Chi Upsilon Iota Tri-Ess

About Chi Upsilon Iota

In October 2003 the idea for Chi Upsilon Iota was launched. It was a lofty goal at the time: try and establish a crossdressing support group in Central Illinois when others have apparently failed in the past. 

CUI started as a Yahoo group with a handful of members from all over Central Illinois as well as friends from Chicago and out of state..

In January of 2004 we had our first official meeting in Savoy IL and probably our biggest crowd. We met at the Best Western and it was a lot of fun to see the idea starting to gel. 

That first year was a little rough for CUI. We had meetings with as few as 2 people in attendance and one month we had to cancel due to nobody showing up. It was depressing and I often contemplated why on earth I felt this need in the area for a group of this type.

Every time my spirits were at a low point I’d seem to get an email or letter from someone looking or advice or help. It was those times that I realized why I was doing what I was doing.  

In January of 2005 we had our first year anniversary and we met in Springfield and had a lovely dinner and attended a play to celebrate the occasion.

In 2005, we met at several places including Trina’s African American Beauty Supply (no longer in business) and on occasion at the downtown Champaign office I rent.   We also made a few meetings at Shayla and Shiriene’s house in Springfield, which are always a special treat for us.

2006 started the big push to finally settle down, find a consistent monthly place to meet and get the chartering off the ground. By this time we seemed to average 5 – 6 people per meeting and I felt confident (most of the time) that we were good to go forward.

We had our official meeting where we decided to petition Tri-Ess for chartering, elected officers, and other related things. We also opened our checking account.

By the end of 2006 we were meeting is a permanent location at the Phoenix Center in Springfield and  it was looking excellent for our charter so communication with Tri-Ess in Houston stepped up and that brings us to 2007.

2007 started out cold! Remember we had to cancel one meeting due to ice storms. I felt lost without my monthly meeting of friends!  The chartering was going well and after receiving information form Houston I knew we were heading to a June chartering ceremony.

In June of 2007 We had our official chartering ceremony and had friends from all over attending. The decorations were all blue and pink themed to represent both aspects of our lives as crossdressers. Pat and Rene from Chicago attended and provided us with music and entertainment as they are parttime DJ'S in the Chicago area.

Through the rest of 2007 and 2008 our membership stayed around the same with monthly meetings in Springfield.

In 2009 I decided to once again start to advertise the group so to speak on various crossdressing related websites looking for people in the area who would be interested. Well it worked like a charm and our average attendance this year has been 10 people which has been wonderful.