P.E.O. welcomes Ventura County members for Glen Tavern meeting, museums tour
April 24, 2013
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Those seven Wesleyan College, Iowa sorority sisters who in 1869 formed a secret society would no doubt have been comfortable at the historic Glen Tavern Inn, as well as delighted - and somewhat astonished - at what has now become the approximately 250,000 member P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization).
Glen Tavern Inn was where Santa Paula P.E.O. hosted almost 100 members of the Sisterhood from various Ventura County chapters at an April 13 luncheon, followed by a walking tour of area museums. Santa Paula P.E.O. President Lisa Frey, a fourth generation P.E.O. said the local chapter was formed in 1947.
A member for 35 years, Frey’s mother Gretchen is a former chapter president, “and my grandmother was also a chapter president in South Dakota.” P.E.O., said Frey, “is a nice way to be with likeminded women who are interested in personal development, as well as providing educational opportunities for others.”
According to Linda Bartleson, past president of the Santa Paula P.E.O., “Every six months the 15 chapters in Ventura County have a joint meeting, and every seven years it is our turn.” The program for the P.E.O. meeting included presentations by Jennifer Heighton of the Santa Paula Art Museum, Jeanne Orcutt of the California Oil Museum, Kevin Genovese of the Agriculture Museum of Ventura County, and Janice Dickenson of the Aviation Museum of Santa Paula.
Bartleson, a P.E.O. member for about 20 years and the luncheon chair, offered welcoming remarks and said following the luncheon guests were invited to go on a walking tour of the three museums closest to the Inn. “You all have passes” that Bartleson told the P.E.O. members would not only allow them to visit the museums, but also to experience “the culture and history here; we have so much and are so glad to share Santa Paula with you!”
Barbara Marshall of the Simi Valley P.E.O. said it was her first visit to the Glen Tavern. “And I’m looking forward to seeing the museums so this is really fun,” noted Marshall, a 25-year P.E.O. member who has been a society member in each place she has lived, including Alaska, Vermont and Canada.
P.E.O. member Sandra Tutak said she has visited the Inn in the past: “It’s such a great place,” and close to her Fillmore home. Sharing the table with Marshall and Tutak were Carol Queen of Westlake Village, Karolyn Vanden Bossche of Simi Valley and Pat Block of Ojai.
The women were eager to share tidbits about P.E.O., including what the formerly top-secret initials mean: “Philanthropic Educational Organization, P.E.O.,” said Tutak. What began as a small campus friendship society in 1869 soon blossomed to include women off campus. Today P.E.O. has chapters throughout the United States and Canada.
According to its website, “The P.E.O. Sisterhood is passionate about its mission: promoting educational opportunities for women,” and the sisterhood makes a difference in women’s lives with six philanthropies. That includes ownership of Cottey College, a women’s college with two-year and selected four-year programs.
There are five other P.E.O. philanthropies that provide higher educational assistance, an educational loan fund, international peace scholarship fund, program for continuing education, scholar awards and STAR Scholarship, the latter reflecting the sisterhood’s motto of “Women helping women reach for the stars.”
In Santa Paula the P.E.O. is also known for the famed quilt members created in 1980. The Santa Paula Memorial Quilt was a gift to the community.
Working from Leavitt Dudley designs, the P.E.O. quilters transformed the fabric and thread into a lasting interpretation of Santa Paula and surrounding areas. The First Christian Church, Moreton Bay Fig Tree, Santa Paula High School, Odd Fellows Clock Tower, Railroad Depot and Little Red School House are just a few of the local landmarks depicted on the quilt. Now on display at Blanchard Community Library, the quilt took about a year to complete.
“So many P.E.O. women that go so very far back have done so much,” said Bartleson. And still do: the chapter funds an annual scholarship for a graduating Santa Paula High School student, and donates to the Rotary Christmas Basket program, Hospice of Santa Clara Valley and Blanchard Community Library, among other causes it supports.
Frey said the sisterhood meets monthly, rotating among members’ homes and public venues. If anyone is interested in joining P.E.O. or would like to learn more about the organization, call Frey at 805-525-5095.
