LODESTONE AAUW-Nevada County January 2019 Vol 82 #5 JANUARY BRANCH MEETING SATURDAY JANUARY 19 9:30 AM Peace Lutheran Church 828 West Main, Grass Valley By Fran Erickson, Co-VP Programs Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life January’s speaker is so appropriate as January is the time when we do some introspection about our lives and make some plans for ourselves. Jan Fishler’s talk will be taken from the title of her latest book, “Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life”. Her presentation will address some questions our 50-plus tribe faces such as: Are you happy with your accomplishments? Have you done enough? Have you earned the right to put your needs first? and What's next? At this point in our lives either our careers are winding down or have been completed. It is a time for reflecting on one’s life accomplishments and future plans as well. How does one navigate the rest of life in ways that deliver as much joy, happiness and satisfaction as possible? The presentation will help answer these questions. By its end, you will have a mini plan for making the most of the rest of your life. Jan Fishler began her career writing and producing informational and motivational videos. In addition to developing more than 100 corporate scripts, she produced “The Path to Publication”, a DVD series. It was filmed at the Community of Writers Conference at Squaw Valley and contains advice from authors that include Amy Tan, Anne Lamont, Janet Fitch and Mark Childress. In 2010 she self- published an adoption memoir, “Searching for Jane, Finding Myself”. She has also written for Vietnam National Magazine and The Union newspaper. She has a BA in English Literature from Ohio University and a MA in Educational Technology from California State University, San Francisco. We hope you will be there to enjoy this informative and helpful presentation. See you there! 1 President's Letter By Virginia Horowitz, President Looking Back ... Looking Forward January is the month that many of us typically take some time to reflect on the past year and examine our goals for the upcoming year. Doing so is not a new concept. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is known as the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past. So, the month we call January has an ancient history. Looking back on our Branch’s activities, beginning with event planning in July, more than 100 members and guests celebrated and acknowledged the very capable young women who attended Tech Trek Camp sponsored by our Branch The Welcome Back Brunch was a huge success and set the tone for October and November’s well-attended General Meetings. We were privileged to learn about Activism and Identity from Dr. Anya Stanger, PhD, at the October General Meeting. Nancy Baglietto, Executive Director of Hospitality House, spoke to us in November about the day to day challenges and successes of providing shelter, housing and culinary job training to many homeless in our area. Nancy brought two former guests to our meeting to share their powerful stories and provide inspiration to our audience members. Our Holiday Party on December 6th was very well attended and gave everyone a wonderful opportunity to mix and mingle and enjoy delicious food at Lefty’s in Nevada City. The quilt donated for our fund raising raffle by Virginia Kingston was won by Deborah York. Over $900 was raised through this raffle event, which began in September. The funds raised help support our Branch Operations. Thank you everyone who purchased raffle tickets and a BIG Thank YOU to Virginia for the beautiful quilt. Looking ahead to 2019 we can anticipate excellent programs as well, thanks to our Program Co-VP’s Fran Erickson and Jo Ann Schilling. On January 19th, Jan Fisher, MA, author, presenter, and workshop leader, will speak about her latest book, What Are You Doing With the Rest of Your Life? Remember to buy your tickets for Tapas and Trivia, our fundraiser this year for AAUW and Local Scholarships. This gathering, held on January 26th at Peace Lutheran Church, is going to be a fun and exciting event with ample opportunities to participate in silent and live auctions, in addition to being on a Trivia Team or providing support as an audience member. See this Lodestone for more information, or contact Bup Greenwood. 