Florida Zeta Amicae
The first Florida Amicae state
workshop was held May 6, 1967 at the First Elizabeth Missionary Baptist
Church in Quincy, Florida. The workshop was under the direction of
Soror Ursula Williams, State and Regional Coordinator at that time.
The Amicae workshop was set up to
exchange and/or interchange working relations, ideas and to better
understand group responsibilities when assisting their sponsoring
chapters.
Soror Anita Stripling, National Amicae
Coordinator at that time, and the National Executive Board authorized
Soror Stripling to attend the first workshop to examine its operation
and rationalize its purpose. This proved successful. Soror
Ursula Williams met with the Sate Executive Board and gave her findings.
A state workshop was approved annually. A landmark for future
workshops has its beginning. It was decided at the 1968 meeting
that a workshop would be held at the same time and place each year.
The Amicae thought it was a good idea
to have a chapter wherever there was a Zeta Chapter. However, they
wanted unity of ideas and encouragement within the state to do more for
Zeta and to become better organized. They also wanted competition,
challenges, and something to look forward to.
Soror Ursula Williams was filing the
shoes of the state and regional coordinator and took the ideas to the
state and regional executive boards. The boards gave her
permission to move forward with the Amicae ideas. In three years,
state Amicae groups grew in numbers. Florida Amicae workshops were rated
number one in the region for working together.
To stimulate more interest, the
"Recognition Awards" were re-activated to inspire state and individual
groups and award them on a regional level for their outstanding efforts
in helping chapters in their states.
Source: Soror Margaret Redvict, Amica Coordinator, State of Florida, A History of the Florida
State Leadership Conference Florida Zetas and Florida Zeta Amica
Auxiliaries "It's a Sad Frog Who Doesn't Praise His Own Pond"
Soror Margaret Singeleton Staples, State Historian (2008)
