Local sorority to award their final scholarship

Beta Sigma Phi is an international women’s social, cultural, and service organization founded in 1931. The name comes from the Greek words for “Life, Learning, and Friendship,” which form the cornerstone of the organization’s mission. It was established as a way to provide educational and social opportunities for women who were unable to attend college at that time.
The organization was founded on April 30, 1931, by Walter W. Ross, then officially incorporated in 1932 in Missouri, and has grown substantially over the decades. By the mid-1970s, it had expanded to more than 10,000 chapters worldwide with over 250,000 members across 15 countries. In 1995, the organization reached a significant milestone when it initiated its millionth member in California.
Beta Sigma Phi operates with a focus on three main pillars:
1. Social connections and sisterhood
2. Cultural appreciation and education

3. Service to community
The organization is structured with local chapters that are grouped into city councils. These city councils coordinate activities between chapters and organize larger events. Each chapter typically elects officers including a president, vice president, recording secretary, treasurer, and corresponding secretary. Representatives from each chapter serve on the city council.
Beta Sigma Phi chapters hold social activities and raise funds for a variety of philanthropic causes.
Beta Sigma Phi first started in Merrill on July 13, 1949. “It started with one chapter and it went up to—I think there were seven was the most chapters at one time,” said Joan Koch—Joni to all of her sorority sisters—longtime member of Beta Sigma Phi and current member of the Laureate Alpha Delta chapter. Koch was a charter member of the newly-formed Xi Alpha Nu chapter along with 12 other ladies in May 1970.
In 2023-2024, the Merrill Council, called the Merrill Beta Council, included five chapters: Laureate Kappa (Honorary Members), Wisconsin Phi Master, Laureate Alpha Delta, Preceptor Alpha Beta, and Xi Alpha Nu. Delegates from each active chapter represent their chapter on the Council and Council officers are elected and then rotated with one-year terms. The Beta Council met three times annually and all but the honorary members pay dues to belong. The Laureate Kappa chapter has since ceased to exist, with its remaining members absorbed into another chapter.
“The chapter names have changed over the years as new chapters are formed, and old chapters move up to different levels,” Koch said.
The Beta Council then budgets for a Founder’s Day celebration with dinner and flowers, organizes and holds an All Sorority Social, and organizes and holds a Christmas Brunch. The sorority also raises funds and makes donations to help support various charitable causes, including the Beta Sigma Phi State Project, Beta Sigma Phi International Endowment Fund, Beta Sigma Phi International Loan Fund, to local projects (such as the city flower garden projects here in Merrill) and then annually has given a Beta Sigma Phi Scholarship to a Merrill High School (MHS) graduate.
Within the Council, individual chapters typically met monthly and held their own events, including social gatherings, couples’ socials, dinners out, breakfast gatherings, movie and pizza nights, fish fries, and Christmas parties, with the members rotating who would play hostess for each meeting or gathering, typically in her own home. After a short business meeting, many gatherings included some type of theme, program, or cultural component, often with guest speakers or special guests, along with coffee and perhaps dessert. In April 1951, Beta Sigma Phi even held a Spring Formal dance at the Eagles Club in Merrill. Over the years, the sorority has held rummage sales, ice-cream socials, potluck dinners, steak fries, style shows, annual baby photo contests, and participated in Crazy Days events, among other activities. They have supported a wide variety of worthy causes in the Merrill area community, and many local organizations have received donations from the sorority—from DARE and Pine Crest Nursing Home to the Merrill Youth Hockey Association and the high school graduation party to Baby Shower for Life. All were focused on supporting the improvement of society and the world around them, particularly in their local Merrill-area community.
One of the earliest mentions of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority in print includes a photo and caption on the Society pages of the March 8, 1950, edition of The Merrill Daily Herald, showcasing members of the sorority who held “a Gay Nineties party [that was the 1890s and back when the first term simply meant joyful] first beginning at the home of Mrs. L.F. Trantow” and featuring a group of the ladies “in their colorful costumes.”
