!

UPDATE:

Unfortunately, due to not meeting a minimum number of attendees, we had to cancel this wine event to Chrysalis. We look forward to exploring different and exciting ways to celebrate our sisterhood in the future.

------------------------------------------

Dear Sisters,

Here is more information about the Wine Event to Chrysalis Vineyard on October 4th!

*Price per person for this event will be $65. This price includes transportation to and from the event, admission to the festival, and snacks while we get there and come home.

*Pick-up and drop-off location will be in Fairfax, VA (most likely near Vienna Metro station).

*We will meet at 11:00 AM and should be back at the drop-off location by 4:00 PM.

PLEASE RSVP TO Michele Dominiak (moochichi at gmail dot com) BY SEPTEMBER 15th. We will need a minimum amount of people to make this trip happen, so the sooner we hear from you, the better!

Thank you and please contact Michele D. with any questions. We look forward to seeing you.

Happy Hour - September 11th

What: Happy Hour!!
When: Thursday, September 11, 2008 6:00-8:00pm
Where: M Street Bar and Grill (2033 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036)

We are celebrating the end of summer and the start of fall with a happy hour at M Street Bar and Grill. Happy hour specials run until 8pm, and the appetizers are on us!

M Street Bar and Grill is located in the St. Gregory Hotel--a short walk from Dupont Circle and Farragut North on the Red Line, and Foggy Bottom and Farragut West on the Orange and Blue Lines.

http://www.mstreetbarandgrill.com/

We hope to see you there!

SAVE THE DATE!

Dear Sisters,

SAVE THE DATE! Join sisters and friends on Saturday, October 4, 2008 as the Northern Virginia Alumnae Chapter travels to Chrysalis Vinyard in Middleburg, VA for their Bluegrass Festival (http://www.chrysaliswine.com/begin.htm). Join us for a day of fabulous wine tasting at one of the most popular vinyards in the DC Metro area. This will be an all inclusive event that will include luxury transportation to and from Chrysalis Vinyard (pick-up/drop-off info TBD), entry into the Chrysalis Vineyard Bluegrass festival and snacks to and from the event.

And the best part - you will be doing good! This is the NoVA Alumnae Chapter's Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation fundraiser. Profits from this event will go to the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation (www.phisigmasigmafoundation.org) to aid in their efforts to fund educational grants and donate to charitable organizations.

More details to come, but you won't want to miss this extraordinary event. EVERYONE (SISTER OR NOT) IS INVITED TO JOIN US - SO BRING YOUR HUSBANDS, SIG-OTHERS, BEST FRIENDS, AND PARENTS!

SPACE WILL BE LIMITED, SO RSVP NOW TO MICHELE DOMINIAK AT MOOCHICHI@GMAIL.COM BY SEPT 15, 2008. We look forward to seeing you!

--
Michele D.
NoVA Alumnae Chapter Philantrhopy Chair
moochichi@gmail.com

Summer BBQ - August 23, 2008!

Anyone hungry?

Come enjoy an afternoon of fun with your Phi Sigma Sigma sisters at our summer BBQ on Saturday, August 23, 2008!! All local Phi Sigma Sigma alumnae, their families, children, friends and significant others are invited to join us.

The BBQ will be from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM at Quincy Park in Arlington, VA (directions below) at 1021 North Quincy Street, Arlington, VA 22201. The park is walking distance from the Virginia Square-GMU metro stop.

The Phi Sigma Sigma NOVA Alumnae Chapter will be providing hamburgers/hot dogs/buns, soft drinks and paper products. Please bring your favorite BBQ side item or food for grilling (i.e. grilled chicken) and make sure to bring the recipe to share with your sisters! We?ll be doing a recipe exchange as part of the BBQ, so bring plenty of copies of your recipe to share.

