Sigma Kappa - University of Florida

7 Sigma Kappa O ver the past 60 years, my Sigma Kappa Beta Tau sisters Julie O'Connor Robbins '63, Judy Pofahl Skinner '63, Sally Sitar Swaringen '63, Janice Hotchkiss Wilsky '63, Sandy Reed Bartling '64, Janice Luther Carver '65, Mary Kay Struthers Habgood '65, Lynn Hill Meier '65, and I have shared and celebrated weddings, births, anniversaries, and retirements. We have supported each other through the loss of a husband, sibling, parent, and Sigma Kappa sister. Our bond of friendship and sisterhood has become what we call "The Traveling Sigma Kappas." Our story began when we pledged Sigma Kappa at the University of Florida. Our bond of friendship grew during our college years. We married, graduated, and moved to different cities, but we kept in touch through cards, phone calls, and occasional visits. CONNECTED BEYOND COLLEGE The year we turned 50, we gave Julie a surprise birthday party. We talked and laughed as if it were only yesterday that we were Sigma Kappa sisters living in the chapter house. We decided we needed to get together more often. Seven years later, we gathered at Unicoi State Park in Georgia. We talked, laughed, and explored the local area. We noticed on that first trip that Sally and Julie fell right back into their familiar habit of finishing each other's sentences. When we looked at their feet, we laughed and said, "You are wearing the very same shoes." It is surprising how the friendship bonds formed in our college years and watered a little with cards and visits are strong and long-lasting. The year we turned 60, we traveled to Paris. What a fun trip we had, finding our way to all those places we had only dreamed of. After 60, we decided that we needed to get together every year to renew our bond of friendship by sharing our life experiences, feeling the hugs, hearing the laughs, and seeing the smiles. Since then, we have gotten together every year—except during the COVID year—when we exchanged travel for ZOOM meetings! MAINTAINING BETA TAU BONDS We celebrated 50 years as Sigma Kappa Beta Tau sisters by traveling to the national parks in the Northwest. That was very special because 50 years prior, two of us had visited Yellowstone National Park after the Sigma Kappa College Officers Training School in Ogden, Utah, in 1963. When we turned 70, we went to Ireland to celebrate. In 12 days, we experienced the feel of a land thousands of years old and visited historic castles, cathedrals, ruins, and burial grounds with gravestones dating back to the 4th century of people who settled in Ireland. Since then, we have primarily met in one place, rented a house or condo, enjoyed good restaurants, and taken in the local sights. In 2017, we watched the eclipse from Sally's house in South Carolina, the perfect location. Recently, we enjoyed the beaches at Jekyll Island, Georgia, and Reddington Beach, Florida. We also visited one of our sisters who cannot travel with us anymore. In September 2024, the original four of us (Julie Robbins, Carol Steiner, Sally Swaringen, and Janice Wilsky) are celebrating 80 with a trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan. It is hard to believe that we are turning 80! It seems like only yesterday when we were at UF and living at the Sigma Kappa house. Although our traveling troupe varies from year to year, the common ingredients are friendship, sharing life experiences, laughter, and good food. We truly share One Heart and One Way. Who knows where you will find us next, but we will be talking, laughing, and smiling. If you are a Beta Tau sister from the '60s and want to join us, email Carol Bogan Steiner at carolsteiner@hotmail.com. Alumnae sisters visit Shenandoah National Park. Sitting, from left: Julie O'Connor Robbins '63, Janice Hotchkiss Wilsky '63, Sally Sitar Swaringen '63, and Carol Bogan Steiner '63. Standing: Lynn Hill Meier '65 and Sandy Reed Bartling '64. Beta Tau alumnae celebrate 70th birthdays in Ireland. From left: LeeAnn O'Brien (friend), Lynn Hill Meier '65, Janice Hotchkiss Wilsky '63 and John Wilsky, Susan (friend), Julie O'Connor Robbins '63, Nancy (friend), Sandy Reed Bartling '64, Jim Steiner and Carol Bogan Steiner '63, Phil Swaringen, Jeff (friend), and Sally Sitar Swaringen '63. S I S T E R H O O D I S F O R E V E R ! Sixty Years of Friendship, by Carol Bogan Steiner '63 Sixty Years of Friendship, by Carol Bogan Steiner '63

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