Over the years, one particularly popular event—which helped fund the notable annual Beta Sigma Phi Scholarship—was the Bridge Marathon, and mention of the annual Beta Sigma Phi Bridge Marathon in Merrill was found in the Sept. 1, 1950, edition of the same newspaper as the ladies were planning for an October event. This referenced the event of the prior year, signifying that this Marathon has been a core activity within this women’s organization since its very beginnings in Merrill and was a highly-regarded social event.
Playing bridge was a frequent and popular pastime for many of the ladies. “We paid starting out, I think it was 50 cents a time,” Koch said. “We played eight or nine months a year.”
“Bridge Marathon gave me the opportunity to become active in the sport,” said current Preceptor Alpha Beta chapter member Nancy Arndorfer. “I hadn’t played before ... I was a complete beginner of the game. It gave me an opportunity to make new friends, being new to town—making friendships and getting support for the game from knowledgeable players. I still play and enjoy the game.”
“One thing I enjoyed was the Thank You Party our group held at the end of the year, usually at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church,” Koch said. “All who had played in the Marathon that year were invited. We played about three rounds, with our regular partners, or mixing it up with different players. Then we announced the three highest scorers from all of the players for the year, served mouth-watering desserts, and had sign-up sheets for the next year.”
“The Bridge Marathon committee met in June to plan for the next year—taking lists of current players and thinking of new names to call, asking them to sign up. Then came the job of making out the schedules.”
Frequently, the winners of each year’s Bridge Marathon were also announced in the newspaper.
Originally, the guidelines for the Merrill Beta Council/Beta Sigma Phi Scholarship dictated that the scholarship recipient should be a graduating Senior of Merrill High School who would be attending a school of higher learning of his or her choice, with preference given to a child or grandchild of a Beta Sigma Phi member. The scholarship recipient would be selected by a committee comprised of one member from each chapter in the Merrill Beta Council and the award, although based in part on “scholarship, talent, character, and service” was intended more “to honor the scholarship recipient” than to fulfill the financial need of the winner. The recipient could use the scholarship funds for whatever they needed.
Beginning in the 1950s, new members were initiated into the sorority on a regular basis and Beta Sigma Phi was a growing and thriving part of Merrill’s society scene. But at a certain point, new member initiations declined and now, every one of its members is retired and a great many of its members have passed away.
This year Beta Sigma Phi will award its very last scholarship.
There are so few bridge players anymore, Koch said, and with the membership aging, we don’t have the means to raise funds for the scholarship anymore as an organization. Most of the chapters in Merrill are down to about 10 members, she said. “In my group—we’re the oldest one, we have four people that are 90 and over. Most of us are between 85 and 90 [years old].” Koch said they’ve been discussing how long they can continue as a group.
Koch said also this year, “For the first time, we don’t have an application [scholarship application) from a Beta Sigma Phi member.”
“I guess we’d be down to great grandchildren,” she said, “so there probably aren’t any.”
In talking with the scholarship coordinator at MHS, they learned there are “a lot of applications for scholarships that don’t get awards,” so the sorority asked to have this final scholarship awarded to a MHS graduating female who is pursuing a career in education. She said the original scholarship was formed with a focus on education, so that way this final award will honor that intent. Also for the first time, Beta Sigma Phi is asking a group of teachers at MHS to select the final recipient of the $500 scholarship award.
Koch said she and another member recently went to the library and the historical society and went through some of the scrapbooks, looking at the sorority and all the women involved through the years, going all the way back to when it was first formed in Merrill. “It’s just amazing in memories,” she said. She marveled at “how formal we used to be” and all that has transpired with the groups of women she has known through the years as a part of Beta Sigma Phi. In Koch’s own words, “[It] means a lot to us ‘old ladies’ that this long-lasting project will be recognized.”
“We also want to honor the job Kay Slewitzke has done for the past 10+ years heading the program,” Koch said. She has done so much to keep Beta Sigma Phi going, she said.
Koch said she isn’t sure how long Beta Sigma Phi will continue to exist in Merrill. After more than 75 years in the community, times have changed, and the number of members is dwindling.
As an icon for women in American society and in particular in Merrill for the last 75 years, Beta Sigma Phi has impacted countless organizations and individuals with their donations, community involvement, and annual scholarships. While the final scholarship recipient will be honored this week at the Class of 2025 Scholarship Awards Night, the contribution these ladies have made to Merrill will not be forgotten.