Please RSVP no later than Thursday, August 21st (please email amy_meininger@hotmail.com if you did not receive an evite) and make sure to include whether you will be bringing a side dish, salad, main course or dessert.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Amy Meininger (amy_meininger@hotmail.com) 703-509-9998 or Tess Stovall at (tess.stovall@gmail.com) 615-727-2050

We are looking forward to seeing you there!

Directions:

Via Metro:

From the Virginia Square Metro, walk one block down N. Nelson Street until you see the park. You should cross over 10th Street North, and then walk past baseball fields on your left. The picnic table area will be on your left between 10th Street North and Washington Blvd on N. Nelson Street.

Driving from the West:

66 East to exit #71, Fairfax Drive/Glebe Road/Ballston. Stay straight and take Fairfax Drive approximately ½ mile to N. Quincy Street, turn left onto N. Quincy Street, the park will be on your right. Parking is available on any of the neighborhood streets or by the library at 10th & Quincy Street.

Driving from the South:

Take 395 North to exit 8A, Washington Blvd. Follow Washington Blvd. for 2.5 miles to Wilson Blvd., turn left onto Wilson Blvd. Follow Wilson to Fairfax Drive, and turn right onto Fairfax Drive. Follow for ½ mile and turn right onto N. Quincy Street. The park will be on your right. Parking is available on any of the neighborhood streets or by the library at 10th & Quincy Street.

Driving from DC:

Take 66 West to exit #71, Glebe Road. Turn left at the stoplight onto Glebe Road. Follow Glebe to Fairfax Drive, turn left onto Fairfax Drive. Follow Fairfax Drive approximately 1/2 mile to N. Quincy Street, turn left onto N. Quincy Street, the park will be on your right. Parking is available on any of the neighborhood streets or by the library at 10th & Quincy Street.

Happy Hour on July 10th!!

Join the sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma NOVA for a happy hour on July 10th at Liberty Tavern in Clarendon!

Liberty Tavern
3195 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201

www.thelibertytavern.com

Time: 6:00pm-7:30pm
Happy Hour prices end at 7:00!

Liberty Tavern is off the Orange Line - Clarendon Station.

Hope to see you there!!

3rd Annual Wine Tasting a Hit!

On Saturday, June 21st the Northern VA Alumnae Chapter held its 3rd Annual wine tasting event at the home of Katie Vlietstra in Washington DC, and the event was a hit once again. The theme this year was "Wine and Junk Food", which proved to be a popular theme! We had fun trying wines recommended by our wine consultant, Kelly Magyarics, along with junk food such as potato chips, cheese curls, chips and salsa, and buttered popcorn. We tasted such diverse wines as Italian Prosecco, Spanish Rioja, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, California Chardonnay, and French Cotes du Rhone.

We had a great turnout of alumnae in the area along with friends and family. Watch the blog for details on the upcoming wine tour in September, and next year's wine tasting event.

For information on Kelly Magyarics Wine Consulting, visit http://www.trywine.net/.

Check out some pictures from our event!

Next Chapter Meeting - Saturday, August 23, 2008

Our next quarterly meeting will be held on Saturday August 23rd at the home of Amy Meininger in Dunn Loring, VA. Please watch your emails for an Evite in late July, which will include the start time and directions.

We are doing a BBQ-themed Receipe Exchange Party, plus a very short quarterly meeting, so bring your best BBQ dish to pass, along with the receipe to share. This is an open event, so families, children, spouses and friends are welcome to attend.

If you have questions, please contact Tess Stovall at tess.stovall@gmail.com

Winter Fundraising

The chapter has increased its Phi Sigma Sigma aparrel options to raise money to fund its two scholarship endeavors. Please take a look at the new offerings for winter, and contact Gretchen Ehle (gmehle at hotmail dot com) for an order form. All orders are custom and can be placed at any time.

Happy New Year, NoVA!

Wishing all the sisters in the Washington, DC Metro area a very Happy New Year. Hope your holidays were wonderful and that the new year brings you joy and prosperity.

What better way to celebrate a new year than by joining (or renewing membership with) the Northern Virginia Alumnae chapter.