WINNEMUCCA - The Laureate Rho Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, as nominating sponsor, is very proud to announce that Jillian Pfarr is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship granted by the Memorial Scholarship Fund of founders Dorothy & Walter W. Ross.
Only 40 scholarships were presented this year to eligible children or grandchildren of Beta Sigma Phi members in 20 countries. It is the first time an award has gone to a Winnemucca nominee.
Pfarr, who has attended Winnemucca schools since first grade, will graduate with the Lowry High School class of 2012. She is the daughter of Jean and Jerry Pfarr, and granddaughter of Marcia Ashcroft, who moved here last year from Joplin, Mo.
Pfarr has been accepted at the University of Portland, where she will pursue a degree in nursing. She was invited to be an honored guest at the 80th Founders Day Banquet, held April 30, where she was introduced to members of the Xi Xi and Xi Alpha Sigma chapters.
The three groups gathered for a social in March at the home of Doris Phillips. In keeping with the international theme, "Building Our Future on Traditions," the evening's entertainment featured local traditions and women of Nevada history. The dinner menu included Basque and Chinese dishes served with pioneer cornbread.
Laureate Rho began their Basque culture program with an Irrintzi yell by the Basque Festival champion Lillian Stoker, followed by a review Helen Gonzalez gave on the recipes and stories featured in "Chorizos in an Iron Skillet," a cookbook by her former teacher, Mary Ancho Davis. Davis, a daughter of early Basque immigrants from Spain, grew up on a ranch near Battle Mountain and went on to teach in the Basque Studies Program at UNR. Charlie Beringer talked about the family traditions of local author Joan Errea, and read a poem from one of several books Errea has written about her parents, who came from the Basque Country of France.
Xi Xi members, dressed in Chinese costumes, related a story taken from a 19th century newspaper report of a young girl sold into slavery in China who was brought to Nevada, where she escaped and then fought a legal battle in the Humboldt County court to finally regain her freedom. Xi Alpha Sigma members, wearing prairie dresses and bonnets, re-enacted the telling of terrible horrors and fierce hardships encountered by pioneer women who passed this way, headed for California.
Debbie Formby, a 35-year member of Beta Sigma Phi, recently achieved the Master Degree in a ceremony conducted by Helen Gonzalez, Lillian Stoker, Elaine Kochevar and Sandi Phillips. Formby was gifted with a bouquet of red roses.
Laureate Rho has been very active this year in contributing to various service projects.
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