Monday, September 8, 2008

Delta Omicron Receives Awards at 2008 PFA Conference

National professional fraternities gathered in Salt Lake City on September 4-8, 2008 for the Annual Professional Fraternity Association Convention. The annual event is an opportunity for national fraternity and foundation presidents, executive directors, and board members to gather to discuss common concerns and learn about current issues affecting fraternal organizations.

Each year the Professional Fraternity Association presents a variety of awards. Delta Omicron was privileged to be the recipient of two of the awards: the Outstanding Professional Program of 2008 Award and the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award.

Delta Tau Receives Outstanding Professional Program Award

For forty-two years, the Sinfonicron Light Opera Company has been delighting audiences, enriching the community and providing a unique experience for William & Mary College students. The project dates back to 1965 when Delta Tau Chapter of Delta Omicron and Nu Sigma Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in the music department at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia joined forces to present a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. Since that time, Sinfonicron has become an annual event for both the campus and community. In recent years, Nu Kappa Epsilon and the Theater Student Association have joined PMA & D.O. in presenting well-known shows every January as the college returns for the spring semester. The productions draw not only chapter members but also other interested students on campus.

Initially productions centered around the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta genre. But in more current times, the production alternates between Gilbert & Sullivan productions and other musicals. The productions draw not only chapter members but also other interested students on campus. Last year’s production involved over 90 students in the production of Pirates of Penzance.

The program is completely student run, supervised by a Board elected each February from the chapters. The Board determines the musical for the next year, and students work on show design through the summer months. Then during the winter break all the aspects of the production (learning the music, rehearsing the scenes, building the set, sewing the costumes, etc) occur. They even have their own website. Delta Tau Chapter President Lauren Estes and Trevor Harrison, Vice President of Nu Sigma Chapter of PMA , highlighted the operation of project as they accepted the award.

Our fraternity is very proud of this project because it demonstrates the long heritage of cooperation between two music fraternities and the creative leadership that participation in a music fraternity develops. D.O. members can find out more about the project by googling “Sinfonicron.”

Michelle Gratis Worthing Receives
PFA’s Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award

The Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes an individual who deserves recognition for exceptional service or extraordinary commitment to their fraternity. This year Delta Omicron nominated Michelle Worthing for the award and was pleased that she received the award at the PFA Conference.

Michelle Worthing, know affectionately as “Miki” to all who know her, is so very active in her community. A retired music teacher, she remains an active performer in Tuesday Music Club in Akon, Ohio, and Fortnightly Music Club in Cleveland. She performs school concerts upon request and for the past few years has worked diligently to educate the public on the topic of hearing loss. She presented a session on “Preventing Hearing Loss” at the 2006 Ohio Music Educators Conference and then again at local schools and community groups. Miki is active with University Women at Kent State University, working on numerous committees and serving as its president for two years. She organizes three blood drives a year for the local Red Cross, working at registration, canteen, and blood collection. She also is an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma Professional Teaching Organization, serving as its president for four years.

Miki’s service to Delta Omicron Music Fraternity has spanned so many years. She served as Chapter Adviser of Delta Upsilon Chapter for 35 years and as Province President supervising Ohio and Pennsylvania chapters for 25 years. She served on the National Board of Directors of Delta Omicron for 9 years, and she served as Conference Chair at the Delta Omicron Triennial Conferences in 1984 and 1996. She has been a Trustee of the Delta Omicron Foundation since 1989, serving as its secretary. She is even a member of two D.O. alumni chapters—Zeta Sigma and Zeta Omicron!

Miki is currently an appointed member to the Delta Omicron Centennial History Committee and is participating in the writing of our fraternity’s centennial history. Her appointment to the History Committee was so logical because of her previous self-initiated work into D.O.’s history. Several year’s ago, she researched the fraternity archives and developed a Power Point presentation of Delta Omicron’s history that she has shared at our 2003 and 2006 Conferences.

All the positions and activities listed above are volunteer. Everyone is amazed that Miki has time left over to enjoy gardening and “volunteer” with several of her local gardening groups. But if you are around Miki for two minutes, you experience her intense energy level and interest in all topics and realize her service derives from those forces. Congratulations, Miki!

Attending this year’s PFA Conference were International President Jonny Ramsey, Past President Ann Anthony Jones, Foundation Secretary Michelle Worthing, and Delta Tau Chapter President Lauren Estes. Lauren was the recipient of the Ann Anthony Jones summer scholarship, and she and Mrs. Jones were able to discuss her summer activities that that scholarship helped to provide. International President Ramsey was re-elected to the PFA Board as Treasurer at the conference.