Gamma Gamma Ray
Newsletter of the Gamma Gamma Chapter
September 2026
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
Thursday, September 10th meeting at Prince of Peace
Tuesday, October 13th meeting at Our Redeemers
Tuesday, November 17th, AUCTION at Prince of Peace
Thursday, December 10th Dot Art and Dinner at Our Redeemers
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Please read the newsletter in its entirety – there is a lot of information!! Also, please note that we are collecting gift cards in small denominations at the September meeting for use by the mentors with their mentees.
Book Club News
The Gamma Gamma Book Club usually meets the fourth Tuesday of the month via Zoom, but this fall there are some exceptions.
Upcoming books, dates, and times are as follows:
September 22 The Names by Florence Knapp. The meeting will be in person at the home of Cindy Sheely at 5:00.
October 27 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Zoom meeting 7:00
December 3 (Thursday) Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Zoom meeting 7:00
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COMMITTEE REPORTING:
From your treasurer:
Did you know only a small portion of your annual DKG dues payment stays with our Gamma Gamma Chapter? The majority of the money is sent to DKG International and to the Illinois State Organization. The particulars are as follows:
Active members pay $84.00. $40.00 is sent to DKG International, $23.00 to ILSO, and $21.00 stays with Gamma Gamma.
Reserve members pay $42.00. $20.00 is sent to International, $8.00 to ILSO, and $14.00 stays with our chapter.
Collegiate members pay $20.00. All of that money is sent to International.
Society Business (Finance, Rules, Research)- Nancie Watkins
The updated budget is attached to this email. We approved the budget at our May banquet. The budget has been sent to the state treasurer and has been posted on our website.
Membership – Mary Wrobel
The Membership Committee members assembled 21 gift packages for our working members and Madelynn distributed them. The committee members also updated our Gamma Gamma photo albums. Thanks to Sue Werner for hosting our committee luncheon and gathering.
We are welcoming three new members who are transferring from other chapters. Joan Rog and Barbara Arneson transferred membership from Beta Alpha. Lynn Reynolds is transferring from Gamma Xi. Barb Rog joins us as an honorary member.
The following individuals have chosen to drop their membership in Gamma Gamma: Tia Devito, Veronica Ellis, Matina Kantzavelos, and Vania Chavez-Medina (collegiate member)
Educational Excellence-Scholarship -Denise Pawelczyk
The end of July found future, young, and veteran educators getting together in person to share dinner and act as resources for one another. Among the topics discussed: Tips for our new college freshman…job search ideas…and discussing pressing issues in education now–balancing technological integration, and student and teacher wellbeing challenges. Many thanks to Madelynn Brossard for opening up her house to us, and a large round of applause to Dianna O’Donnell for joining us as a guest speaker; providing a principal’s viewpoint on what an attractive job applicant looks like.
August has found the EE Committee already busily preparing for this year’s Gamma Gamma auction! We will be having a baked goods live auction again, and a new type of “pull”. In lieu of wine, we will be offering the “Blind Date With a Book” pull!!! Not only a great way to help fund our Gamma Gamma Recruitment Grant, but also LOTS of opportunities for hostess gifts and holiday gifts to prepare for upcoming celebrations!!! (Note the date change: The auction will be held during our Friendsgiving festivities.)
Remember–if any Gamma Gamma member knows of an individual who would like to join our community of future and young educators, our doors are always open! They are most welcome to join our in person or Zoom support meetings! Simply let me know their contact information, and I’d be happy to invite them.
Programs– Kris Beaudette,/Marcy Dubinsky
Game Night!
Bring a game that you want to play with others, and/or play a game that members bring. Any kind of game is great! Cards, dice, tiles, board games are all good. Examples are Rummikub, Farkle, Yahtzee, Quirkle, Five Crowns, Phase 10, Uno, Monopoly, and Trios.
Hostesses: Service Projects
3:30 Setup/Social/Meeting
4:30 Program
Location: Prince of Peace Church, 930 W. Higgins Rd. Schaumburg
Service Project: Small denomination gift cards for grant recipients
Communication, Linda Wright
Please pick up your 2026/2027 yearbook/directory at the September meeting. We are printing 50 copies. If you don’t know your member ID#, it will be available at the meeting. We ask you to destroy (shred, burn) your old yearbook/directory. If you would like us to shred your old yearbook/directory, please bring it to the meeting.
Service and Special Projects- Dayna Prochaska
We would like to thank everyone for their generosity last year. Last spring we donated $600 to the Marion Medical mission to assist with digging wells and a $1050 donation to Kenneth Young to assist with mental health support.
We have two special projects this fall:
September gift cards (smaller denominations at Panera, Target, Starbucks etc) for young educators/college students studying Education.
October- children’s picture books for donation to ELC for their holiday gifts to families.
*Research shows that the best thing parents can do for their children is to read to them daily. Many marginalized and immigrant families do not have books in their home, and they are afraid of giving out their confidential information to get a library card. Plus, many don’t have transportation to get to the library. Please consider donating new picture books for newborn-first grade. Bilingual (Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, American Sign Language with English) options are appreciated.
February has an international focus, and the committee is in the process of discussing the options offered by the DKG Illinois State Organization-TBD
At the spring celebration banquet in May, we will be collecting for Kenneth Young.
CARE TEAM NEWS:
Please contact Glenda Klein-Mali glendaklein@sbcglobal.net (and Madelynn Brossard, brossardmadelynn1445@gmail.com ) if you have any news for the Care Team. We also love to hear your good news and celebrations! Let us know what you would like shared with your Gamma Gamma sisters.
Many of our chapter sisters have health issues or other situations they are dealing with which prevent them from coming to meetings. If you haven’t heard from a Gamma Gamma sister in a while, please take a moment to call or email her. We can all do our part to check on our members and support them when they need us most.
To all our Gamma Gamma sisters, don’t forget to let us know if you need our support-
The Care Team
OPPORTUNITIES:
To our Gamma Gamma members who are in need of Professional Development credits (PDs), check out the “What’s Happening in DKG Illinois the Week of…” that is forwarded from Bev Johns! There has been, and will continue to be, opportunities to acquire PD credits by Zooming in on some of the programs listed.
Madelynn’s notes:
I am looking forward to an exciting year! Your ex-board has been working hard over the summer to provide wonderful programs and experiences. We hope you all can participate in our activities.
Did you know that Dolly Parton is an honorary member of DKG. For years she has supported and donated thousands of dollars to education. Her Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to 5 years old. At our September meeting will be passing around an envelope for anyone who would like to make a donation that we will send from Gamma Gamma to honor her and her commitment to education. Make checks payable to Delta Kappa Gamma.
WEBSITES TO REMEMBER:
(Hold down control key and click to activate link)
Gamma Gamma chapter: http://www.gammagamma75.org
Illinois State Organization: http://www.deltakappagamma.org/IL
International: http://www.dkg.org
Zoom links for DKG-ISO programs: http://www.ilsozoom.weebly.com (Note: this is a change.)
http://www.YouTube.com. Subscribe to this channel: Delta Kappa Gamma, Illinois, Key Women Educators. Many/most of the slide shows from Zoom programs are saved to this channel. The Zoom sessions are not recorded, but the slides that the presenters used are all saved here, for your convenient viewing.
Facebook Pages to visit:
DKG-Gamma Gamma Chapter
DKG-Illinois Key Women Educators
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International
DKG-ILSOWIACAR- This is the Facebook page for the Illinois State Organization Women in the Arts Creative Arts Retreat (virtual.)
Gamma Gamma Chapter 