36. Phi Beta Delta: The No-Drip Popsicle

Sometime we live with something for many years and then, one day, we turn our attention to t he problem and we solve it. Such is the case with popsicles. We all have watched kids dripping popsicles all over their clothes. Some of us have done it to ourselves, or passed up a popsicle because of the threat to our attire. Ugh!

A few years ago a family named Klehn in the Germany town of Buxtehude, near Hamburg, were thinking about this. They sold lots of popsicles from their family factory but the Klehns are a fastidious family and they were dismayed by the dripping. It turned out that the answer was simple. There is a food product called wine gum, a mix of sugar and jelly, which becomes iron hard when it is cold. The Klehns experimented with putting wine jelly in their popsicle mix and in just two weeks time they had the no-drip popsicle. A Klehn popsicle bends, but it never drips.

Well, if your Phi Beta Delta chapter is in the doldrums, consider the no-drip popsicle. Think about having more frequent initiations, about sponsoring a zoo animal, about establishing a flag rental service -- it may take longer than two weeks, but we would wager you would find an answer and start enjoying chapter life again. Phi Beta Delta is a lot of fun if you make it so! Just remember all those years of dripping popsicles and then along came the Klehns, and their popsicles just don't drip.

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