2 February’s program, which is on the 16th, will feature Patt Lind-Kyle who will bring her wealth of knowledge and experience about Aging Wisely to our audience. We will also learn more about Public Policy involvement opportunities from Carolyn Feuille, our Public Policy Chair. The March 16th meeting will focus on representatives from AAUW Funds, Tech Trek, and Local Scholarships who will share their stories and experience with us. Come hear what our Branch support has enabled these outstanding young women to experience and achieve. This is always a very popular program and an opportunity to see the inspiring results your donations bring. On April 20th we will learn about The Village, which is a non-profit, national organization that enables people to remain in their homes as they age. The speaker will be Jeanne Scarmon, MA, who is the current Board President of this organization. Our Annual Meeting and Luncheon is scheduled for May 18th at Lefty’s. Details will be forthcoming in future Lodestone Newsletters and announced at General Meetings as the date approaches. This is the meeting where AAUW–NC Board Officers are installed. Your presence and involvement greatly contribute to the success of our Branch. We invite you to learn more about opportunities for involvement and leadership. Contact Sue Miller (contact information in our Directory) to learn about volunteer leadership opportunities. If you would like to be part of our Fundraiser event, “Tapas and Trivia”, on January 26th, please contact Katherine (Bup) Greenwood (contact information in our Directory). This is our one fundraiser of the year and proceeds support AAUW Funds and Local Scholarships. YOUR voice and input matter to us. So, please choose YOUR way to get involved and support our Branch. I invite you to consider making that a personal goal for 2019. Happy New Year!! Please put these important dates on your calendar and plan to attend! January 19th What Are You Doing With The Rest of Your Life? January 26th Tapas & Trivia February 16th Aging Wisely March 16th AAUW Scholarship Recipients April 20th The Village May 18th Annual Meeting and Luncheon 3 Table of Contents PresidentJanuary 'Meetings Letter 2 1 Tech Trek 12 AAUWPresident's NC Branch Letter Officers 3 2,3 Up Your Game 12 AugustAAUW Board NC Branch Highlights Officers 3 4 NC Branch Public Policy 13 AugustDecember Financial Board Report Highlights 4 5 Branch Meeting Schedule 14 WaysDecember and Means Financial Report 4 5 Gourmet Adventures 14 AAUWWays andFund Means News 5 5 Interest Groups 15 NamedAAUW Gift Fund Honorees News 6 6 Calendar 16 LocalTapas Scholarships and Trivia 7 7-10 Holiday Party Photos 17 FunAAUW for Fun Fundsds Luncheon 7 11 Underwriters 18 TechTrek 8 AAUW Nevada County Branch Officers Elected Officers President Virginia Horowitz President Elect Bup Greenwood Program VPs Fran Erickson and JoAnn Schilling Finance Officer Shirley Zeff Secretary Susie Monary-Wilson Membership Deb Cubberley AAUW Funds Melanie Heckel Appointed Officers Communications Laurie Alire Tech Trek Martha Rees Interest Groups Stephanie Norton Local Scholarship Susan Fivelstad Public Policy Carolyn Feuille Publicity & Web Martha Rees and Laurie Alire Ways & Means Ann Shulse Parliamentarian Cece Royal 4 December Board Highlights By Susie Monary-Wilson The December Board Meeting was cancelled. Board meetings are usually held monthly on the Wednesday prior to the Saturday general meeting, September through May, from 1 to 3 PM at Brunswick Village. All members are welcome! _______________________________________________ Financial Report By Shirley Zeff, Financial Officer Chapter Finances (As of 11/30/18) Checking Balance: 22,057.62 Total Restricted Funds: Savings Balance: 7,238.33 (22,060.03) Total Funds on Hand: 29,295.81 Total Unrestricted Funds: 6,735.92 ________________________________________________________________________________ Ways and Means By Ann Shulse Quilt Raffle Results! The raffle drawing was held at our Holiday party, and Deborah York had the winning ticket! Congratulations to Deborah!! Many thanks again to Virginia Kingston who donated the quilt. And thank you one and all who participated in the raffle which earned the Branch $924! As we launch into a new year, please remember to keep collecting your loose change, and bring it with you to our programs on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Come by the Ways and Means table if you want to purchase a T-shirt, tote bag, or visor! 5 AAUW Fund News By Melanie Heckel This month I would like to focus on the Legal Advocacy Fund (LAF). As you know, LAF supports lawsuits that promote equity and safety for women and girls in schools, colleges and the workplace. At the end of October, AAUW’s LAF hosted its annual call previewing U.S. Supreme Court cases relevant to our mission. Deborah Vagins, our Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Research, focused primarily on cases that involved worker’s rights and reproductive choice. I was able to listen in and found it to be most enlightening. The Supreme Court has not yet selected which cases it will hear in the 2019 session. Sadly, AAUW is hoping several cases of concern to us will not be heard by the Supreme Court as they have favorable rulings at the Circuit Court level that may be overturned given the current makeup of the Supreme Court.