Regional PLP Reunion: Gathering of the Sunshine State Sisters

Regional PLP Reunion: Gathering of the Sunshine State Sisters

beach palm tree (2)

January in some parts can be cold and dreary, so consider trading your snow-gear for shades for a few days. Join PLP sisters in the Sunshine State (Florida) for PLPAA’s first official regional reunion!

PLP has more than 50 alumnae from all eras living in Florida. We’ve selected West Palm Beach as our destination for a PLPAA luncheon on Saturday, January 10, 2015, (restaurant venue & cost TBA). Sisters from Naples, St. Pete, West Palm, and even New York are already planning to make this a weekend event (arriving Friday and departing on Sunday). PLPAA is discussing a welcome event on Friday evening. More on that as the time gets closer.

Our sister, Linda Villani Karp, has arranged a great deal for us at the Hawthorne Suites by Wyndham. It’s only $109 per night (plus 11% tax) for a one-bedroom suite with kitchenette, sitting area, two queen-size beds and daily hot buffet breakfast. The hotel will provide optional airport pick-up/drop-off and shuttle service to any destination within a 5-mile radius of the hotel for $20 per stay per room. That includes downtown, the beach, a new mall, and the airport.

PLPAA is holding a block of 10 rooms. Call 561.472.7000 to make your reservation. Be sure to mention “Phi Lambda Phi” as our group name. A credit card will hold the suite and will not be charged until you arrive. You can cancel with no penalty up to 48 hours before arrival. The price is good from now until January 15th.

For more information contact:
PLPAA Reunion VP Kathy Henry Powell.  If you plan to attend, please email Kathy.IMPORTANT: include where you are coming from and when you will arrive/leave. We will need a headcount to plan for the Friday welcome event and lunch reservations. We may also need to add more rooms to the block. Thanks for letting us know your plans!

We look forward to a memorable weekend of fun, and we hope to see YOU there!

Pledge Survival Basket Fund

Pledge Survival Basket Fund

Alumnae Sister Susan B. Shanahan had an idea which she posted on our PLPAA Facebook page.  The idea grew and sparked a great response from both the PLPAA and alumnae sisters.


Alumnae reached out to new pledges and the actives with “pledging care packages.” With the help of another alumnae sister Beth Rapple, sisters donated gift cards for Dunkin Donuts, personalized lamb mugs, yellow and black socks, gloves, nail polish, toiletries,  and numerous goodies and treats beautifully crafted into “Care packages.”

The baskets were assembled and delivered by Beth with the hope that they would help actives and pledges through the stress of pledging. The response was amazing. Our active sisters and pledges were extremely appreciative and gracious in thanking everyone for the time we took to think of them as well as for sending such great gifts.

Due to the overwhelming success of this program, we plan to continue it in the spring semester, and we continue to take donations, both monetary and small gifts, for the upcoming spring semester.
Won’t you PLEASE consider making a small contribution today?
Please help keep Phi Lamb alive and strong by contributing to the Pledge Survival Fund.   Whatever you can afford is much appreciated!

A big thank you to the alumnae sisters who participated in this fall:

  • Susan B Shanahan
  • Elizabeth Rapple
  • Bonnie Love
  • Leona Stone Scott
  • Amanda Healy Pendock
  • Michelle Klinger Wellner
  • Lauren Lavin Hughes
  • Vicki Rotondo Martuscello
  • Caryn Cherry Rosenberg
  • Susan Davis Kassal
  • Jennifer Caputo
  • Emily Cohill
  • Carla Speranza
  • Gabby Downes
  • Lisa Peck
  • Karen Remstein Rosenberg
  • Juliet Lee
  • Donna McLean Wilson
  • Juliet Adamo
  • Sandy Pentimone
  • Laura Light Stisser
  • Laura Mason Natale
  • Linda Carlin Peters
  • Diane Fendorak
  • Marybeth Perriello Oconnor
  • Lisa Sayre
  • Christine Moller Mitchinsen
  • Gretchen Miller Basso
  • Erin Griffin Dinneen
  • Keersten Heskin Martinez
  • Heather Connally
  • Tina McIntyre
  • Patricia Oplinger Budine
  • Lynnie Ambrose Riley
  • Debra Thesing

