The Big Event helps strengthen sisterhood bonds

Despite Saturday’s cold weather, CSC’s Zeta Alpha Kappa and Xi Delta Zeta sororities headed outside of town for The Big Event to help some of Chadron’s local summer attractions, Camp Norwesca and the Dawes County Historical Society, Inc. Museum.
Both the job sites were forced to change their original volunteer tasks when the weather turned to snow and rain.
Camp Norwesca is a Methodist summer camp for children across Nebraska, located in Chadron State Park. Meg Mayle, the camp’s acting director, modified the original plans for the work site to accommodate the poor weather conditions Saturday morning.
“Originally, we were going to have them put woodchips around baby trees [planted near the campsite],” Mayle said.
Instead, Mayle enlisted ZAK to ready the cabins for this summer’s campers, who will be arriving at the end of May.
Twenty members of ZAK signed up for The Big Event and all twenty participated. Some ZAK members were participating for their first time in The Big Event, while others were veterans in their third year.
Camp Norwesca assigned ZAK to sweep floors, wipe down bunk beds and improve the appearance of the five residential cabins, the craft cabin and a house located on the campsite. They also repainted the walls in the house.
“It’s just a really good time to give back to the community and bond as a sorority,” said Samantha Merrill, 21, junior of Hot Springs, South Dakota. “We can roll around in the mud and have some fun.”
Phyllis Carlson, the Dawes County Historical museum curator of five years, said the museum has been a regular job site. She enjoys having the college students come and help around the museum.
“They just have so much fun,” Carlson said.
Carlson planned on having the volunteers work on scraping the paint off of the inside and outside of the schoolhouse located at the museum, repainting the schoolhouse and painting windows.
Instead, Xi Delta Zeta cleaned the glass on all of the exhibits and dusted and vacuumed around the museum. A few members also redressed a mannequin with clothing from the late nineteenth century, which once belonged to a woman from Dawes County.
“It’s nice to get out and meet a part of the community because I personally don’t get to see a lot of it,” MacKenna Broeder, 21, junior of Spearfish, South Dakota, said. “I am very grateful to everyone who supports the college.”
Savannah Jackson, 21, senior of Valentine, said “I’ve been a part of The Big Event for two years and it’s been a fun bonding experience both times.”
The Big Event allowed both sororities to give back and bond as sisters in their sororities.