Beta Sigma Phi marks 75th year with banquet

BREWER – Beta Sigma Phi will celebrate its 75th anniversary by holding a banquet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. Entertainment will be provided by Step in Time Cloggers from the Bangor area.

Sister Mary Norberta, president and CEO of St. Joseph Hospital and St. Joseph Healthcare Foundation in Bangor, a Felician sister and registered nurse, will be honored as Woman of the Year. Past recipients of the award have been Tabitha King and Clara Swan.

Alice Goodspeed of Bangor will be recognized at the event for being a Beta Sigma Phi member for 61 years.

Beta Sigma Phi, the largest Greek-letter women’s organization in the world, is celebrating its many years of sisterhood. Begun in 1931, the organization is devoted to service, social and cultural projects of all kinds. It is not a secret group, nor is it connected with any school or college, and it is nonpolitical and nonsectarian.

Members of the organization are women of all ages, from all walks of life. It has a membership of more than 165,000 women in more than 20 countries.

The first Beta Sigma Phi chapter was founded in Abilene, Kan., in the midst of the Great Depression. Beta Sigma Phi provided those women a chance to have an intellectual and social experience among themselves. To learn about Beta Sigma Phi, call Bonnie Quesnel at 433-7535.