Contribute on PAYPAL TODAY!
PayPal email: shanahansusan@yahoo.com

OR mail a check to:
Susan B. Shanahan
93 Atlantic Avenue APT #1R‬‬‬‬
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Alumnae Sisters Program

Alumnae Sisters Program

With news of the success of PLP’s Rush efforts this fall filling Facebook sites, PLPAA noted a wonderful level of spirit and support among our alumnae sisters.  Sisters old and new were celebrating the renewal of Phi Lambda Phi and wanted to reach out to our new pledges. To channel that love and support to our new pledges (and our five active sisters, three of whom only pledged last year), we started a new program on the spot and on the fly. Using the PLPAA Facebook Official Page, we held a drawing to pick alumnae and assign one to each of our pledges and active sisters.

The main purpose of this program is to strengthen ties between PLP and PLPAA while not overwhelming either the pledges or the actives. (Remember: there are 10 of them and hundreds of us!) The expectation is that alumnae sisters would provide small gifts, notes, cards, FB messages, emails, etc. to develop a bond with their PLP counterparts, and that hopefully this bond would continue long term, much like the Big/Little Sister bond. This program does not in any way replace the Big/Little Sister program we have all loved since the 1960s! It is more as if our pledges are receiving a Fairy Godmother!

Lovely Personalized Gift Danielle received from HeatherActives and pledges have reported that they love the idea, as have several alumnae. So, the PLPAA board has decided to continue the program in the spring with a better explanation of expectations and more lead time so that more alumnae can get into the drawing.  Until then, here are the fall pairings:

  • Heather Robinson Manns: Jasseline Pena
  • Erin Griffin Dinneen: Amanda Donnelly
  • Stacey Lindstadt DeGiulio: Sharon Moy
  • Michelle Klinger-Wellner: Morgan Rundle
  • Suzette France (Gabby Downes): Alyssa Santagato
  • Heather Eileen Connally: Danielle Saturno
  • Em Sorr: Nicole Steinruck
  • Linda Carlin Peters: Kim Markell
  • Rebecca Mankowski Shoniker: Ketsia Rodriguez
  • Sharon Hoolan Ortiz: Rachael Hayden

Lovely Personalized Gift Danielle received from Heather

Update on 54 West Fifth

Update on 54 West Fifth

After several months of work, on September 9th, the active sisters formally accepted a purchase offer for $58,000 (and many other positive features), beginning the legal process to obtain court approval to sell the house. The process for a non-profit such as PLP to sell its major/only asset requires seeking approval of any purchase offer from the state Attorney General’s office in Syracuse and the state Supreme Court in Oswego. Now that there is an acceptable offer on the table, our attorney will complete all the paperwork and submit it as required. There is no court appearance or appointments needed; it is purely a paperwork approval process, but it could take several months to receive approval and go to closing on the house.

However, the buyer will immediately clean up and secure the house as well as maintain the yard until the deal is final. And best of all, he will offer to rent back to Phi Lambda Phi next fall after he has completed work on the house. All of this is great news: PLP’s debts will be paid, the house will be renovated, and the sorority will have the opportunity to move back to 54 West Fifth St.

Closing costs ($8,000) and sorority debt (approximately $43,000) will consume most of the purchase price. But there will be enough to help PLP pay for their annual liability insurance, Rush, and other sorority costs for several years into the future. The active sisters are totally in agreement with the plan to deposit proceeds from the sale into the Tax Escrow account, which officially belongs to PLP but is maintained and controlled by PLPA for their benefit.

Our active sisters have all moved out of the House, and three of them have rented a smaller house in town which all five sisters are using as their sorority house. They have decorated it with paddles and composites as well as other memorabilia, and they are quite pleased to be living in a more secure, safer, and less expensive dwelling. But they aren’t freed of house finances and responsibilities yet. They need to continue to pay the mortgage, fire insurance, and back garbage bills, and they need to actively participate in the selling of the property.

It’s a long process but it is underway!