Bangor philanthropic group celebrates 50th year

BANGOR – Members of the Philanthropic Educational Organization from around the state gathered Sept. 23 to celebrate the 50th year anniversary of PEO Chapter B, which is affiliated with the International PEO Sisterhood.

Katherine Hill, Marguerite Mabee and Carolyn Pentzel were recognized for being 50-year members. Hill and Mabee are charter members of Chapter B.

The PEO was started by seven students at Wesleyan College in Iowa in 1869 as a college sorority. The idea expanded to the national level to promote educational opportunities for young women. Chapters were established across the nation as young women formed groups for fellowship and to pursue their common goal. Currently, there are more than 6,000 chapters nationwide.

In 1930, Dr. Eugene Patten came to Bangor to join Rice and Miller Hardware Co., then located on Broad Street. His wife, Stella, was a member of a California PEO chapter. When she discovered there was no Maine PEO chapter, she found a group of congenial friends and established a chapter. That group started Chapter A, the first Maine chapter and the only Bangor chapter.

Growing membership necessitated dividing the group and, in 1953, 10 women from Chapter A formed Chapter B – the second in Bangor and in Maine.

Today, Chapter B has grown so much, it will divide and help establish a third chapter in the coastal region. Maine currently has nine PEO chapters.

At Chapter B’s 50th anniversary celebration, festivities included a 1950s vintage program and entertainment. Events of local and national interest from 1953 were reviewed and PEO members modeled 1950s vintage clothing such as poodle skirts, bobby socks, saddle shoes, letter sweaters, hats, gloves, mink boas and accessories, to the big band sounds and top hits of the 1950s.

The International PEO Sisterhood maintains five projects:

. The PEO Educational Fund – a revolving loan fund established in 1907 to lend money to worthy women students to assist them in securing higher education.

. Cottey Junior College – a fully accredited liberal arts college for women in Nevada, Mo., owned and supported by the PEO Sisterhood since 1927.

. The PEO International Peace Scholarship Fund – established in 1949 to provide scholarships for international women students to pursue graduate study in the United States and Canada.

. The PEO Program for Continuing Education – established in 1973 to provide grants to women in the United States and Canada whose education has been interrupted and who find it necessary to return to school to support themselves and-or their families.

. PEO Scholar Awards – established in 1991 to provide substantial awards to women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing advanced degrees or engaged in advanced study.

Local chapters have access to funds from the International PEO, and women demonstrating significant need for financial assistance may be sponsored by the local chapter to help with educational expenses.

Some attend local or Maine colleges, others attend colleges in various parts of the U.S. and Canada. Each year Chapter B holds an auction to support the philanthropy.

Women who wish to learn more about PEO awards and scholarships should seek more information from their high school guidance offices or their college advisers.