Members of the class of 2006: Margaret Flaget-Greener, Alexis Hilfer Hokenstad, Lisa Peterson Gustafson, Kacee Jacobson Barrett, Callie Rademacher and Laura Johnson Zitelman.
Alpha Phi Summer Camp
There’s nothing quite like being a live-in member. It’s the little moments that often make the experience truly meaningful. Getting ready shoulder to shoulder in the bathroom, piling in for a movie night or gathering for a “The Bachelor” watch party become memories that last long after graduation. Pi Chapter at the University of North Dakota brought those memories back with their Alpha Phi Summer Camp, inviting alumnae to return to the chapter house and create new ones together. The house was open every weekend this summer to a different graduating class. For $126.26 (a playful nod to the facility’s street address), alumnae could move back in. They got to return to their favorite spaces in the house, including their bedrooms, for the first time in decades to relive their college years. The “campers” reconnected with old friends and made new ones, laughing, exchanging stories, thumbing through scrapbooks and staying up late (and more importantly, sleeping in). “For one weekend, it wasn’t about kids or conference calls, mortgages or menopause. It was about remembering late-night food runs, cramming in the chapter room and hoping to catch a glimpse of that cute fraternity guy at the exchange,” Tracy Briggs (Pi-North Dakota), who initiated in 1982, says. The summer camp series was a total hit. Over eight weekends, 100 alumnae from 16 states returned to 2626 University Avenue. Campers represented Initiation classes from 1970-2006, with the largest group including 26 women who had traveled from as far away as Maryland, Texas and Washington. Funds raised from these memory-making weekends supported several house improvement projects, helping ensure this beloved home stays strong for future sisters and the chapter’s 100th anniversary in 2028. Here’s what a few campers had to say: “It was a brilliant fundraiser, but also a generous gift to so many of us,” Leanne Montogomery, a 1982 initiate, says. “What joy to spend time with everyone again. And funny to be in my old room, in a twin bed with a former roommate, thinking about that 22-year-old kid and how I can get her back again.” “I loved walking into a house! It looked so different but felt exactly the same as I remembered,” Emily Dobmeier, a live-in member from 2005-07, says. “I don’t remember any of the details, but I certainly remember all the fun,” Robyn Isaacson, a 1983 initiate, laughs. “There aren’t too many times in your life that you can visit a place that brings you back 40 years.” One camper summed it up perfectly on Facebook: The memories, laughs and stories will last a lifetime. My heart is full.
Members who initiated in the 1970s gather at the facility’s front door, ready for their sleepover to begin!
During summer camp weekends, alumnae campers tucked handwritten notes into their old rooms — under mattresses, in desk drawers or even sent through the mail. Each letter was meant for the members who would sleep there that fall, a little time capsule of wisdom, encouragement and sisterly love that spans generations. t
43
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software