After 82 years of service and fellowship, local teacher group DKG is calling it quits
After 82 years of bringing together local educators for fellowship and community service, the leaders of Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma in Wenatchee have decided to close the chapter and award all remaining scholarship funds at a June 8 celebration of all that organization has accomplished.
I met recently with chapter president Rosa Eilert and vice president Teri St. Jean to learn more about the organization and the reasons for shutting down the chapter. Like so many other service organizations in our communities, DKG has struggled to find new members in recent years. With membership dwindling, the decision was made to have a final celebration.
“It was a hard decision — we didn’t want to give up,” said St. Jean. The group met monthly during the fall, winter and spring and stayed connected to local events and issues by bringing in speakers to talk about a wide array of issues.
This year’s theme was “Just Do It,” a nod to the importance of staying active, engaged and serving the community.
At the June 8 event, they will be giving $8,000 to Chelan and Douglas county senior girls whose parents are employed by schools, in memory of Marje Stegeman. Stegeman was an outstanding educator and DKG member who taught for many years at Whitman, Sunnyslope and Washington Elementary schools. The celebration brunch will feature current members, past members and scholarship winners.
St. Jean and Eilert brought some scrapbooks from the early days of the organization to show the kinds of issues that the chapter had been involved in. My great aunt, Eva Anderson, who was an educator, state legislator and prolific author, was the inaugural state president of the organization and an active member of the local group.
In those early days, it was quite an honor to be selected for membership in the organization. One had to apply for membership and be voted in by the members. There was a greater sense of political awareness and involvement in those early days, which over time was superseded by a concentration on self improvement through fellowship and community service.
They are hopeful that the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center will want to keep the scrapbooks that have documented the history of women educators in the valley.
There are some long-time members who have remained active, including Pauline Peterson, who has been a member for 57 years. But the official end of the Zeta chapter will not end the friendships and the camaraderie of the individuals. Eilert and St Jean told me that the group will still get together from time to time and continue their relationships.
The shuttering of the local Delta Kappa Gamma chapter is a reminder of how society has become less connected and more isolated. The frenetic pace and increasing pressure on teachers perhaps explain why teachers these days are choosing not to participate. Perhaps it is also the case that social media and our web-based lifestyles have disrupted the bonds of community that we once held dear.
We will need to find creative new ways to build the bonds of community going forward. A door of social connection is closing but perhaps another can be opened.
