Laureate Mu hears of Big Bend
The Laureate Mu Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi held its February meeting at the home of Elsie Rowell on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Rowell presented a program on Big Bend National Park, Texas. Big Bend is described as a place where water runs uphill, where rainbows wait for rain, where the river lives in a big stone box, where mountains go away at night to play with other mountains and where the lies told about Texas are true.
Located far down on the Mexican border where the Rio Grande River makes a great U-turn, Big Bend is one of the most remote of the 58 national parks. The park has 200 miles of paved and backcountry roads and 118 miles of river. There is plenty of room to explore. Visitors can enjoy camping, rafting on the river, canoeing, horseback riding, bird watching and hiking.
To get the full Big Bend experience one should visit the communities of Study Butte and Terlingua, the home of the famous chili cook-off. A party mecca for locals and a must-see for tourists is the LaKiva Restaurant, a semi-underground restaurant situated in a local trailer park. It has been called the “most bizarre bar you must visit before you die.” Another interesting place is the front porch of the trading post located in Terlingua Ghost Town, a local gathering place where tourists mingle with locals swapping stories of the area. A restaurant fronting the porch, the Starlight Theater, is also an experience
In the business portion of the meeting members approved the Beta Sigma Phi Endowment Fund Grant Proposals.
Plans were made to meet at the Opera House to view the Jordan Bennett performance on February 10. As a cultural outing in March it was decided that the group would visit the Cajun Museum in Erath.
Service chairman, Nancy Tislow, collected dish detergent to be delivered to Miss Helen’s Soup Kitchen. Members were asked to bring paper towels to the March meeting, which will be held at the home of Jean Hanks.
Following the business portion of the meeting, the Torchbearer degree, the highest degree of Beta Sigma Phi, was conferred on members Shirley Griffin, Nancy Tislow, Gloria Stutes and Elsie Rowell.
Rowell served refreshments to members Glenda Atkinson, Gloria Cart, Shirley Griffin, Jean Hanks, Brenella Joubert, Gloria Stutes and Nancy Tislow.