Dozen royal members of the Orlando Area Council’s Friendship Sorority were honored recently at its annual Sweetheart Ball.
Each year, chapter members select a sister to represent them for the following 12 months. Then those “sweethearts” choose one sister, who shined throughout events leading to the ball, to swap her chapter tiara for the Miss Congeniality crown.
This year’s honoree, Kristen Pautienus, a 15-year international member, is a charter member of Clermont’s Alpha Delta Rho, which she helped form nine years ago. She is an educator in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program at Lake Minneola High School, and along with husband, Phil, are the parents of six children, three grown and three boys still at home. Her comment upon being selected by her peers at Rosen Plaza, in Orlando, was “With a house full of boys, it is nice to be able to wear a crown, even if it is only for a year!”
Along with serving in several other organizations including Aaron Strong, Kristen’s hobbies and interests include camping, running, dancing, crafts and attending sporting activities with her family. Some of this seems a far cry from her working as a chemist at NASA testing the foam shielding for space shuttles, prior to moving from Virginia to Florida.
Also, an active, well-established member of the Clermont chapter, her mom, Sue Marois, began honing Kristen for membership, by introducing her as a youngster to the sorority’s legacy program.
Other OAC sweethearts include: Stephenie Compher, Preceptor Alpha Xi; Sandy Stickney, Preceptor Delta Delta; Stacy Stewart, Preceptor Eta Gamma; Vicky Nichols-DeNegre, Preceptor Theta Nu; Carla Minch, Laureate Eta Delta; Jill Balencie-Kresky, Laureate Zeta Omega; Sandy Swafford, Gamma Alpha Master; Flo Walters, Gamma Nu Master; and Sue Catoe, Torchbearer Pi.
From its onset as a small book club in 1931, Beta Sigma Phi, an international, friendship network, is the largest organization of its kind in the world, with membership made up of women of all ages and building friendships that often last a lifetime. Along with physical land chapters that typically meet in sisters’ homes, Beta Sigma Phi has online chapters. For information on joining, see: www.betasigmaphi.org or www.bsporlando.net . For your invitation to view ADR’s antics and events, text 407-230-3758 or email: lujoladybug@gmail.com to follow us on Facebook at Friendship Connection Page_Alpha Delta Rho.
