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How is your Chapter Committee set up?

Ceremonies Committee which handles all ceremony duties including necrology functions

Separate Ceremonies and Necrology Committees

No Ceremonies Committee – someone in the chapter takes care of it

Not sure

Are you Chapter Ceremonies Chair?

Are you on the Ceremonies Committee?

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Which Ceremonies?

Induction of New Members

(formerly known as Initiation)

Installation of Chapter Officers

(even numbered years)

Founder’s Day

Chapter Birthday

Necrology/Remembrance

Recommitment

Others????

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Induction Ceremony

Remember that you are a member as soon as you pay your dues – with our without a ceremony!

Make sure the materials you are using are up to date – Induction, not Initiation

If your ceremony mentions the Seven Purposes, make sure you are using the most current list (5, 6 & 7 changed)

Your chapter book that new members sign is a wonderful record of your chapter’s membership history and great place to find names of former members who you might seek out for reinstatement.

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Installation of Officers

Chapter Officers change in even years (2026, 2028, etc.)

An Installation Ceremony allows officers to formally accept their jobs.

That ceremony also reminds members that “it takes a village” and the chapter membership pledges to support the officers.

An officer’s term is from July 1 of the first year – June 30, two years later. (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2028)

You can have the ceremony at the last chapter meeting of the year.

Installation Ceremonies can also provide an opportunity to thank the outgoing officers for their service.

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Founder’s Day Ceremony

This ceremony honors when Delta Kappa Gamma was founded – May 11, 1929.
A Founder’s Day Ceremony is a way to remember back to a different time, especially in education, and the strong women who founded our Society.
Chapters can choose sometime in May near the actual date or at the last meeting of the year.
Many ceremonies have been developed and are available for chapter use…using a variety of ceremonies helps members get a wider view of our Organization’s beginnings.
Chapters can choose to do a presentation based on all of the founders or perhaps just one. (If your chapter has a member who is or was a history teacher, maybe a ceremony could be developed to honor Ray King, one of our Founders, with a comparison of what teaching history then was like and now.)

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� Chapter Birthday Ceremony/Celebration �

This ceremony/celebration marks the day your chapter was started…you will need to do the math to know the correct number of years!
A fun part of this is helping members know your chapter lineage, who early members were and what things were like when your chapter began.
One of our Founders, Miss Mamie Sue Bastian, initiated the idea of a Birthday Luncheon at Convention…she liked a good party and so should we!
This can be such a fun, less formal time with cake and all the trimmings.

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�Necrology/Remembrance ��

The Necrology portion of the joint break-out session defined much of this.
Ceremonies in this area can be:

A Ceremony of Remembrance
A Celebration of Life
Internment Remembrance
Necrology Readings
Other ceremonies as developed by a chapter

These ceremonies honor the memory of a departed member and can be delivered in conjunction with a funeral/memorial service or at a chapter meeting. Families determine participation in funeral/memorial services, but chapters can always hold a private ceremony!

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Recommitment Ceremony�

This Ceremony can be used at a special occasion or when it is appropriate for the membership to reflect upon its commitment to the Society.

Many chapters do this as part of the first meeting of the year.

The Recommitment Ceremony can remind members that you were asked to join because of your service to education and your high ideals as an woman educator.

Some of the ceremonies include the Seven Purposes…sort of a “refresher course” in what we are all about as DKG.

Ceremonies often end with a reminder that we each need to actively support the programs and projects of our Society and to do our best to fulfill the responsibilities of membership.

If time remains at the end of the session, we will do a brief Recommitment Ceremony.

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Other Ceremonies/Recognitions?

Honoring members with milestone membership years – 25 and 50 years

Honoring a retiring Treasurer who has faithfully served the chapter for many years

Honoring a chapter member who has been chosen as the Chapter Achievement Award recipient for the year – this can be done in conjunction with your Chapter Achievement Award Committee, if you have one

Honoring a member who has received a state award, served on a state committee, served as a state chair or officer

These can be as simple as a round of applause at a meeting, a red rose, notice in the newsletter or a home-baked goodie!

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Where do I find the Ceremonies?

Your chapter’s ceremonies bin – a word of warning…you will want to make sure printed ceremonies included are a current version!

This bin usually has other materials like the chapter brass, tablecloth, silk flower arrangement, candles, etc.

www.dkgtexas.org > Committees > Ceremonies

www.dkg.org > Resources > Ceremonies

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Daring to Dream…

Outside the box thinking is encouraged!
Analyze an area that is causing problems for your chapter…example: we can get new members, but they drop out before five years.
Start recognizing members at meetings on their 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year anniversary.
A search of the web can provide a list of anniversary gifts by the year (1^st – paper, 2^nd – cotton, 3^rd – leather, 4^th – fruit/flowers, 5^th – wood)
Maybe a paper certificate for year 1, a cotton book-mark for year 2, a leather key chain for year 3, etc.

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Dare to Dream - your Chapter…

Think of a difficulty your chapter is experiencing – turn and talk with a neighbor

How could the Ceremonies Committee help with that problem?

What other committees would you need to bring into the discussion?

What action could be taken?

If time permits, share your dream with our group.

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�2025-2026 �TSO Ceremonies Committee�

Northeast Regional

Area 1 – Melody Stephenson

Area 9 – Martie James

Area 17- Denise Kornegay

Southeast Regional

Area 2 – Trudy Matus

Area 3 – Denise Willis

Area 18 – no TSO committee member

South Coastal Bend Regional

Area 4 – Beverly Richard (TSO Chair – barichard@att.net)

Area 5 – Terry Dreibelbis

Central Regional

Area 6 – Sheri Thomas (unable to confirm attendance)

Area 7 – Shirley Bowman

Area 8 – Penny Walker (unable to confirm attendance)

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�2025-2026 �TSO Ceremonies Committee, continued�

North Central Regional

Area 10 – Shelly Samuels

Area 16 – Kimbra Bishop

Northwest Regional

Area 11 – Vanessa Brown

Area 12 – RoseMary Cardenas

Southwest Regional

Area 13 – Cynthia Wood

Area 14 – no TSO committee member

Area 15 – Margie Nelson Rodriguez (unable to attend due to work travel)