Welcome Back!!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!! I know we are no longer in school, but Labor Day weekend always reminds me of the last weekend of summer right before school and the "normal routine" starts again. (Although as some of you LAUSD parents can tell me, I'm sure you're kids have been back to school for weeks now!)

So I wanted to start with a little bit of how we spent our summer. This summer many of our alumni took trips to Greece, Hawaii, Boston for Convention, the East Coast after convention, local beaches, Disney World, Disneyland and many other wonderful places! They also experienced major life events including getting engaged, getting married, and having children (keep those pics coming, we love them!)

One of our sisters, Letisha Noyes, had a wonderful experience and wanted to share her story: "Over the summer, I have had one (multiple) of the most amazing experiences of my life. As you probably know, the Special Olympics World Games were held in L.A. this summer. My family and I are Track and Field coaches for San Gabriel Valley. As the SGV team, we attended the Opening Ceremonies at the Coliseum. It was so awesome to see so many athletes and the unity of 165 countries. The best part about attending the ceremonies was to see the Flame of Hope being carried through the stadium and light up the Coliseum for the games to begin. The Flame of Hope was started in Athens, Greece where the last World Games was held and traveled to Washington D.C. where it was split into three flames and traveled through each state from east to west. This moment was very emotional for me because I personally carried the flame in the Northern Route in Boston, MA. Another amazing experience during this week of festivities was to see one of our very own SGV athletes, Laura Cook, place 2nd in the 800m race and earn the heaviest and biggest silver medal I have ever seen. The very last most amazing experience that I encountered was to run the Unified Half Marathon. The athletes kicked off the race and 10 minutes later was the start for any person who registered to run just for fun. This was my first half marathon and I admit, I didn't train for it as much as I should have but what kept me going was the love I have for my older brother who is also a SGV athlete. Everything I have ever done with/ for Special Olympics is because of him. Every participant received a World Games medal and I was very happy to see him at the finish line to share the award.

Side note: The shirt I wore for the half marathon was personalized and not only included a picture of my brother on the back, but of course I had to add a Heart Sunshine on the front. TFJ<3"

                      

This fall we will be holding some amaXIng monthly events. Our first one will be September 11th at Pinz in Studio City! We will be having fun in the dark with Glow in Xi Dark Bowling!! The event will start at 9pm. It will be $6 if you are a dues paid member and $11 if you are not. This will include your shoe rental and first game! Check out Facebook and your inbox for the invites with more info.

Looking ahead, we will also be doing an Escape Room Experience October 23rd and an Almost Thanksgiving Brunch November 15th at Casablanca in Venice. More details to come soon but Save The Dates!

With fall also comes that time of year that brought us all here: RECRUITMENT! Our most local chapter at California State University, Northridge, Delta Rho, will be going through recruitment September 12th, 13th and 15th. Please send notes of well wishes and encouragement for a successful recruitment by posting on the chapter's Facebook page: CSUN Alpha Xi Delta. If you want to submit a recommendation for anyone going to CSUN, submit a Member Recommendation through the national site. There you can also submit your little legacy under the age of 16 to become a Rose Petal. Finally, if you are interested in assisting Delta Rho, please contact Vickie at sk8nsun@aol.com.

We all know how much fun recruitment was so over the next couple weeks, share your favorite pics from YOUR recruitment on Facebook and Instagram! Use the hashtag #laaxid to share it with all your fellow Los Angeles alumni!

Enjoy your last few days of summer and we look forward to seeing you at our events and on social media this Fall!