Tri Kappa celebrates 125 years of service

Members of Tri Kappa gathered in the Council Chambers at the City Building in Huntington on February 26 to celebrate the signing of a proclamation designating the last week of February as Tri Kappa Week. The organization is commemorating its 125th anniversary, while the local chapter proudly marks 120 years of service to the community. Pictured from left to right are Jenny Dyke, April Teusch, Talia Bowers, Sherry Miller, Heather Sandlin, Samantha Garcia, Kay Schwob, Angie Garcia, Mayor Richard Strick, Christi McElhaney, Annette Carroll, Jill Owens and Lori Mickley.

Tri Kappa celebrated their 125th anniversary on February 22, 2026. Huntington Chi members Lori Mickley, Province VIII Officer, and Angie Garcia, State Mental Health Chair, attended the celebration that was held at the Brown County Art Guild in Nashville, Indiana.

A selection of the Tri Kappa art collection was on display as well as items from the organization’s history. Remarks from current council president, Stephanie Oyler, and a documentary about the history of the organization were key highlights of the event. The documentary contained interviews from the past ten presidents. Discussing history, the changing times and adapting to be relevant in the world today, Tri Kappa continues the mission established by a group of college students in what certainly was a different world in 1901.

Tri Kappa was founded by Beryl Showers, Erma Ribeyre, Mary Sanders, Bertha Matthews, Gertrude Zumpe, Lulu Baer and Frances Roberts while students at the Girls’ Classical School in Indianapolis. Officers were elected and they wrote a constitution avowing their purpose to be a charity. To ensure Tri Kappa would continue beyond their school days, each member was to start a chapter in her hometown.

For 125 years, the mission of Tri Kappa is to bring women into close, unselfish relationship for the promotion of charity, culture and education. Whether by acts of service, fundraising, donations and scholarships, each Tri Kappa chapter and its members support charity, culture and education through the donation of their time and talents to local organizations in their own communities. Members perform tasks which allow underfunded and understaffed charities to spread their limited resources even further. By doing these little kindnesses, the members make Indiana a better place to live.

As of today, there are over 6,300 women that make up the more than 200 chapters. Chi chapter, both Active and Associates has 72 women currently working to continuing what began in our community in 1906. September 15 will mark Tri Kappa’s 120th anniversary right here in Huntington. Find out more about Tri Kappa by visiting the website at trikappa.org. To reach the Huntington chapter directly, email HuntingtonChi@trikappa.org.